When you are serving in the military and stationed overseas, there is something particularly precious about receiving mail. I think it becomes especially meaningful in those wars where you start to feel abandoned or forgotten.

In Vietnam, we served at a time when many in the United States were actively hoping for our failure. So it was a ray of light when we received a piece of mail from home that reminded us that there were still people who remembered and loved us.

A string of hearts came to me at a true low point in my Vietnam service. We had just lost a couple of pilots over North Vietnam, it was the middle of the monsoon season, and we were going to general quarters almost every night, as MIG’s took what we hoped were dry runs at us out of Hanoi. When I opened the envelope and a string of red hearts fell out, each with a little message, it was such a joy. I taped them to my bunk as a reminder that there were still people back in the States who cared for us despite the snarling angry faces that seemed to monopolize the television and newspaper headlines.

Today we have young men and women serving our nation in dangerous places around the world. They are largely forgotten in a society that focuses on the “me” generation, and is hardly aware of the terrible struggles taking place elsewhere. The only times we seem to look up are when we are forced to look at the broken bodies that return from their service,

or some scandal arises about the poor care provided them at VA hospitals.

To those who do care, please let them know. Snail mail, e-mail (where available) and care packages can still mean a great deal, even in this era where such things are considered by many to be the stuff of dinosaurs.

The poem “A String of Hearts” is a reflection of how much a simple letter can mean to those so far from home.

Glenn K. Currie

String of Hearts

What does a string of hearts mean?

I carried them for years

But never found out.

I  lost my place in Vietnam,

And came back somewhere else.

The construction paper of life

Needed sturdier stock than whimsy

And  ten red hearts scissored

From an artist’s pad.

I watched them disintegrate

In a wallet filled with worn bills.

The words had faded long ago. Lost

To the constant friction of life.

And the paper was spent the same way.

But oh, the joy,

When that long string of hearts

First invaded a place without any.

Maybe that was the only intent.

Copyright 2015 Glenn K. Currie

Evolution can take many different forms. We often think of it as the development of the human species, but our society, our economy, and everything around us is constantly evolving.

When a new technological development occurs, it is almost impossible to perceive all the ramifications. The arrival of the internet has impacted almost every aspect of modern life, yet the change is no more game-changing than what happened around the beginning of the twentieth century. The widespread development of automobiles, airplanes, electricity, atomic theory, manufacturing practices, cinematography, telephones, and “modern” warfare all combined to change the world at a breath-taking pace.

To those trying to deal with the transitions that these things caused, it probably seemed like the earth was falling away beneath them, just as the internet is causing the same feelings to much of society, many businesses and most of us over the age of fifty. Everything we thought we knew, everything we were, is without foundation. Our jobs, families, and societies are suddenly adrift in a hurricane of change.

Ghosts (a new poem) is really about all of us as we move along the evolutionary trail.

Glenn K. Currie

Ghosts

Tall grass muffled their departure

So that I hardly knew they were gone.

Sometimes I think I see them

Running along the edge of ancient forests.

Their hooves pound the hollowed earth

That falls away even as I watch.

The ground shifts, the planet spins,

And they are swallowed whole.

Their graves are the caverns left

By the needs of their successors,

Their replacements rage across the land,

Arriving in spectacle, burning the air,

Eating the tall grass of their ancestors.

Copyright 2015 Glenn K. Currie

I just finished participating in a musical revue put on by the Rotary Club of Concord. I was only a small piece of the production, but there was something very cathartic about joining with so many others to do something for the community.

The funds raised will go towards support of a variety of local charities, and based on the hours involved  it probably wasn’t very cost effective, but a great many fine performers, musicians and support personnel helped create something that represents everything wonderful about life in a small town.

In a world burdened with so much anger and violence, it was a pleasure to see so many people focusing on some of the brighter things in life. Singing and dancing helps free the spirit and cleanse the soul for both the cast and the audience.

Art in general, opens us to infinite possibilities, and breaks down some of the dark borders that can encroach on the frames of our minds. It is nice sometimes to set aside the evening news, and the pent up political issues that absorb so much of our time and energy, and find something in the broad worlds of music and art that will allow us to soar above the base lines of life.

Try it sometime. Give your brain a “full body massage” and find a place where you can exult in the best you have to offer, rather than simply allowing yourself to be assaulted by what the world decides to dump upon you.

Glenn K. Currie

Sorry I haven't had the time to post recently but I have been swamped with rehearsal time for a musical revue that I am "performing" in. It has been way to much work for my 71 year old legs but we will hopefully raise lots of money for charity. I am looking forward for it to be over at the end of the weekend. It has a lot of amazing singers and dancers in it and is at the Audi on 3/13, 3/14, (7:30) and 3/15 (2:00).  Hope you will come if you are in the area.