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From Then To Now
(A Saga of Life Shared)
El Campo—rural ground
in a Nightingale night—
mother’s womb tired of its weighting,
gave way to God-given gracious creation.
A Baptist interlude—no doubt
a love consummation.
Shiloh gave way to Velasco—
battle won and lost.
To up-root and re-root
eased the pain but not the cost.
A bump on nature’s face
became a citadel Hill;
A Green Oasis—
a lasting monument
to generational survival
of the have, had and have had not;
yet, fulfilled with everything needed.
Exodus came early;
intellectual journeys
into the unknown
chasing jig-saw puzzle
pieces of life. Searching.
Much was found;
but more to the bearing—
like thunder storms
and hurricanes. Wilderness
wandering will always have its place.
In due time, juxtaposed
gains and losses
have theirs too—
painting a Janus canvas
challenging chosen realities.
Then came fragments of self
and other’s—offspring of liberty—
Jingle Bells, Maundy Thursday
and Easter Eggs.
Time passes and years grow old,
leaving stone and lettered
monuments like semi-colons
or full stops in sentences
paragraphing their twice-told tales
of enchanting looms of life lived.
Following, came the tracing—
foot-steps of Job—a trail
to revelations of tasks
never fathomed in dreams
nor nightmares.
In the followings,
my Abraham made me his Isaac;
and I met many Jacobs
working their goat-skin magic
on sons of sons. Promised sons;
given and taken away;
incapable of aping Lazarus.
Kings have queens;
princes have princesses
I—neither king nor prince,
without a crown or kissing frog,
have both. Precious gifts.
Priceless the journey has been
and continues to be. Time remains
and so do I—ticking around the clock:
360 degrees—the gentle breeze
blowing and caressing my silver locks.
