Photo by David Bartus from Pexels
Earthly Days
Now available on Amazon &
Barnes & Noble
Soft cover and Kindle editions.
Earthly Days, Interview with Robert by that bird, Kritika
Month / September 2023
Carbon Farming & Climate Change
My thanks to da-AL for inviting me as her guest on “Happiness Between Tails.” I hope you enjoy her informative and engaging post and my new poem, “Carbon Farming & Climate Change.” Check out the fascinating video about how carbon farming can restore worn-out soil, produce healthy food, reduce carbon dioxide in the air and water pollution from run-off, and combat global warming.
Earthly Days is now available on
Amazon &
Barnes & Noble
Abracadabra!/ Earthly Days, now available
Abracadabra!
Questions work magic!
Great discoveries appear
when we seek answers.
Copyright© 2020 by Cheryl Batavia
This poem was written in response to Ingrid’s EIF Poetry Challenge #8, and was awarded third place. My sincere thanks to Ingrid for posting the challenge on Experiments in Fiction and to Jaya Avendel of Nin Chronicles, who judged the challenge.
This is one of the poems that appears in Earthly Days.
Earthly Days
is now available from Amazon &
Barnes & Noble
The softcover edition, because of the many color photos is priced at $18.99.
The electronic version, which will also contain all the color photos, but without the printing costs, will be priced at $2.99 when it becomes available.
some answers: ‘Earthly Days’ by Cheryl Batavia
Interview by that bird, Kritika
Now available on Amazon &
Barnes and Noble.
My heartfelt thanks to Kritika for doing this in-depth interview. Watch for Kritika’s interview with my soulmate, Robert Snyder… coming soon!
Saying Goodbye to Our Grandparents
(Thirty Years Ago)
Celebrating the lives of our grandparents, whose positive influence has continued throughout our lives and in the lives of everyone who loved them. Photo by Jamie Street from Unsplash
Saying Goodbye to Our Grandparents
(Thirty Years Ago)
High on a hill, in a historic graveyard
overlooking a quaint Pennsylvania town,
we went to say our final goodbyes
to our grandmother.
After the crowd had dispersed,
my brother, sister, and I lingered.
We each threw a handful of earth
into the open grave.
There was something satisfying about doing that.
My grandmother had always loved growing things
in that Pennsylvania earth; she had placed a headstone
years before, planning to join my grandfather here.
We stood for a few moments in silence
as the cemetery worker waited to fill the grave.
Our grandparents were gone.
It was the end of an era.
When I think of my grandparents today,
in my mind’s eye, I can see the graveyard
high on a hill, and a pink granite headstone
engraved with a heart and both of their names.
Copyright© 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
Cactus-Tailed Cat
Photo by Eve Ellen Maher
Cactus-Tailed Cat
Copyright © 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
Earthly Days
is available on Amazon &
Barnes & Noble
https://a.co/51DGEok
Soft cover and Kindle editions
Earthly Days
“Cactus-Tailed Cat” is one of the poems that will be appearing in Earthly Days. It was first published on this blog in 2020. In that photo, the cat had a tail made of a cucumber!
Here is the poem as it appears in Earthly Days with a new photo by my daughter, Eve Ellen Maher, the cat’s current owner. Ellen is an ordained chaplain, following in her grandfather’s footsteps. The cat now has a real cactus tail.
This is the second in a series of three posts about my paternal grandparents.
Grandparents…Was it Love?
Vintage Phonograph. Grandma was a “flapper” with bobbed hair and rolled-down hose, and she loved to dance! I don’t know how my grandparents met, but it might well have been at a dance. Maybe they listened to music on a phonograph like this. Photo by Sudhith Xavier from Unsplash.
Grandpa, born about 1898, worked in steel mills all around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a young man. He bought an early car and travelled to Chicago to learn how to maintain it. There were no repair shops then. In a time when most people didn’t go to school beyond the eighth grade, Grandpa had graduated from high school. He loved to read and continued to educate himself throughout his life.
My grandmother, about ten years younger than Grandpa, was only able to attend school through second grade because she had to take care of her younger sisters while her single mother worked. At twelve years of age, she went to work as a hotel maid to help support her family. In her teens, she worked as a lifeguard. During her brief time in school, she had learned to read, and, like Grandpa, she continued to educate herself as long as she lived.
Grandparents…Was it Love?
Sweethearts,
Roaring Twenties.
Flapper, aged seventeen,
ladies’ man, aged twenty-seven,
were wed.
Wild days…
Prohibition…
brewing beer, making wine…
before they got religion and
reformed!
Hard times…
Great Depression…
working to raise two sons.
Hard work, sheer determination,
true grit!
Grandma:
gardener, seamstress,
home nurse, cleaning lady,
restaurant cook, Sunday School
teacher.
Success,
prosperity,
respectability…
Grandpa in construction bussiness…
Good times!
Empty Nest.
On the dresser,
just two photos displayed…
Methodist preacher, state trooper…
their sons!
Big dreams!
My grandparents,
always flipping houses,
painting, papering, plastering…
Moving!
Dream house!
Grandma, Grandpa…
joint effort, as always,
rehabbing Grandma’s childhood home.
Last house!
Grandkids
spending time there
made childhood memories:
fresh eggs, strawberries, handmade clothes,
laughter!
Retired.
Grandfathering,
fishing, golfing, dart games,
classes, reading, enjoying life…
Happy days!
Married
fifty-some years.
Did they love each other?
Public displays of affection…
not seen.
Grandpa,
when diagnosed
with Parkinson’s Disease,
patiently taught Grandma to drive.
That’s love!
Grandma,
when Grandpa died,
placed a carved-heart headstone,
pink granite with both of their names.
That’s love!
Grandma
had a business.
Gift shops carried her handmade
Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls.
Lovely!
Grandma,
for twenty years,
lived to bring others joy,
hoping to join Grandpa one day.
That’s love!
Copyright© 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
This is the first of three posts about my paternal grandparents.
I Am the Moment
Repost of a Poem that will appear in Earthly Days
Sea turtle hatchling racing to the safety of the ocean. Photo by Christopher Farrugia from Unsplash.
I Am the Moment
I am that flash of green as the sun goes down.
I am the crest of a wave before it breaks on the shore,
a lightning bolt that ushers in a clap of thunder.
I am the moment of a butterfly’s first flight,
the rush of sea turtle hatchlings to the safety of the sea.
I am the moment when lovers’ eyes first meet.
I am that half-forgotten melody that lingers in your mind,
a half-remembered dream that eludes you when you wake.
I am that pang of regret for a kind word left unspoken.
I am the blink of an eye, the shadow of a smile.
I am that rare, pivotal moment when opportunity knocks.
I am the moment…and then I am gone!
Sea turtle hatchlings. Photo by Ricardo Braham from Unsplash.
Copyright© 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
Earthly Days is available
on Amazon & Barnes & Noble
Earthly Days Update
Earthly Days, is a collection of poems chosen from my blog posts over the last three-and-half years. My deep appreciation goes out to those who have posted reviews thus far. Watch for future reviews from your fellow bloggers. Check out their websites for outstanding content. If you missed their reviews of Earthly Days, you can find them at the URLs below.
Kaushal Kishore
< https://kaushalkishore.wordpress.com>
gulfcoastpoet.com/2023/08/20/earthly-days/
Kritika Tanvi
<https://valorousbird.wordpress.com>
gulfcoastpoet.com/2023/08/28/earthly-days-2/
Ritish Sharma
gulfcoastpoet.com/2023/09/02/earthly-days-3/
Best Wishes from Mountain Girl to Delta Boy!
Cotton Field. Photo by Trisha Downing from Unsplash
Cornfield. Photo by Lucas van Oort from Unsplash
Best Wishes from
Mountain Girl to Delta Boy!
Our childhood memories of countrysides,
Victorian homes with yards where we once played.
Your life among the cotton fields so wide,
my life where corn grew tall and cattle grazed.
Like Tarzan, you were skilled at throwing knives,
while I was catching tadpoles, climbing trees.
Deploying fireworks, you blew up cow pies,
while I stepped barefoot onto honeybees!
Pursuing education on our terms,
you excelled at math; I wrote poetry.
You hid your crushes; I, in vain, liked nerds!
Trombone for you, and piano for me.
When biking days became old memories,
your driver’s permit fulfilled all your dreams!
When driving, I proceed quite cautiously,
and you still drive like you are seventeen!
Delightful swapping stories, Delta Boy!
Lives parallel in fascinating ways.
This Mountain Girl found a decade of joy
with Delta Boy, just living out our days.
You grew up eating catfish; I ate trout.
In spite of this detail, it all worked out!
Copyright © 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
Happy 75th Birthday, Robert,
Delta Boy !
❤
*We’ll be the same age, 74, until September 20th! Haha!
Earthly Days 3
Book Review by Ritish Sharma
Earthly Days is available on Amazon
& Barnes & Noble
Aspiring Blog
To read a variety of informative and helpful content, check out Aspiring blog. I have followed Ritish Sharma’s writing there for several years, and I always learn something new. Ritish Sharma and Depak Joshi post articles about current issues. It is evident that they care about making the world a better place. I am so honored to call Ritish my friend, and I deeply appreciate this lovely review.
Aspiring Blog accepts writing from guest authors. Read their engaging stories or submit your own!
I have enjoyed reading the first two books in the Unsung Heroes series by Ritish Sharma and his coauthor, Depak Joshi. I hope they will publish another book in this series sometime soon, and I will be sure to read it! The series tells the stories or ordinary people from all over the world who have performed extraordinary services to help their fellow human beings. Available on Amazon. Learn more about this wonderful series on Aspiring Blog.
Home
Gulf Coast Poet 