The Lanyard

By Billy Collins

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.

Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.

And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

The Abiding Love

by John White Chadwick

It singeth low in every heart,

   We hear it each and all--

A song of those who answer not,

   However we may call;

They throng the silence of the breast, 

  We see them as of yore--

The kind, the brave, the sweet,

   Who walk with us no more.

'Tis hard to take the burden up

   When these have laid it down;

They brightened all the joy of life,

   They softened every frown;

But, Oh, 'tis good to think of them

   When we are troubled sore!

Thanks be to God that such have been,

   Although they are no more.

More homelike seems the vast unknown

   Since they have entered there;

To follow them were not so hard,

   Wherever they may fare;

They cannot be where God is not,

   On any sea or shore;

Whate'er betides, thy love abides

   Our God, forever more.

The Perfect Storm

I have been conspicuously absent from blogland (as I am sure you all 

have noticed - um, right?).

It was the perfect storm. 

If you saw the movie (or read the book) you know it took three 

perfectly timed weather fronts to create the storm of the century.

And so it was with me.

Number 1

After my last post about my Uncle Tom my older sister who I love 

and respect emailed me about my biting references about our 

mother in many of my blogs. I listened to her, thought about it 

for awhile and decided that she was on to something.

As I read her email I had that hot-faced embarrassment I remember 

from grade school when I got called out in front of the class for 

something or caught red-handed in high school doing something I 

knew my parents didn't approve of.

My mother is alive but suffers from Alzheimers. My sister wondered 

if she didn't have it if I would say things about her like I do. 

I decided to edit the post.

Now, several weeks later I don't know exactly how I will treat 

the subject of my mother's place in my history but I definitely will 

not notify my family when I post about family memories if there is 

anything untoward about her in it.

Number 2

I developed The Sinus Infection From Hell. My teeth hurt for 

godssakes! It was akin to the lingering feeling after my braces 

were tightened in 7th grade. It took some serious antibiotics 

and sleep to knock that sucker out.

Number 3

My computer up and died.

 

''When Computers Go Bad' - More at 11:00'

I had no computer, no email, no email addresses, no current work

files. NOTHING!

I am getting a fancy Mac Book Pro which will be nice but frankly 

I'd rather buy groceries. For me spending money on computer 

equipment is like buying new tires or a new roof - you are just 

supposed to have those things - having them new doesn't float 

my boat. Now a new car OVER the tires or a new house UNDER the 

roof - THAT I would like.

So I am back, a little worse for the wear but here. I have a lot of 

catch up reading and responding to do. And oh yeah, some work too!