Writers Corner for June 24, 2011
Share your original verse and prose.
Send your Writers Corner submissions to Maureen Dolan, mdolan@cdapress.com.
We prefer e-mail submissions, and we ask that you limit the length of your stories and poems. Please include your hometown with your submission.
You can send hard-copies by mail to Maureen Dolan at The Press, 201 Second St., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, 83814.
And now, we present more poems, stories and essays written by you, our readers.
•••
OH! I'M SO GLAD
Oh! I'm so glad I know myself
And know why I feel as I do;
I've taken my mind down off the shelf,
And I believe it's as good as new.
In the process, as I write,
I trade old moods in for new;
But oh! I've wasted so many years,
I may be done before I'm through.
- Roberta L.T. Davison
Hasten slowly, time;
Let happiness wing to me quickly,
Settle softly, and linger long,
Oblivious of time.
Let the early morning bells
Ring for education, progress, and industry,
But for the filament of the heart
Hasten slowly, time.
- Roberta L.T. Davison
Editor's note: Roberta tells us she is 91 and one-half years old. She has 12 hobbies, and writing is one of them. She claims she was born to dance, but had to give it up at 90. Now she "stances," which Roberta explains is a dance "without the footwork."
•••
NORTH IDAHO SPRING
Stark white, dull gray, and muddy brown
In these colors, we all drown
All winter long, and into spring
Oh how we wait for birds to sing!
To see the green and luscious grass
And for this rain to finally pass
To see the children on the lawn
Oh, let these dreary days be gone!
So here we wait, and hope, and pray
That maybe there will come a day
In May, June, or July perhaps
When finally spring, has sprung at last.
- Will Dole, Plummer
•••
TIME WITH THE DAI TEACHERS IN JINGHONG CHINA
Teaching English to the Dai teachers that teach in the outlying village schools near the Vietnam border was a challenge, and a heartwarming experience for me.
The Dai people live in compact communities in the southwest frontier of China in the Yunnan Province. The beauty of the subtropical natural scene is enhanced by exquisite bamboo houses, and charming Dai women in their colorful clothes.
My students asked me to go with them for lunch, as they would like to introduce me to their food. I accepted without hesitation, and I can't emphasize enough how delicious their food was to me. It was a gourmet delight.
Walking through a banana grove was new to me. It was very warm, a humid 95 degrees, and the rain was a light rain, but it never stopped so it was misty. The soil drains quickly so when the rain stops within the hour it does not look like it had rained at all. It is dark in a banana grove but the sun does find its way occasionally in various places.
It was a pleasant walk, and all of a sudden there was a bamboo grass-type open room with tables set up with a vase of flowers in the middle of each table. We sat on chairs made of bamboo. All the cooking was done in another open bamboo grass area close to our tables where a charcoal make shift stove was blazing with fervor as one dish after another was being served to us.
The staple food of the Dai people is rice. People in the Jinghong area also like to eat polished glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves. Rice cooked in bamboo tubes is a favorite for them and me too. Sour-taste food such as sauerkraut and bamboo root shreds was served on banana leaves. They made sauerkraut, by first boiling the vegetable, and had it dry in the sun. Then they added some sour papaya sauce on the vegetable and dried it again. Barbecued fish, shrimp and crab were served with vegetables, rice, noodles and in a broth. "Duosheng" is a traditional dish that is made by mixing minced raw meat with condiments like salt and hot pepper and was so delicious. We were served 28 tasty dishes of food during the meal. There were fourteen varieties of vegetables. My favorite vegetable was bamboo shoots. They were sliced like the width of matchsticks.
There were restrictions teaching in Jinghong, as the government does not allow any teachings of Jesus, God and Holy Spirit, unless the student asks you a direct question.
The students at first asked all about my family, and life in the U.S.A. The second day a young man asked me the story of the song, "Silent Night." This was my opportunity that he had provided for me. The fifth generation Franz Gruber, an accomplished violinist, was a classmate of mine in college. I not only told them the story, but I remembered two verses that I taught them to sing. They sang it in the morning, afternoon and in the evening.
One of the ladies two days later asked me my favorite song when I was a child.
This was another opportunity that HE provided as I told them how during the cotton picking time of the year my parents and I were traveling through Georgia to my Dad's next job, and as far as the eye could see and hear the black folks were singing "All Day All Night Angels Watching Over Me My Lord." The students loved this Negro spiritual song. We sang it every day in the classroom, and at their graduation ceremony along with "Silent Night."
What a lot of fun, and privilege to be a guest of my students, and share in their traditional food. Next time you go to lunch think of all the delicious food that is out there, and has not been discovered that is not only delicious, but also healthy. I can't thank the Dai teachers enough for having me as their guest in their restaurant in a banana grove. It was not just the food that was a gourmet's delight. What took place is that I am not only their teacher but also a friend, and a friend I shall be to them for life. Most important of all I was able to share these two songs that glorify HIM. I discovered a whole new world of food and friendship in a banana grove. Thank you Dai students.
- Joan Hust, Coeur d'Alene