The familiar quotation is attributed to Bette Davis. The exact wording varies but is along the lines of “Old age is no place for sissies.” How right she was. As body parts reach their best-before dates, curious and unwelcome failures start occurring. Even though people are healthier and vigorous for more years than ever...
© Photographer Angelo (italia) | Agency: Dreamstime.com He’s back. One of my favourite humorous writers has sent another poem. We’re surrounded by things that beep. The irritating sound is meant to alert us to some problem or other. Here’s what happened to Sterling Haynes. Beep — Beep — Beep — Beep I am becoming...
Years as a country doctor, in Alabama and in B.C.’s central interior, gave Sterling Haynes insight into the gritty reality of his women patients. He also fathered four strong, independent, amazing daughters—who are also a reflection of his equally strong, independent, and amazing wife, Jessie. When he sent me this poem, he wrote: “Until...
Regular visitors to Catching Courage will be familiar with the poetry of Sterling Haynes, who writes with both humour and compassion. Anyone who has walked the grey streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside will understand the gritty reality behind this poem. My head is wound with hemp, I walk in the downpour and in the...
After a career as a country doctor in rural Alabama and British Columbia’s Cariboo region, Sterling Haynes has turned his experiences into a second career as a writer and poet. His Momma Does Milk pulled no punches about the experiences of nursing mothers. Narratives for Dummies was inspired by a talk we both attended,...
I’m delighted to have another chance to feature one of Rick Hardman’s poems. If you haven’t seen his Hornets in my head, be sure to check it out as well. Rick’s grasp of language and metaphor is evident in “Gossamer threads”. The threads of his life form an intricate pattern as he continues to...
Regular readers of Catching Courage will recognize the name of this poem’s author, Marilyn Raymond. This is the sixth of her poems to appear here. The others are Sunflowers, That Apple, Baba Yaga, Sucking on Stones, and Anne. Marilyn wrote the poem for a special Women’s Day service at the Unitarian Fellowship of Kelowna....
Rick Hardman was one of the first people I met at the Unitarian Fellowship when I moved to Kelowna, British Columbia, in 2005. He was full of life and fun and was one of the most active volunteers in the group. He was also a talented poet, who knew how to turn a phrase...
Growing up in Twin Falls, Idaho, I had no words for people who loved differently from the model we considered “normal”. Not that all the families around us led Leave-It-to-Beaver lives. My own nuclear family consisted of a single mother, an absent father, a resident brother, and four half siblings who didn’t live close...
It was the Baby who brought me safely home. Mother tucked the tiny plaster figure into my hand before she left me alone, in a hospital bed. She couldn’t stay with me. A single mother with two young children had to work. So she told me Baby Jesus would look after me. I clutched...
Sometimes I look back at my life and wince, but mostly I trace the meandering path with gratitude. I’ve carried a bag of troubles, as everyone does, but these days it seems light. When I open the bag, I see shiny baubles instead of lumps of coal. They have been transformed by time. I...
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