Poetry

Spin Painting

Blood spurted out from pale nostrils,
White stars surrounded green eyes,
Rocks crashing down on soft foreheads,
Glaring shock, the result of hot lies.
Explosions occurred all around me,
The pole, for a moment, stood still,
Missions were burnt in a cloud-burst,
Sparks flew through the air in the chill.
Vines, breathing fire, began crawling,
While the globe lay there burning too fast,
Aqua leaves, off red branches, were falling,
Scarred women all wept for the past.
Kaleidoscope spun in the meadows,
The heavens awkward and still,
Illusions of love danced around me,
The cadence increased with the thrill.
Hot flash! Then it all started slowing,
Beads of sweat became salty and dried,
Flaming disc in my mind sank fast, glowing,
I just stared at the colors and cried.

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Dear Teacher…

Thank you –

From the child you taught to read
From the battered child you held close
From the one you taught to act on stage
So she could be herself
From the one who couldn’t count
Until you convinced him he did
From the one who stuttered
And you waited
From the friendless one
You shared lunch with
From the heavy one
You taught to dance
From the immigrant
You welcomed
From the one they teased
And you told I’m with you
From the one who acted tough
But you weren’t fooled
From the one whose writing was an angry shout
That you read and corrected
From the one whose life was closed
And you opened a door
From the one who said no
And you said yes
From all the kids you taught were okay
And can be better

Thank You.

Jerry McGovern of Peru, NY, taught at Peru Central School and SUNY Plattsburgh for many years, beginning in 1969.

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

The Holy Braille

Not seeing, but feeling. Not seeing, but being able to discern,
like the difference between bad and good………
Feeling correctness – eliminating prejudices and hatred.
Feeling the joy derived by giving pleasure to others.
Feeling the goodness in man.
Feeling the splendor of appreciating and living in harmony with Nature.
Feeling the balance by controlling our population.
Feeling our magnificence, by breeding out the undesirable,
inherent, qualities in man.
Feeling satisfaction, by differentiating which technologies are important
and which are products of greed and shortsightedness.
Feeling pride in having leaders with these qualities.
Feeling inner peace – finally being able to see.

Neil Shaw was born in New York, New York and grew up on Long Island. From his earliest age he became one with Nature. The land, the sea and wildlife have played a big part in his life. Naturalist, adventurer, philosopher, businessman, rancher, boater, songwriter, inventor, he has traveled widely. He and his wife Maria live in the Adirondack Mountains.

Read More Poems From the New York Almanack HERE.

Night Crawler Double Trouble

On a joint Schaefer-Zahniser expedition
into the Adirondack Flowed Lands area,
led by Moms Carolyn and Alice, we boys—
Cub Schaefer, my brother Matt and I—
decided we’d catch lots of trout to feed
our crew. So, we carried-in a big, bailed
construction bucket, with some dirt,
slung on a pole for two of us at a time
to transport night-crawlers, in shifts. [Read more…] about Poetry: Night Crawler Double Trouble