A Poem on the 6th Anniversary of the Chardon High School Massacre

Can you believe it? School massacres are becoming routine in the USA! Here is a poem I wrote this week on the 6th anniversary of the massacre at Chardon High School--in Geauga County, Ohio, my home. My nephew Dillon Coughlin was in the cafeteria when this happened.

The Chardon High School Massacre—6 Years Later

It doesn’t even count as mass murder,

Only three children dead, another paralyzed,

Another gravely wounded, a sixth nicked.

The shooter, T.J. Lane, an insecure boy from a destroyed family,

Shot up his table in the cafeteria before classes began.

A 22-caliber handgun—almost quaint in this brave new world

Where children are mowed down with weapons of war.

At least two hero teachers, Frank Hall, chasing down the shooter,

And Joe Ricci, running in to a hallway where bullets were flying,

Rescuing Nick Walczak, the boy permanently paralyzed.

Three boys lay mortally wounded, Danny Parmertor,

Russell King, Jr., and Demetrius Hewlin.

Joy Rickers wounded, Nate Mueller grazed.

Two funerals at St. Mary’s Church, across the street from the high school,

Thousands of people forming a human chain to protect the funeral mass

From threatened protest by Westboro Baptist Church.

The community did everything it could think of to support the students,

Their families, and the families of the deceased, but . . .

The spirits and bodies and dreams and hopes of so many

Were shredded by unfeeling bullets fired

By the desperately unhappy boy, who

Will spend the rest of his days in prison.

                                    Robert M. Coughlin / February 27, 2018

A New Poem for Early Spring

Wake to Warmth, Light, and Song

Three days ago, snow covered the ground,

But today I hike in 70-degree sunshine—

What is it? Late late winter?

Early early spring?

The woods seem dormant still,

But fringing the wetlands I see pussy willow bloom,

And in the mud flats flags rise up six inches, cattails really,

And skunk cabbage in its strange purple swirl—

This swamp is a furnace of heat and life,

Even in the winter.

I notice swollen red maple buds in the wet woods

And hear more bird song than I’ve heard in months—

Cardinals, redwing blackbirds, mourning doves,

And all the invisible, to me, birds

Who, on treetops, sing like coloratura sopranos.

And then, near the marsh, I hear

For the first time in ten months

The joyful chorus of spring peepers.

We have survived the silence, the darkness,

The barrenness: we wake to warmth,

To light,

To song!

                        [Bob Coughlin / March 10, 2016]

Near the Peak of Fall Color in Northeast Ohio

For various reasons, Northeast Ohio is one of the most beautiful places in the world for fall color. This is especially true a little south of the lake, in Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula Counties. These areas have wonderful forests of sugar maple, beech, red maple, tulip poplar, black gum (tupelo), sassafras, hickory, etc. These trees give you yellows, oranges, reds, and all sort of combinations and intermediate shades. I guess the colors are a product of our tree species, soils, and weather. Below are some photos from this morning and the past week.

Red maple, with pin oak in the background (my yard, Chardon)

Blueberry bush (my yard, Chardon)

Some sort of hickory (Penitentiary Glenn)

American beech (Penitentiary Glenn)

Sugar maple

Black gum/tupelo

Sugar maple

Sugar maple in my front yard

Trees behind my house in Hambden/Chardon

Great Blueberry Harvest Begins!

This morning we picked the first blueberries of 2014. I am surprised how plentiful they are despite our nasty winter in the Chardon/Hambden Township area. Hopefully we will be picking berries for a few more weeks!

Big One!

Spring Peepers Peeping! An X-Rated Spring Song

A very very short video in which you can hear the wonderful song of spring nights--the mating song of the spring peepers (just outside my door):

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article on these critters: Spring Peepers

Here's what those little buggers look like:

Peeper Peeping--Looking for Love

This was found on a Google image search

Early April Hallelujah Chorus

The spring peepers singing their hearts out last night

Right outside my window, in the wetlands, near the creek,

Chirping their love

Seeking out their Romeos and Juliets

Reckless frog lovers

One green inch of high C

Chanting to the drumbeat

Pulsing in their peeper souls

The hum in the blood,

The need for a mate

Louder than the call for food or sleep

Or anything else --

Not so different from

Human peepers of spring!

[Robert M. Coughlin / April 2002]

Maple Syrup Season in Chardon and Geauga County

One of the surest signs of early spring around here--the sap buckets hanging from the sugar maple trees on Chardon Square. We like to think of ourselves as the maple capital of Ohio and are very proud of our maple syrup (and candy, sugar, etc). Here are a few photos taken this morning on the Square.

Gazebo and Courthouse in the background

Reading a Poem with Grace Butcher in Painesville

Last night we had our monthly poetry reading at "Your Vine or Mine" micro winery in Painesville, Ohio. Grace Butcher, the extraordinary Chardon-area poet and athlete, was the featured reader. For her last reading of the evening, she asked me to be "the Voice of God" in her poem. Well, it doesn't come off exactly as the voice of God, but it was fun!