Fortunes 2014

FORTUNES 2014

You have an active mind and a keen imagination. 

You will be showered with good luck.

You are gifted in many ways.

You have a friendly heart and are well admired.

You are a bundle of energy, always on the go.

Simplicity and clarity should be your theme in dress.

Your life will be happy and peaceful.

You will attract cultured and artistic people to your home.

You will attract cultured and artistic people to your home.

A pleasant surprise is in store for you.

You will travel far and wide for both pleasure and business.

A nice cake is waiting for you.

You will have a pleasant trip.

You are careful and systematic in your business arrangements.

Wish you happiness.

You look happy and proud.

You will travel far and wide for both pleasure and business.

Your heart is pure, and your mind clear, and soul devout.

Your charming smile is attracting everyone around you.

Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.

The only rose without a thorn is friendship.

Birds are entangled by their feet and men by their tongues.

He who hurries cannot walk with dignity.

Pray for what you want, but work for the things you need.

Your mentality is alert, practical and analytical.

The night life is for you.

You are loyal to your family.

Happiness always accompanies with you.

Idleness is the holiday of fools.

You will win success in whatever calling you adopt.

If you continually give, you will continually have.

You will always have good luck in your personal affairs.

If your desires are not extravagant, they will be granted.

If your desires are not extravagant, they will be granted.

If your desires are not extravagant, they will be granted.

You are heading in the right direction.

A carrot a day will keep cancer away.

A carrot a day will keep cancer away.

There is a true and sincere friendship between you both.

You are going to take a trip to the seaside.

An angry man opens his mouth and shuts up his eyes.

Great thoughts come from the heart.

In god we trust; all others must pay cash.

Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.

Serious trouble will bypass you.

You find beauty in ordinary things. Do not lose this ability.

Idleness is the holiday of fools.

You would make a good lawyer.

Wish you a good journey.

You are vigorous in words and action.

You are kind-hearted and hospitable, cheerful and well-liked.

Don’t let friends impose on you. Work calmly and silently.

Wisdom is only found in truth.

The joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days.

You have a reputation for being straightforward and honest.

Great thoughts come from the heart.

Great thoughts come from the heart.

You will soon be surrounded by good friends and laughter.

Adventure can be a real happiness.

The simplest answer is to act.

Great thoughts come from the heart.

Practice makes perfect.

You will soon be involved in many gatherings and parties.

Practice makes perfect.

You take an optimistic view of life.

You have a friendly heart and are well admired.

You will win success in whatever calling you adopt.

You will win success in whatever calling you adopt.

You will win success in whatever calling you adopt.

Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you.

You have a lively family.

You have a lively family.

You like participating in competitive sports.

Avert misunderstanding by calm, poise, and balance.

Don’t be hasty, prosperity will knock on your door soon.

You will travel far and wide, both for pleasure and business.

You will travel far and wide, both for pleasure and business.

Pray for what you want, but work for the things you need.

You are kind-hearted and hospitable, cheerful, and well-liked.

You may attend a party where strange customs prevail.

You will have good luck in your personal affairs.

You will make a profitable investment.

A modest man never talks of himself.

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

ON THE GREEN LINE, WASHINGTON METRO, FRIDAY EVENING

At one end of the car:

he rests his arm

on the other man’s shoulders,

fingers brushing arm as they both read.

One points to a page in his book.

Both smile and laugh.

Seat in front of me:

she leans back into his lap,

teasing him, not letting him see

what is on her phone.

But then she does.

Both smile and laugh.

After Sterling (version 7)

Almost there.  Here's version 7.  Not too different from version 6.  I got rid of most of the prepositions and worked on choice of words and rhythm a bit. I plan to share this poem in January with my writers group.  So, expect more changes.  This one, though, is pretty close to final (I think).

AFTER STERLING

(with acknowledgment to Sterling Brown’s After Winter)

Somewhere in these North Laurel woods,
I imagine there are butter beans,
radishes and lettuce, eggplants and beets
to remind us of you, Sterling Brown,
and the words that you found
in the fields and the streets
giving dignity and voice to hardworking folks.

Grass grows where plows once cut.
Buildings rise from the fields where you ran.
The rural place you knew is gone.
Harmony Lane (or what remains)
no longer leads to the Freedman’s town,
its small frame houses lost
to rising values of land.
The colored school, torn down
to make way for more homes.
History lives in this county
to the north and the west.
Down here, our memories 
have been bulldozed and paved,
the past left only in the names of roads,
including the one they named after you.

There’s still much you would recognize:
People making their way
through life’s weariness and joy,
the defeats that grind some down,
determination and will that push some to rise.
Race and class still divide
(though in more subtle form),
push some to the margins,
and keep us all from being whole.

It’s all here, Sterling, same as your day.
But, where is our poet
bringing words from the fields?
Who will sing the stories
that get down deep in our souls?

Ah, Sterling, we are the poets.
We sing the calls that demand a response.
But isn’t that what you already knew?
That a poet is more than a name on the road
that leads to where the butter beans grew.

After Sterling (version 6)

This poem continues to evolve.  Version number 5 was too wordy, too detailed.  I completed draft number 6 on the morning of Sunday, December 21 and read it at the Spiral Staircase Poetry Reading and Open Mic.  The comments I received led to further revisions and version 7.  Version number 6 is below.  Version 7 will follow in a separate post.

AFTER STERLING 

(with acknowledgment to Sterling Brown’s After Winter)

Somewhere in these North Laurel woods,

I imagine there are butter beans,

radishes and lettuce, eggplants and beets
appearing after each winter

to remind us of you, Sterling Brown,

and the words that you found

in the fields and the streets

giving dignity and voice to hardworking folks.

Grass grows where plows once cut.

Buildings rise from the fields where you ran.

The rural place you knew is gone.

Harmony Lane (or what remains)

no longer leads to the Freedman’s town,

its small frame houses lost

to the rising value of land.

The old colored school, demolished

to make way for luxury townhomes.

In this county, history lives

to the north and the west.

Down here, memories 
have been bulldozed and paved,

signs of the past left only in the names of roads,

including the one they named after you.

There’s still much that you’d recognize:

People making their way

through the weariness and joys
of day-to-day life,

the defeats that grind some of them down,

determination and will that push some to rise.

And the old divides of race and class,
though in more subtle forms,

that still push some to the margins,

and keep us all from being whole.

It’s all here, Sterling, same as your day.

But, where is our poet

bringing baskets of words 
in from the fields?

Who will sing the stories

that get hold of us 
way down deep in our souls?

Ah, Sterling, each of us is the poet.

We sing the calls that demand a response.

But isn’t that what you already knew?

That a poet is more than a name on the road

that leads to where the butter beans grew.