Tag: Bucks County

Three Selected Poems

~ Meg ~ 53 Comments

I have never really considered poetry to be my strong suit. Nevertheless, I have built up a nice little collection. Recently, I was alerted to a poetry competition taking place here in Bucks County for Bucks County residents only and sponsored by the Doylestown Bookshop. Since I qualify all around, and my novels are set in Doylestown, where the bookshop resides, I decided to give it a try.

The rules call for three poems, no more, no less. The question was how to pick the right three… When in doubt, ask for help. My dear friend, Roger Moore (no not 007), poet, published author and academic, read and critiqued eight of my poems and helped to select the three I will submit. In addition, he suggested an order for them that actually tells an eerie little story. You’ve read them before but here they are again and with an audio track as well. What do you think of the tale these tell?

Tales Of War   

Gathering dust and clinging webs
The attic cache lies in wait
Trunks and boxes long untouched
The time has come to investigate

Sepia photos, cracked and faded
Sticking pages, broken binding
Letters home, bound with twine
The tales of war, I’m finding

Peruse the pictures, study the faces
So full of youthful determination
His postures straight, those twinkling eyes
Would soon witness extermination

Ravaged, disfigured, lungs burned by gas
Returned to England, war scarce survived
Haunted by nightmares, wracked by cough
This broken man came home to die

War upon his sweetheart, laid the burden
Tore away the chance for a happy life
For the babe that quickened in 1914
Was all that he left his beloved wife

Pitch Black  

She was as welcome
As a ray of sunshine…
On a parched desert world
Devoid of life
Atmosphere burned away
By hydrocarbons

She was as wanted
As a downpour…
On the day of the funeral
The mourners soaked
With cold rain
And bitter tears

She was as loved
As an armistice…
On the final day of a war
In which your son
Was the last one
To die

She was as pitch black
As the agony in her broken heart

Night Work

Silence flees from the forest
At the snap of twigs beneath boots
The burden grows ever more heavy
While carefully avoiding tree roots

This menial task is performed
Under deepest cover of night
With great exertion and haste
The toiler must keep out of sight

As milky eyes stare up blankly
And porcelain skin seems to glow
Cool flesh, ragged nails and torn clothing
Beneath loamy soil, sink low

Then with the deed accomplished
Straighten up, breathe deep and be brave
Leave the girl’s corpse to rot slowly
In her exclusive woodland grave

Le Boulangerie (6) Peach Cobbler

~ Meg ~ 43 Comments

To accompany my novel in progress: Breaking Bread, welcome to Le Boulangerie.

I planned this post to align with this past weekend’s Super Bowl game. It would either be a celebration or a consolation to the parts of the country hoping for an Atlanta Falcons victory. Well, consolation it is… they lost and in a most heartbreaking fashion. Giving up a commanding lead and ultimately losing in the Super Bowl’s first ever overtime. Here’s to you Atlanta, Georgia. Have some cobbler.

For those of you outside the United States, cobbler is essentially a deep dish fruit pie. Instead of a traditional pie crust, fruit is baked with a sweet batter in a baking dish instead of a pie plate. The dessert originated in the American Colonies while still under British rule. The early settlers, with lack of ingredients and improper tools for cooking and baking, had to improvise. Thus the ‘cobbler,’ possibly derived from the old term: cobeler, which means wooden bowl, was created by stewing fruit, topping it with batter and baking in cook pots rather than pans.

Here is a recipe adapted from one of my Nana’s recipes for apple cobbler. I wanted to make peach, for Georgia after all. (Even though fresh peaches aren’t in season and really that would be the ideal time to make this…)

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar, divided
  • 4 cups peaches, fresh or thawed frozen (I used frozen)
  • 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • ground cinnamon

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a 11X13 baking dish in oven. Remove from oven when melted.
  • Mix flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add milk and mix until just combined. Pour batter into baking dish on top of butter. Do NOT stir.
  • Bring peaches, remaining 1 cup of sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Pour peaches over batter (they’ll sink in). Do NOT stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
  • Bake for 40 – 45 minutes until the top of the cobbler is golden brown.
  • Serve with vanilla ice cream.

My condolences, Atlanta. I hope this helps.