Schuylkill Flow On
Rain droplets drumming echo the beat
That lilting , white snowflakes repeat :
" Drink as you may , waters flow on ."
Wherever ripples heard -" Earth's Song ."
" Drink as you may , waters flow on ."
High upland grow hemlock and oak ,
Maple and pine grey clouds they stroke .
Rhododendron , fern , laurel , moss
Drink they may , Nature's use no loss .
Pools and puddles , crevice and nook ,
Trickle to rivulet , stream from brook ,
Etched valleys cut through hill and farm .
" Drink as you may , waters flow on ."
Barons despoiled rivers for smoke ,
Vast green forests turned into coke .
Black hard coal silt mud washed on down ,
Schuylkill's high, clogged, floods river town .
Miller , tanner , iron tender's strong arm
Flushed acid wastes so terrible their harm .
Now corrected they're returned to the flow ,
The Schuylkill's cleaner , still hidden she'll go .
White birchbark canoes were clean in the past ,
Early American native life sad never to last .
Strong mules pulled barges , now motors push boat ,
Long past remembered through sojourns and floats .
" Drink as you may , waters flow on ."
Hear her , see her , do her no harm ,
Dream , redeem , unhide her each day ,
Schuylkill's a jewel at work or at play .
Flow on ,flow on , Schuylkill flow on ,
Flow on , flow on , forever flow on .
Ronald C. Downie
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The Claussens Of Pine Forge
Betty With Images-Bill In Printed Words
Soft strokes flow pigments canvas captured
By eye with brush, stilling time, framing place.
When works of art are hung, walls disappear,
Rooms fill with pleasant, familiar warm air.
Beyond walls flows the Manatawny Creek.
Hung on walls are painted scenes which speak
Of a time in Pine Forge, just north upstream,
Where things happened thought only a dream.
Through these hills this stream erodes eons past.
Soft moccasin footprints allowed forests to last
Until Europeans arrived here in America by boat,
Pushed upstream beyond where canoes could float
To mine black iron ore for peace but also for war.
Clear cut Hemlock, Pine making charcoal fires roar.
Where the muscles of water drive wheels of a mill
To grind grain for a Nation with empty bellies to fill.
Betty chose paint pigments, husband Bill, black ink.
Betty created canvas images, Bill words that think.
She drew the 20th Century, he the long past away.
They lived on Creek Road, in Pine Forge, that's in Pa.
Where once ran a railroad, though only at night,
No whistle, no smoke, its passengers in life flight,
No rails, only hidden trails across river and creek, North Star showed the way to freedom they seek.
From Titlow to Ives then to Rutter at The Pines,
Its mansion a beacon during these troubled times.
Below on the Manatawny sat Bailey's Roller Mill
Banging away at boiler plate with orders to fill
For locomotives' fire boxes on railroads you all know.
Abolition's in their hearts which men of iron grow :
Thomas, Rutter and Potts ; Samuel, Savage and Nutt
Forges, the muscle of wars; Revolution and Civil, but,
Are grand paintings like a secret heirloom recipe,
Both needing appreciation for memory's chemistry ?
Or, are paintings, as described by Andrew Wyeth
Heard to say, "I was merely illustrating my life."
Soft strokes flow pigments canvas captured
By eye with brush, stilling time, framing place.
When works of Art are hung, walls disappear,
Rooms fill with familiar, pleasant warm air.
Ronald C. Downie
Written and read on the occasion of a showing of Betty J. Claussen's Art May 11, 2006.
Husband, William Edmund Claussen wrote "Pioneers Along The Manatawny".
The Underground Railroad took root in Pottstown and especially at Pine Forge.
Soft strokes flow pigments canvas captured
By eye with brush, stilling time, framing place.
When works of art are hung, walls disappear,
Rooms fill with pleasant, familiar warm air.
Beyond walls flows the Manatawny Creek.
Hung on walls are painted scenes which speak
Of a time in Pine Forge, just north upstream,
Where things happened thought only a dream.
Through these hills this stream erodes eons past.
Soft moccasin footprints allowed forests to last
Until Europeans arrived here in America by boat,
Pushed upstream beyond where canoes could float
To mine black iron ore for peace but also for war.
Clear cut Hemlock, Pine making charcoal fires roar.
Where the muscles of water drive wheels of a mill
To grind grain for a Nation with empty bellies to fill.
Betty chose paint pigments, husband Bill, black ink.
Betty created canvas images, Bill words that think.
She drew the 20th Century, he the long past away.
They lived on Creek Road, in Pine Forge, that's in Pa.
Where once ran a railroad, though only at night,
No whistle, no smoke, its passengers in life flight,
No rails, only hidden trails across river and creek, North Star showed the way to freedom they seek.
From Titlow to Ives then to Rutter at The Pines,
Its mansion a beacon during these troubled times.
Below on the Manatawny sat Bailey's Roller Mill
Banging away at boiler plate with orders to fill
For locomotives' fire boxes on railroads you all know.
Abolition's in their hearts which men of iron grow :
Thomas, Rutter and Potts ; Samuel, Savage and Nutt
Forges, the muscle of wars; Revolution and Civil, but,
Are grand paintings like a secret heirloom recipe,
Both needing appreciation for memory's chemistry ?
Or, are paintings, as described by Andrew Wyeth
Heard to say, "I was merely illustrating my life."
Soft strokes flow pigments canvas captured
By eye with brush, stilling time, framing place.
When works of Art are hung, walls disappear,
Rooms fill with familiar, pleasant warm air.
Ronald C. Downie
Written and read on the occasion of a showing of Betty J. Claussen's Art May 11, 2006.
Husband, William Edmund Claussen wrote "Pioneers Along The Manatawny".
The Underground Railroad took root in Pottstown and especially at Pine Forge.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Congratulations Casey
The following poems are for two of my grandchildren, Casey, a junior at F&M in Lancaster, Pa.and Stephen, on the road in Kansas with the Dirk Quinn band battling the snow and storming weather. May our love for them keep them healthy and wise.
Congratulations , Casey
Within the heaving of your chest
Forever beats an energy universe :
Exhibited on many grass green fields,
Shown skillfully on wood court floors.
Just as a lamp when lit, illuminates
Clear words of a newly formed script
Showing fresh themes and big ideas,
Your spark will light a four year voyage
Through uncharted college waters.
By your sheer mental agility
And your true athletic ability
No sojourn is beyond your reach.
We heard the power of your voice
Fill the Chapel : the past, a future.
Leadership courts strong candidates,
They chose you to be team captain.
Dream map desired accomplishments :
Assault ego's rash arrogance,
Demand respect equal your own,
Win or lose, how you play, matters.
Sharp minds draft meaningful lives,
Gifted with athletic ability, better.
Build facts into useful knowledge -
Eureka ! Wisdom ! Harvest it !
Ronald C. Downie
For Casey Elaine Downie, granddaughter, upon graduating from The Hill School 5/24/08
Congratulations , Casey
Within the heaving of your chest
Forever beats an energy universe :
Exhibited on many grass green fields,
Shown skillfully on wood court floors.
Just as a lamp when lit, illuminates
Clear words of a newly formed script
Showing fresh themes and big ideas,
Your spark will light a four year voyage
Through uncharted college waters.
By your sheer mental agility
And your true athletic ability
No sojourn is beyond your reach.
We heard the power of your voice
Fill the Chapel : the past, a future.
Leadership courts strong candidates,
They chose you to be team captain.
Dream map desired accomplishments :
Assault ego's rash arrogance,
Demand respect equal your own,
Win or lose, how you play, matters.
Sharp minds draft meaningful lives,
Gifted with athletic ability, better.
Build facts into useful knowledge -
Eureka ! Wisdom ! Harvest it !
Ronald C. Downie
For Casey Elaine Downie, granddaughter, upon graduating from The Hill School 5/24/08
Stephen Trevor
Stephen Trevor
Energy doubled, tripled, even squared
Describes you, Stephen, when compared
To every day events, say like, tornadoes,
Hurricanes, earthquakes. God only knows
That deep reservoir wrapped within
Your body and your mind. Harness in
Desires' demands, channel your drive,
Embrace open arms as you do arrive.
Hey, Stephen Trevor, this is an old man's talk,
We try to slow youngsters to a pleasant walk.
You're doing just fine in your trip through life,
But think, as you go, try to eliminate strife.
Ronald C. Downie
Energy doubled, tripled, even squared
Describes you, Stephen, when compared
To every day events, say like, tornadoes,
Hurricanes, earthquakes. God only knows
That deep reservoir wrapped within
Your body and your mind. Harness in
Desires' demands, channel your drive,
Embrace open arms as you do arrive.
Hey, Stephen Trevor, this is an old man's talk,
We try to slow youngsters to a pleasant walk.
You're doing just fine in your trip through life,
But think, as you go, try to eliminate strife.
Ronald C. Downie
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Big Al
I met Al Fulton many years ago before he contracted cancer, the same cancer, prostate, which also afflicted me and millions of other men starting to age. Al's PSA sky rocketed and he died, mine after an operation, subsided and I lived on. I often thought it could have gone the other way around and these thoughts were exchanged between us often awkwardly seeking proper words. Al chose Hospice for his final days and, I too, have directed my family to do the same when my time comes.
This poem, Big Al, was my simple attempt to put in words my feeling for him, a man I can call a friend for life, so for those yet living closure can come to the deceased and life can go on for the rest of us. Words are really inadequate to reformulate a person's life but, in order to transfer thoughts and feelings held within, words written down are able to be a lasting remembrance of a person now gone.
in Memory Of James Albert Fulton
"... few adult persons can see nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay on Nature, then he followed with, "There is a property in the horizon which no man has but whose eye can integrate all of the parts..." Al Fulton saw, Al saw all of the parts.
Big Al
Uphill half hidden an A-Frame stands
Among Century Oaks straight and tall,
Tree strength drawn from rock and earth,
Cathedral canopies brace for winds of fall.
Downhill open fields make a western slope
So many years planted, spring love, fall hope.
You steward of the soil, the Earth Life Man,
Elixir for roots, champion God's Grand Plan.
Once you were so very straight and tall,
Strong with energy, at Nature's every call,
You are returned today back to the soil
Ashes to be spread on the love of your toil.
Ronald C. Downie
This poem, Big Al, was my simple attempt to put in words my feeling for him, a man I can call a friend for life, so for those yet living closure can come to the deceased and life can go on for the rest of us. Words are really inadequate to reformulate a person's life but, in order to transfer thoughts and feelings held within, words written down are able to be a lasting remembrance of a person now gone.
in Memory Of James Albert Fulton
"... few adult persons can see nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay on Nature, then he followed with, "There is a property in the horizon which no man has but whose eye can integrate all of the parts..." Al Fulton saw, Al saw all of the parts.
Big Al
Uphill half hidden an A-Frame stands
Among Century Oaks straight and tall,
Tree strength drawn from rock and earth,
Cathedral canopies brace for winds of fall.
Downhill open fields make a western slope
So many years planted, spring love, fall hope.
You steward of the soil, the Earth Life Man,
Elixir for roots, champion God's Grand Plan.
Once you were so very straight and tall,
Strong with energy, at Nature's every call,
You are returned today back to the soil
Ashes to be spread on the love of your toil.
Ronald C. Downie
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
You Grace Your Garden
A milestone will be reached Sunday February,6,2011 when I reach 76 years of age. Father of five, grandfather of nine, great grandfather of three I have lived a full life. In an attempt to give lasting meaning to this life, I took up writing poems about eventful episodes shaping the years. I memorialized births and birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations, as well as, critical life changing medical problems I've overcome.
I never claimed to be a scholarly poet because I'm not. Rather, my style is framed by describing a person or an event while also placing the pictured into some universal theme important to me. Preaching some would criticize. No matter, it's mine and I am proud to place these efforts into cyberspace for eternity to judge.
The following poem was written for daughter, Sherri Kurtz Downie, on her 40th birthday. Those who know her will see her hopfully in the images the words convey.
You Grace Your Garden
You grace your garden with flowers kept
As smiles on a fine face proud with care.
Each lead of day awaits the warm kiss
Of solar rays and clouds that gently tear.
Not- wishful wanting draws sense to pleasure.
Not- hours idle make dreams fit your scheme.
Fabric of the Earth you're woven a women :
Twice mother, two score, a matron supreme.
Give you a lever that's proper in length,
Give you a fulcrum to set firm and strong,
Not only mountains, but Earth will move too,
And flowers, and children, and all souls at song.
Ronald C. Downie
I never claimed to be a scholarly poet because I'm not. Rather, my style is framed by describing a person or an event while also placing the pictured into some universal theme important to me. Preaching some would criticize. No matter, it's mine and I am proud to place these efforts into cyberspace for eternity to judge.
The following poem was written for daughter, Sherri Kurtz Downie, on her 40th birthday. Those who know her will see her hopfully in the images the words convey.
You Grace Your Garden
You grace your garden with flowers kept
As smiles on a fine face proud with care.
Each lead of day awaits the warm kiss
Of solar rays and clouds that gently tear.
Not- wishful wanting draws sense to pleasure.
Not- hours idle make dreams fit your scheme.
Fabric of the Earth you're woven a women :
Twice mother, two score, a matron supreme.
Give you a lever that's proper in length,
Give you a fulcrum to set firm and strong,
Not only mountains, but Earth will move too,
And flowers, and children, and all souls at song.
Ronald C. Downie
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Eighteen Years Of Age
Eighteen Years Of Age
The fawn taught then sent away,
Young birds lord the nest at play,
Fly they must on one eventful day,
Date you cross not different then they.
No beating drums to announce this date,
Nor Devine revelation to set your fate,
Only your power to choose love over hate,
Will the World judge the man that you rate.
Welcome ! We accept you into adulthood
With responsibilities which makes understood
The strong positions that you take only could
Indicate Manhood as they certainly should.
Ronald C. Downie
The fawn taught then sent away,
Young birds lord the nest at play,
Fly they must on one eventful day,
Date you cross not different then they.
No beating drums to announce this date,
Nor Devine revelation to set your fate,
Only your power to choose love over hate,
Will the World judge the man that you rate.
Welcome ! We accept you into adulthood
With responsibilities which makes understood
The strong positions that you take only could
Indicate Manhood as they certainly should.
Ronald C. Downie
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