I was listening to music on YouTube while I cleaned my pots and pans,

And occasionally their logarithms would miss my mood

To the point that I would have to dry my hands 

And go and switch the song that they had recommended for me to hear to something else.

One such song was “One Less Bell To Answer,” by the Fifth Dimension.

The next morning, I was in the grocery store, 

And they had music playing overhead.

Just as I got to the checkout line,

I heard soft music.

“Oh no,”I said. “It’s Marilyn McCoo, isn’t it?”

“One less egg to fry,”and now I have to stand here,

And take it.

I have no choice. 

There’s no button for me to push,

And I can’t get out of line in time to miss the song and get out of here.

And just as she reaches a part of great crescendo,

I’m weighing one potato and one yellow squash.

The universe wants me to hear this song,

And now I’m listening.

I hear Marilyn’s powerful voice,

Dipping into a deep contralto 

And rising above it all to her usual soprano,

Even as she croons,

“All I can do is cry.”

Well what can I do but be happy?

The universe has finally had its way,

Had its say.

I’ve thought it all over,

And now, I’ll just let YouTube play me whatever it wants to,

Adds and all.

-jenn

 He had no philosophy.

 

Or did he?

He was born in a cemetery. 

His mother went in to labor as they were just burying his dad

In Browne Cemetery, White County, Tennessee.

It was: 18 July, 1841.

He joined the army just before the Civil War,

But the records don’t show which side he really fought for.

He had 16 children, and one of them

Was my great-grandfather’s dad.

And in 1917, my great-grandfather, then 21,

Signed up for the notorious World War One,

And his grandfather, the same one who’d fought in the 1860’s, 

Now at the age of 76,

Signed up to go to the army again.

This time mostly to be alongside his grandson

(My great-grandfather).

His death certificate shows he died at the training fort only three short months after that enlistment.

These are the “official” records I know of,

But do they leave out the love 

That some ancestors can have for their descendants?

It carries on.

For later, in 1941, at the start of World War Two,

My great-grandfather, the same one who’d fought in World War One

Was now 45 years old,

But he signed up to join the navy with his son, (my grandfather,

Who was only 17.)

I knew my great-grandfather very well.

He lived to be a long ripe age,

And if there was nothing else you could tell about him,

You could tell that he loved you,

And you felt, that if you ever had to go to war,

He would join, too, and go with you,

If he had any life or breath within his mortal power.

Love is a truly powerful thing.

It takes time to bring it to fruition,

And it sometimes takes sacrificing your very self,

But the worth of it is so much more:

That your family, your friends know

That you love them.

Let the records ever show,

Even beyond your DNA,

You were made for Love,

Of Love, and by… the Love,

Or you wouldn’t be here,

And you become so powerful 

When you give your love away.

-jenn

 Someone told me I must’ve been a hoot when I was young.

But I said, “No.

No, I truly was not.”

It used to cost to be a hoot.

It was a price I could not pay,

But now I find it is the other way around.

Everything now is upside down,

Even humility.

Nowadays it costs not to be a hoot,

Or at the very least,

Now it seems, I get to be a hoot for free.

So maybe I will just go out and start to be a hoot all over the place

And see what that gets me.

Ha!

-jenn

😂💗💞❤️💝💕🍒

 I did not cry when I walked the trail of tears.

I cried when my son cried 

Because he did not know 

Who he was or where he had come from.

Our people used to know these things deeply,

No matter where it was that we were born.

But the great walking 

And the great sorrow of all the people

Pulled this faith and understanding 

From our marrow,

Cut up the knowledge we had as a people 

And gave each piece of us a separate name.

Our collective soul was divided and conquered,

And in the confusion of all the labels, 

The wholeness could not be found.

Tonight I watch the stars walk their trails across the night.

They are settled and on their paths.

May all of us find peace.

May all of us find the wholesome wholeness,

The happiness that exists because 

There is nothing the cosmos can’t fix.

-jenn

 Even the Sun casts a shadow.

Even the Sun

Comes when it’s called

To do The Master’s bidding.

Man’s best friend is a dog,

But my best friend Is the Sun.

I linger to watch it cross the empty sky.

It stations high above me.

It casts its shadow of light

And its smile upon me.

It brings me cheer.

I know everything will be alright.

I’m happy to be here.

And in this, “I’m Happy To Be Here,” state,

Great things are possible.

And while there will also come some trouble,

I know I’m where I belong for now,

Because there are many lessons for me to learn,

Even if the only thing I do today

Is to observe the Sun.

For I am just practicing everyday,

And now, my only goal: To abide in this,

The “I’m Happy To Be Here,” state.

And even the Sun casts a shadow. 

And so do I.

And so do you.

But knowing this,

Let us cast our smiles upon the waters together,

Knowing the amplified return will be

Well worth the value.

-jenn