Reflections and Recollections
A Book of Poetry from the 1960's to the Millennium
by
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Complaints We mumble, grumble and complain ‘Bout how rough a life we got. And the many blessings God bestows Are cast away and forgot. How childish we must seem To a God so perfect and pure When we talk so incessantly ‘Bout all the things we endure. "The pettiness, the shallowness, The ruination of it all…" And all of God’s goodness We fail to recall. He knows all about us; He hears every word; And yet a simple word of thanks Is more than we afford. Help us, oh, Lord, To strive to be like you In our actions, our speech—
In everything we do. Remember us, oh Lord, When our spirits are low. Hold our anchors to the shore Along life’s ebb and flow. Forgive us, oh, Lord When we know what we do For the nagging,complaining That we inflict on you. Remind us, oh, Lord How you endured pain. You were led to the slaughter, Yet you didn’t complain.
Excerpt from "A Fine Line We Walk" Mama looked at me and said It's a fine line we walk, little girl-- A fine line we walk. From dawn to dusk we do what we must; It's a fine line we walk. Excerpt from "Water Under the Bridge" But then her mama would smile and Say "It's all water under the bridge, My dear--just water under the bridge. We can't call back time, the feeling Or the rhyme; it's all under the bridge." Excerpt from Coal Minin'Man It was another life with another wife, a coal minin’ man was he With blackened face, helmet and light — and always risin’ at three….
And he cried in his beer from frustration and fear …. Frostbitten Dreams Sittin' in her floppy pink housecoat two sizes too big That her Mama gave her Dreamin’ of strapless satin gowns And shoulder to shoulder dancin’. Just a wilted wife with frostbitten dreams A faded flower from the spring who doesn’t want to face the autumn.
She watched the bandstand in the fifties And saw the sedate strollers strollin’ when she was only seven. She lived her life like a long, lost dream from one decade to another. Her daddy died when she was young, and she didn’t know her mother. And she sang "I’m just a wilted housewife With frostbitten dreams wondering where the time has gone And what happened to plans and schemes. Just a housewife with no career
Her back is bowed a bit now, And the simplest of things are a strain. Her head aches a lot and she wonders about her brain. But her husband is a good man--practical, hardworking and true. She knows she should be grateful, but sometimes it’s hard to do. She pulls out her pad and pencil and scribbles a note or two Focusing on forgotten fantasies while he doesn’t have a clue. Then he comes in for midday meal and she still has rollers in her hair. "You look beautiful," he said. so she knew he really didn’t care. "I may be a wilted housewife with frostbitten dreams, but the one who Really matters loves me just the way I am Or at least that’s the way it seems."
Excerpt from "Empty Spaces, Empty Places" Pictures torn in half--features ripped into. Once there was me;once there was you. Two people torn asunder--no more the twain. Just a yellowed album with empty spaces remain. Excerpt from "Little Bird" While sitting in the park on day A bird flew up and said, "Are you a human being? Are you living or are you dead?" Well, I was quite disconcerted At what the bird had said. But even more confused that he had spoken at all.
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About the Book
Do you enjoy a chronicle of the transformation of a small Southern town girl into adulthood? Interested in spirituality,Christianity, and philosophy from a both a child's perspective and a median aged Southern woman? Then you definitely want to read this. The 1960's poetry are written from a young teen's viewpoint which is simple, yet profound. A little girl muses about the meaning of life and talks to her confidant doll in "Petula". "The Almond Tree and the Austrailian Pine" is from the "Still Searching" 1970's section. In this poem, two trees in are personified in a conversation with loneliness and hopefulness as its themes. "Losing Me, Finding God" from the 1980's contains "The Process". "Sift me through your sifter, Lord. Grind me in your mill, Mix me in your mixer, Lord Until I know your will." But "Complaints" in the author's opinion is the most well written of all the 80's poetry. Read about the heartbreak of divorce and subsequent renewal in "Empty Spaces, Empty Places" from the 1990's section. But the author believes her best work is in the millennium section. It's here where she writes about a middle aged housewife's frustration over perceived death of dreams in "Frostbitten Dreams". And "A Fine Line We Walk","Water Under the Bridge", and "A Coal Minin' Man and a Wayward Wife" focuses on frustration of poverty in the South and the development of an almost stoic philosophical acceptance of it.
About the Author
Jean Barr is rooted in small town Southernness. She was born and raised in Etowah,Tennessee, a railroad town that sprung up in the early 1900's located halfway beween Chattanooga and Knoxville. Now a median aged baby boomer, she has written poetry since she was twelve. She obtained a B.A. in English from Tennessee Wesleyan College. While there she achieved "Who's Who" status, received a literary award, was co-editor/reporter for the college newspaper and received the Senoir English award. She's attended Hiwassee College, Tennessee Mountain Writers and other writing seminars. Barr has interviewed Poet Laureate nominee George Scarbrough. "The Note" is a short story abut divorce. And she's written a couple of novellas. She'd never travelled any further than Knoxville or Chattanooga until age 19. But as a young military wife for eight years, she lived in Berlin,Germany and later near Osan, Korea Air Force Base just 30 miles from Seoul.She also lived as an army wife in Daytona Beach and Key West,Florida in the 1970's. She once again returned to her small town roots when she married her husband, Jim in 1984 and moved to a farm in Philadelphia, Tennessee. "I was totally out of my environment on a farm,"she says. Or as my husband liked to say,"I was like a fish out of water." Barr has written about farm life in a series of short stories which she plans to publish later. And "Autumn's Farm" is contained in the 1990's section of the book.