POEMS FROM THE WRITER'S GROUP #1

TO THE DOCTOR, AGAIN
R. D. Ice

"Fried!" still tastes better,
but the microwave is OK.
I’m learning, and it is
a new way of life. Also
more fruits and vegetables.

Cholesterol good. Blood pressure
good. Sugar level 94! It must
be working! But weight
is still a problem.

I have been large most of
my life, certainly since 1950.
But my health was
good - exceptional I thought -
until the Big C struck
in 1997.

My crisis caused me to
touch and be touched by
many lives. Surely this is
part of the process which God
is working in and through us.

God brought me into contact
with a team of doctors who
used surgery, radiation,
chemotherapy - and prayer.

I am cancer free for three years now!
I would hope never again
to need extreme measures.
But, life has no guarantees.
I must take whatever comes.
[it's ten years now.]



THE MYTH OF DOGPATCH
R. D. Ice

"We came to see a real mountaineer,
untouched by civilization, close
to nature, a noble example of
life unspoiled by the modern world."

"We expect to find sage wisdom
from a mind not contaminated
by commercialism and greed,
truly attuned to Mother Nature."

"Little Abner" and "Snuffy Smith"
exist in the minds of writers and
cartoonists, who take a reality
and distort it into a caricature.

Rural people have always come in
for more than their share of
ridicule. But the reality would be
much too commonplace
to be interesting.

See that "mountain man?"
He lived in Ohio and made tires.
He worked on the pipeline
in Alaska.
If he lives in isolation now,
it is his choice.

My father was teaching school
in a coal camp when I was born.
By age six I had lived in
four towns in two states.
My children have lived in
five states.

"The noble savage" has the same
foibles as his social counterpart
in our industrialized society;
struggles to keep body and soul
together, and to feed his family.

"Poor people have poor ways,"
Grandmother would say.
Trying to live within our means
when we have almost nothing
requires some imagination,
and may seem unique.

"Use it up, wear it out.
Make it do, or do without."
Grandmother was always
quoting this maxim of life.
She made over old clothes,
and cut them down to fit the
children. Nothing wasted.

Aunt Dora, age 84, was never
out of the county in her life.
Yet she was creative in her own way;
could read and write,
knew how to plug in the toaster,
and turn on the light.

She listened to the radio,
read the newspaper, and
heard from relatives who
roamed the world.

She adored her rural life,
living on the farm, sharing the
world around her, a vital
and living part of America.

We write out of our own experience,
whether real or imaginary.
There is little value in being
unsophisticated.
Life has never been
simple and uncomplicated
to the people who were living it.



www.marssociety.org
R. D. Ice

We stand at night peering into the sky,
seeing the stars the ancients saw.
With the naked eye they mapped
the heavens and were accurate
in many of their truths.

Will we reach the stars?
Will our descendants find homes
on distant worlds, in a future
we imagine yet cannot imagine?

Asimov, in the Foundation Stories
viewed many galaxies settled by
the unique human race. People
modified and changed by
their environment, but still
people from Old Earth.

If people are able to survive in the
frigid temperatures of Antarctica,
could they survive in the extreme cold
of Mars, the Red Planet?
Generate atmosphere and water
from Mars itself? Or must
they ship everything from Earth?

Could they construct greenhouses
to grow food for the colonists?
Could Mars or Venus, or some other
planet be terraformed as Asimov wrote?

Could massive space machines churn
the soil and rocks to produce
conditions hospitable to Earthlings?
marssociety.org is a group of believers
(believers in Mars colonization)
who are getting ready for the time
they expect to come when Mars
will be visited by Earthlings.



www.nmss.org
R. D. Ice

Many are the ills of the flesh
that strike into the lives
of those we love, of
sister and daughter, son and brother.
Multiple Sclerosis.

Autoimmune disease - the body
turning against itself, destroying
and being destroyed. A whole series
of diseases fall into this category.

MS symptoms are caused by
damage to myelin, a substance that
insulates nerve fibers
in the brain and spinal cord.
Imagine the insulation on your
extension cords worn through
in spots and shorting out.

MS creates spots of hardening
in the brain, shorting out nerves,
creating difficulty in walking;
abnormal sensations, numbness,
"pins and needles";
pain and loss of vision.

There is no magic bullet.
What to do??? There are
drugs and treatments, yet
we must play the hand that
is dealt us, and survive.

Look at www.nmss.org
Look at www.wemedia.com
Look at www.mayohealth.org
Look at www.acorda.com
Look at www.ms-cam.org
Look at www.narcoms.org
Look at www.mswatch.com
Information is just a click away.
The internet opens up the
resources of the world.



DR. ANWAR's EYE HOSPITAL
R. D. Ice

You will have cataracts - if
you live long enough,
Sooner or later the lens
in the eye becomes
yellow-green and darkens.

Stronger glasses will help
for a while, but
the day comes when you must
admit you really can't see
clearly anymore.

Dr. Anwar has many associates
who work to prepare
by testing and tests
to know exactly the health and
condition of the eyes.
All day, it seems, and finally,
you are wheeled into surgery.

Dr. Anwar works his magic and
expertise. Using an operating microscope
he moves his hand ever so slightly
to make a tiny incision. Family
watches on a TV monitor, seeing
just what he sees as he operates.

Wow! What brilliant colors!
Everything so bright!
I can see! I can see!
What a great gift of God
is eyesight! I can see!


SUNDAY MORNING ON THE PRAIRIE
R. D. Ice

A brisk wind swept across the prairie
Spreading the flakes of snow
Which spattered the riders coming
From distant ranches.

A Church stood on the prairie
Built by an Easterner
With high pitched roof and gables
A bell tower over the entrance.

A light still shines in the parson’s window
Breakfast over, ready for the worship hour
The congregation arriving, ready
To join voices in song and praise.

Wade Horton in his horse drawn buggy
Wife and child by his side
Earl Gray riding his chestnut mare
Others coming in the distance.

The people gather, ranchers, cowboys
Men, few women, boys and girls
Ben Blue builds up the fire
In the sheet-iron stove.

No organ, no choir, rude benches
But God’s Family, coming together, to
Spend an hour or two in fellowship
A time of praise and devotion.

The parson, Enoch Bell, calls order
Wade Horton gives the prayer
"Old Hundred," announces Earl Gray
And begins the tune, others following.

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost."



The After-Christmas Sale
R. D. Ice

We were not poor growing up.
Money was just scarce in
those years of the Great Depression.
Mother had died young, and
little sister and I lived with
our grandparents
on a small farm - The Farm.

Granddad had been a country doctor.
Never making much money,
always dreaming of his childhood.
He bought this farm
with the help of an uncle.

We raised a huge garden,
had a cow and chickens,
lots and lots of chickens!
Plenty of eggs and milk
for growing children.

Grandmother made us clothes
from feedsacks and curtains
and anything that could be used.
We also got clothes from the store
for Christmas presents.

But we wanted toys! Toys!
"Wait for the after-Christmas sale"
Grandmother would say.
"It will all be marked down then."
So the day after Christmas we
headed for Columbus and
the after-Christmas sale.



AMERICA MOURNS
R. D. Ice
[remembering the destruction of the Towers]

Not by huge armies, tanks, planes,
but a handful of intense anarchists,
who attack us with weapons
of our own society.

Not crazy, not irrational,
intensely clever and diabolically focused.
"God has commanded us to destroy
America the land of sinners."

Richard Hughes once wrote of
America as: "the Nation with the
soul of a church" - meaning
America has a sense of divine purpose.

God Bless America! We
reach up to God in anguish,
mourning the incredible loss,
trying to understand.

"The Eagle sharpens its claws."
Government has a vengeance function.
Evil must be opposed.
The world must do this.

God Bless President Bush!
The buck stops with him.
Give him wisdom and patience.
We hold each other in unity.