Around the Table
Even if it is family,
Friends, or kids just from my school,
There always will be that oneWho smiles like everybody
Else, but finds a way to fool
All–well, maybe except one…– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, April 9, 2014
Life is grim, dry, flat and grey:
…Make me laugh…
Comics are heroes to me:
…Make me laugh…
We all want to chuckle, play:
…Make me laugh…
Your antics, quips inspire me:
…Make me laugh!
I love being here with you:
…Make me laugh…
We can sing then we can dance:
…Make me laugh…
I would spend a year with you…
…Make me laugh!
We can bounce, bounce, bounce!
…Make me laugh, laugh, laugh!
-Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, March 27, 2014
Perhaps Steve had George Burns and Gracie Allen in mind.
pregnancy
as your body
changes my dear
month by month by
month you become
more and more
eager more
often to be held
and touched and told
how happy i am you are
losing your girlish figure and
becoming rounder and rounder
as the new life grows within you
surprising us in spite of all we
have seen in many women
being mothers around
the round world for
years and years
and centuries
because for
us it is new
and quite
wonder
full
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, March 25, 2014
Cunning hands
One more than the other
What good work you have done
What nastiness you have caused
Helping hitting holding choking
Fingers folded in prayer
Fingers feeding my hunger
Thumbs gripping grasping
Nails tickling scratching
Finger pointing provoking
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, March 10, 2014
Two days ago the fields were white
for not harvest but snow and ice.
The cold front now is to the east
and we have rain and wind and heat
and flooded roads.
…………….. She drove the four-
wheel-drive Jeep Cherokee too fast
and aquaplaned into the ditch,
and then yelled S.O.B.! at him
for telling her it would be much
more safe than her blue Ford…
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, Feb. 21, 2014
Original art by Susan Lince – “Every Stone Shall Cry”
And every stone shall cry
The stone cries
Along the roadside
As the bomb explodes
Killing young soldiers
As well as the children nearby.
And every stone shall cry
The stone knows to cry
Even before the excavator
Upheaves the earth
To take away the coal
And leaves only a ragged empty space.
And every stone shall cry.
The ancient stones
Of the wailing wall
Cry as they have cried for centuries,
Listening to the prayers
Of the sufferers
And the selfish,
The grieving,
And the greedy
That reverberate
With echoes of misunderstanding
About who has been left out
Of the Kingdom of God on Earth.
And every stone shall cry.
Every stone shall cry
Yet goes unheard,
As humankind,
With hardening core,
Pushes violence, power,
Injustice, and neglect
Rumbling across the world
Like boulders.
– Susan Lince, artist and poet, Chaska, MN.
The stone lies
Near the pile of boulders
In the city park
Watching over the man asleep
In his cardboard shelter
And cries.
And every stone shall cry
The stone cries
Along the roadside
As the bomb explodes
Killing young soldiers
As well as the children nearby.
And every stone shall cry
The stone knows to cry
Even before the excavator
Upheaves the earth
To take away the coal
And leaves only a ragged empty space.
And every stone shall cry.
The ancient stones
Of the wailing wall
Cry as they have cried for centuries
Listening to the prayers
Of the sufferers
And the selfish
The grieving
And the greedy
That reverberate
With echoes of misunderstanding
About who has been left out
Of the Kingdom of God .
And every stone shall cry.
Every stone shall cry
Yet goes unheard
As humankind
With hardening core
Pushes violence
Power
Injustice
And neglect
Rumbling across the world like boulders.
– Susan Lince, Chaska, MN, January 26, 2014
Three things up above tonight,
No, four: last, a star, (the kite
First reached altitude), a hot
Air balloon was second, third,
Bright against the dark-turned
Sky–precisely half a moon.Matches lit the hurricane
Lantern and a pipe beside
Rocking chair, plants, on side
Porch. Horizon towns show light
After light: gold, yellow, white.
Flashing red antennas point…
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, January 20, 2014
Have you recalled the fun we had
All those long years ago? So young,
Poor, ignorant a girl, a lad–
Perhaps our song would not be sung,
Yet we would gather, drink, and play.Not caring what the hours were,
Enjoying ourselves every day,
We danced and laughed our fears to cure.Years have gone by and yet we know
Each time we meet our smiles will show
Awareness of what they forgave:
Real kindness, all our lives to save…
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, December 30, 2013
Yes, Race Street went from north to south
in front of my high school. I’d drive
each day from home and risk the wrath
of Mr. Rice when I’d arrive
five minutes late because I’d wait
for both the Larson twins who lived
with three more brothers down the street.
No, that was fifty years ago
and now I live a half mile east
of Race Street, but each day still go
that way to town. I drive right past
the football field where we would cheer
and hold the hands of those we loved.
How did we get from there to here?
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, December 28, 2013
Views from the Edge 