Anne-Shirley Clough a name quite enough dandelion fluff spread by a puff from the cheeks of a girl in the meadow at …

Empty closet, empty heart. Empty morning, day won’t start Lost my plans to carry on Since I learned that you are gone …

When Northern Lights drift close to you They’re after your spirit. Bid your adieux!   They’ll carry you off to other souls …

We come from a town Where we were all cousins Mennonite parents Kids by the dozens   All were Mennonite Through and …

Watching the Grey Cup at home   The Earl Grey Cup, a November feud Time for drinks and a festive mood A …

  I celebrate Easter in my old age with memories of music and memories of my daughters in pretty yellow outfits. I …

  Years ago I wrote this story about getting a loaf of paska from my favourite cousin Katherine Penner. It was, in …

When I was just a boy of ten I walked to school each day A mile the path but hundreds then That …

One spring Diane Kroeker made the pigs of Deerbank Farm famous by getting their picture onto ABC’s Good Morning America show. She …

This morning I had a profound spiritual experience at Mass in the Roman Catholic church next door. I went to church with young …

  Once when our children were young, I took them on a wildlife hunt through Whiteshell Provincial Park. We played a discovery …

  There are many deer species in the world. They range from the familiar white-tailed deer which came to Manitoba a century …

  It arrives like a ghost. You may be sitting beside your campfire dozing through a lazy summer afternoon when everything is …

  We were driving along Falcon Lake’s south shore last year when suddenly Diane spotted a bird standing on the gravel shoulder. …

It’s quiet. You’ve walked through a garage to the back. Moments ago, even from the freshly shoveled front walk, you heard dozens …

  The killdeer is an actor worthy of an Oscar. If you come too close to her nest – often a shallow …

  Half-time show. Ho ho ho. Time for tea for you and me Tea for two and maybe more A drink of …

One more year, the Day of the Dead Gone the woman who shared my bed Drifted away in November mist Gone the …

  You hoo …that you in the woods?   We can do what we will For the thrill Of meeting like this. …

This dinner gathering was the first time Chloe, my great granddaughter, was with my extended family. She kept us entertained with her …

Today Anne-Shirley brought me to St. Boniface Hospital for yet another medical appointment, this time a lung scan with a Gamma Camera. …

Diane was hostess of “Follow Me”, a children’s TV show grown out of Trinity Television’s “It’s A New Day”. It was telecast …

  There’s a quiet place where the Assiniboine meets the Red, a place for basking in moonglow, a place for wondering in …

  An outstanding period in our family was the time when we had two bearded collies. The beardie is a great family …

  Non-resistance is the distinguishing aspect of Menno Simons’ teachings.   All Christian denominations have a way of finding God through Jesus …

When Northern Lights drift close to you They’re after your spirit. Bid your adieux!   They’ll carry you off to other souls …

  Being a Mennonite in Manitoba is living in a microcosm of Mennonites worldwide. Around the world there are Mennonites in almost …

  I have associated with Hutterites all my life. Although I never considered becoming one, I admired their communal life. I like …

  The story of this famous dog found life in our family at bedtime. There’s a statue of Greyfriars Bobby in Edinborough, …

  It’s a myth. Hummingbirds do not migrate under the wings of geese. I don’t know how the myth got started, but …

  We were on another of our many trips to California, travelling across the southwest states along Route 66. We always visited …

Farmyard rules never bending Barnyard work never ending  Do the chores ever tending Chickens and sheep, ever mending Fences to keep the …

  I prayed for just one little child Just one – he gave me four. Quadruplets, yes, they drove me wild I …

  I believe in Angels Just as much as God Some say that is odd   Angels – scientifically proven matter Helping …

  Little Chloe, six months old Now your journey will unfold I’ll be gone when you grow tall Hang my picture on …

  Was it creation or evolution? Who cares when hare and hound ‘cross a stubblefield bound   Was it God or was …

  REFRAIN You Can Fly, You Can Soar You Can Open Any Door You Can Sail The Widest Ocean You Can Set …

  The short little leprachauns dancin’ ‘round Were swingin’ shilleleghs stout A’tryin’ to kill the snakes in the land A’cursin’ with many …

The towering Alps reach high to the sky, Too tall for me, busy pursuer of life, to climb   But my gaze …

Here on a hillside, quiet and serene I sit and wonder at the places I’ve seen And none compare to this solitary …

  Vivacious and vibrant, my friend Michelle She turned to run like a bat outta hell        …from drugs and such.        …

  The touch of your hand is a soothing caress    that stills my restless soul      your fingers glide to my …

  I often think of you, dear Mom As being gentle like a dove With tender eyes and helping hands That never …

  Sunday morning all alone       with just a memory             of last night’s starry taste of love                   acute my misery …

  At night when lovers copulate    they unrewarded see      how fruitless is their lonely search          for pleasure’s misery   …

  I am a young man    trapped in an old man’s body      loving a young girl that          skips away …

  Here’s to the friends who love us well    and all the rest can go to hell      we used to …

  Afraid and sad I look at life, alone and insecure A yearning in my heart I feel for someone true and …

  Here in the monastery    God only knows      why we came so far …to this lonely place.   This is …

Here on the shore of Highwind Lake I dream away, hardly awake I sit and wait for a call from the loon …

  Twenty years have dulled our touch Made us pull away too much   You talked on and shed some tears I …

  For whom do you pine when you’re lonely and blue How do you feel when you don’t know who is still …

  It used to be that North End jewel Got up quick for Sunday School Winter walk across the Red Never got …

  Life is a tragic comedy    a joke as old as time      humankind exalted hero          many flaws to rhyme. …

  Just who, I ask, is Jesus Christ? People say he’s just a fraud …others say the Son of God A teller …

  The lake is a place to be with friends Having a nap Making love to an apparition   The lake is …

She sits by the water and thinks of her daughters Jesus and John in the water you see keeping a date with …

  Dusk and damp, dimming light. The sweet and musty smell. Of death by night, I fear your unknown hell.   I …

  I can’t resist Looking at a pretty ankle Watching it disappearing Around a corner Slender, sculptured, Red shoes Imagining A petticoat …

  Communion. It seems    Our knowledge gone dim      Of what it means          To remember Him   Ancient people took …

  The dance of life, a dance of love A dance come down from the skies above Dance that day when a …

  Bad it would seem Shout and scream Go for a walk In a world run amok   Big lies get bigger …

  Whenever I look at a mug of beer I remember the jovial night Faulty rational world of fear Lost in the …

  I was forbidden things In younger days I couldn’t do this I couldn’t do that I wore a black hat A …

My morning song is a song sung along The edge of a canyon rim. Starlight dreams become, it seems, My morning requiem. …

  You asked me If I love you. I said yes.   We drove through the countryside in fall Autumn leaves turning …

A loon will soon in June Send shivers up our spines Long lonesome wail, speckled tail Hysteric cackle in pines Calm lake …

At age of four       you learned the way                how not to stray   When you were two      …

I stand paralyzed when she enters my sanctuary    seemingly without fear.      My heart skips a beat          when she enters …

  Write whatever comes to mind You are loving, you are kind You have friends from here and there Stored inside your …

  Prayer seems reduced to nothing more    than endless demands      from sight gone dim   As if God were a …

  I want to pray for my friend Stan but it’s such a struggle.   We address our higher powers who in …

  His name is Jesus. That, for me, is his most comfortable name.   He’s called the Son of God. He’s called …

In my search for church I heard the voice of God,  Whispering in the pines.   It took a while, I drove …

A mist on the moor is magic,    brings tales of old that are tragic;      tales that are fresh          tales …

With the world the birds awake Tweety songs at dawn’s daybreak Birds flit by, slept the night through Owl finds a daytime …

  It was soft twilight – almost night when the golden affair began   There were others they say in the home …

  All this pain this weekend There is too much pain   We sit here together Rendered powerless   Women and men …

  We go through life    with intimates few      but there’s something special          in sharing a pew with friends.   …

  Some are men    some are boys      men stand tall          amid the noise.   Boys seethe in anger    …

  I’m in a mood – need solitude      I walk to the desert in sandals          leaving the city behind                …

Together that day, you and I Country cathedral, holy high Country cathedral Sunday morning Spell came on us quick without warning Needed …

  Tony, my old border collie    herding his field art Eating rats his only folly    fast and very smart   …

  15 Types of Poetic Forms Blank verse. Blank verse is poetry written with a precise meter—almost always iambic pentameter—that does not …

God sitting up in the Bishop’s chair Eyes glued tight to his i-Pad there Spelling out to us on Earth Who we …

  Lonely horn    beneath the light Melody borne in    heat of night Bottle drained    of liquid dreams Dimming light …

  The faces of hell yell out at night with muffled screams    dreams become nightmares skull hangs loose in a noose …

There are 26 cousins in my family tree, descendants of five children of my grandparents. At 83 I’m the youngest. The grandparents …

  Sunday morning, soul sad an’ blue Singin’ a song an’ cryin’ some too.   Sunday is foggy, a misty haze Sound …

I stand in the Alps, breathtaking view My restless eyes want something new I look up the Maypole, sky quite odd. Beyond …

It’s called a paradigm shift Our daily view of truth From mountaintop to valley below Questions from our youth   We dance …

The bust we cuss Is just old rust, When we discuss With deep disgust Our thoughts robust. The bust was Chopin Atop …

We were lost, me and my two cousins Paul and Harvey, they with guns and me with a camera. We were hunting …

I composed little songs for special occasions as they came up in life, from the birth of little people to Psalms I …

Canadians East and West make fun of Winnipeg. Winterpeg, they call it, the coldest city in Canada, they say. But Winnipeg is …

The United Nations Assembly has declared October 1 as the day to recognize older people. The theme is to help them adapt …

I get water in my legs. It comes from sitting too long at the computer when I should be lying down with …

One of our favourite drives is along River Road from where it veers off Main Street north of Winnipeg to follow the …

Like his sister, Max was born on the couch in the front room of their home in Charleswood. At 11 years old, …

Isabella was born to Rebecca with the help of her Dad Wayne and a midwife on the couch in the front room …