The Gift & Grandma's Ring aka '88 Poetry Class

 The Gift

I name the plants without a thought
The trees and flowers wild or bought
Rare herbs and common weeds I know
To the gardener a friend or foe

A walk through woods quiet and cool
Recalls the names as though in school
Pity the one in meadow bright
Who knows not plants of such delight

Not herb to steep for fevered brow
Nor weed to pick for salad now
How do I know the names from naught
A gift to me my Mother taught

(ril 9/28/1988)

 Grandma's Ring

Ruby flashing in the sun
Woman's work is never done
Worn on hand used to toil
Tending babies, turning soil

Years go by, duties do shrink
Fewer dishes in the old sink
Ruby ring still shiny bright
Grandpa a memory in the night

Visits to the nursing home
Grandma wizened like a gnome
Shriveled hand, ring is lost
Value sentimental, not in cost

Grandma's gone, sorting her things
Ruby's gone, but here's her ring
Treasured topaz now I wear
Think of Grandma, how I care.

(ril 10/05/1988)


I have loved poetry my entire life but it wasn't until 1988 that I took an adult education class through the West Des Moines Schools to actually learn how to write metered, rhymed verses.

These were my first two assignment attempts. How did I do? Do the pictures help convey the stories I tried to tell in verse?