ROCK AND ROLL

Sandstone giants creep downhill

Imperceptibly at will

Littering the valley floor,

Weighing half-a-ton or more.

Monsters float with silent grace,

Falling from their lofty place.

Would not wish to be on hand

When goliaths finally land.

Marie Elena

Photo by Marie Elena Good

Note:  This is a true phenomenon in Conkle’s Hollow Nature Preserve of the Hocking Hills of Ohio.  Sandstone rocks, weighing in the tons, detach from the bedrock wall of 200-feet, and slide absolutely imperceptibly downhill to the floor of the gorge.  The rock in the photo above is one such “Slump block.”

ANGELS' LULLABY

Angels sing me lullabies

Softly lilting voices rise

Wafting gently through the air

Carrying an earnest prayer:

“Dream of Jesus, little one

He who hung the moon and sun

Cradles you all through the night

Safely snug ‘til morning light.

Safely snug ‘til morning light.”

(My father [Sophie's Great Grandfather] wrote an original tune for this lullaby.   It may also be sung to the tune of Mary Poppins’ “Stay Awake.”)

Marie Elena (Nonna Marie)

Photo by Marie Elena Good

PRINTS (Sophie's Sonnet)

A woman knows instinctively, it seems,

Which moments will leave prints upon her soul.

Her future life weaves fabric through her dreams

And writes upon her heart, as though a scroll.

A woman thinks she knows what to expect

From pioneering moments in her world -

Anticipation of events’ effects,

And how her heart will feel as they’re unfurled.

Yet, there was I, as wholly unprepared

As if I’d never given you a thought.

My heart and hub were all-at-once ensnared –

I would convey in words, yet I cannot.

Sophia Rose: a gift from God above –

New life. New breath. New gift. New print. New love.

Marie Elena (Nonna Marie)
 

Photo by Marie Elena Good