Safe and Sorry: Poems and Stories Reflecting the Bright Day and the Dark Night That Follows

By William Elihu Palmer

This book is divided into two sections: poetry and prose. All the contents represent a lifetime of experience, observation, thought, and reflection. I must confess that my view of life has been influenced by many poets and writers. Perhaps my favorite poet, among many others, is the English poet John Keats. One of my favorite writers, again among many others, is Thomas Hardy, another Englishman.

In reflecting upon my own writing, I cannot name any writer who has influenced my style. In my opinion, a writer’s style is the most important feature of his or her writing. A writer’s style reflects not only a view of life but a sensitivity to the emotional thrust of the writing. My aim in the writings in this book is to combine my view of life with a sensitivity to the many emotions that it creates. My wish, dear reader, is that you find at least a suggestion of something that may enrich your experience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796020427

William Elihu Palmer

William Elihu Palmer grew up on a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland during the Great Depression. He enlisted in the Army at the age of 17 and served n Occupied Japan and fought in the Korean War. He married Angeles Palmer in Madrid, Spain in 1960. They have four children. He spent his career as an educator, teaching at universities in the USA and abroad, including Ohio University, the University of Salamanca, Spain, and at Salisbury University in Maryland. He and Angeles moved to Coronado, California in 2017.

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CONTENTS

Poetry and Prose

Introduction

For You

Baby Talk

My Secret Laughter Tree

Lost Childhood

To My Daughters At Age 22

With Love, Daddy

The Promise Of Youth

Johnny Wise

Sailing Home

Circles In The Sand

Crossing Paths

Words

Word Play And Then Some

A New Eden

From Madrid To Heaven

A Valentine Saga

Spanish Flower

To Angeles On Her 50Th Birthday

What If?

Two Travelers

American Pie

A Puppet Show

Great Teachers

Teaching From The Book: A Contemporary Pedagogy

Wait!

King Yucca

The Game

Confinement

The Puzzle

Pilgrim Road

The Final Answer

Alien Thoughts

An Old Man’s Lament

The Importance Of Me

Who I Am

Early Fall

Playmates

The Last Rites

Looking In The Looking Glass

My Old Man And Me

The Mortuary

Bright Star

Jornada De La Muerte

Lost Souls: A Cruise On The River Styx

The Wonder Of Christmas

Yule Tidings Of Yore

Felices Pascuas Con Ritos De Antaño

A Christmas Guest

Friend Of The Forever People

God’s Work

On Nugacity

I Understand

Residual Thoughts

The Mystery

Introduction

A Yarn About Earl, Sheryl’s Little Cat

A Sudden Revelation

An Early Awakening

Miss Sadler’s Christmas Story

Dreaming Up Grandma

The Emperor’s Blue Horse

Boys Don’t Dance

Noblesse Oblige A La Americain

Military Service

Military Service (Part 2)

Military Service In Korea (Part 3)

Seeking Direction In Charlotte, North Carolina

The 60Th Anniversary Of The Graduation Of The Wicomico High School Class Of 1948

The Cider Mill

On Educating Ernest

Ernest Graduates From College

Subject: Section 8: The Pehoe Research Institute Study On Marriage In America

Subject: Continuation Of The Pehoe Study On Marriage In America: Section 8

Back To Normalville

Final Word

The Book

Poetry and Prose

This book is divided into two sections:

Section I: Poetry

Section II: Prose

Poetry appears first in the book because I believe, that in the evolution of communication between humans, poetry was the first means of conveying meaning. Humans used vocal sounds such grunts, cries, shouts, and screams to call attention to their needs. Once they became familiar with their vocal ability, they began to repeat the sounds which were most pleasing to hear. They also discovered sounds which expressed the emotions of fear, danger, sadness, happiness and love. It was then that poetry began to form vocal sounds which suggest emotions. Poetry became a force of nature, an elemental form of communication.

Once the evolution of language came to the formation of words and phrases, language was used for practical purposes, for identifying things and for learning to use them. The rudiments of science came into existence. Through many stages of the evolution of civilization both poetry and prose, art and science, have co-existed, each contributing, within is means, to the advancement and improvement of humanity. It soon became evident, however, that some peoples and some cultures were more inclined toward either art or science.

Compare, for example, the Greeks and the Romans:

the Greeks with their great writers and artists and thinkers:

the Romans with their great engineers and builders of empire.

Compare the Italians and the Germans:

the Italians with their music, their artists and architects;

the Germans with their manual skills, their engineer and machines.

The Age of Enlightenment saw a renewed interest in the arts. Then the Industrial Revolution brought about a resurgence of the sciences. Today the arts and sciences seem to have gone in different directions. The scales of balance have broken and the sciences now far outweigh the arts. The rapid advancement of the sciences may lead to an unbalanced and unsustainable world leading to an unknown destiny, leaving us without the art or inspiration or culture to enable us to adapt.

Introduction

Collected Poems

By William Elihu Palmer

If you are familiar with the word dilettante, then I must confess that it probably applies to me. I like poetry very much, especially spoken poetry. However, I dare not call myself a poet. The poems in this collection represent my interest in poetry over the years. You can also find other poems of mine in the book Secrets of the Heart which is now available commercially. The poems there were originally printed up locally under the title Reflections at Random a copy of which some of you may already have.

Although the poems here do not fall into any clear categories, I have tried to put them into a more or less order according to the age referred to in the poem. Some of the poems, such as Johnny Wise and Circles in the Sand were written and rewritten over the years. Others, such as Pilgrim Road and Jornada de la Muerte come from my interest in things related to Spain. The poems written about my family have been written for special occasions. Those poems are, of course, autobiographical and represent points in my life that are very meaningful to me. The other poems were inspired by idle thoughts and reflections on life in general. I hope that you, Dear Reader, will find some things of interest to you in reading the poems.

I would like to dedicate this collection of poems not only to my wife Angeles, but also to all our descendants and to those who come after them. Our present descendants are the following:

FOR YOU

It matters not to the mountain

Whether there be rain or there be snow.

Only when the moon

Peeps over the mountain

Does it make the mountain glow.

It matters not to those who know you

How many years may come

Nor how many years may go.

Just your cherished presence

Sets our hearts aglow.

BABY TALK

When I say Goo, Goo I mean Goo, Goo.

So don’t go "Boo, Boo, to me!

When I say Dah, Dah I mean Dah, Dah.

So don’t start Coo, Cooing to me!

I say what I mean.

I mean what I say.

When I cry in-between,

You don’t get what I mean.

You wiggle your fingers.

You tickle my nose.

You rattle my sense of repose.

Please keep your fingers away.

Just listen to all that I say:

If I say Goo, Goo,

Don’t give me that "Boo. Boo!

If I say Dah, Dah.

Don’t start Coo, Cooing to me!

If I should cry, you ought to know why:

You don’t get how I mean what I say!

MY SECRET LAUGHTER TREE

I used to have a laughter tree,

Its branches filled with smiles.

From its highest branches I could see

For miles and miles and miles.

I found a narrow woodland path

And ran about so young and free.

I could hear the sound of the distant laugh

Of my secret laughter tree.

I was so strong and felt so carefree

I ran for miles and miles.

I ran to see my secret laughter tree

With its branches filled with smiles.

Too soon the forest began to fail

And all the limbs grew bare.

Too soon I grew sad and pale,

And my heart was filled with care.

The woodland path is long and dark,

And the sunny days are gone.

All the brittle bushes hide from me

My secret laughter tree.

Still I faintly hear the laughter

Of my secret laughter tree,

Though over the miles I cannot see

The smiles on the branches

Of my secret laughter tree.

LOST CHILDHOOD

How quickly thou hast gone, my child,

And I beside thee all the while!

Among the flowers I see you still.

In sunny fields we stand.

You picked a golden daffodil

And crushed it in your hand.

You pulled apart the pedals

And threw away the stem.

You saw a narrow woodland path

And gave my hand a squeeze.

You pated from me with a laugh

To dash among the trees.

You trusted me to follow

And guard you at your play,

To shout through every hollow

And drive the wolves away.

You gave me twigs and woodland cones

And smiles like sunny skies.

Then in the stream you threw some stones

And chased the butterflies.

Deep into the woods we went.

How quickly the day was spent.

How quickly thou hast gone, my child,

And I beside thee all the while!

Among the shadows now I stand

No more to take you by the hand

In the fading light of the deep woodland.

TO MY DAUGHTERS AT AGE 22

1. On thee