Skip to main content

Just Picking Sage, an original poem

Just Picking Sage

Sitting on my porch on an autumn afternoon;
Picking from the herbs that had been growing there since June;
Listening to the radio, they were playing my favorite tune;
But I was doing more than picking sage.

Memories of my Grandma over 30 years ago
Picking from my sage plants, when I didn’t even know
They were growing in my garden, right next to my fence row.
I didn’t know a thing about picking sage

She brought the sage leaves in and carefully laid them out;
She assumed I wouldn’t bother them, never had a doubt
That I would know what to do with them, but I threw them out!
Didn’t dream she would want the dried-up sage.

I never have forgotten the lesson I learned that day;
I took a lot of teasing about the sage I threw away;
“It’s supposed to be dried out!” is what I heard her say
As she went out to pick some more sage.

So it wasn’t just the harvesting of the herbs that made me cry;
And it wasn’t the chives that grew there that brought a tear to my eye;
And it wasn’t just the thoughts of turkey and dressing by and by;
That brought to me such joy while picking sage.

It was memories clearly photographed in some corner of my mind;
It was laughter and some joking as times’ video did rewind;
It was family’s precious moments in the past that I could find;
While sitting on the porch, just picking sage.

Written by Joan Hart, October 12, 2002, Copyright 2002

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Moneymaker House on Harwood Avenue

I was so thrilled to read in last night's Lebanon Daily Record that the Laclede County Historical Society has now received title to the Moneymaker House on Harwood Avenue. I have always loved that house. As a little girl living in Old Town Lebanon on the corner of Wood & Apple Streets, and walking to school each day, I passed that house every day and always thought it was the most beautiful house in town. The large mature trees in the front yard were always so stately with their long curvy branches sweeping the ground and creating a canopy for the squirrels to have their own private playhouse during the spring and summer. In the fall, the leaves became a gorgeous array of colors gradually falling to the ground and making a carpet under the trees, eventually paving the way for the white snow which inevitably would come as winter would arrive. I loved the low branches sweeping the ground at the Moneymaker house so much that I asked Milan in the early years of our marriage to le...

"Mary Did You Know" by Mark Lowry

THE NIGHT GOD WATCHED OVER MY SON IN LAW

  I’m sure most of us who read the Lebanon newspaper on a daily basis are appalled at the number of drug stops, domestic abuse, and break-ins that take place in Lebanon every day. I often wonder how our law enforcement men and women keep a straight face at the stupid statements made by the people they encounter during these incidents. We sometimes have to laugh, wondering how dumb these people think our officers are. But we become very serious when we think of so many drug and alcohol impaired drivers being out on the roads and highways at the same time we are transporting our loved ones back and forth over those same roads. And we must never forget that every one of those traffic stops, domestic disturbance calls and other 911 calls puts those officers at tremendous risk of serious injury or the loss of their own lives, even when the situation appears to be routine and mundane. Such was the case on December 9, 1991 when Deputy Sheriff Leslie Roark went to the home of James R. Joh...