Loss

“I’ve learned of a baby who needs a good home—just like yours.”

Would you say that to a person who had just buried their child? Of course not. Yet you are quick to offer a stray cat hanging around your sister’s house to acquaintances, grief-stricken over the death of their cat. You beg them to take the sweet-natured calico an infirm neighbor can no longer properly care for, or the tabby of a coworker who is relocating, and can’t take her pet with her. You feel so sorry for those hapless creatures.

So do I, but like you, not enough to offer them our home. And certainly not enough to feed them from my baby’s dishes, play with his toys, or sleep in his favorite places.

At times I see him in those places, and smile. I also see him cock his little head as he sits, his two white-booted feet pressed tightly together in front of him. “What…you’re busy? Like I should care you’re busy? I want to play. With you. Now.”

Yes, animals do talk. Like humans, they express themselves with body language. At times it can be as clear as any sound uttered out loud. As with person-to-person communication, sometimes we miss the message. My husband and I missed it with KittyCat’s illness. So did his regular veterinarian. The next vet we rushed him to, Dr. Christy Webb, caught it. But the antibiotics and breathing treatments that could have saved him, had they begun earlier, mocked us with false hope. KittyCat endured horrific distress his last night on this earth.

“Oh, KittyCat,” I’ve sobbed a thousand times, “how your daddy and I loved you. How your suffering tortures us still. And we miss you terribly.”

“People, stop!” I’ve wanted to scream several times. On behalf of anyone who has lost a precious pet lately, stop. Please stop giving us  your ideas about what will fill the vacancy in our homes and hearts.

We may appear to have moved on. We act with our usual professionalism at work. We attend functions, hopefully displaying courtesy and friendliness. We perform our daily responsibilities.

But in private moments, we cry.

Trailblazer Mary Kate Tripp Died

Nice work on the obit, Chip. But why didn't the paper throw a bouquet to Mary Kate Tripp while she was living? Was it because after unceremoniously killing the book page, accolades might have appeared to be an apology?

The above is part of an angry letter I'll never send. It's venting. Anger somehow suppresses tears ready to spill on my keyboard and short out the computer.

Everyone I've met who knew Mary Kate--Katie to her many associates--praised her work ethic, her writing and editing ability, organizational skills, and more. Some of us who shared a pot of coffee with her, and soaked in her stories, not only admired the career journalist, but also grew to love her.

Mary Kate Tripp, the extraordinary career woman, was love personified. Perhaps that's the dimension missing from the newspaper's obituary. It's words are fine enough. But years ago I copied a farmer's wisdom into my Writing Worth Citing notebook: "Fine words butter no turnips."

The last time I called on Mary Kate, I took flowers--not in recognition of her brilliant mind or accomplishments. A giant heart beat inside her tiny frame. That was the essence of Mary Kate, and I hope she knew how wonderfully she had shared it.

Two Thousand-Plus Awards and Still Counting

“Welcome to the world of rhyming poetry.” The greeting that invites the readers to browse through www.poetmariannelogan.com features a picture of an animated waterfall. Listen to the water splash when you read her eloquent poem placed beneath it.

Like sequined strands of shimmered cashmere shawl,

Cascading drops of silvered waterfall

Cast rippling waves that wind through crystal stream

To spread like wistful wishes in a dream.

A popular speaker at writers’ workshops, Marianne McNeil Logan has won over two thousand contest awards. Although I’ve never heard her introduced as poet and artist, Marianne’s original illustrations adorn several of her chapbooks I purchased from her.

Her collection, Moments in Mourning, brings soothing words to the desolate who grieve for a loved one who is terminally ill or has recently passed. But along with lyrical sentiments, cries of grief and anger at the unexpected stages that must be endured erupt from the pages with complete honesty.

If certain pages of her website show slight neglect, it is because much of Marianne’s time is now spent caring for her second husband, Claude, who is under Hospice Home Care.

My preferences lean to Marianne’s descriptions of our awesome world, written with beautiful words that both paint pictures and ring with music, especially when they are read aloud. When her publisher announced the press release for Sounds of the Seasons, I deemed it a good time to trumpet Marianne McNeil Logan’s accomplishments.

She also has Celebrations for Sonneteers on Kindle, which won three national prizes: Crossroads National Poetry Book Contest, Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. “Pegasus” award for a Book of Poetry, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Experienced poets will understand why the book stands as a reason to celebrate the sonnet and to applaud Marianne’s expertise as a sonneteer. The book shows fifteen different sonnet patterns, explaining formats and rhyme schemes. Marianne said, “it is ideal for poetry chapters interested in learning new patterns, and for poets wanting to learn more about sonnets, a very special part of poetry.”

Below is the press release for Sounds of the Seasons. Marianne feels it will be her favorite book. Many of the most descriptive poems are of her beloved Black Hills and the Texas Panhandle.

Press Release

SOUNDS OF THE SEASONS

Rhyming Poems for

Nature Lovers

The newest Kindle eBook by

Marianne McNeil Logan

from Path Publishing — for only $2.99!

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download it free onto

your computer from Amazon.com.

The book’s INTRODUCTION: I love nature poems, and was delighted when Alex Stewart of New Horizon Poets invited me to be one of the four poets to be published in their annual publication  Timeless Shores . I hope you’ll like the other favorites I’ve picked out to go along with those in Sounds of the Seasons, my part of their book. I also love humor, so I picked a couple of special memories of what my twin sister and our younger sis did when we were kids. Then, too, I love sonnets, as you know, and there are several beautifully descriptive nature sonnets. I’ve also included haiku, cinquains, and triolets, which I hope you’ll like, too.

All of my longer poems are in rhyme, which seems to be a disappearing gift in our free verse, fast-moving world of today. I like to sprinkle lots of picturesque images and alliteration through my work. Hope you find some “ah-hahs!” that you enjoy, too.

How to purchase this nature-lovers book: Go to Amazon.com home page. On the left click on “Books.” Then click on “Kindle Books.” Type in the name of the book (or copy and paste) and click on the title or “Kindle Edition.”  

A well-known rhyming poet, Marianne has won over 2,000 poetry contest awards! Three of her chapbooks have garnered five national awards, two receiving Pulitzer Prize nominations. To find out more about her many chapbooks, visit her website, which shows the prices and awards at www.poetmariannelogan.com, e-mail mmmltx@nts-online.net, or write to 2700 S. Roosevelt, Amarillo Texas 79103. Add $1.50 for postage for the first book and 90 cents for each additional; Texans need to add sales tax of 8.25 percent.

To contact the publisher: Path Publishing, 4302 SW 51^st #121, Amarillo, Texas 79109-6159; 877-PATH-877 (1-877-7284-877) or (806) 322-7007 — call before 6 PM Central Time; Path@PathPublishing.com.