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Kurt Carman Nov 2017
Reciting Flanders Field,

My tears soak this hallowed ground,

Single red Poppy tribute,

A remembrance of those fallen.

 

I stand in silence ………

And silence speaks when words cannot.

“Lest we forget” 11/11/2017
Kurt Carman Oct 2017
Day breaks on Doubletop Mountain, shadowing villages below.
Three-thousand eight hundred feet tall, it captures the eye!
And standing at attention there in front of me, a battalion of Sugar Maples in full…. Fall…. Regalia!
Cascading tones of Crimsons, Burgundy, scarlet reds and Golden Hue.

Gazing over Dunk Hill as farmer’s plow  fields, turn again for fertility,
There are only brief streams of life giving sunlight, and now the sky turns to a pale grey.
Me, well I live for this time of year….enjoying the evening autumn constellations,
Or Moms dining table adorned with Indian corn and blackberry canes!

Bessie's Margaretville home begins the fall ritual of canning and drying.
Breaking out winter clothes…as she proclaims "no whites after Labor Day"!
The last bit of warmth now dwells just behind the Catskill’s Harvest Moon,
And the V of geese honk their good-byes to the summer sun.
Kurt Carman Oct 2017
One of my favorite writers and naturalist John Burroughs. I've read a lot of his essays and think he's one of America's greatest treasures*

"In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days, its presence helps to dispel the gloom."
-John Burroughs
Kurt Carman Sep 2017
As I drifted off last evening, I had no idea I’d see you again.
But there you were in my dream and it was wonderful to see you again my friend.
You made your way through this celestial space to meet me at the roily water’s edge,
And a smile came upon your face and it illuminated the skies.
….”and in the distance, I could hear Wolfgangs “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” playing”

“How are you John?” I asked.
“I couldn’t be better Kurt because this Kingdom is so special” he replied.
And we tarried there awhile and shared memories with one another,
We reminisced of our childhood, growing up, and our happiest moments in life.
….“I felt as though something in my life had prepared me for this time with him”

As the clouds sped above us, you told me how much you missed your wife and children,
and how much you looked forward to helping them cross this river one day.
More than anything I needed John's help with this question... "If you see my Mom, would you tell her I love her and that I miss her every day?”
He assured me he would do his best to give her the message.
…”And just then, a quote appeared and it read “the smallest deed is better than the greatest intention”

And as I stood on one side of the river and you the other,
I flashed John the live long and prosper gesture and he to me.
He began playing one of my favorites on his Sax, and he disappeared into the clouds above me.
I awoke, still hearing his parting words resonating in my head….
**….Don’t cry because I’m gone, smile because I live on”
This poem is about a dream I had last evening. Its written exactly how it was presented. John died last year at 66 and honestly I have not thought about him. We were good friends in the 60's and then faded apart to raise our families. I love you John and I know this is a message from you.
Many a times I studied the lights
On the right nights
I held my head high and shut my eyes tight
Making wishes upon each star
Shooting by in the sky
So
Somewhere in the stars
Is a story about us
A poem, a prose, a drama
Our body of works
For as long as the stars light up the sky
Our words, our love, our bond
Will shine bright
For engraved in the stars is
The art that is
You and I

©Belema .S. Ekine
prompt of the day- written in the stars
Kurt Carman Jul 2017
Today the angels arrived to receive your broken body and,
They placed you upon this peace train to take you home again.

Your non-violent mission for freedom will breathe past eternity,
Because the proverb reminds us… “you cannot cover the sun with one hand”

“Even if I am crushed into powder, I will embrace you with ashes” Liu Xiaobo
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