Tag: Minneapolis

Love, freedom, and fireworks

INDEPENDENCE DAY

The wind and you played in my hair,
    You lambent in the moon.
The night arranged as by design,
    Mysteriously boon.

Afresh the breeze and warm our hands,
    So lately introduced,
Traced so gently new found lands,
    From tyranny aloosed.

While all around with fire and bang
    Our freedom was proclaimed.
A nation's liberty was meant,
    To us, two hearts unchained.

(1982) To continue the story from yesterday, some 24 hours after that first kiss, my new love and I made a plan to watch the Fourth of July fireworks.

It was really more her plan than mine. My default tendency is to be a rule-follower. Hers is to make everything an adventure, get the best seat possible, and just go for it. If she had a motto, it could well have been, “All things are permitted unless expressly forbidden.”

She lived across the street from Minneapolis’s Calhoun Beach Club, which in those days before high-rise condos sprung up, had a 360-degree view of the city. She had already explored the building and discovered how to get on the roof. (I mean, no one had told her she couldn’t!)

You walk through the lobby, take the elevator as far as it would go, locate the door to the stairway, and then ascend the final story by way of a metal ladder.

I was skeptical about getting away with it. But from the beginning, she had a way of drawing me outside of my comfort zone. (Maybe that’s what love is all about. Opening yourself up to possibilities of connection, hoping against hope you’ll be met with openness, despite the danger of having your heart broken.)

At any rate, love can make you do crazy things, so we set out, hauling a big pack with our picnic provisions, and two lawn chairs.

Fortunately, those were earlier, more trusting times. No guard in the lobby, no code needed for the elevator, and no lock on the door to the roof. The hardest part was climbing the ladder with all our stuff.

But when we walked out onto the roof in the slanting light of late afternoon, the view was marvelous — lakes and trees and parkways arrayed out below us. In the distance we had an unobstructed view of the tall buildings of downtown.

But the real show began when it got dark and the fireworks started. We could see fireworks in every direction. Some near, and some more distant. It seemed every municipality in the Twin Cities was putting on a show. We surely had the best seats in town.

There are no photos from that night. This was before we all had cell phones and we tended to experience things firsthand, rather than through the lens of a camera. So it’s for the best. The one photo I have from that month is attached to this post. You can see why I was smitten.

Forty-two years later with that woman, and there’s never been a dull moment.

Note for poetry nerds: For years I’ve been a little troubled by departing from the rhyme pattern in the last verse. But I’ve resolved that it’s better to use exactly the right word rather than rigidly follow the rules and use almost the right word.

The Calhoun Beach Club in later times.

On the Eve of Independence Day

THAT DAY WE LAY UPON THE GRASS

That day we lay upon the grass,
    A luminescent green.
The sparks that arced from arm to arm
    Across the space between.

Our bodies quickened by the sun,
    The willow leaves aflush.
The sunlight sparkling on the lake,
    Our blood bestirred to rush.

Up and down the parkway, flowers
    Enticing with their blooms.
Our loveless winter ended there,
    Emerging from our tombs.

For we had slept as sleepers slept,
    Unmindful of the world.
Astonishingly we awoke,
    Much like a rose unfurled.

(2015)

Some 42 years ago I worked as a journalist for a community newspaper in the suburbs of Minneapolis. I still have my pocket appointment calendar from that time. Along with recording the times and dates of city council meetings, photo ops, and interviews, it documents the progress of an uncanny romance.

We were two weary pilgrims, up to that point unlucky at love, but brought together by providence.

The calendar entry for Saturday, July 3, 1982: “Bike ride, sunning.” And then, emphatically, “1ST KISS.”

I’m a big fan of July 4th, but July 3rd is my own personal holiday.

Poem in Praise of Freedom

In praise of freedom

INDEPENDENCE DAY

The wind and you played in my hair,
+++You lambent in the moon,
The night arranged as by design,
+++Mysteriously boon.

Afresh the breeze and warm our hands,
+++So lately introduced,
Traced so gently new found lands,
+++From tyranny aloosed.

While all around with fire and bang
+++Our freedom was proclaimed,
A nation’s liberty was meant,
+++To us, two hearts unchained.

(1982)

As we reflect on our nation’s past, I’m reminded of a bit of personal history. Some 38 years ago, a couple of crazy kids snuck up to the roof of the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis to watch fireworks.

They didn’t quite realize it yet, but they were falling in love. Like our country, they were not perfect. But, like our country, they had tasted the mercy of Jesus and dreamed of a more perfect union.

We’re still working on it.

Anniversary Poem

Flowers and love in bloom

That Day We Lay Upon the Grass

That day we lay upon the grass,
+++A luminescent green.
The sparks that arced from arm to arm
+++Across the space between.

Our bodies quickened by the sun,
+++The willow leaves aflush,
The sunlight sparkling on the lake,
+++Our blood bestirred to rush.

Up and down the parkway, flowers
+++Enticing with their blooms,
Our loveless winter ended there,
+++Emerging from our tombs

For we had slept as sleepers sleep,
+++Unmindful of the world,
Astonishingly we awoke,
+++Much like a rose unfurled.

(2015)

Some 38 years ago two wanderers, unlucky at love, stumbled upon each other. Magic ensued.

It took me three years, but I finally persuaded her to marry me. I’m now a lucky guy, blessed beyond measure.

Love Poem for Independence Day

July 4th fireworks in Minneapolis, Minnesota

INDEPENDENCE DAY

The wind and you played in my hair,
++++You lambent in the moon,
The night arranged as by design,
++++Mysteriously boon.

Afresh the breeze and warm our hands,
++++So lately introduced,
Traced so gently new found lands,
++++From tyranny aloosed.

While all around with fire and bang
++++Our freedom was proclaimed,
A nation’s liberty was meant,
++++To us, two hearts unchained.

(1982)

NOTES: I didn’t want the July 4th weekend to pass by without reposting this modest little poem from the past. It’s become a bit of a personal holiday tradition.

You see, I celebrate the Fourth of July as a double holiday. I’m proud and happy to honor our nation for its exceptional on-going story. What a remarkable experiment in human freedom and self government!

Each year I also pause to remember that night many years ago when I discovered my role in an on-going love story.

My personal affection for July Fourth goes back to 1982, when a young couple snuck to the roof of the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis to watch the fireworks. This perch, high above Lake Calhoun, offered a 360 degree view of the entire Twin Cities area. You could see several fireworks displays from there, both near and far away.

Not gonna lie … best fireworks ever.

Who says poetry doesn’t pay?

THE PASSIONATE WRITER TO HIS LOVE

Come live with me and be my love,
Assured before you voice your fears
That we will meld as hand to glove
With tender wearing through the years.

How could I love another more,
Or ever you abandon me?
So come, our prospects let’s explore
Assay our hopes in honesty.

I’ll write old-fashioned poems for you,
The kind that sing with foot and rhyme,
To soothe your ear and gently woo
Your cautious heart in its due time.

We’ll stay abed when springtime rains,
And care not if it’s ever done;
We’ll pedal wooded country lanes,
And bask beneath a merry sun.

In lilac-time I’ll break for you
The heart-shaped leaf and purple bloom
That flourished when our love was new,
And filled the night with strong perfume.

Like hardy husbandmen of old,
Who ploughed and tilled the fertile soil,
We’ll give ourselves to labors bold,
And harvest children for our toil.

And when the winter of our years
Bespecks our thinning hair with snow,
We’ll stoke our fire against the fear,
Companions though the chill winds blow.

Relentless time moves on apace,
Time leaves its vanquished under stone.
But we can win at time’s own race
By choosing not to run alone.

Defying reason, let’s unite
To form a sturdy three-fold cord,
A braid miraculously tight,
Of bridegroom, bride and gentle Lord.

If my proposal your love stirs,
If this be your desire for life,
If to my faith your heart avers,
Come live with me and be my wife.

(1985)

Notes: In what has become a somewhat of a tradition, I share my proposal poem to Jan on the occasion of our anniversary.

I sprung it on her 34 years ago. Thankfully, she didn’t think it was too goofy, but she didn’t give me an official response on the spot. She made me sweat until the next day. We went out to brunch at a now-defunct Minneapolis restaurant staffed by hippies who hadn’t gotten the memo that the ’70s were over.

When I dug into my scrambled eggs, I noticed a folded piece of paper. It was grease-soaked and writing from the other side was showing through. I thought one of the yogi-fry cooks had lost his Sanskrit prayer in my breakfast. I was about to send it back when Jan urged me to unfold the note and read it.

It was her response. She had slipped her note to the waitress and had her hide it under the eggs. Jan had taken the last verse of the poem and turned each line around into an affirmative response.

Somehow we managed to misplace that grease-laden scrap of paper. Pity, it would have been a treasured keepsake. But I’m pretty sure her response went like this:

Yes, your proposal my love stirs,
Yes, this be my desire for life,
Yes, to your faith my heart avers,
I’ll live with you and be your wife.

 

I was delighted and didn’t mind a bit that she adapted my poem for her answer.

How could I mind? I had shamelessly ripped off the first line myself from Christopher Marlowe’s poem “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.”

My proposal may not have been wholly original poetry, but it did the trick. She said “yes.”

The funny thing is … soon after that I wound up practicing direct marketing copywriting as my day job.

After my experience with this poem, I should have known I was destined for direct marketing. The poem was my very first direct marketing letter.

I got a 100% response rate. Retention has been solid, and long-term value excellent.

Thank you, Christopher Marlowe.

Cold Autumn Poem

Autumn scene

Autumn Song

Afternoon in late September
Shows us signs we both can follow,
Shadows where there were no shadows
Days before, encroach on meadows,
Turning brittle brown and yellow.
Six o’clock’s a dying ember
Causing grown men to remember
Another fall’s disturbing echo.

When, unnoticed, fell the first leaves,
Yellow elm leave tired of sunshine?
Who suspected seeing such ease
When the first chill stunned the green vine?
Is embarrassment the reason
Sumac’s crimson hides its poison?
When was foliage last so supine?

Rainy night in mid-October
Brings the icy confirmation —
Twigs encased in shiny coffins
Clenched in cold that never softens.
Even daylight’s ministration
Alters no repose so sober
As the sleep of mid-October,
Sleep of spreading desolation.

(1979)

Notes:  Took a walk this evening and it finally felt cold for the first time.  Cold enough to pull this old poem out, dust it off, and trot it out again.

Written years ago and far away, when I lived in a much different climate.  My Puget Sound friends and neighbors might find it hard to relate to an autumn that leaves twigs encased in icy coffins, but my friends back in Minnesota understand all too well.

I recall one Halloween when my son and I set out at dusk to trick or treat in Minneapolis.  We made our way about two blocks as it began to snow hard, then harder.  We almost didn’t make it back home as we trudged through calf-deep drifts.

Autumn has its beauty.  “Every leaf is a flower,” is a beautiful sentiment.

But the fall is also one of God’s great metaphors.  And that makes it poignant, even as it is achingly beautiful.

Independence Day Love Poem

Minneapolis Independence Day fireworks

INDEPENDENCE DAY

The wind and you played in my hair,
You lambent in the moon,
The night arranged as by design,
Mysteriously boon.

Afresh the breeze and warm our hands,
So lately introduced,
Traced so gently new found lands,
From tyranny aloosed.

While all around with fire and bang
Our freedom was proclaimed,
A nation’s liberty was meant,
To us, two hearts unchained.

(1982)

NOTES: We have our communal holiday traditions, and then we have our own, personal traditions.

I celebrate the Fourth of July as a double holiday. I’m proud and happy to honor our exceptional America and call it home.

And, it also warms my heart to remember the night I discovered my role in an on-going love story.

My personal affection for July Fourth goes back to 1982, when a young couple snuck to the roof of the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis to watch the fireworks. This perch, high above Lake Calhoun, offered a 360 degree view of the entire Twin Cities area. You could see several fireworks displays from there, both near and far away.

Not gonna lie … best fireworks ever.

 

Minneapolis Love Poem

Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis
Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis … long ago

That Day We Lay Upon the Grass

That day we lay upon the grass,
++++A luminescent green.
The sparks that arced from arm to arm
++++Across the space between.

Our bodies quickened by the sun,
++++The willow leaves aflush,
The sunlight sparkling on the lake,
++++Our blood bestirred to rush.

Up and down the parkway, flowers
++++Enticing with their blooms,
Our loveless winter ended there,
++++Emerging from our tombs.

For we had slept as sleepers sleep,
++++Unmindful of the world,
Astonishingly we awoke,
++++Much like a rose unfurled.

(2015)

Notes: July 3 is almost as big a holiday for me as July 4.

On July 3, 1982 I took a walk with a beautiful woman around that most beautiful of the Minneapolis lakes, Lake of the Isles. We had known each other less than two months. We sat down in the grass by the lagoon.

And then this happened.

July 4th Love Poem

July 4th fireworks in Minneapolis, Minnesota

INDEPENDENCE DAY

The wind and you played in my hair,
You lambent in the moon,
The night arranged as by design,
Mysteriously boon.

Afresh the breeze and warm our hands,
So lately introduced,
Traced so gently new found lands,
From tyranny aloosed.

While all around with fire and bang
Our freedom was proclaimed,
A nation’s liberty was meant,
To us, two hearts unchained.

NOTES:  I celebrate the Fourth of July as a double holiday.  I’m proud and happy to honor our exceptional America and call it home.

And, it also warms my heart to remember the night I discovered my role in an on-going love story.

My personal affection for July Fourth goes back to 1982, when a young couple snuck to the roof of the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis to watch the fireworks.  This perch, high above Lake Calhoun, offered a 360 degree view of the entire Twin Cities area.  You could see several fireworks displays from there, both near and far away.

It was rather romantic.