Four from Carole

We love our Carole Perron, who often writes about family matters. (The Perrons are one of the earliest and largest families to have come down into the Northeast Kingdom from Quebec to build farm homesteads.)  Carole's first poem here relates to a new family member.  The second is a take on the pantoum, with the same subject.
                      

Carole Perron

A Foster Child

My daughter and family
Welcomed a 12 yr. old boy
Who knows what he has seen
Or where he has been

Perhaps this is his first solid family.
Is he frightened, relieved, defensive?
Will he stay?  Is he a son, a brother?
Does a solid family relieve some anxiety?
Perhaps this is only temporary
Or may provide a solid base for the future.



A Stranger in Our Midst

There's a new boy in town
He may feel really lost.
He attaches to Silas, a friendly face.
Strangers everywhere when he looks around.
He may feel really lost.
Hey, a water balloon fight!
Strangers everywhere when he looks around.
There's lots of food.

Hey, a water balloon fight!
It's a lot of fun.
There's lots of food to choose from.
There's a new boy in town.

Let's play frisbee or lawn darts!
There's a new boy in town.
Really talkative and at ease
He attaches to Silas, a friendly face
And seems to make a space for himself.

                                                                            *****

(This next is a poem Carole wrote in our most recent session, Sept. 5, 2018.  We had only 10 minutes only to write to the prompt, September Song.)


September Song

It's a long way from beginning to end.

September is like a transition
                    from the warmth of summer
                    to the chill of December.
It carries wonderful memories
                    of love, laughter, pleasure,
                    and lets us carry them,
                    a treasure.
And when the wind howls around
                   the windows,
And snow drifts, covering the road,
We remember that everything
                   travels in circles.

                   Spring always comes.
The pleasure of summer soothes.
Autumn signals another change,
Preparation for rest
                   and rejuvenation.

Then once again
we're prepared for spring.    

                                                   ****
                                      (And the one below has a date as title, her father's birthdate.)

8-29-18

Today would have been my dad's 106th.
We always celebrated with cake and ice cream
And fried salt-pork in milk gravy,
Dad's favorite! 
Though he died 30 years ago
His memory lives on
In the stories he told,
In habits we hold
In the fact he didn't scold.

He was quiet and calm,
A part of his charm.
Loved visiting with friends,
Keeping in touch,
Laughing at shared jokes.

When helping with haying
Was heard to exclaim,
As he lined up wagon and elevator
(A challenging feat),
"Damned old fool, don't know
         if you're coming or going."