Appomattox Court House

When I think about how basketball
Or football players
Weep when they win
When they lose
I could hardly see for the tears

As I thought about the conclusion
Of the great Civil War—
Of Lee, surrounded, with starving troops,
And Grant, offering the enemy
Immediate parole, and the continued
Possession of their horses—

And the weeping and the relief
The overwhelming emotion of the moment

As the two armies passed each other
In full salute

The one side to surrender their arms,
And the other side to receive them
Respectfully, with honor.

The Park, Revisited

As the sun was setting,
We went to the park,
My boys and I.

It was smaller than I expected,
Two swings, two rocker animals,
A single slide with a climbing tower.

The boys ran around happily,
And Caleb climbed the ladder,
Slid down, and ran as fast as he could

For more. But what I most remember
Was the little girl who asked me
To help her put on her shoes,

And I looked at her teeth,
Three top teeth missing, and the new ones
Coming in black.

And her cough, and her runny nose. Silently
I prayed for her, that the Lord would meet her.
Her mother showed us the new baby,

Two months old, four pounds at birth.
She spoke with a lisp because of her missing front teeth.
Uncommonly bad nutrition,

Or meth addiction?
A shocking reminder that not only do I not know my neighbors,
But I don’t want to know them.

That is too much brokenness for me.
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Have mercy on this broken world.

Nigerian Akara

From the description, it sounds like falafel,
Made of black-eyed peas instead of garbanzo beans.
And reading about the delicious deep-fried patties

Made me long for falafel.

I had no garbanzo beans thawed,
But the internet has everything,
Including a recipe for kidney bean falafel.

And I ate and I ate, and now
All that frying coconut oil is sitting heavy in my stomach.

It Is Finished!

I have thought of this as a quiet conclusion,
A hurting, dying man’s final statement
Before he breathed his last.

But what if this came out

As a victory cry?

A Park

After a busy morning planting,
The Grandparents realized
It was too late to take an excursion far.

So they tried the local elementary school park.

It is “near for the country,”
About six miles away.
And I have never been there.
Almost seven years in this place,

And I have never been there.

But I heard that the boys all had a good time.

Take the Time

In the African exhibit,
We saw a 20’ tall headdress,
“That required great strength and stamina to wear.”
And capes and masks.

Isaiah wanted to watch the movie about
How the various items were used.

“We can come again, any time,” I promised,

But was met with a disbelieving scoff:

Right. Anytime.

Touché.

But this should, I think, become a regular stop
In our homeschooling adventures.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Abraham had his first
Art museum experience
Last October. He was not much a fan.

Today we bounced through
Greek statues,
An Egyptian mummy,
A Roman mosaic,
A life-size statue of a Medieval pope holding his head.
And the boys were suitably impressed.

But when we got to the room of silver,
Abraham exclaimed over and over.
The intricacy! The skill! The value! The quantity!

Of all the things to enjoy,
I had fully ignored this one.
Yet it was what made my artistic son leap.

Provide opportunities,
And allow the outcome to be what it may.

Maymont

We drove to Richmond,
Arriving around lunchtime.
I had packed sandwich fixings,
And we ate in a butterfly park
On the grounds of an old estate.

There was a small petting zoo,
And though the chickens
And Muscovy duck
And Babydoll sheep
Entirely ignored us,
The various types of goats came up,
Looking for food.
And the Clydesdale and the sika deer
Watched us warily.

Isaiah had the map, and asked to keep going,
To the Japanese garden, about a mile away.
And so we strolled there,
Passing a caged fox, and blooming daffodils,
Admiring the local birds of prey on exhibit:
Great Horned Owl, Spotted Owl,
Red-Shouldered Hawk, Red-Tailed Hawk,
Bald Eagle.

The Japanese Garden was all Isaiah could have hoped for,
And all the boys ran happily, up around a waterfall,
Over the stepping stone “bridge,”
Looking at koi,
Touching bamboo.

And the tulips in the Italian Garden bloomed,
And the James River twinkled in the distance,
And the climbing tree in the manor’s yard
Proved irresistible.

We even had a moment of
Children running on the hilltops.

Two hours of joy, under a perfect sky.

This Moment

After an encouragement to think of something to do

Other than check my phone,

I smiled at the woman doing returns.
I didn’t need to shop, thank you, but
I could look at the flowers
And admire the produce
And sit on a cheery red stool and
Pray and
Think.

All of these things were soul satisfying.
A twenty-minute vacation
As the multi-tasking woman
Gradually processed my returns.

Playing Bach

I aim to spend fifteen minutes a day playing Bach,
Though most days I have some distraction midway.

I miss, perhaps, one day a month.

The same five pieces, every day:

Minuet
Minuet
Minuet
Polonaise
March

And when I have practiced that last enough,
I’ll play six pieces every day,
Adding in the next.

Not Convenient

I’ve been working longer hours
Than I have for years,
Occasionally even full-time.

And the motor home,
Abandoned for two years and more,
Needed a quick overhaul
These last two weeks,
As we prepare for visiting relatives.

Did I mention we homeschool?
That we have a two-year-old, into everything?
That I have to accommodate a special diet?

Into this controlled chaos,
Our friend came to visit.

This was not, perhaps, convenient.

But I look back on a day of work
And cleaning
And learning
And company
And now, at last, a little creativity,

And I think:
What else is a day for?

Summoned

Working with sons three and four,
Son two summoned me
To another room.

I almost refused
But relented and found

Sons two and five,
Ear to ear grins,
In the rocking chair
With a blanket over their legs.

I almost missed it.

Daylight Savings

I woke at six, and spent a nice time in a silent house.
When Caleb woke, I read peacefully to him,
Until I got sleepy again.
“It’s 8:15. I’ll just take a nap.”

From the living room, I heard a correction:
“It’s 9:15.”

And my corrector went through the house, resetting all clocks.

No matter.

I went back to sleep for another hour.

That Was Gross

In preparation for visitors,
We’ve been frantically cleaning
The well-used motor home.
Scrubbing the shower,
Washing out drawers,
Tearing out carpet.

I was in the middle of yet another hour
Using soap and muscles
To remove droppings and other nastiness,

When Caleb joined me.

He took off his shoe to show me
He had stepped in doggie doo-doo.
And in the process got some on his hands,
Which he wiped on his shirt,
And I looked down to see a trail
Of stinky spots from the door.

Sometimes it seems that no matter
How fast I clean,
The mess returns faster.

As I pulled open a clean drawer
To see a fresh dropping.

Psalm 100

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with your praise.

Driving around town yesterday,
This phrase struck me
Like a blow.

I think I usually enter his gates
With complaints,
Or distress,

Or, perhaps worse,
Hoping the time will be short,
So I can get to the rest of my life.