Celebrate "National Poem in Your Pocket Day"

Fernando Pessoa
Art Credit: Gary Lachman

Today is National Poem in Your Pocket Day and I think it deserves a shout out to all. Originating in New York City in 2002 and becoming a national event in 2009, it provides an opportunity to celebrate poetry of all types. 

If one looks at the banner of my blog, the subject of useful poetry is included. Poetry serves. It gives a voice to emotions, history, and the nature of people and the universe. A poem can tell stories and anecdotes that are often timeless in message. I’ve shared some poetry over the past year on this blog, showing how poems I deem useful for me have been woven into the strength of my personal fiber. 

The poem in my pocket today is by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935). Like many great artists, his literary genius went largely unrecognized until after his death. The Los Angeles Times once called him “the greatest twentieth century writer you have never heard of.”

A wonderful friend once told me that my purpose in life was “Spreading the Gospel of Good Music and Poetry.” In that spirit, here is an untitled poem by Fernando Pessoa, my “newest favorite poet” introduced to me this spring by a Portuguese friend who shares my passion of poetry.

Don’t try to build in the space you suppose

Is future, Lydia, and don’t promise yourself

Tomorrow. Quit hoping and be who you are

Today. You alone are your life.

Don’t plot your destiny, for you are not future.

Between the cup you empty and the same cup

Refilled, who knows whether your fortune

Won’t interpose the abyss?

From “A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe: Selected Poems,” by Fernando Pessoa

What poem will you put in your pocket today? Please let me know!

Want More Bird's Nests?

Wild Bird Nesting Fiber

100% Natural Alpaca

This Sunday morning, I found four bird nests in my back yard, erasing any guilt (that I didn’t have) for not joining my family in church. Three hummingbird nests, all with eggs, are buried in foliage along my fence. The robin’s nest, high up in a tree, is a hopping little home right now. I’ve spotted at least three baby beaks reaching for food and an attentive mama bird. She sat on the nest for a couple of hours early morning warming her babies in the cool air and wind. Later, she was off gathering food. The first time back she wasn’t suspecting me and I was able to catch a couple of images of her feeding the young. I tried for a better photo and she flew off instantly. I’m done Mama Robin, please return to your previously scheduled program.

The four nests have something in common: strands of alpaca wool are woven in each nest thanks to an alpaca bird nesting ball I put out in late February. It was purchased at McAdams Ltd. in Columbia, Mo. ($9) but the website for the small, mid-Missouri business, Alpacas d'Auxvasse, sells the ball for $10.50, shipping included. The Wild Bird Nesting Fiber is ready to hang in a tree after pulling bits of the Alpaca through the netting.

It’s a great addition to a back yard and also a worthy gift idea for a very reasonable price. The company’s website, www.alpacasauxvasse.com, explains:

"Alpacas d'Auxvasse is a small farm just east of Auxvasse, MO. Breeding Suri and Huacaya Alpacas for quality fiber and conformation is not enough. Focusing on raising healthy, happy, FRIENDLY alpacas, is a priority. I don't want to watch my animals from afar - I want to be a welcome part of their lives.I raise my animals to have as beautiful a disposition as they do fiber and conformation."

My Note: Keep alpaca balls from the reach of dogs lest potential destruction.

Robin Feeding Baby
(Click image to see detail.)

Hummingbird Nest

The Power of "Mercy Now," by Mary Gauthier

Jim Rogers (1976-2010), Ann Rogers, David Rogers (1941-2005)
Memorial Day Weekend 2005, Columbia, Mo.

The song “Mercy Now” from the uber-talented Mary Gauthier’s (pronounced “Go-shay”) 2005 album by the same title serves as a singable diary of the past half decade of my life. 

Whether a poignant song, sermon, poem, or book--when the message conveyed feels like it was created just for me, it is a forever gift. Through these years, the lyrics to “Mercy Me” have brought tears, smiles, and insight. Good art serves. It’s useful. And it’s a very personal thing. Below, I use all the lyrics to "Mercy Now" to create a small picture essay of loss and love and, finally, hope.

My father could use a little mercy now

The fruits of his labor fall and rot slowly on the ground

His work is almost over it won't be long, he won't be around

I love my father, he could use some mercy now

Dad Helping Annie Create Art in Fifth Grade

My brother could use a little mercy now

He's a stranger to freedom, he's shackled to his fear and his doubt

The pain that he lives in it's almost more than living will allow

I love my brother, he could use some mercy now

Jim and his oldest sister, Mary Rogers Gordon, celebrate
his long-anticipated college graduation in December 2009.

My church and my country could use a little mercy now

As they sink into a poisoned pit it's going to take forever to climb out

They carry the weight of the faithful who follow them down

I love my church and country, they could use some mercy now

First Christian Church, Columbia, Mo.
A Home Away From Home

Every living thing could use a little mercy now

Only the hand of grace can end the race towards another mushroom cloud

People in power, they'll do anything to keep their crown

I love life and life itself could use some mercy now

An Accidental Trap
Mom and I quickly granted mercy to little Rocky, setting him
free and watching him scamper through the pasture.

Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now

I know we don't deserve it but we need it anyhow

We hang in the balance dangle 'tween hell and hallowed ground

And every single one of us could use some mercy now

Every single one of us could use some mercy now

Every single one of us could use some mercy now

Finally, here is an opportunity to hear Mary sing these beautiful lyrics with her spectacular voice. I know, you know, we all know--we could use some Mercy Now.

“The Missouri Waltz”

45 rpm of the "Missouri Waltz" and "Old Missouri"

My Missouri roots run deep, at least seven generations, and when I bleed, my blood is black and gold. The 45 rpm of the “Missouri Waltz” pictured above spun on my childhood turntable while I tried to learn the lyrics to keep up with my Daddy at University of Missouri football and basketball games. He knew every word to each song and cheer; too bad his off-key voice turned heads as he shamelessly sung loud and proud at every Tiger game. As Daddy became Dad, I grew to adore that enthusiastic, but musically flat voice that I inherited from him. If I close my eyes and imagine, I can hear him serenading me from above.

An endearing tradition at Tiger games is the playing and singing of the “Missouri Waltz”. Marching (or Mini) Mizzou strikes the chord late in the game but before the end--fourth quarter in football and five minutes left in basketball. The band has created its own take of the ballad that incorporates a marching beat at 3/4 time. With a few opening notes, the fans rise to their feet to “do” the Waltz. As the song plays, people sing (or hum) and sway in rhythm from side to side with their arms high in the air before the band breaks into a clapping tone that leads into the beloved “Hooray, Hurrah, Mizzou, Mizzou, a Bully for Mizzou” cheer. It brings a smile to my face each and every game.

"The Missouri Waltz," January 2012

NCAA Basketball Prediction:

Mizzou WALTZES to the Championship!

For many years, I thought the “Missouri Waltz” was simply a Tiger thing. I can’t remember when I learned that it was the official state song of Missouri (adopted 1949). The song, performed in a spectrum of styles, has been covered by the likes of Eddy Arnold and Johnny Cash among others. It was also the theme song for Winter’s Bone (2010), the chilling movie set in southern Missouri.

Since the 1940s there have been many commercial recordings of the song from radio crooners like Perry Como and Guy Lombardo to country stars like Johnny Cash, Gene Autry, and Eddy Arnold. Ultimately, the song has become what a Missouri music historian called a “country rag waltz,” an apt description of Johnny Cash’s take on this piece of Missouri history.

Hush-a-bye, ma baby, slumbertime is comin' soon;

Rest yo' head upon my breast while Mommy hums a tune;

The sandman is callin' where shadows are fallin',

While the soft breezes sigh as in days long gone by.

Way down in Missouri where I heard this melody,

When I was a little child upon my Mommy's knee;

The old folks were hummin'; their banjos were strummin';

So sweet and low.

Strum, strum, strum, strum, strum,

Seems I hear those banjos playin' once again,

Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum,

That same old plaintive strain.

Hear that mournful melody,

It just haunts you the whole day long,

And you wander in dreams back to Dixie, it seems,

When you hear that old time song.

Hush-a-bye ma baby, go to sleep on Mommy's knee,

Journey back to Dixieland in dreams again with me;

It seems like your Mommy is there once again,

And the old folks were strummin' that same old refrain.

Way down in Missouri where I learned this lullaby,

When the stars were blinkin' and the moon was climbin' high,

Seems I hear voices low, as in days long ago,

Singin' hush-a-bye.

Historic Neon Signs in Columbia, Mo.

International Order of Odd Fellows Sign, Columbia, Mo.

With all the spring strolling weather in Columbia this week, I’ve covered many miles downtown on foot. On Monday, while shooting some pictures for a free-lance photography assignment, I found myself drawn to old neon signs in the downtown area. Here are several pictures and the information I discovered when I popped my head in the businesses with a few questions. 

The International Order of the Odd Fellows Sign (southwest corner of 10th and Walnut) features the letters IOOF. Since the building is home to a local insurance company and the acronym was unknown to me, I had often wondered about this sign. The friendly staff at the insurance company told me that it was the Odd Fellows sign and the organization owns the building. The sign, made of porcelain, is currently being restored by the original company who built it. Upon completion, the sign will be lit for the first time in 40 years.

D&M Sound Sign, Columbia, Mo.

D&M Sound, a fixture in the high fidelity business in downtown Columbia for 40 years, sign has an interesting history. D&M’s owner Anne Kelly Moore’s father owned Kelly Press. When she moved her business from Broadway to its current location at the corner of 8th and Locust twenty years ago after a devastating downtown fire, she used a 1950s Kelly Press sign to craft a new D&M sign. According to Anne: “It was very carefully restored then and painted with our logo. When we took it down for maintenance again a few years ago (about 2006) and Jim McCarter from Creative Neon did even more restoration and added the neon.” Anne notes that since the sign does not conform with the present ordinance, though it is grandfathered by the city, she is careful when taking the sign down for maintenance.

The Tiger Hotel Sign, Columbia, Mo.

The Tiger Hotel’s neon, gracing the Columbia skyline, can be seen for miles and often is used as a reference point to out-of-town visitors and locals alike. After 42 years of darkness, the sign was restored and relit in 2004. 

I’ve been building a photograph collection of iconic Columbia, Mo. signs and soon realized that what may appear ordinary today could be iconic ten or fifty years from now. The signs tell a story of time and place (and often fond memories) and once they are gone, the image likely disappears from the mind. Accordingly, I also snapped a couple of shots that day of two longtime downtown fixtures whose signs will soon disappear from the scene: The Regency Hotel and Cool Stuff. 

February Survival Kit

I dread February, the longest shortest month of the year. Armed with a survival kit this year, the month isn’t just tolerable but often rather lovely. My reward: a February 29th this year!

Smacking the Little Yellow Ball

Lots of Sunshine
Photo Credit: Whit Chandler

Reads Worth Reading

Mizzou's Spectacular Basketball Season

The Complexity and Simplicity of Bluegrass Music

Writing in the Sunroom

The Love Of and From Family and Friends
(& Dogs and Cat)

Blizzard in Columbia, Mo., Feb. 1, 2011

Ann "Annie" Rogers Heading Down Providence Road, 2-1-2011

The University of Missouri, Stephens College, Columbia College, and the City of Columbia shut down in the wee hours of February 1 in anticipation of a record-breaking blizzard to hit Boone County. Say what? The University closes the entire campus due to weather only several times a century. It just doesn’t happen.

When I woke up on February 1 it was blustery and very cold but little snow. I wondered to myself if it would be another prediction that failed to pan out; regardless, the thrill of an adult snow day ignited the Peter Pan in me. By 11 a.m. the snow was falling at a rate of about 2 inches an hour and the winds picked up--blustery turned to plain wicked. 

Noon, February 1, 2011.

I realized then it was Now or Never for me to commune with this storm. The window of opportunity dwindled by the minute.

Providence Road was an open playground.

The night before, I carefully waxed my two sets of cross country skis. Ready for action, I bundled, tested each set of skis on my driveway, and set off for Providence Road in downtown Columbia. Mind you, this is one of the busiest streets in town, often with logjam traffic. With the road almost entirely to myself I embraced the snow, the wind, the forces of nature, and my penchant for adventure. Locals will understand my route: I skied from the intersection of Providence and Burnam down to Taco Bell and then turned around to climb back home on skis. 

No heart attack. I’m very fit but this was the most demanding workout in the past decade--maybe ever. Back home, when I took off my Gortex shell everything underneath was soaked. After ringing out my clothes and hair, I joined the rest of Columbia with a cup of hot chocolate and stared out my picture windows in awe.

The Blizzard of 2011 proved to be the real deal, dumping almost 20 inches of snow while bringing wind gusts over 40 mph. The fact that Interstate 70 closed from St. Louis to Kansas City for almost 24 hours meant little when getting out of a driveway or neighborhood was almost impossible for a few days.

Note: February 1, 2012, brings sunshine and a high temperature of almost 60 degrees.

Hartley Rogers, February 3, 2012, Clearing My Driveway
Hartley drove his Kubota to help dig out Columbia. This
was his day on the "playground."