"I saw Brooks Clark, who is now about eighty and bent like a bow, hastening along the road, barefooted, as usual, with an axe in his hand; was in haste perhaps on account of the cold wind on his bare feet. When he got up to me, I saw that besides the axe in one hand, he had his shoes in the other, filled with knurly apples and a dead robin. He stopped and talked with me a few moments; said that we had had a noble autumn and might now expect some cold weather. I asked if he had found the robin dead. No, he said, he found it with its wing broken and killed it. He also added that he had found some apples in the woods, and as he hadn’t anything to carry them in, he put ’em in his shoes. They were queer-looking trays to carry fruit in. How many he got in along toward the toes, I don’t know. I noticed, too, that his pockets were stuffed with them. His old tattered frock coat was hanging in strips about the skirts, as were his pantaloons about his naked feet. He appeared to have been out on a scout this gusty afternoon, to see what he could find, as the youngest boy might. It pleased me to see this cheery old man, with such a feeble hold on life, bent almost double, thus enjoying the evening of his days. Far be it from me to call it avarice or penury, this childlike delight in finding something in the woods or fields and carrying it home in the October evening, as a trophy to be added to his winter’s store. Oh, no; he was happy to be Nature’s pensioner still, and birdlike to pick up his living. Better his robin than your turkey, his shoes full of apples than your barrels full; they will be sweeter and suggest a better tale." - Thoreau
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Dear Pete
This poem reminds me of who,you look like in your family…. Both my parents are dead, but for sometime friends have been telling me I look like my mother… which sent me into a spin, because she was not a good mother, and of hoped I would get none of her genes… so I empathize with you…about family resemblances ….. and I guess we just have to live with them
Warmly, B🌷….
Posted 3 Months Ago
1 of 1 people found this review constructive.
3 Months Ago
i think i look like a mix of both parents but my thoughts, actions and mannerisms are very much like.. read morei think i look like a mix of both parents but my thoughts, actions and mannerisms are very much like my father's. they were both pretty good parents but had some odd, undesirable extremes which i can't seem to shake off - they seem to be engrained in me. thanks for sharing b.
3 Months Ago
I think I have some of my dad’s genes too…such as eyes nose,etc!🌷
Dear Pete
This poem reminds me of who,you look like in your family…. Both my parents are dead, but for sometime friends have been telling me I look like my mother… which sent me into a spin, because she was not a good mother, and of hoped I would get none of her genes… so I empathize with you…about family resemblances ….. and I guess we just have to live with them
Warmly, B🌷….
Posted 3 Months Ago
1 of 1 people found this review constructive.
3 Months Ago
i think i look like a mix of both parents but my thoughts, actions and mannerisms are very much like.. read morei think i look like a mix of both parents but my thoughts, actions and mannerisms are very much like my father's. they were both pretty good parents but had some odd, undesirable extremes which i can't seem to shake off - they seem to be engrained in me. thanks for sharing b.
3 Months Ago
I think I have some of my dad’s genes too…such as eyes nose,etc!🌷
My father was a warrior. I'm a poet. He was killing people in the jungles of the Pacific at eighteen years old. When I was eighteen I was chasing girls and listening to rock music. We are definitely not the same. But I still remember his wisdom and his undaunting courage. I did inherit his complete lack of fear. If I'm in a tight spot everything goes calm and I go into protective mode. It has served me well in tough scrapes through the years. So for that, I am grateful to him.
Posted 3 Months Ago
1 of 1 people found this review constructive.
3 Months Ago
hmm, interesting. my dad didn't have an easy life. he grew up poor, the fifth born of eight to ita.. read morehmm, interesting. my dad didn't have an easy life. he grew up poor, the fifth born of eight to italian immigrants. joined the marines in wwii shortly after high school. he was very steady - married to my mother for our 50 years, same job and company for over 40 years. same house for almost 50 years. i'm not like that, i'm more flighty, get bored easily and seek change. physically i'm very similar. i used to worship and fear him as a young child.
I can empathise with you in this beautiful poem, Pete. I think everyone swears the same thing. Boys with their fathers, girls with their mothers, but the metamorphosis take place regardless of our desires and you have captured that superbly in this finely inked poem. Thank you so very much for sharing. I so enjoyed reading...
Posted 3 Months Ago
1 of 1 people found this review constructive.
3 Months Ago
the older i get, the more i realize that i'm like him in many ways. thank you for sharing thoughts,
I think it's the same with everyone, Pete. Some days I look in the mirror and I don't see myself, it.. read moreI think it's the same with everyone, Pete. Some days I look in the mirror and I don't see myself, it my Mam I see, bless her. Most welcome
always...
3 Months Ago
acorns don't fall far from the tree.
3 Months Ago
That is a very true saying, Pete. Have a very lovely day and enjoy...
I love reading, writing, music, nature, God and feeling emotion, not necessarily in that order. To me, these things go hand in hand. My favorite writer is Henry David Thoreau. I think he was a geni.. more..
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