My departure

 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 2Timothy 4:6

Rev Luther Ray Stokes

Ushers Orville Wheeler and Hank Radasky

Amen Henry

 Amen Henry

Today Henry Napier entered glory

Leaving his back corner place of worshipping

No matter the preachers humble expository 

Amen! Amen! Was heard again and again. 

And we the stoic would ponder

For if Henry was voicing such praise

Why were we in a quiet, quiet slumber?

Before such an Amazing Grace. 

Men of Henry's thankfulness seldom come

Men not ashamed to boldly say Amen

Help us O Great Jehovah our tongues 

To loosen in praise again and again!

Writing rose

 I came upon a writing rose  

Thorns worn from her words 

 She wrote over and over 

 The wind I have heard  

I have heard  

I have heard 

 I have heard

Butcher bird

 Butcher Bird Prophecy

  by john clare stokes

   Strike the bells of praise...  For today the invasion was stayed...  Strong upon the wind in all their glory...   Flew the Loggerhead Army...  To impale the swarming maelstrom...  Butchers from heaven come...  By night the victory fires we light...  Offerings to Jehovah....  for His Loggerhead Shrikes!

Seven steps

 Seven steps to rest

John Clare Stokes

It's how I envision heavens entrance

Seven steps leading up

Between the ancient camellias 

The shady porch with rocking chairs

A breeze through the dog trot

With all the savory scents emanating out

Drawing us toward

Those long since departed welcoming

As if we never parted at all

Just seven steps to Pilgrims Rest.

Eubanks cross

 Eubank's Cross

john clare 

The ole gospel minister

steeped in the hard shell

way did all he knew to

crack the nuts in the 

splintered pews.

It got so bad as one by

one the squirrels carried

the nuts away

until eventually

only one pew of a few

remained, 

 As far from

The pulpit

As possible.

Eventually ole Eubanks was

called on home to glory

and to this day

in September  they gather

up at the ole Hopewell

pull the splintered pew to the back

to watch that burning cross

march right across the floor

cracking eventually

every one of them

UP.

Life after 500

Today we packed up the 500 pf and took it to Office Depot to Fed Ex it back to b&h. The venture cost us only $10. Do I miss it? Not really. Today I shot with the 55-200. I got much closer. I’m already conniving to get a used 80-400 Nikkor for around a grand. 

But till then… 

In Dixieland

 One by land 

In the winter of twenty twenty

We had to make a stand

Two by sea

One by land

They came

Take the jab

Or lose your job

All in

 Whether it was bow making or falconry, it became all consuming, fishing then surfing, painting to firemaking to fireman, we tried to keep up. We have to assume that now family is your passion, so strong, it excludes everything, in your singular focus upon excellence. Happy birthday today Landon Randolph Stokes.

Ride Dino

 Ride Dino

Johnclarestokes 

In the land before time of man

The dinosaurs roamed the land

Creatures larger than imagination 

Primordial acts of Gods creation 

Our little son rode his plastic dino 

T Rex tamed by a young Lando 

At night the stories were read

Of lands where giants tread

A wallpaper was finally found

Now the creatures did surround 

Years passed and so the theme

Dino deflated with the dream

The dinosaurs were covered in brown

With deer and bears all around

Later, Danny and Gator glory

Then Tebow's inspiring story

Next came Kelly and the ocean blue

Surfboards galore of every hue

Finally to shades of modern gray

No hero found to guide the way

The little hawk with wings had flown

We paused to recall the Dino song

Yesterday, the gray border tore

Revealing faint tracks gone before

We chose not to repair the Dino print

The priceless uncovering of a lost moment

Ride Dino! Ride Dino! Happy song of the boy!

The layers of a life peeling back to reveal the joy! 

Landon Randolph Stokes

August 25, 1988

First kill

 First Kill

Johnclarestokes 

I proudly shot daddy's Purple Martin that day

Not knowing they kept mosquitos at bay.

Mamma told me, Quickly! Go bury the bird!

And to your father not breath a word.

I dug a hasty grave behind the shed

Then hid the Red Rider under the bed.

Each evening I looked in fear as Martins flew

That somehow daddy counted and knew.

Such the guilt on a little boys brain

That a tiny bird could cause such strain.

Years passed, the Martin houses rotted and fell

Now I'm old, but bless mamma, she never did tell!

The first kill haunts us through our days

Till at last, Martins keep mosquitos at bay

Above our graves.

drogue drift

 Drogue Drift

Johnclarestokes 

You could call it the bitter end 

of the rope

the point beyond where the fire

fused the strands

the unraveled part that did not

go through the ring

In the taunt the line turns astern

in a vertical load the lift

as the sea claw is freed

then a straight yaw as the

drift begins 

Into the beam sea they go with

memories of mooring

Above the laughing terns

mock the folly

In cabin crafts they ply on

in dead reckoning 

Paying the price of anchors rejecting.

Gentle man

 Gentle Man 

John Clare Stokes  

  My the splash you made upon the shore  

Nearly drowning us in your under tow  

Losing the glasses just bought from the store 

 Leaving us spinning  in surf to and fro.  

You were born for greater shores than these 

 We imagined you as a Tsunami wave 

 Raging to a boil from Oriental seas 

 Lifeguards frantic the many to save. 

 Instead you came gently to the shore 

 For not all waves are born to kill 

 A playful push to the ocean floor  

Came so far just our joy to fill. 

 Thirty-six years hence we stand 

 And as a new wave roaring comes 

 We brace and clutch our glasses in hand 

 My how you splashed our gentle man.

Landon Randolph Stokes

August 25, 1988

Up

 Up upon Suwannee 

Above Prospect we did venture

Told the bear and panther were there

Parting palmetto beady eyes staring

It got no better this kind of faring.

Wish

 Wish we could always reign in

Mashes Sands

Johnclarestokes 

I do not know how the sand 

came from Mashes Sands 

to my sand pile in Sopchoppy

But my father got it there

And it was my kingdom  

My perimeter I only left

whenever I would swing

and jump past the pure sandy 

Border 

Flying about up into the evening

Til I heard mamma calling me in

And I would park the fleet

Open the sluice gates

Post the real plastic army men

With strictest orders

To guard the Mashes Sands

Kingdom in the county

Wakulla

The township

Sopchoppy

the state Florida

Ruled by the kindly

Tow head king, Jumpy.

Moon tipping

 Do you recall the

Mornings 

We’d take our red jet

And go out 

And go way up

Moon tipping

How it 

Upset so

his setting!

A bend in Suwannee

 A bend in Suwannee

John Clare Stokes

There’s a bend in Suwannee

Slow and deeply curving lazily

Complete with a rope swing

The arc matching the curve

Dropping you squarely in the middle

Where the current takes you

Back to the sandy bank

Where you swing again and again

Into the deep curving bend.

Fleeting

 Fleeting 

john clare

sit with me

in ninety-nine degree

humidity

atop a drain field

the view is grand

sans the yard debris

from years of accumulation

growing each year

less dear

as the memory fades

and the lure of youth

no longer bides me stay

and play torture

content for the time

given to steaming situations

to wait out the fritillary

intent upon being elusive

invading his comfort zone

sit with me

in ninety-nine degree

memory

mounds of my making

views of neighbors yards

their accumulation

equally as dear

to them as mine

one content simply to

sip the tall neck

giving up on the belly swelling

surrounded by his goats and

chickens

not understanding his neighbor

who sits atop his drain field

wondering if the sun has 

not gotten to him

listening to the other neighbor

yelling at his granny

and in the distraction

comes the fritillary

and he misses his shot.

Spare us

 Spare Us

john clare stokes

spare us 

this new found hobby

of photography

running about the yard

snapping everything not

bolted down and that too

if it does not elude 

moving rapidly from being

a hobby to a full time

venture to then retiring

after a month long career

of being a top notch 

photographer of everything

in the yard perceived dear

but to others simply

drear

famous for the time

in the mind

accolades coming our way

as everyone simply is amazed

at the meteoric rise we made

from a yard hobby to the

cover of National Geographic

all in the month of August.

Purple tint

 In tint of purple 

Let me wing 

But once again

Helen

 "Mr Roussey, it's your daughter Helen's hand I ask. You see, we sat beside one another all year long. We plan to live in Sopchoppy in the play house out back. John Lloyd is going to be our best man, and her sister Dawn the maid of honor. We plan to invite our teacher Mrs Townsend. We learned so much from her in second grade. I've yet to break the news to Debbie McKenzie, maybe Daniel will break it to her gently. My daddy we will ask to do the wedding, we hope Nena and Randy will sing. We have arranged for my Uncle Jimmy from Mississippi to pick Helen up in Panacea, drive her over to meet the family. I have an older sister, she is best friends with Joan and Jackie and Henry,  we have a dog named Bobo and my mom she teaches the fourth grade at Sopchoppy Elementary, so you see, I hope you agree with the plans we have made and by third grade we can marry. Sincerely, John Stokes.

Scars away

 Scars away

Johnclarestokes 

The twentieth was your birthday

Willie Mae

You would of been a hundred and seven

Willie Mae

But you only got sixty-six

Sadly

You held the little scalded boy

Willie Mae

Pulled that cord on the stove

Willie Mae

Full of boiling water he did

Sadly

Wrapped him in that gauze 

Willie Mae

Made them scars never go away

Willie Mae

Made that little boy shy

Willie Mae

Doctor said he wouldn’t use that arm

Sadly

What did Doctor Head know?

Willie Mae

The little boy became an artist

They say

Used the scalded left

Willie Mae

Doc Head drowned in Lake Ellen

Sadly

Inner tube fishing

They say

The little boys now sixty seven

Willie Mae

One more year than you lived

Willie Mae

It seems just like yesterday 

Willie Mae

He thanks you for keeping him

Gladly

He thinks of Sopchoppy days

Willie Mae

And those scars just fade away

Willie Mae Porter

20Aug1915

17Sept1981

Patient

 To the patient 

Yesterday we must have sat two hours waiting for the hummingbird to feed on the trumpet vine. One of the few times she came, I was focused on a chicken in the yard. It’s akin to waiting for an airplane to bisect the moon.

Difficult to stay focused. Hummingbird at Trumpet Vine 

Thursday with D7000

200-500 5.6

f5.6@3200

On being Bob

 He wanted to read his bible

More than talk to me

I could tell he wasn't listening

Wasn't interested in me

Oh I babbled on a bit longer

But finally just shut up and

Apologized

Went my way 

So he could get back to his word

What a spiritual guy

He is.

There he sat with the far away hollow face

Offering little in the conversation

Wondering what was I doing in this place

I imagined him reeling back at my inspiration.

City logo

 We talk about the Cracker Barrel logo sanitizing, I recall how Lake City butchered the logo I designed in 1981.

Align Dance

 Align dance

In the year 2025

Of the month August

The day Friday 

God said I shall give 

My heavenly bodies

A day to dance 

And so they aligned danced

The day away

While upon the terra firma 

We held our magic lens

To see some of the pirouetting 

Thinking dancing only occurs 

In darkened ballrooms

Others shunning it all

For surely God does not condone 

Dancing 

Oh those pesky people 

With the retinas of imagination 

And wonderment seared.

Gallery

 Redid the wall space at the Gallery. Added 36 5x7. Added some new on the wall. Was getting stagnant.

500pf

 Ordered the 500 5.6pf Nikon Sunday. It came Tuesday from B&H. 2000,! Is it worth it? So far my early results mixed. Like that it is much lighter than the 200-500 I had.Challenge will be when Mel finds out to keep it. 

Fall call

 The Call of Fall

Always around this time of mid August, when the talk of SEC is in the air, and our pumpkin and gourd plants are languishing in the Florida heat, there is a tinge of fall wafting down from Kentucky, and I long to follow it to the source.

Oh well

It was always be. I’m no 1000 like with replies person. Face it. What I do is basically for me only. The forums at the Gallery, ignored. Johnny Bullard who used to use my photos. Ignores me. Posts on FB. Maybe a few. I get as much views here and I can’t see or know who’s seeing, for no one ever comments.