[stylist] Poem

Thu Aug 13 15:03:04 UTC 2015

Lynda, 
Yours is another gem of wisdom about "old" and dynamic change.
Most of my good friends are about 15 years younger, and some are fifty years
younger. They run the gambit of like-minded in terms of religion and
politics, to directly the opposite. But the underlying quality is that we
have respected these differences, kept the door of friendship open and
welcoming and have either been honest and argumentative with a hug at the
end, or have said we will not discuss certain issues, and retain a
comfortable silence knowing our red lights are respected. 
I have been changed by these people and energized to always look at opposing
sides of everything.
If I cannot retain anger or extreme caring about something, I write a poem
about it. In these later years, I just hope that my sometimes outspokenness
will be forgiven.

Jackie Lee

Time is the school in which we learn.
Time is the fire in which we burn.
Delmore Schwartz	 

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda Lambert
via stylist
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2015 5:53 AM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List
Cc: Lynda Lambert
Subject: Re: [stylist] Poem

Debby, this made me laugh.
I imagine you mean that "Old Lady" is a  metaphor for  a state of mind, and 
I guess we could say "old man" as well.  But I think "old"  might mean 
"frozen" or "suspended."
Maybe it is a person who has failed to be excited about life and at some 
point quit learning. I met a number of young students who were already "old 
ladies" and they were both male and female.  Something seems to have 
happened in their lives that caused them to stop being excited and pushing 
on to make new discoveries.  I noticed their  intellectual and emotional 
growth had stalled  a long time before they ever entered college.  They 
somehow never discovered that all of life is in the process of changing 
constantly  and by the time they were out of high school, they were already 
people who  would remain  unchangeable  for the rest of their years.  Being 
static is frightening and I cannot imagine how painful it must be to live 
with that choice.

I'll be having lunch next week with some of my colleagues from the English 
department, and we will be talking non-stop with excitement about what is 
happening and changing in our lives, our travels, students, and anything 
else that may come up. We will be laughing continuously because it is such a

joyful time together with other people who are interested in  "now."

The age range among us is wide, but we  all  embrace  "edgy"  and "ground 
breaking"  in music, art, literature,  philosophy - but it is tempered with 
a deep understanding of the  past - and discovering the pathways that led us

to where we are right now, and how we might progress from this moment 
forward. We will be learning and changing for our entire life.

You reminded me of traditional hymns. My mother was a singer and when I hear

those songs, I hear her voice once again. Her entire life was centered in 
music from the time she was born into her musical family.  Those are often 
the kinds of songs I hear in my mind on many mornings when I walk my dogs at

dawn - everything is still and few homes show any activity yet, even their 
dogs are not yet outside.  Some days I seem to be surrounded with songs and 
memories of music. What a way to begin my day!  I hope your day is 
fantastic! Lynda

Lynda

-----Original Message----- 
From: Debby Phillips via stylist
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 9:55 PM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List
Cc: Debby Phillips
Subject: Re: [stylist] Poem

I agree with you.  Poetry isn't really my thing, though I do like
Robert Frost, and some others, but I'm more into stories, novels,
and nonfiction if it's something I'm interested in.  It's like
music.  I may be stuck in an era, but I just don't like much of
the music now, or from the 90's, is so loud, shrill, just ugly to
me.  The music in the 60's and 70's is what I grew up with, and
some of the soft rock from the 80's.  It's also interesting to me
that as a young person growing up, I did not like symphony or any
kind of classical music.  Now, I really enjoy it, though I don't
know whether I know Mozart from Chopin.  I just like it, it
soothes me, as well as Gregorian chant, and other choir music, as
well as old hymns, like "Rock of Ages" and "Great Is Thy
Faithfulness".  Wow, ow sound like an old lady.  (Smile).
Debby

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