Eleanor Pennington's Poems

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 I’ll join my friends

at the luncheon on the grass

and wear my straw bonnet

bedecked with red poppies

like the one Renoir

painted for the lady

at the boating party

When they inquire I’ll say

Make mine a mimosa

And stroll across the meadow

To admire Monet’s Water Lilies

And listen to measures of Mozart

When dusk filters in

I’ll recline on the grass

To contemplate Van Gogh’s Starry Night

And wear a Mona Lisa smile

 Come with me

beyond the fixed star’s beam

Let’s leave sadness and grief behind

We’ll each pluck a sky star

for a gleaming breast plate

You hold the birds

while I fasten them to your wrists

It takes wings for this flight

I’ll wear a peacock in my hair

Just for color

We’ll tie golden bells to our toes

And dance the night away

to strumming harps

and music of the muses

Take your last loaf of bread

And crumble it to feed the birds

Or sell it to buy violets

For your neighbors

Destiny awaits

Come on

Let’s go

 Born on the point of a star

He danced with joy

As a Thespian

Teacher

Husband

Father

Missing a heartbeat

He tumbled

As an out-of-season snowflake

Past the rotating earth

His spirit lighted candles

In the dark places

Of those who knew him best

Of those who loved him most

For Don

1931-1971

 My ancestors

were never

kings

queens

nor princes

Just regular people

peasants perhaps

but never acting

in a “common” manner

Railroad engineers

brakemen

draughtsman

grocers

housewives

artists

musicians

mothers

fathers

aunts

uncles

cousins

None famous

Only strivers

Of honest sort

each beating daily paths

from workplace to home

under the same sweltering

Georgia sun

In their

muted sheen

they mattered most 

to me