My Grandma Rosa was born in 1898 in Oregon. When she was 16 years old she went to work as a cook in a logging camp where she met her future husband. My grandfather was a shipbuilder and had a boat shop and salmon cannery on the Siletz River. They had 5 children but only 4 survived their childhood. Life was not easy, but Rosa, who dreamed of being a poet, found time to jot down many verses and prose.
I found one of her poems while I was thinking about a new collection and the last line was my inspiration…
Not yet shall I deplete this store
Of pictures that the years have wrought;
But sometime when my blood runs cold,
I’ll wander in my world of thought;
So while the warmth is in the sun,
And while the bird’s wing crimson glows,
I’ll paint my memories daringly-
To tint gray days with rose.
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