Stones of Help: My Ebenezers

By Jane Cocke Perdue

Stones of Help: My Ebenezers by Jane Cocke Perdue

Ebenezer: the Hebrew meaning is stone of help. It is referenced in the bible in 1 Samuel 7:12. Samuel, the prophet, placed a stone between Mizpah and Shen after a victory of the Israelites over the Philistines. This monument signified Gods help and an acknowledgment of Gods particular blessings.
All my life Gods help and blessings have been near and evident: revelations unfolded often retrospectively, observations unique to the present moment, hope intruding into the present, celebrations within the family and beyond, disappointments transformed by understanding, forgiveness of myself and others, and an indescribable grace presiding over each day. Here are collected poetic descriptions of some of those monumental stones of help, my ebenezers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477289419

Jane Cocke Perdue

Jane Cocke Perdue is a native of Asheville, North Carolina, but she has lived in many areas of the country as the spouse of a Presbyterian minister. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, retired high school teacher and writer. Previous collections of her poetry are entitled: Bones of My Garden, Stones of Help: My Ebenezers, and Paradise to Pentecost and Beyond. Her poetry has also been published in The San Antonio Express, The Williamson County Sun and a variety of Texas anthologies, including The Texas Poetry Calendar, Blue Hole, The Enigmatist, Inkwell Echoes, Voices along the River and Hill Country Poets.

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© 2012 by Jane Cocke Perdue. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/09/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8940-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8941-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012921126

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Section I: Celebrations

Wonder Years

A Creek’s Redemption

Devotion

Little Man of Four

Making a Bed

Spend the Night

Perspective

Prisms Breaking Light

Birthday Visit.

Sign of the Supper

My City Friend

Growing-up Houses

Section II: Observations

A New Bookstore

Bonanza

Survivors

Rock Reminders

Icy Valentines

Nature’s Gleaners

El Paso City

Like

Out of Season

Pecans

Warning

A Moment in Time

Autistic Sunday

Lonely Windows

Shoes Make the Woman

See-Saw

Field Trip

The Laptop

Pure Dust

Temptation

A Cousin’s Funeral

Tick Tock

Section III: Disappointments

Genesis

A Child’s Intuition

Substitution

Default Divorce

The Warning

The Fixer

Fragments

Word Deception

Instead

Death by Pollution

In the Dark

Section IV: Revelations

The Asparagus Bed Gone

Dreams

The Bonfire

Past Time

An Ordinary Walk

Clamped on the Heart

The Search

Cake Testing

Leisure

Women’s Wedge

Old Fashioned

Moving Boxes

Newcomer

My Friend Amy

Personal Spaces

Section V: Forgiveness

Ghetto Walking

Liberated Women?

Hate Words

Invisible

Evenings at the Club

Once Upon a Time

The Crack

Blame

Flames Without Heat

Lou

Friday Friendships

Choices

Refuge Library

Section VI: Hope

Birdsong

Then and Now

Death’s Stream

Rainy Saturday

Salad

Ritual of Hope

Follow-Through

Tuck the Children In

The Edenton Tea Party

Uniform Design

The News Carrier

Dream Wanderings

The Adolescent

Playtime

Second Thoughts

Provoked

Short Cut

Single Duet

The Rising

Short-lived

Your Teapot

First-born Baby-boy

Within Reach

Section VII: Grace

Sanctity in Ordinary Time

Inheritance

Hoop Games

Transformation

A New Thanksgiving

Discovery

The Garden Party

Seasoned

Daddy Cooking

Bob’s Tea

Clay-footed Idol

Two Fathers

Life Partner

Section I:

 Celebrations

Wonder Years

This is your prime time, grandson,

When you thrill to find bugs,

See birds and look at the moon,

Before your T-ball friends capture you

And take you to the land of cyberspace,

Pizza, movies and the mall.

Thank God for years of wonder

At the treasures of a kitchen,

Pots and pans to make a world

Of parades and pretending

Before you subscribe to boredom,

The required rite of teen-ageing.

Today you saw a flower blooming,

Your eyes gleamed with awe

As you said, "Let’s leave it here

To be beautiful for everyone who sees."

I would wish to leave you here as well

So beautiful in your prime time.

A Creek’s Redemption

The creek moved cool and calm

in the valley stretched

like a green, tufted bedspread

tucked between soft, low