|
It was the first snow fall of the season. The last day of work before the Thanksgiving holiday, I sat outside of my daughter’s school patiently waiting for her to emerge. She had an eye doctor appointment we needed to get too but it seemed as though she may never come out. Other parents were waiting for their children too. Some children walked home wearing lightweight jackets or no coats at all. The wind and snow seem to beat down on the children as they walked, some turned around and walked backward to avoid the pain of the stinging wind and snow on their face. walking backwards first snow Karen Currie first
snow edit suggestion by Anna Johnson
old farmhouse Karen Fleener gagpipes
Brenda Ware |
My cousins and I would go down to the creek by their house during the summer. There were dragonflies everywhere and we would watch them flitter above the water. We would try so hard to catch a frog, but never was able to actually grab on to one. Back then nature was our playmate. We never wanted to stay inside. We were always running around by the creek and we were alive and free in the fresh air. Steamy
pond dragonflies
everywhere Julie Rambo snowy
day train
whistle in distance Dianne Olson
|
When a young girl, I enjoyed reading book after book. The Evans Branch Library was quiet, serene and calm, and about ten blocks from our home. I recall the deep red shiny linoleum tile floors and the soft eyed librarians. They knew me by name because I was there every spare moment I had. My library card was tattered and used so much, the little metal square was intact though and it was all I needed to check out books to take home. On Saturdays, there were various youth programs; especially films shown of faraway places. The most interesting film I watched was about a little girl my age from French Canada. The snowy landscape of Canada reminded me of the winters in Illinois. The little girl and her family lived on a farm and she showed all the chores she had to do before going to school in the morning. After the film, I would go into the youth section and choose some books to take home with me; there were always too many to check out so I would sit down and read as many as possible. The soft pages of the books flipped as I read quickly. I wanted to read as many of the books I had selected and take the rest home. Often, I would stay too long and the kind librarian would remind me to go home. I liked the check out line of the library; the librarian would open the soft book covers and remove the card in the back and stick it into the date machine and replace it in the back cover. The stamp machine had a distinct sound which even today I have not encountered any sound similar. Haiku attempt: imprint the ideas because her mind x-rays them Brenda Ware |
|
hot summer
day ready
to play Napoleon Mond |
Christmas photos Sunny day Rusty Vinson |
the park,
the crowd spring
storm Victoria Williams |
|
family
member daughters Tina Mond |
endless energy cape cod home Gidget Kellenberger |
august
sunshine rough-cut lumber
shed David Barr |
|
warm
spring morn Karen Bender railroad tracks
near Jennifer West |
sleeping family
4 people Jennifer West |
as we
talk David Workman
|
|
long
walks sunbeam Barbara Connelley |
howling furious
wind and rain summer evening Jeanne Luckenbill |
a lost
relationship a tall
steeple David Workman |
©
2004, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.