It’s the last day of February. The first two months of 2019 are history. I trust they’ve been good months. The March winds have already arrived here. Will they help dry up all the water February left? Our rivers and lakes are overflowing, and I know many of yours are, too. But I’m kind of glad ours came in rain. Up north, they’ve received record snowfall.

Hello, Thursday Morning friends! I hope your day is going well so far. I love that first sip of the first cup of coffee in the morning.

Do you remember the first time you read poetry? The first poem you memorized? We had to memorize, “I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.” That’s all I can remember of Joyce Kilmer’s famous poem, “Trees.” But there’s more:

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing brest;

A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

[poem is in public domain]

 The poet, Joyce Kilmer, (a man, by the way) died in 1918, in World War I.

On a happier note, some of my earliest poetry reading consisted of the prolific works of one Theodore Geisel, aka “Dr. Seuss.” His works appealed to the silly part of my nature. My first and all-time favorite book of his: “The Cat in the Hat.”

I read it to my mother, over and over. When I looked up, she was asleep, and so was my baby brother. I decided right then and there: poetry is an important tool. Years later, my husband and I would read Dr. Seuss’s books to our children, hoping for the same outcome. More often than not, it worked.

There’s something calming about poetry. It’s closely related to music. Say the word, “psalm.” Not only does it rhyme with calm, but the word often has a calming affect on the psyche—the mind. This is my research, it’s not official.

Not all the psalms are calm, but many either are calming, or they end up with a positive message. I suppose this may be why King Saul asked David to sing to him. Their words calmed his spirit.

What’s your favorite poem or psalm? Here’s mine:

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.—Psalm 1:1-3

It reminds me of Kilmer’s poem.

Have a wonderful, blessed week, dear reader! May you be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water.