Big Lake Poems: Pink Pickable Ladyslippers

Pink Pickable Ladyslippers
This one is from The Big Lake Poems anthology. The Lake Michigan dunes flora decorated my growing up and has inspired these poems. This one is about lady slippers, childhood and big life choices.


i wasn't to pick the lady slippers
that much was clear
but they are so pickable and plus i WANT to
i whined to grampa

as we walked to Lake Michigan
through the woods of the backdune
where their precious lady slipper
grew just to taunt me

let them grow he said
if you pick them, no one else can enjoy them
i didn't see that as my problem
there was no one around to see them anyway

Besides he said they are protected
its illegal to pick the lady slipper.
illegal, humph i scuffed my feet and scoffed
(not really seeing that as my problem either)

pick up your feet, you'll ruin your shoes
he smiled over his shoulder 
to where I lagging and still slightly scuffing 
Also if you pick the lady slippers, they can't grow.

he had me there
other people not seeing flowers
did not in the least bother 
a selfish four year old girl

going to jail for picking a flower
did worry me a bit
not about breaking laws
only whether i could bring my toys

but to be responsible for the murder of flower?
now that was troubling
if i should pick her
she would wither and die

her pretty pink blossoms shaped like fairy pointe shoes?
little flowers that never hurt anyone 
whose sole job was to make the forest nice
i decided to leave the lady slipper to her work and announced this to grampa

grampa in his plaid flannel coat
took his less-selfish little girl's hand
in his big printers ink stained one
and we walked home, we two, content in our company

The Grama-Grampa House Smell: Fresh-wind Lake-green Pine-time


Fresh-Wind Lake-Green Pine-Time
More from the Big Lake Poems anthology. I wish that I could make you smell the way my grandparents' house near Lake Michigan smelled. Or that I could smell it again. Maybe this poem will help.

The grama-grampa house
was not on Lake Michigan
but you could smell the big lake 
in their house


as the crow flies grampa and I could walk
to the big lake and we did
at least once a week every week
of my life since birth give or take

except when we moved to Alaska
or during my years in college
until I moved away
but i came back and walked with him

he took my kids for walks to the beach
our oldest three that is
he wasn't getting around too well
when the youngest came

the lake inhabited the grama-grampa house 
in scents of sand and wind
wood and rain
and an indefinable fragrance signature of Lake Michigan alone

I smelt it first and best
coming upstairs third step from the top
of the cool yellow speckle- tile basement
where I was sent to fetch canned cherries

from the cedar wood pantry
that grampa built for grandma
for a dessert called
Cherries in the Snow.

we saved some things
from the grama grampa house
in a box sealed tight
to preserve the wind-fresh lake-green pine-time smell

for awhile if you sniffed soul-deep
there was a whiff of it
wind-fresh lake-green pine time
but now its all gone

i can evoke scent-memory a little
with feel-think smell- remembering
i can conjure up the grama-grampa house
but only a little and its fading fast



Big Lake Poems: Trillium and Pine


I'm creating a volume of poetry that I call 'The Big Lake Anthology' about my life and memories growing up near Lake Michigan, or The Big Lake as we called it. This one 'Trillium and Pine' is centered around a white tri-petaled flower, also known as grandiflorum, native to Michigan's old-growth forests and protected by the DNR. This early spring blossom is welcomed every year with a festival in my home town. Some trillium are red and so my poem reflects those species in metaphor. It also celebrates the short lives of my two infant daughters, deceased at birth, Mary Therese and Isobella Raine Sachteleben.

warm wine glow
tranquility flow
trillium and pine
rhythm and rhyme

good with the bad
happy I've had
time upon thyme
trillium white wine

from flower bower 
then turns the hour
up a steep hill
some remain still

some things to grow
some to let go
rest in the vale
tell of the tale

sad winter time
crusted in tear-salt rime
gall bitter vine
blood red wine

mem'ry is song
singing along
verse and refrain
of lyric-ripe pain

sing to the dark
cling to the mark
libate the night
drink to the light

feel the days go
rain and then snow
fresh summer wine
rosemary and time

the trillium still bloom
in deep new-spring gloom
white as a maid
born in the shade

pine stands true
ever green-blue
withstanding the pain
shining the in the rain

warm autumn wine
golden twilight, thine
now is the time
for reason and rhyme
trillium and pine.


Big Lake Poems: Lily- Laced Walks


Lily-of-the-Valley grew along Grandpa's walk
Tiny white bell-blossoms with breath of heaven scent.
He pruned the yard but let the lilies engulf the path.
Sometimes you had to skirt them and walk on the grass.

Grandma had Lily-of the Valley in her wedding bouquet.
It cost twelve dollars for a dozen in 1935.
It was the Great Depression and that was a fortune
but she wanted them so he got them.

I have an old photo of her at the altar
It's a black and white, painted on the back for color.
they did things like that back then
She's holding the lovely lilies and she is lovelier 

I guess lily-of-the valley are weeds
I didn't know that. He told me so, my husband
They grew in the motor-oil soil of the alley behind his growing up house.
Some even snuck under the chain link fence and his mother would root them out.
 
I grew up with stories of
dollar a piece lilies in bridal bouquets.
I thought everyone felt that way about them. 
these wee white wedding bells

 There are ancient lily-of the-valley
 lining the crumbling walks of our now house
 Planted when the city was just a stop
 on the interurban to Grand Rapids.

Someone talked of digging them up when we moved in
"you won't want them, we feel sure"
I protested, let them grow and he agreed
One woman's weed is another's wedding bower


It's 20 years now.
Grandpa's lily laced walks 
have new people living within them
I dream I'm back there every night

The lily bride and her slender-pale groom
have been in their graves for nearly the same
their lives long and full
but no less painful the passing for the length of sojourn

My groom gathers our lilies in spring
and puts them in a vase 
that my grandmother gave me
how we miss those silly romantics who wasted two weeks pay on weeds



Halloween Haiku: Mind's Eye Halloween


Mind's Eye Halloween
Halloween Haiku; Haiku is the perfect poetry form for Halloween, Harvest, Autumn and fall. Haiku encompasses nature in little seed morsels. The rigor of writing in only 17 syllables makes the poet very choosy about her words. You will be seeing more Halloween Haiku from myself and other writers at Associated Content. And why not ask guests at your Halloween bash to jot down Haikus? Fun and creative party game.
Read on...

Twitter for Article Page Views


Twitter and Associated Content: Tweeting for Friends, Fun and Page Views
Twitter. Isn't that a cute name for a social website? Several friends who are new to the world of online social sites have asked me, 'just what is Twitter, anyway? Twitter. Is it like Facebook?' And I reply, 'yes and no'.
Read on and tweet!

Halloween Haiku: Craving


Craving: A Vampiric Halloween Haiku
A Halloween haiku for vampire fans.Brought to The Writer's Garden by Associated Content contributor Gabriel Gadfly
Click to read if you dare...

Autumn Flora and Fauna: Squirrels and Pumpkin Seeds


St. Spermophilus and the Pumpkin Seeds
Squirrels. Garden Militia. The backyard telegraph. Plant paparazzi. Weighing in at 1.5 pounds, one squirrel in pursuit of nest material is a whirling dervish. A regiment makes yard look like the epicenter of a hurricane.
Read on...

Halloween Haiku: Black Cat Moondance


Black Cat Moondance: A Halloween Haiku
This delightful haiku is just in time for Halloween, featuring black cats and a special witch's brew!Brought to The Writer's Garden from Lyn McCallister @ Associated Content.
Read on...

Halloween Haiku: Masquerade


Halloween Haiku Masquerade
Trick or treat haiku. Halloween candy in an eerie minor key, by Associated Content contributor Sylvia Branch.
Read on...

Halloween Haiku: Haunts from Beyond


Haunts from Beyond
A scary Halloween haiku, this one comes to us from Jennifer Amlie of Associated Content.
Read on if you dare...

Halloween Haiku: Trick-or-Treat Fun

Halloween Night: A Haiku Contest Entry
Halloween Night: A Haiku Contest Entry
Halloween Haiku fun from AC Kay Wittenhauer; read on...

Halloween Haiku: Candy Corn Smiles


Halloween Haiku - Candy Corn Smiles
Halloween means ghouls and goblins, scarecrows and pumpkins and of course, the traditional favorite - candy corn. This little Halloween Haiku captures it all. Shared courtesy of Marie-Anne St.Jean at Associated Content
Click here to read...

How to Get Readers, Subscribers and Page Views


How to Get Other Contributors to Read Your Articles, Favorite You and Subscribe to Your Work
There are some misconceptions about how to get other Associated Content contributors to read your articles, favorite you and subscribe to your work. Based on what I've learned, I'm going to attempt to set the record straight.
Read more...

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