East Valley Poets
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In Memoriam
Joseph Harris held both a MS & PhD in Neurochemistry. He spent a lifetime teaching and researching at the John Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Arizona State University Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. He was also a fellow of the New York Academy of Science. Dr. Harris was a past president of the East Valley Poets and a former executive board member of the Arizona State Poetry Society. He was a participant in the 17th World Congress of Poets, where he contributed an exposition entitled Modern Language Poetry: A Neo-Darwinian Mutant. United Poets Laureate International awarded him for his contributions to poetry. Joseph Harris passed away April 4, 2011. He was ninety-one.
In Memoriam
Leonard F. Bischel, Jr., educator and veteran(AEM3 US Navy & Capt US Army), served in World War II, Korea, and the Vietnam era. He became a Coordinator of Gifted Children's Programs for Greater Phoenix Mensa and was listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers. Leonard held executive offices for the United Poets Laureate International, the World Congress of Poets, the Arizona State Poetry Society, and the East Valley Poets. His honors include: NDEA Fellow, Fellow of International Academy of Poetry, Poet Laureate Man of Letters, Century Poets Award, and the Exemplary Services Award for World Brotherhood and Peace.
b. September 11,1928. d. April 9, 2012.
Leonard & Edith Bischel with live Bald Eagle at Hawk Quest Exhibit, American Indian Art Show, January 30, 2006.
A Poem to Jim
Poets write real poems for unreal times
about staying alive, life affirming
Relevant to all our lives.
In living, each moment the last minute.
Most people don’t think theologically.
They think experientially.
Unreal times has elements of surreal,
Turn to poetry for help in understanding
ill health,
For consolation in grief, or affirmation in love,
even times of personal anxiety.
The poem comes out of wonder, not out of knowing.
Incite the wish to live well.
I hear the movement inside your body,
the state of your health,
But I need to hear in your mind
whether it is listening
To change into a butterfly, as it
goes with the flow of life altered.
Poetry has a way of talking about
that which frightens
As it makes the invisible visible.
Joseph Harris
Copyright ©. Rights to poem are retained. All rights reserved, except as otherwise noted. Reproduction done for other than personal or internal reference use without expressed permission is prohibited.
Tiny Gardens
Tiny Gardens on a shelf,
Built with such great care.
Each piece placed so lovingly
By hiker with white hair.
Memories of an earlier walk
Along a wooded path.
Along a quiet shore somewhere,
Safe from nature’s wrath.
A granite rock from mountain’s top,
A cone from nearby pine.
Each a memory of a walk,
Frozen now in time.
A tiny garden of memories,
Of days and events long past.
Each a time of happiness
That she hoped would last.
The tiny garden’s left alone;
Its owner passed away.
The garden’s now a monument
To an earlier day.
It still holds its memories,
Though it’s growing old.
Of those golden sunlit days,
And their stories told.
Leonard Bischel
Copyright ©. Rights to poem are retained. All rights reserved, except as otherwise noted. Reproduction done for other than personal or internal reference use without expressed permission is prohibited.