This collection of poetic musing covers many years of life events. Since retirement from Simpson University, California, Dr. Tarr has spent much of the past decade in counseling homeless individuals and in volunteer work with Vitas hospice patients. Some of these experiences may be noticed in a few writings. Several poems were previously published in "Appalachian Chains of Life and Love," McClain Book Publisher, Parsons, West Virginia, 1980. With the exception of the trilogies, each poem stands alone and should not be considered as connecting events. The Preface reads - The loss of a friend is often traumatic. Even when the parting is foreseen and the reasons are understood, the vacuum still creeps in and wants to linger. Not all separations are final, but even the temporary lack of sharing life with another can wear upon us - dusting a vacated room of the first-married child; sipping morning coffee alone as you stare at the empty, neighbor's house; driving past the old deserted elementary school; sorting through grandmother's pictures after the funeral. Absence may "make the heart grow fonder" but offers little consolation. Memories of the past wrapped in faith for the future can give warmth to the coldest doubter. True friendships are never lost if they remain framed upon the memory and the negatives are kept for new prints.
Scattered Negatives and Unframed Pictures
poetic musingBy David E. TarrAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 David E. Tarr
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-2366-9 Contents
Dedication.....................................................................................................................................................................................................viiIntroduction...................................................................................................................................................................................................ixPREFACE Recall, Silent Sentinel, Lonely, Permission, Nothing Lost, The Sweetest Music, Buck on the Run, Perspective...........................................................................................xiTRILOGY OF WAR (I)Winter Draft, (II) Mother's Token, (III) Father's Lament, Distance, Adulterated, Simple Prayer, Holiday Haunts, Misty Manuscript, Finding Strength, Deflectors of Gloom.....................13LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS Simplicity, Love Growth, Love Defined, When Love Dies, Kisses That Tell, Sea Symbol.....................................................................................................25HE WHO DOUBTS Sterile Soul, Birth of Reality, Song in the Darkness, Caring, Unanchored, Anxiety, Fear at Dusk.................................................................................................33TRILOGY OF LIFE (I)Sounds, (II) Rhyme, (III) Coda Now Is All, Preying, Roadblocks, Eternity, Direction, Agony of Farewell, One, Souvenirs.....................................................................42DO NOT CAST OFF IN OLD AGE Aging Mother, Old Man Dexter, Aunt Jeannie, Valley Glow, Offspring, Ode to Black Rosie, Winged Athlete, Remember Mama..............................................................55TRILOGY BY THE SEA (I)Sea Hunt, (II) Sand Scripts, (III) Moon Maiden...........................................................................................................................................71TO EVERYTHING A SEASON Sunrise, Sunday Snow, Riverside, Spring Soother, Life of Summers, Autumn Euphoria, Signs of Fall, Fall Parade, Winter King.............................................................75WHEN STRENGTH FAILS Blurred Vision............................................................................................................................................................................89TRILOGY OF DEATH (I)Watching, (II) Waiting, (III) Departing, Folly, Hearing Tragic News, Yearning, Nostalgia..................................................................................................92ENDNOTES To Begin Again, Moving On............................................................................................................................................................................99ABOUT THE AUTHOR...............................................................................................................................................................................................103
Chapter One
Trilogy of War
I
Winter Draft '42
Inside lusting flames lick the logs Outside icicles drip tears.
Hot and cold flash into moody frustration.
Kidnapped from family and the familiar Summons held in clenched fist he marches off to war.
II
Mother's Token
She fumbled the telegram handed her by two uniformed giants.
They left her alone with official words and a gold star for the window.
Must mothers be as valiant receiving their medals As sons falling in another world?
III
Father's Lament
And so he died - lent from my loins to slaughter Sacrificed to the god of peace In vain attempt to settle the woes of mankind.
"Forgive me, my love - spawning this sorrow into your life not knowing that our fruit Would be scattered seedless before ripening."
Distance
Your hat's on the door my son waiting to be retrieved cast into the sky rolled by the water's edge and cradled behind your forelocks.
Your hat's on the door my son growing musty from the stagnant air fading slightly from the morning sun as it passes by briefly each day.
Your hat's on the door my son waiting to be retrieved not knowing the agony of distance and time that lay between.
Adulterated
White the beginning hue Untinted and untainted by red of hatred purple of rage green of envy gray of war Is beyond view.
A Simple Prayer
Lord don't give Mountains without strength for climbing or Valleys without vision to see the Mountains.
Holiday Haunts
Holidays haunt amid the gaiety Reverting the memory to past purgatories - carved notches that nag When the punch is passed.
Misty Manuscript
Pulse rates ritard and fears diminish With the rhythm of raindrops on the roof.
Staccato beats blend Past securities of wraparound porches Into melodic mists.
Finding Strength
Dressed in shiny polyester suits and dangling earrings The zealots shout, "Glory, Lord!" I hear You whispering among the fresh violets tucked between the dandelions.
Loudly across the land New pharisees praise your name. I think of You quietly when walking through the pines.
Huddled together they plead "Give us power, Lord." I find strength being alone in Your creation.
Deflectors of Gloom
An unexpected visit from a friend,
The surprise party,
A slit of sunray through the storm,
- a child's faint smile returning from coma.
[Love] Bears all things, Believes all things, Hopes all things, Endures all things.
I Corinthians 13:7
Simplicity
Life is simple where there is love.
Dishes wash quicker the hammer lifts lighter and the iron glides over the linens where there is love.
Whistling and crying come easily where there is love.
Love Growth
Planting seeds of love is not enough.
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