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If I can't be me listening,
may I be a eucalyptus,
one of many in a grove
(Is that too much to ask?) as I heard
when the first wind of winter blew in?
When I, too, may sing—
full-throated—a hallelujah chorus?
What luck, the happenstance—me,
the trees, the wind, the green song—
the wind carrying our shouts
through cathedral skies.
© by Grace Hughes Chappell.
Used with the author's permission.
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Grace Hughes Chappell says, over the years, she’s been a mom, a daughter, and a sister, has taken care of ‘things’ (house repairs, car repairs, relationship repairs), worked as a private tutor, an English teacher, a travel agent, a receptionist, a telephone book delivery-person, a house cleaner, a reader to the visually impaired, a caterer, a snow-shoveler, and a writer. Her work is widely published and she is the author of ten mile creek almanac. For 50-some years, Grace and her husband, Don, have lived in northern California, in Mendocino County, and in San Francisco but, as of 2024, they have relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to be near family. Grace's advice for a good life is to be kind, enjoy your family and friends, don’t be a drag (laugh a lot, sing, dance, do anything that involves music), read a lot, learn to cook a decent meal, watch sunsets and birds and dogs, find something to do for which you have some aptitude, then be willing to work hard at it!
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Lori Levy:
Beautiful image of the "wind carrying our shouts/through cathedral skies."
Posted 12/20/2023 09:15 PM
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Anastasia:
Wonderful images!
Posted 12/20/2023 11:40 AM
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Larry Schug:
I love poems that contain questions--with so many different answers I find as I re-read.
Posted 12/20/2023 08:08 AM
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David:
Outstanding!
Posted 12/20/2023 08:01 AM
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