Poem /prayer by MAX COOTS at this time of year

My undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts is from what is now Webster University in metro Saint Louis. So much of what I do in my storytelling came from there even though I didn't see the path I would eventually follow. Paul Steger is the Dean of the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts and he sent out the following poem or prayer for this time of year. Having recently lost a longtime friend, Loretta Vitek, who was both a storyteller and librarian (and mentioned here about half a dozen times) the poem or prayer seems particularly appropriate. Loretta's family this past month joined with those of us who will miss her in a memorial feast she would have approved. 

This seems to be a most appropriate way to enjoy those around us and " those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested."

Photo by Philippe Murray-Pietsch on Unsplash

 

 

Poem /prayer by MAX COOTS

 

LET US GIVE THANKS

 

Let us give thanks for a bounty of people

For children who are our second planting

and though they grow like weeds

and the wind too soon blows them away,

May they forgive us our cultivation

and remember fondly where their roots are.

 

Let us give thanks:

For generous friends, with hearts as big as hubbards

and smiles as bright as their blossoms;

For feisty friends as tart as apples;

For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers,

keep reminding us we've had them;

For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb

and as indestructible;

For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants

and as elegant as a row of corn,

and the others, as plain as potatoes and so good for you;

For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts

and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes,

and serious friends, as complex as cauliflowers

and as intricate as onions;

For friends as unpretentious as cabbages,

as subtle as summer squash,

as persistent as parsley,

as delightful as dill,

as endless as zucchini,

and who, like parsnips,

can be counted on to see you throughout the winter;

For old friends,

nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time

and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;

For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils

and hold us, despite our blights, wilts, and witherings;

And finally, for those friends now gone,

like gardens past that have been harvested,

but who fed us in their times

that we might have life thereafter;

For all these we give thanks.

 

-- Max Coots

I find all over the internet this poem/prayer by the late Reverend Max Coots. Reverend Coots, was both a minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church and also a passionate gardener who permitted many to share these thoughts. 

Loretta and I shared a love of dragons. A few dragon stories may be found here attached to her name, but I also will long remember her signature not only about dragons, but "There's always a story; it would be a shame not to tell it."

For friends and all who shaped our stories, let us continue to give thanks.