[stylist] The Angel Lady poem

[Barbara HAMMEL]

For one thing, the rhyme and meter of this poem sing to my heart. I also like that this is a story. 

Barbara Hammel

> On Dec 22, 2015, at 09:40, Jennifer Applegate via stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Bob Lazzar-atwood The Angel Lady
> 
> She was called the Angel Lady for the ornaments she made,
> 
> She carved them out of scraps of fir and pine,
> 
> They echoed a belief she held from which she never strayed,
> 
> That angels are around us all the time.
> 
> 
> 
> She first received her calling with a heart consumed by grief,
> 
> The year her loving husband passed away,
> 
> She found that carving offered her a measure of relief
> 
> And it brought a sense of purpose to her day. 
> 
> 
> 
> And then when Christmas came with all the memories it brings,
> 
> And clouds of sadness fell upon her heart,
> 
> She carved her husband's likeness with a pair of angel wings,
> 
> And magically the clouds began to part. 
> 
> 
> 
> She fixed it with a piece of string and hung it on the tree,
> 
> He always loved the smell of fresh cut fir,
> 
> And when she sat beside the tree to carve a bit or read,
> 
> She felt his loving presence close to her.
> 
> 
> 
> When others saw the ornament, her neighbors and her friends,
> 
> They marveled at how lifelike it appeared,
> 
> They begged her to consider carving ornaments for them
> 
> Of loved ones they had lost throughout the years.
> 
> 
> 
> And so her mission started and her reputation spread,
> 
> As orders came from cities far and (wide),
> 
> From (people) who were seeking some remembrance of their dead,
> 
> And comfort from the pain they felt inside.
> 
> 
> 
> The children were the hardest and it often made her weep,
> 
> To carve their childish features in the pine,
> 
> But late at night a voice would reassure her in her sleep 
> 
> That angels were around them all the time.
> 
> 
> 
> And one day she received a special letter in her box
> 
> From a boy whose family dog had passed away,
> 
> She thought about it briefly and then asked herself "why not?" 
> 
> And she started carving pets that very (day). (NDND rhyme)
> 
> 
> 
> For twenty years she carved until her hands were old and tired
> 
> And all her youthful energy was (gone),
> 
> But her belief in angels always made her feel inspired
> 
> And helped her find the strength to carry on.
> 
> 
> 
> And then one Christmas day a neighbor found her in her chair,
> 
> Her heart no longer sounding its commands,
> 
> With shavings all around her, in her clothing and her hair,
> 
> Her carving blade still nestled in her hand.
> 
> 
> 
> And as the medics came and slowly wheeled her to the door,
> 
> Her grieving friends were too distraught to see,
> 
> The photograph that (rested right beside her on the floor
> 
> Or the (newest little) angel (describes angel) on the tree. (SGSG rhyme)
> 
> 
> 
> It hung there by her husbands like two birds upon a limb, 
> 
> A (woman) carved in (wood) (still) (wet with) stain,
> 
> Her head was turned and she was smiling lovingly at him, 
> 
> And he was looking back at her the same.
> 
> 
> 
> Like all the other angels she had carved throughout her days,
> 
> The image was so real it chilled the spine,
> 
> And engraved upon the bottom was this very simple phrase,
> 
> "Angels are around us all the time."
> 
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