Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Love is Power

                             http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/power-of-love-joan-reese.html
“No religion is absolutely perfect. Yet not only do we fight for religion, but also are we often willing to sacrifice our lives for it. And what we hopelessly fail to do is to live it. A true religion is that which has no caste, no creed, no colour. It is but an all-uniting and all-pervading embrace.” 
― Sri Chimney                 https://www.srichinmoy.org

Monday, February 13, 2017

Do you remember "The Little Rascals" dog, Petey?

Remember Petey the dog from The Little Rascals? The little boy on the right was my father.
        http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/philly-kids-with-petey-the-dog-joan-reese.html
Fishtown kids weren't hungry                                
We played, then dined on soup.             
We sailed the Soupy Island Boat for free.                    

Dad worked the fishery; earning a small salary            
Dads drank in the brewery  Moms convened on marble stoops.
Fishtown kids weren't hungry.                              

Summer days, sailing the Delaware, carefree
Can't call a Fishtown kid a dupe           
We sailed the Soupy Island Boat for free.   

We landed at Red Bank, New Jersey; climbed trees,              
Rode the carousel, swam; fifty kids in our group.                 
Fishtown kids weren't hungry.                               

We thought the soup savory  One might disagree   
America was feeding us on her trusty sloop.                      
We sailed the Soupy Island Boat for free.         

In 1945, rent overdue: Not to worry!    
We had each other  we shared our bread and soup.                 
Fishtown kids weren't hungry                    
We sailed the Soupy Island Boat for free.
            by Joan Reese        

Friday, February 3, 2017

Flying A Service Stations Part of Earlier Years.

                       http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/flying-a-service-sign-joan-reese.html

Death of a Gas Station
They now lie vacant and still.
In the past, drivers came for a fill.
With clean restrooms and soda machines,
these stops were once places with lively scenes.
“Let me check your oil and clean your windshield.”
That is what attendants said at Esso and Richfield.
There was also Sinclair, Atlantic, and Flying-A.
These names are all part of an earlier day.
They were there to help motorists on their way.
Whether they drove a Hudson, Studebaker, or Thunderbird,
service was always the key word.
The pumps are rusty and the windows are boarded.
The old signs are now damaged and distorted.
Walls of the buildings are overgrown with ivy.
Business was brisk at the height of their activity.
However, all that was there is only a memory.
by Robert Pettit