The short little leprachauns dancin’ ‘round
Were swingin’ shilleleghs stout
A’tryin’ to kill the snakes in the land
A’cursin’ with many a lusty shout.
Then along came St. Pat with his shamrock’s charm
And the snakes went on their way
Since then all the lads and lassies of Erin
Are wearin’ the green to honour the day.
Written as a college assignment.
Published in the San Jose City College Times, Volume 11, March 16, 1961.
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It’s quiet. You’ve walked through a garage to the back. Moments ago, even from the freshly shoveled front walk, you heard dozens …
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The short little leprachauns dancin’ ‘round Were swingin’ shilleleghs stout A’tryin’ to kill the snakes in the land A’cursin’ with many …
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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 …
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At night when lovers copulate they unrewarded see how fruitless is their lonely search for pleasure’s misery …
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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 …
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Some are men some are boys men stand tall amid the noise. Boys seethe in anger …
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Sunday morning, soul sad an’ blue Singin’ a song an’ cryin’ some too. Sunday is foggy, a misty haze Sound …
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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 …
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 …
My name is Irv Kroeker, pronounced Erv Kraker. I was at a noisy party back in California, being introduced to someone.
“What?” the stranger asked. “Earth Quaker?”
Hence the name of this website (and later book).
The name is strengthened by the fact that I lived in San Jose on the San Andreas fault, where an earthquake will surely happen again. The last one, registering 6.9 on the Richter scale, happened October 17, 1989, when the Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed.
WHY THIS WEBSITE
We all seek immortality, like famous people; writing things down helps achieve it.
I will never be famous like Churchill or Ghandi, so my immortality will rest between the covers of a book that in two or three generations after me will seldom be opened.
Now I live in the moment of my last years, hoping I will be remembered by my grandchildren.
The Earth Quaker will help.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Irvin James Kroeker
89 McAdam Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada
R2W 0A3
Website: irvkroeker.com
Email: irvkroeker@gmail.com
Phone: 204 887 5952