Poems in Our Poetry Archive June 2

https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/2019/06/arthur-turfa.html

Link to mine: you can use the tabs to navigate the issue! Two of the poems come from my undergraduate days.

https://www.gocomics.com/gilthorp/2019/05/04

    This story line is from Gil Thorp, a seemingly-ageless high school coach of many sports, as is his wife. Some of her athletes have adopted a "too cool for school" slogan to promote teen unity. The trouble is, many other students want the distinction also.

    Back in my high school days, I remember wanted to get out into the world and do things. We all did. But I do not, at least in my generation, thinking we were "too cool for school". We wanted different classes, mindsets, and ways of doing things. But I never wanted to really get away from school.

   As my full-time status in high school draws to a close, I have noticed a shift in that "too cool" status. It is out there, and I am curious to see how the comic strip plays out. In reality, I know how it plays out, and it is a shock!

Re post of my Books on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Arthur-Turfa/e/B00YJ9LNOA


Or the publishers will be glad to assist you also!

Thinking of the Second Immigration

https://www.facebook.com/ArthurTurfaPoet/photos/a.295365250640719/1311582769018957/?type=3&theater     In a country as large as the USA, moving from one region to another is a kind of immigration! My friend's and my roots stretch form Eastern Europe, some other places, and Ellis Island.

Two nice gifts

https://twitter.com/DrTurfa/status/1131609982120677377

See some nice antique plates a friend gave me at school!

I lived in Neukoelln!!!

Warning: Two Political Posts

https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article230483449.html

    Sen. Graham was once in the Gang of 14, Republican and Democratic senators who strove to find the middle ground and work across party lines.

     And then President Trump took office. And Senator Graham turned on his late friend Sen. John McCain and so much more....


https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/05/13/dear-mike-pence-real-persecution-christians-isnt-here-america/?utm_term=.0e48232a1e08

   The Christian Right has always claimed that they were persecuted whenever they did not get their way or when someone disagreed with them. As a Lutheran pastor, I took some heat form time to time because I would not go along with their agenda.

   But they have no idea what actual persecution is, and they do not say mach abut actually doing something about it.

   Vice-President Pence his loyal to his President, excessively loyal. All well and good, but he should not drag religion into it.

Haying Season

In haying season I am reminded of this poem of mine that appeared in The Pangolin Review July 2018:

In lovely Saluda County, Sc, I see dozens of bales of hay on the fields at this time of the year. I always roll down my window to smell the sweetness.

Musings of a Teacher
From the road I see them, strewn
over the mown fields like a child’s

building blocks dotting the carpet
without pattern or purpose.

Night and day those bales cense
the air, the sweetness lingering

as I drive by. A completed task,
quickly done at the right time.

Soon go the bales to the barn,
sustaining life as the cycle proceeds.

Envy slides over me. My task
almost done for another year
,
but I wonder if the timing Is right,
and whether I leave on my fields.

will be stored somewhere and
perpetuate another cycle far away.

Arthur Turfa, © 2018

Poem Mentioned in Jeopardy! Tongiht

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43844/she-walks-in-beauty

  No commentary, nothing from me! Enjoy!

Five Years of this Blog!

    It actually does not seem all that long ago. Perhaps it is because I was back in lovely Ridgeway, SC for the Arts on the Rodge the other week. Four years ago I went there, and to a much smaller event, with Places and Times. Now three other books have come, and many more events.

   Since May 2014 over 120,000 views of this blog have happened. They have come from friends and strangers, from every continent, and from around 90 countries.In the past few years I have developed a presence on the now-gone Google+, and have also established myself on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and MeWe.

   While the blog maybe have lessened in its outreach, I intend to resolve that. SL Weisend told me Facebook pages and the like where for promotion, and a blog was to let my freak flag fly.

    Time to raise it again! Thanks for being here!

It's been a busy time

   I promise more details soon. Between the end of a semester at the college, winding down the same at the high school, doing some fairs, and getting ready for a new hip, I have been busy.

  And I am submitting some poems!