POETRY
Spring Poetry
Two beautiful seasonal poems by Canadian Free Press “Poet in Residence” William Bedford: “Spring Break” and “April Song” . . .

GENERATIONS
Excerpt from Letters to Sam: “Your Birthday Gift to Me”
Dear Sam, I'm writing this letter to you at the shore. When I came out of my room this morning and started planning my day in my head, I didn't pay attention to the ocean or the waves. But outside the waves formed out on a quiet sea, a hundred yards from shore. Moving steadily, these waves broke onto the beach, while, a hundred yards out, new ones were taking form. All this continued while I was busy planning my day and listing the calls I had to make. The waves went unnoticed. So did the smells in the air and the sounds around me. So did my breath. And genuine emotions went by unnoticed too. How long would it be, in the midst of my multi-tasking, before my life went unnoticed? . . .

FAMILY
A Letter to My Grown Children: How You Have Enriched Our Lives
Dear Amie and Sarah, We’re on our way to pick up Sarah from the bus, winding our way through the back roads east of Quakertown. Dad’s driving. It’s a perfect late spring–early summer evening: sun still high, windows open, breeze ruffling our hair, and Sonny Rollins floating from the car radio. With Mother’s Day just past and Father’s Day upon us, I find myself thinking about the little girls you were, not too, too long ago, and all the interesting twists and turns our lives have taken because of you . . .

BOOKS
Review of Goldie Hawn’s A Lotus Grows in the Mud
“I don’t have the answers to the big questions in life. I’m still on my own road to discovery,” wrote Goldie Hawn (her real name, by the way). As a child she was asked what she wanted to be. Her reply is the same today as it was then: happy! She began her journey climbing backyard fences as a spindly kid and progressed to climbing the stairs to stardom as an intelligent, successful actress. Then add “business woman” and “mother” to the list to make a balanced equation. No matter what her role, her mantra remained the same: happiness . . .

Features . . .