Appalachia, On Leaving  

Only rain and streets of wet magnesium. 

These hundred panes are filled with

watered down yellow light. 

But the corners of the shop are webbed

with shadow.

There should be carriages and gas-lights here

but there is only a maroon and gold awning

out there across the street.

The tiny panes run with rain, blur the words,

whatever words

glisten up above that awning.

Plate glass windows and clothes behind.

Kresge's yellow-purple cotton housecoats,

old display cases, nineteen-forties styles,

and every looks so old.

My face, these shops, slip along grey-hound windows

lose their hold

and vanish.

Plans forgotten before the coffee's cold.

Promises I can't forget.

And you within your distance.

Tomorrow is waiting in a shipping crate,

one more highway, one more home.

I can't stop now.

So this time it's Miami, because there's no place left

I haven't been.

I take what was me in two-fisted filthy chunks

and wrench it out.

__________

The postcard above is a the actual view across the river less than a half mile down from my grandparents farm

My Grandparent's Farm, Appalachian Mountains of NE Pennsylvania

"Winter in Miami" 

My grandmother only goes to funerals.  

She will never see Florida 

but she has the world  

in her windows. 

In the morning the river is fog 

and the trees are lost.

Sunrise happens way up high.

It spills down the slopes,

and shines brighter than itself

in the imperfections of old glass.

There is shade all day until 

the sun gets lost in the hills again

and the light come on.

Forever is train noises and headlights

in the dark and every star in the universe

shining out across the fields.

I have been to Florida over and over

until I lost count.

Black seaweed, white sand,

the ocean is always itself.

The whole of humanity sits on towels

to watch it

stretch out of sight.

I wasn't ever there for that.

I was there for the dark days

and the rain.

Days when the wild things

cry out across the everglades

and the black-winged birds

come pouring in from the North

to wage war

upon the backlot dumpsters.

Days when the ocean churns its garbage out

onto cold beaches

and the tourists leave Miami

looking for other 

better places

where the weather is constant

and the sea 

stands still.

Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for our vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.  “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.  I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten...   - Joel 2:23-25

Thanks to my son Josh's tireless genealogical research, I  recently found out Saint Margaret of Scotland is my 20 something-ish great grandmother. So now I love genealogy again. Because, to me, the idea that I might have just a drop or two of the courage and faith of those who came before is very inspiring.

About Saint. Margaret of Scotland 

Saint Margaret of Scotland (Scots: Saint Magret, c. 1045 – 16 November 1093), also known as Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess, a descendent of St. Albert the Great, and a Scottish queen. After William the Conquer invaded Saxon English in 1066, she and her family fled north, Margaret married Malcolm III of Scotland by the end of 1070.

Like her grandfather King Alfred, Saint Margaret of Scotland was a devoted Christian who did many charitable works for the poor. She was known to fast often, possibly to the point that it affected her health.

St. Margaret’s kind-nature greatly influenced King Malcolm. She read to him from the Bible, softened his temper and helped him become a virtuous King. Together the couple prayed, fed the hungry, and were a wonderful example to their countrymen.

St. Margaret was the mother of three kings of Scotland, or four, if Edmund of Scotland (who ruled with his uncle, Donald III) is counted, and of a queen consort of England. She died at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1093, days after receiving the news of her husband’s death in battle.

In 1250, Pope Innocent IV canonized her, and her remains were re-interred in a shrine in Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland. She is the patron saint of Scotland. While I don’t think that Saint Margaret was necessarily given a lot of free choice in life, she allowed God to work through her in a way I truly admire.

____________________

The information for this article came from Catholic OnlineCatholic Online and Wikipedia.

 

St. Kateri Habitat Requirements   

Saint Kateri Habitats and Parks should provide at least three of the following elements, plus one religious expression, as follows:

• Food, water, cover, and space for people and wildlife. This includes vegetable gardens, flower and pollinator gardens, patio gardens, community-supported agriculture, forests, farms, rivers, lakes, grasslands, and healthful and safe workplaces.
• Native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers to promote biodiversity, such as milkweed and goldenrod for monarch butterflies. Some non-native plants are good and acceptable, as long as they are not invasive.
• Ecosystem services offered by gardens, wildlife habitats, and natural communities, such as pollination, clean air and water, carbon storage for climate regulation, and the control of invasive species. Religious faith arising from interactions with the “Book of Nature” is an important ecosystem service.
• Clean, renewable energy and sustainable practices for buildings and property, gardens, landscapes, and farms, such as solar arrays and minimizing the use of pesticides and using organic or no-phosphorus fertilizer. 
• Sacred and sacramental places for prayer and contemplation, such as Mary Gardens, prayer gardens, shrines, and rosary gardens. Any garden or habitat can be treated as sacramental by giving thanks to our Creator for his works and gifts.

In addition, at least one religious expression is required, which may include crosses, shrines, grottos, stations of the cross, Saint Kateri Habitat signs, or statues of Mary, an angel, or a saint, such as Saint Kateri or Saint Francis of Assisi. This religious expression reminds us that God – the Holy Spirit – is present and active in every corner of creation.

So as you can see I have my work cut out for me and am still struggling with my snake phobia.  But I feel called to this project and hope that more posts and pictures will follow. If you are so inclined please keep the Mary Garden in your prayers!