March 27

Relationships

Relationships

 

What can one say about relationships?

One minute a beautiful partnership

The next has you in fits

So what are we to make of it?

 

One asks, why not be free?

What is it that’s important to me?

Is it the feeling of bonhomie?

Or should I set myself free?

 

With all the questions laid bare

And pennies for my care

I cannot deny the urges

That always takes me there

 

Sometimes I look back…

Attempting to define what I lacked

As if I have put myself on a rack

Lost and bound to never come back

 

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March 27

Our Fortress

Our fortress

 

Oh tell me mother dear

What is it you hold dear?

Is it hopes and fears beyond the years?

Is it a need for love so strong

That you feel you don’t belong?

 

I can recall the stories and the holes in the walls

I can be four and not fear at all

You can surround me and separate from it all

If only that was all

 

If you try and measure, what gives us pleasure

Is it our fortress?

Is it our gall at how others fall?

Or do we just hold our fears dear, 

And speak of them once of a year?

 

Charlotte 2008

 

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March 27

On The Wing

On the Wing

I love the sound of the mourning dove on the wing
feathers spread and whistling in the wind
Their plaintive call is a beautiful thing
A mourning message they do send…

~Charlotte 5.29.09

 

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March 27

Never Be Mine II

Never Be Mine

 

I look at you and see

My life that might have been

I recall the owl claiming the big tree

He will forever be a reminder of you and me

 

Something to be admired from afar

A thing to claim as mine

But the sheen on you and I we cannot mar

For it will be suspended for all time.

 

Maybe I want you as a dream

Not the reality

But everything is not what it seems

And the motions we go through are a mere formality

 

Now I am looking back over my shoulder

At you finding happiness without me

One year older, one year bolder

The pieces of our love scattered like debris

 

This is where a long to be

This is what I need

Is this where I want to be?

Is this what I need?

Regardless of my wants, I must set you free

I know this will never be mine

 

I am left with the promises I made

I feel the shame of not making them real

I left you feeling betrayed

I feel the added pain of a need to conceal

 

We must act as if all is fine

We must distance ourselves from the lifeline

I must strike fish heads from my mind

And know this will never be mine

 

~Charlotte  3.27.09

 

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March 27

Kettle Whistle

Kettle Whistle

 

Sing kettle sing
bring me my morning tea
add milk and sugar- not too much!
all in my favorite cup

Now I can sit outside
enjoying my cuppa
soaking up all that nature provides
while the morning sun creeps up
and my body is energized with all that I imbibe.

~Charlotte 5.29.09

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March 27

All Worn Out

I’m All Worn Out

 

Watch your hands,

I’m hot to the touch.

Promise me,

because I’ve had enough.

 

Laugh out loud,

and watch the neighbors stare.

Scream and shout,

I don’t care.

I’m running out,

I’m running out,

I’m all worn out.

 

Christen me,

I need to purify.

Bury me,

because it’s time to die.

 

Spectacle,

Keep drama over there.

Punish me,

I don’t care.

I’m running out,

I’m running out.

I’m all worn out.

 

I need a drink.

I need a smoke,

to enjoy inside my empty heart.

I’m running out,

I’m running out.

I’m all worn out.

~Charlotte Slater 2010

 

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March 27

Here Comes the Sunshine

Here comes the sunshine

Here comes that daughter of mine

Here comes wit sublime

Here’s a poem for her for all time

 

Sweet kisses

Three wishes

Lovely MacKay

 

The most beautiful

The most willful

The most fantastic countenance 

I have ever seen

 

Sweet bliss

A mirthful twist

Lovely MacKay

 

You bring me so much joy

A love that does not cloy

My heart you fully employ

Sweet MacKay

 

~Charlotte Greer Slater 8.7.09

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March 27

Halcyon Day

Halcyon Day

A sunny day has come my way
I sit and soak in the rays
reveling in my blue sky day
appreciating nature’s way.

I could go find water to frolic in
or a trail to follow
but instead I have writing to begin
as i sit in a tranquil hollow.

~Charlotte 5.29.09

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March 27

EULOGY FOR TRUDIE GREER

EULOGY FOR 

TRUDIE GREER

(1989 – 2002)

Trudie has always lived up to her name.  At birth she was named after a wonderful friend that we lost to cancer just a few months before Trudie was born. Trudie Crouse said, not long before she died, that she wanted to come back as one of the Greer’s Jack Russell Terriers – we think she did.

 

In August of 1989 this perfect little puppy, with an uncanny look of wisdom and concern for all, was born.  She even liked vidalia onion sandwiches- one of her namesake’s favorites. 

 

From that day forward, Trudie took on Charlotte as her total responsibility (take it from her mother- that was a big responsibility for anyone). Trudie became protector of not only Charlotte, but of any animal she brought into the house.  There was the cat to save from other Jack Russells; there was a bird to protect from the cat; there were numerous fish to protect from the bird and the cat; and finally a ferret to protect from the cat and the other dogs, while continuing to protect the fish from the ferret; and numerous other wild babies that would come and go as Charlotte nursed them back to health.  Trudie took on all of this with only an occasional deep sigh and an expression a jewish mother would love. Trudie would also go to the barn with Charlotte and be sure everything was in order there. 

 

She went to Georgia Tech with Charlotte, just to make sure she drove safely, was on time and paid attention in class.  All the professors accepted her presence in their classrooms even though she would groan sometimes when the lecture got boring. 

 

When Charlotte couldn’t sleep ( which was a lot of the time because her back would be hurting ) Trudie would be there to let her know she wasn’t alone in the world and that she was loved. They would discuss their problems until Charlotte fell asleep Trudie would snuggle up to Charlotte’s sore back, or up on her pillow if touching her back hurt, then keep vigil through the night.  Charlotte knew she was never alone, and always unwaveringly loved. 

 

Trudie taught all of us more about Love, Sacrifice, Responsibility, Kindness, Forgiveness  and Fun then we knew existed. We were blessed to have the opportunity to know her and love her.  We miss her horribly and will remember her always.  

 

We also want her to know we are sorry we could never provide her with a thumb, and that we we were too dumb to speak her language.  That’s okay now – God will be able to do it all.

 

To Trudie Greer, with All of Our Love and Thanks- Love From “Her Humans”

 

                               

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March 27

DRAFT to HIS HEART

DRAFT to HIS HEART

What have I done?

Destroyed our peace

Might as well have used a gun

This is not catch and release

 

Go find a nice little house wife, 

Someone whose love and beauty pales

Who will give you a steady life.

And not keep going off the rails.

 

Our plan was not to run around

Yet we exist in a graceful arc

But there I was in the lost and found

Across the falling dark

 

Let me sing my song to you

One last time

Let me bring my love for you

and hear your heart chime

 

So I die inside now

A little more each day

I cry inside for a vow

And attempt to hide the fray

 

Fight for me my darling, save me my groom

Like the little starling stunned from the impact

With the windows that seal my room

I sit panicked and frail in your palm unable to react

 

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