| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Clara Mae Gregory on 11/23/09 at 10:49 PM so true...so true...and how I miss those days |
| Posted by Charlie Morgan on 11/23/09 at 11:36 PM ...oh george, this one is touching to the memories, man, i heard that yell...your words are Rockwellian in print...warm. |
| Posted by Elizabeth Jill on 11/25/09 at 02:23 PM Right on, and I agree with Garth, fantastic wrap up. |
| Posted by Laurie Blum on 11/25/09 at 02:34 PM This sure brought back memories...although it was my Dad that had the super-loud whistle that we could hear several blocks away. He even used this three-tone special whistle so we knew he was home and we would all come running. This gave me a much needed smile today...thanks George. |
| Posted by V. Blake on 11/26/09 at 12:17 AM That last stanza was perfect. This read like a flashback sequence in a movie, and I got wrapped up in it, until those last three lines that brought everything into a sharp focus. Really cool. |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 11/29/09 at 05:09 PM Your whistle makes me think also of Bend, OR where my granddad worked in a box factory, shut down when he was still a middle aged worker, and uneducated. The end of that whistle was devastating for him, although he found piece-meal work after. Now his nightmare is once again with us. A very timely piece, George. |
| Posted by Glenn Currier on 11/29/09 at 06:13 PM George, you sure do know how to tug at the heart. The image you portray evokes a strong feeling of sadness. Your poem is a wake up call to us to pay attention to the pain and loss people are going through throughout the country. Thanks for the well-crafted reminder. |
| Posted by A. Paige White on 12/01/09 at 03:51 PM Like Laurie, this called to my mind my dad's piercing whistle that I never could come close to matching. The last stanza brought to my mind a memail I received from Roger Wicker's office about the terrible losses Mississippi farmers have endured from the torrential rains of September/October (over 22" in the delta region). Your conclusion is a reality for them right now. Great writing. |
| Posted by Tony Whitaker on 12/06/09 at 02:54 PM Great capture of the past and present for this 55 year old who misses the lost sense of "family" from a more innocent time. |
| Posted by Joan Serratelli on 12/06/09 at 07:36 PM Great work. I miss that time also. Unfortunately, "family" is now a concept, not a rea;ity... |
| Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 10/27/12 at 11:58 AM this hits a home run in the ball park of my heart and recollection. I can still hear my mother and my father calling, my poor mother who worked in sewing factories her entire life and my poor father who labored as a Longshoreman, on the Hoboken piers for many years, akin Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront. |
