Steve was dry as a bone…

“until Saturday a friend asked me to write a funny tribute to mainstay in a community choir I sang with since I retired. Here is her picture & the light-verse-for-hire. Print it if you want. It’s all I got. (They read it last night at a party–at Ginny’s house–and gave her a framed copy.)”
1.
Ginny MahichThere’s a Ginny that lives in Mahomet–
Tongue and pen are fast, like a comet,
She sings a fine alto,
Or even soprano,
Bakes pastries, and writes a good sonnet!

2.
She goes to Beyler’s for her singing lessons
And she always pays for her sessions
She teases her Julie,
And if sometimes unruly,
A good Catholic, she makes her Confessions!

3.
Her demeanor is often quite merry,
The hats she wears: extraordinary!
And there’s alway a prank,
With her husband, Frank:
Their parties are all legendary.

4.
We all can agree, not one is a doubter
That Ginny Muhich is never a pouter.
So let’s give a cheer
For our Ginny so dear,
The Chorale would go under without her!

– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, May 31, 2015

To turn away from beauty

    “Requiem” by Eliza Gilkeyson,

arranged for choir

by Craig Hella Johnson,

sung by The Chorale in Vienna

 

She had come to the church to worship God,

to hear a touring choir sing classics  with

some spirituals–she thought the choir was good.

 

The young liturgical dancer was lithe,

quite serious as she embodied grief

and bafflement at death from tsunami,

earthquake, and flood.

 

The choir prayed for relief,

for understanding from Mother Mary.

 

The worshiper, offended by the dance,

looked at the floor, her eyes narrow and hard,

her jaw was clenched, her lips were white and thin.

 

In choir and congregation there were tears

in sympathy with grieving mother, child…

 

To turn away from beauty is a sin.

– Steve Shoemaker, on tour, Vienna, Austria, June 12, 2012