VERDI
By David D. Hambleton
In loving memory of Grace DeVriend
From a popular song comes the
line, “You can’t fence time”
Like bittersweet memories of
time on the hill
Rabbits and buttercups and bully
banty roosters
Horses and cows, not just
figures on a window sill
One could all day run and chase
with the dogs
High in the hay and low in
the river
The pig’s in the pen with her
farrowing brood
Arrowheads in the ground we found , lost by the quiver
Deep in the lilac bush a
secret bower awaited
Taste-testing and learning
from the frozen pump handle
Mice in the granary playing
tag with the cats
Girls in the front room telling
stories by the candle
Save the yellow rose bush,
trampled and blown by the wind
A fence was the answer once
someone decided to pitch in
Wind and more wind biting
cheeks chilling bones as
Sledding on the front slope
came to warming in the kitchen
Playing games with my Fourth
Cousins round marbles on our haunches
I admire the power of family,
generations held together
The places, colors, and
sounds resound in my conscious
Through drought or blue norther, whatever the weather
Grace’s lessons were true,
encouragement real
When she told me she loved
me, I got the full gist
She taught Mom and taught me
to learn and enjoy it
The School Marm left her mark, she’ll surely be missed
She had a quiet peace about
her, in the middle of the fray
As she raised beautiful
children and loved a hundred more
We’ll see her again one day
in the sweet by and by
She lived up to her name and
is gone now to His shore
Now carry we
on in the way she showed us
Living life ever-sweet like a
gift to be treasured
Sharing the blessings our
Lord so lovingly bestows
Of His faith, hope and love, not to be measured
As time runs wild and free,
wreaking havoc on the world around…
Peace be
with you.
Grace be
with you always.