One of Those Nights

One of Those Nights

by Scott Vannatter

9/13/2019

So very much happens, sleeps eludes,but remains close.

One of those nights.

Darkness spills through the filmy shades of the room

Filling it with the fragrance of night and things dark and beautiful.

_

I sit listening to David, telling of his love for a woman, in song.

One of those nights.

My own thoughts pour forth, silent and sweet,

Forming images of those I have loved in the before.

–

This starts the cycle again, past to present.

One of those nights.

The story, the saga of all the life I dropped into caring.

Putting myself, all I could bring up, into the desires filling me.

–

Those desires don’t rage anymore, simply take over, spilling.

One of those nights.

Sleep will come; it always does, well, mostly.

Resting once more, the morning brilliance overshadowing…

–

One of those nights…one of these days.

-Scott L Vannater 9/13/2019

Flash Friday – Friendship – Saying Goodbye PG13

Rebekah Postupak hosts Flash Friday, 140-160 word stories based on a word (Friendship) and a photo prompt (Below).   After reading my story following the picture, please click > HERE < for the rest of the entries.  Enjoy!!!

Source: “Rose Biodo, Philadelphia, 10 years old. Working 3 summers, minds baby and carries berries, two pecks at a time.” Photo by Lewis Hine, National Archives public domain. Share this:

I remember it as if it were yesterday.  The beautiful ten-year-old girl, Rose (Rosalina to me), marching her berries (always two pecks at a time) up for payment.  This being done on the hot sand (barefooted, of course), in a dress and kerchief, all the while making sure the little one, Saliette, was well.

We grew together, my immigrant background and book-hungry thirst for knowledge always at odds with each other during picking season, and fell madly in love.  This love surviving the bone-breaking stress of never knowing at the end of a field when we would see each other again.  But, a soul kiss, given at eight, kept our hearts and minds pure.  I do wish my body had done the same.

Now, two marriages and five children later, I have traveled six states, in a car of my own at last, to see my Rosalina.

I put my withering hand on hers, at least it was an open casket, and cry.

___________________________________

Namaste,

Scott

All We Need

This turned out to be rather simplistic for a poem. I would apologize for the almost child-like verse, but I was feeling very melancholy and this is what came out. -Scott

All We Need
by Scott L Vannatter
11/2/12

I walk down the path
The pebbles hurt my feet
But they don’t incite my wrath
Like a lot of people that I meet

My heart is often weary
Of the lives of those I see
Who are so dark and dreary
And who may look down on me

I pray for those with troubles
And whose life is in need of light
They cringe inside their bubbles
Full of fear and full of fright

The answer is here and above
They need to just reach out
Let others know they need love
They can whisper or can shout

We all aren’t so varied
We’re mostly all the same
We need sometimes to be carried
And hear someone call our name

And so I’d like to hold you
Like shoes tied up with lace
Perhaps all we need are we two
To kiss and to embrace

Focusing in

This morning will be short. It is 6:50am and Mom, Sis, and I leave to help transport Dad to another hospital for this morning.He is having a port put in his jugular for dialysis.

Our prayers are that the dialysis is not necessary. Our hopes are simply that he lives.

Isn’t it interesting how your lives can become so pivotal on just one point for a period of time? All our efforts; all our cares; hopes; dreams; all become nothing for a bit when we are focused, especially on those we love.

In a sense, God has given us such a joy and such a power to be able to block out all for even a time to focus on the here and now and understand how much this physical life means to us and how we know He is truly in charge.

I think that’s it for today. Today, I didn’t want to leave you all alone out there, but I am tired and have so much to do.
Namaste,
Scott

A Little Bit of Encouragement

I had a student once, sent to me because of different difficulties.He worked in my class (not always something that was done) and tried very hard. When grades came out, he approached my desk.

“Mr. V? I wanted to thank you for the A+.”

I looked at him. “Don’t thank me. You earned it.”

He smiled, but still looked shook. “No one’s ever given me an A+.” And out he walked, out of my special needs classroom, back to the regular school, and I never saw him again.

He was “fixed”. He made it. That one little A+ was all he had needed to boost his confidence high enough to handle what life was throwing him. I truly didn’t give it to him; he earned it. I suppose it may have been the way I looked at his work. I always tended to try to think like the student when I graded papers, especially subjective ones.

I know there are teachers and administrators who disagreed and still do with that approach. Theirs is a “they must fight for everything; don’t give an inch” approach to grades. Somehow, we’ve  lost, I think, our ability to see past our noses and notice what the person really needs in order to succeed.

Snow White did not need someone to tell her to face up to the Wicked Stepmother and fight tooth and nail for what she stood for. What she really needed was a good friend (and she had seven), who merely loved her and helped when things got really tough. But did they fight and yell? No, they simply cared about their friend and because of their care, they put her in a glass casket and the prince found her.

Just think what it would have been like if the dwarves had simply dug a hole under a tree, dropped her in a wooden coffin, and buried it.

I think we really have to look at what a person needs (pray about it, if that works for you) and do that for them instead of giving them a hard way to go all the time.

Love is, truly, the answer.
Namaste,
Scott