Considerations, Experiences, and Musings

By Ronald Sohn

This is a collection of poems that are the reflections and observations of everyday life as seen through the curious and tenacious eyes of a man who had seen love and heartbreak more than whats needed for anyone. These poems span a wide range of categories that serve as glorious tales of wonder, covering such topics as beaches, city life, family, ideas, and parenthood. I am overjoyed and honored to have been both the inspiration for and the creator of the pieces in this collection.

If the doors of perceptions were cleansed, man would see things as they are: infinite, instead of the narrow chunks of his own concerns (William Blake).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543458534

Ronald Sohn

At the age of 83 Ron Sohn has dedicated his life to the service of others. As a school psychologist for forty years, he was a tireless advocate for at-risk youth and students with disabilities. Ron also continued his service to others as a property owner where he helped needy tenants and worked with his neighbors and aldermen in the community to improve conditions in the neighborhood. He is the father of five children all of whom he had a profound effect on raising not only as a doting father, but also as a scout master for the Boy Scouts of America. Always having to work hard to support his family and raise his children, he was forced to apply his creative skills to make ends meet and find ways to help his children get involved in activities. Being divorced he never gave up on love. Over the years, he has cultivated many successful relationships both personally and professionally. Since fully retiring, Ron has chosen to write poetry as a means of expressing his adventuresome spirit and compassion for life. What you have just read is a simple snapshot of many great portraits of a consummate humanitarian and wonderful friend. To have such a spirit and energy at 83, we should all be so lucky!

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Ronald Sohn. 769298

Library of Congress Control Number:   2017915380

ISBN:   Softcover   978-1-5434-5854-1

   Hardcover   978-1-5434-5855-8

   EBook      978-1-5434-5853-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 12/04/2017

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

Considerations,

Experiences,

and

MUSINGS

RONALD SOHN

Contents

BEACHES

BIRTHDAY

CITY LIFE

FAMILY

FORGETFULNESS

HEALTH

HOLIDAYS

IDEAS

INSPIRATION

NATURE

PARENTHOOD

RELATIONSHIPS

REMINISCENCE

SOLITUDE

YOUTH

POTPOURRI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BEACHES

RonsPicBEACHESfromAnnaLynn_edited.jpg

The rested spirit sits on the beach during the workweek. The solitude of the beach, the soft noise of water ebbing toward the shoreline. These sounds are different from those heard in the workday force. The intensity of life in the workforce forgoes the pleasures associated with the pleasures of leisure. The moment in life—the yin and the yang—is packaged like a present to be opened and to be rewarded by the contents.

The beachgoer’s exuberance in the sunlight intermingles with the offshore sounds of gulls. Their blacks and whites fuse into the blues and browns of the past. The deserted beach now is the domain of the water navigators. Their meals are not alive but food left on the barren desert. The cleanup force is engaged and, by sunrise, the enthusiasm of the beachgoers will behold a clean carpet to litter.

The wealth of the North Shore is wrapped in their addresses and lifestyles. These are the Gatsbys of the twenty–first century who occasionally share their lifestyles with those not of their social register. They offer no invitations for them to attend their soirees. The sailing season extends their social acquaintances to others whose names are not listed in their social registry. It is to a few that they offer an invitation to join them for a week skiing trip in Aspen, Colorado. Expenses of enjoyment of the invited couple includes cost of transportation and meals. The recreational activity is the bond that offers the couple a limited exposure to the lifestyles of the rich.

The black gates will be briefly opened and then will silently close. Summer residents will no longer present themselves on the beach. Herring gulls will leave the waterfront and footprints will be erased from the sand. The silence of the beach changes to the harshness of cold to be enjoyed by bathers on New Year’s Day. A difference between the experiences of summer and winter months.

The light rains are tears falling from the eyes of Freyja. They fall gently onto the tops of sail crafts on the beach. The droplets wash the vessels without charge. It’s all-inclusive by fees paid to the Wilmette Park District for summer boat storage. This service is only available on rainy days. This occurrence is unappreciated, but frustrations are apparent when crafts are swamped with water. At these times, the bucket brigade is beckoned to restore dryness to the vessel. The voice sails away upon completion of the task.

A squadron of low-flying geese soars above the sand. They announce their flight by the call of their heritage. Their alarm is also crafted by the trailing deposited on the beach. It is the downward and not the upward eye that must be alert. For their art display may be imprinted on the footwear by the onlooker.

The green pennant is no longer flying on the yardarm. The gaping gates of the sailing area, now shuttered, are blind sentries protecting ghosts. The one hundred watercrafts left their summer home. The bareness of the racks and the sand, once sun-drenched, await the next influx of boats for the new sailing season.

The winter coldness, snow-covered surfaces, is the groundhog’s stimulus to creep from its burrow to herald the oncoming of a new season. The unseen creatures remain concealed in their habitat until the groundhog proclaims spring. Then the non-human forms alter to humanoids that will populate their playground. They, like the former inhabitants, will frolic on the sands playing with their toys.

The afternoon sky is bleak and sunlight dimmed by the clouds. The daylight filtering through the windows is grayish and ghostly depicting the advent of Halloween. It is the eeriness of the light rays that is visualized and unseen are the representatives of Halloween.

A gust of wind blows across a deserted beach. Weekend sailors are absent today located elsewhere engaging in other non-weekend tasks. The beaches are cleared of their watercraft as they are harbored offshore. A gentile hand only is necessary to bring life to the boat necessary to partake of the wind gusts. The sail house broadcasts a blue pennant waving to invite sailors for offshore pleasure.