Vol. III Fall/Winter 

2008-2009   

Poetry written by Cheltenham Township Adult School Workshop Participants      

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Poems
in this issue
 

Linda Barrett

Ruth Deming

Jan Felgoise

Marion Fox

Angela Glover

Jan Goldman

Maxine Hobbs

Grace Lynch

Marvin Thall

 

Edited by Kristine Grow

For more information about
 writing workshops offered by
the Cheltenham Township Adult School, contact:

Cheltenham Township Adult School
1414 Panther Road
Wyncote, PA 19095
Phone: 215-887-1720

 

Marion Fox

Marion Fox, a retired city planner, has written extensive articles for academic journals. She now writes short stories, memoir and poetry. She belongs to a writer's gorup that has met for more than 20 years, listening to and critiquing each other's work. She lives in Wyncote.

                                     The Year of the Lifeboat

He and I are in a lifeboat.

The ocean's rolling, we mustn't tip over...

Yet when he jumps to his feet,

The boat rocks side to side

When I change my seating,

Put my hand to the water;

The bow pitches forward

Dangerously low.

 

Some days we struggle

Against currents, brace against waves,

How we support each other!

He holds me tight, I hold him.

Some days we hold our own selves.  .

"Take my oar?" I ask. He doesn't hear.

"Row for me?" He extends his arm

I don't see.

 

Once he said, "The boat must go my way  

We move as the spirit moves me.

Do we travel together? Or not?"

I remind him. "We don't know our destination.

Where we are headed

It could be north, south, east, west."

"Maybe I'd prefer the cove or the inlet

Maybe you'd prefer the bay."

 

The boat turns round.  Could storm be brewing?

"Look up, my sweet," he warns. "Dark skies.

Wet smell." He takes action. "Out of my way!

Grab the bucket, out the rainwater!

Notice what we accumulate here."

I protest his haste.

"We can wait a while, my darling . Do we see rain yet?

Could be we're in total fog. "

 

Now for the nostalgia ...

When we lived on land, dry land,

We climbed tall mountains side by side

Drove fast on the superhighway.

Walked through cities,

Mapping glittering destinations.

Inside huge crowds, separated.

Met at the coffee bar later on.

 

Looking down at the floor boards.

The leaky ooze threatens a freezing end.

Still we evoke possibilities

Couldn't we choose a different way? No oars?

A motor boat? A sunfish?

We could sit still. Watch the minnows. Hum a tune.

It may be a matter of blue waters

And not too many interruptions.

 

 

 

 

"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it."

Hannah Arendt 

 

Editor's note:
  At
this time, The Tookany Review is accepting only the work of writers who are enrolled or have been enrolled in Cheltenham Adult School writing workshops.

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