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More Poetry to Enjoy is his second book of poetry with colorful illustrations to stimulate and challenge readers young and old. His poetic expressions excite one's imagination with playful words that beckon to your attention. Each poem encourages you to think and feel emotions we often have.

TURN THE PAGE

 

If you have sprung a leak

And the water is deep

Turn the page

If you slept late

And missed your date

Turn the page

If your meal needs heat

And no time to eat

Turn the page

If it’s cold outside

And you need a ride

Turn the page

There’s always a chance

For you to advance

Turn the page

DEAL WITH IT

 

Sometimes, there are situations facing people that seem insurmountable regardless of one’s age.  When they occur, stress builds up and they are perceived as existing forever. The fact of the matter is with time they eventually do pass.  How we handle a situation can be managed with minimizing stress.  It takes a certain amount of personal awareness to understand and deal with it.  We need to step back and recognize that we have a choice as to how we react to what we are facing.  True, that’s not easy but we do have that capacity to summon the process of reasoning. 



Maybe some of us can remember our English class in high school when we read and even memorized “Invictus” (Latin for “unconquered”), a short Victorian poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley (1849-1903).

 

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced or cried aloud.

Under the bludgeoning of chance

My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged the punishments the scroll

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul. 

Interestingly enough, in 1875 one of Henley’s legs was amputated due to complications from tuberculosis.  He was due to have the other removed; but, fortunately another surgeon saved the other leg.  He was inspired to write this poetry while recovering and also with recollections of an impoverished childhood.   His poem has been immortalized by Winston Churchill’s speech to the House of Commons on September 9, 1941 by paraphrasing the last two lines of the poem, “We are still the masters of our fate.  We are still the captain of our souls.”  Nelson Mandela, while in prison, recited the poem to other prisoners and was empowered by its message of self-mastery.

 We have the courage and ability to address stressful situations in a rational manner to endure what may appear to be unending, perpetual or everlasting.

 

  POLONIUM

Every now and then I get to see a science fiction film.  This time it was called “Transcendence” with Johnny Depp, (Dr. Will Caster, a scientist and his wife, Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) who work with a team to create a sentient computer including artificial intelligence.  The story unfolds with Dr. Caster being shot with a polonium laced bullet. Of course, the film continues to extend into a scientific fantasy, but it was the word polonium that perked my curiosity. 

I did some research and found that polonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and the atomic number 84, discovered 1898 by Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie.  It was named Marie Curie’s native land of Poland (Latin: Polonia).  Poland at that time was under Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian partition.  It was Curie’s hope that naming the element after her native land would give it publicity to becoming an independent country.

Marie had left Poland and went to Paris where she eventually continued her studies in physics and chemistry and completed advanced degrees at the University of Paris. Her great contributions in science emerged in collaboration with Pierre when they investigated the cause of pitchblende radioactivity.  Marie decided to investigate uranium rays and in addition to the discovery of polonium, eventually isolated radium.   The naming of radium dates back to about 1899 from the French word in Modern Latin from radius (ray). 

The first experiments in the biological properties of radium began in France and encouraged a new branch of medical science radiumtherapy (in France called Curietherapy).  Later it developed in other countries so that today we have its use in treating many diseases, particularly cancer.  Interesting to note, polonium has been produced in industry and was part of the Manhattan Project’s Dayton Project during World War ll as a crucial part of the implosion-type nuclear weapon design in 1945.    

Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win two Nobel Prizes in two sciences, physics and chemistry, with a total of seven outstanding awards.

There are a number of biographies devoted to her as well as movie films depicting her life.  She is an icon in scientific history.   

ANTIQUATED EXISTENCE

  

Seize the day

Have fun and play

Don’t waste your time

To sit and whine

Each second is great

So enjoy what you own

You’ll see how you’ve grown

The stages of life, at the risk of simplicity, can be described as youth, adulthood, middle years, senior years and twilight years. Let’s just focus on the stages in which most of us are living today, our senior and twilight years. There is no doubt that we don’t see ourselves as antiquated, but some people who have not reached these stages of life may see us as antiquated. They may see us as obsolete, old fashioned, passé,  living in the past and still tied to thoughts of days long ago. These ideas arise when some of us are observed to move with a walker or a cane, speak slowly, lean on walls, struggle to keep our balance or don’t hear well. 

Yes, it’s true that some of us don’t have the agility we had in our younger years and those who have these antiquated perceptions of us feel a sort of compassion for what appear as our infirmities. Sometimes, they reach out to help us in ways that tend to infantilize us, that is, they treat us as if we are a child denying us our maturity and respect for the experience we have earned. 

Yes, it is important to understand that there are people younger who sincerely venerate age but let’s be sure what is respected is what we may have accomplished or yet may be achieving. I am confident that when someone helps us get up from a chair, it is an act of courtesy and not to be looked upon as someone showing pity for our limitation. But, in the final analysis, it is important to understand that seniors really want to maintain their independence as much and as long as possible.

Fortunately, most seniors intellectually have retained their mental faculties and remain emotionally young, alert, think clearly and still contribute to society. We can enjoy literature, the arts, good food, music and we share our wisdom with the young. 

                                             LOVE

“The rose is red, the violet’s blue,

The honey is sweet, and so are you.

Thou art my love and I am thine;

I drew thee to my Valentine:

The lot was cast and then I drew.

And Fortune said it shou’d be you.

(From: English Nursery Rhyme (1784)

By the time this article is read, Valentine’s Day will have passed.  However, curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.  Thus, my interest was aroused to find out the origin of Valentine’s Day.  Historically, the holiday emerged as a religious event.  One might say that it really started as a very ancient pre-Roman festival called Lupercalia observed from February 13 through February 15 to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility.  Interestingly enough, the Latin word for fever (febris) is associated with the same idea purification or purging, commonly related to fevers.  Hence comes February, the English from the Latin, Februarius. 

The holiday of Valentine’s Day eventually began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints.  However, the first recorded association of the holiday with romantic love is noted in the High Middle Ages by Geoffrey Chaucer (1382), when the tradition of courtly love flourished.  Its customs developed in 19th century England and have spread to other countries as well as American culture.

The concept of love has many variations and does not appear to be just romantic love. Think of the love expressed for parents, sisters, brothers, other relatives and friends.  As it has been said, “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”. There was a time when a young lady shared her unhappy feelings toward her parents and related how for years she never felt that she met their expectations of love and devotion.  Eventually, after extended counseling, she and her family really bonded in their relationship.  Many changes in their attitude toward each other occurred.  One thing the young lady did was that she came to the realization that sending greeting cards such as Valentines, birthday or anniversary cards were always nice to underscore her love to her family.  However, they were expected notices of devotion.  So, she decided that during the year, on no special occasion, she sent them a card or made a phone call just to let them know how much she was thinking of them and told them of her love for them.  The fact that her overture was not expected and spontaneous reinforced her authentic love.

Sometimes the spontaneous sharing of one’s love has a tremendous impact on validating one’s love.  Yet, it is sill nice to recognize special occasions.  

  

                                 FEELING GOOD

Food that one savors

Receiving a nice flavor

Helping others is a pleasure

Giving is a treasure

On a bus no extra seat

Offering yours is a treat

Entering a store

So kind to hold the door

    What relates to feeling good?  Being kind?  Being generous?  Being thoughtful?  Being polite?  Being courteous?  Using ethics?  Using etiquette?  It seems that each time any of these attributes occur there is an expression of a real authentic and comfortable connection with life.  In many respects there is no monetary or material cost.  It is, however, very gratifying for one who is involved in any of them.

    Most people face issues of one kind or another during a lifetime and sometimes, come stress, anger, frustration, disappointment or sadness.   Despite these obstacles when you experience diversions from these issues, certain behaviors result in one feeling good.  For example, walking past someone you don’t even know catching one’s eye can evoke a friendly smile bringing a moment of feeling good.

    When you do a favor without anyone asking for it, your mind has allowed you to think beyond your present stress and there are moments of feeling good.  If you are caught up or preoccupied feeling sorry for not reaching a goal, extending yourself to help your neighbor carry her groceries to her car is an act of generosity that can make you feel good.  It’s funny how the little things can take the edge off frustration.  When you are faced with what appears to be an insurmountable problem in balancing your checkbook, step away and you can find a resolution to your frustration by offering to assist your spouse to put a box up on the shelf.  Then, when you return to the checkbook, your mind has cleared enough to find another approach to the problem and you feel good because you balanced the checkbook.

    Etiquette often referred to as using manners goes far beyond those of Emily Post, famous for her writings on such matters.  When you are sneezing and coughing near other people, you can feel good, even momentarily, when you are courteous by excusing yourself.  There is also a connection between ethics and etiquette.  

    If you have been brought up with a moral code of behavior, it encompasses certain values that are important to you.   When standing in line to go to a movie, someone cuts in front of you and it can be both a breach of etiquette and unethical behavior.  Seeing a movie is your way of finding relaxation from a stressful day with family problems.  You can step away from being upset, to think clearly and feel good.   Somehow, recognizing that your place in line will not make you lose out to go to the movie and the other person’s behavior, although unethical was not your behavior.   Feeling good comes about very rapidly and is not a form of rationalizing.  It is an authentic feeling based upon your ability to move beyond your instant emotion.  Thinking can allow you to feel good.  Remember James Brown’s song?
                                             “I Feel Good !”
                                                         
                                                             

                                                     

                                                         
                                                              

   

IBIS OR EGRET

Birds can reach the sky

Finding a level very high

Landing on a quiet place

Taking a slow pace

Foraging for food

To feed their brood

Having built their nest

It is time to rest

Giving the young care

For them to soar above the clouds

And find new spaces away from crowds

    Once in a while when I am in front of my house or walking in the neighborhood I see a beautiful white bird with a long neck and a sharp pointed beak probing in the grass.  It moves slowly on its long legs and then turns its head from side to side.   Its movements are graceful and smooth and are very relaxing for me to watch.  Sometimes, it will stay very still as if it is listening to something and then moves on as if searching.  I am fascinated by it and yet puzzled to identify it as an egret or an ibis.  Not being an ornithologist (expert on the study of birds) I decided to research the identity of these two birds.

    Herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds with some 64 recognized species. Some are called egrets or bitterns.  Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons; and, they tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes.  Although they have the same build as herons, they are smaller.  There is still no clear consensus about their genus classification.   During the 19^th and early 20^th century egrets were endangered having been hunted for their plumes by hat makers in Europe.  A visit to the Wakodahatchee Wetlands or Green Cay here in Palm Beach County allows one to see many birds some of which are egrets.

    The American ibis, often referred to as the white ibis, is among the wading birds like the egret and both are indigenous to Florida.  It is a modestly sized bird weighing about two pounds.  It has been the most abundant in the Everglades.  However, today it has become urban.  The University of Miami adopted the American white ibis as its official athletics mascot in 1926 and the yearbook was named as the Ibis that year.   There appear to be such a variety of ibises and egrets that it is difficult to say which is larger. You will need to determine which species of each to compare their size.  Both birds are monogamous, care for their offspring, are nomadic, forage for food and for the most part have adapted to our backyards.  If you happen to see one and can identify it as an ibis or an egret please let me know.

  

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