Ann-Christine Tabaka's Blog: Words Spill Out, page 40
December 14, 2020
Book Reviews
Have you read a book lately that you enjoyed? All writers and poets bestow the gift of adventure and of words to their readers. Why not take a few minutes to jot down a short Book Review (just a few sentences is enough), to add to the Amazon or other Sites where their books are sold! Book Reviews do help sell more books, so please give back to all the writers and poets that you have recently enjoyed (not just my books, but all books). Thank you!
My books are all available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Christine-...
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My books are all available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Christine-...
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Three Poems
I am super excited about having three of my poems, “On Approaching Seventy,” “The Passage if Words,” and “Immortality is Written on Paper, Not in the Stars,” published by the Inner Circle Magazine. Thank you, editor Grant Hudson of Clarendon House Publishing!
https://www.clarendonhousebooks.com/i...
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https://www.clarendonhousebooks.com/i...
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December 13, 2020
Christmas Past
I am so honored to be in this episode of the Sweetycat Press Youtube production of In A Flash, author Dave Gregory read "Christmas Past" written by Christine Tabaka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OYHy...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OYHy...
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December 10, 2020
Kericho Gold
I am so thrilled to have my poem “Kericho Gold” (reprint), published by Poetry and Places (Silver Birch Press). Thank you, editor Melanie!
https://poetryandplaces.com/2020/12/1...
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https://poetryandplaces.com/2020/12/1...
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Book Poster
Thank you everyone for all your friendship and support. My latest book "And Still I Had These Dreams" published by Clarendon House Publications is available on Amazon, along with all my other books. Please check it out if you are so inclined.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
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December 8, 2020
Step One
Volume 14, Issue 1 of Poets’ Espresso Review arrived today with my poem “Step One” published in it. Thank you, editor Patricia Ann Mayorga!
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December 5, 2020
Christmas Past
I am overjoyed to have my short story (true story) "Christmas Past" published by CafeLit Magazine. Thank you, Editor, Gill James!
https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2020/1...
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Christmas Past
I can clearly remember Christmases when I was young, and it would snow, and snow, and snow! Snow covered everything in November and December. It was beautiful and glorious, and so much fun. I loved to play in the snow. I still love to play in the snow at almost 70 years old. Oh how I loved to sled down the hill in our back yard, onto the frozen creek, and smashing into the embankment wall on the other side. All the neighborhood kids would come over to sled down our little hill. It seemed so big at the time. But, years later when I returned to my mother’s house, I realized how small it really was.
We were poor, but my mother worked to support us because of my father’s disease. She worked in Woolworth’s Five & Ten. After school, I used to love to take the bus that traversed the Pike, and then walk the 2 miles down to the Merchandise Mart where the stores were. When I was growing up it was the only group of stores outside of the downtown area. Now they are called strip malls. Woolworth’s was a place of magic to me, with toys, and clothes, and a soda fountain. So many fond memories. My first hot dog, my first soda, my first milkshake, and TV celebrities from the local Philadelphia area would visit to sign autographs. I met Sally Star and Big Chief Half Town. Such a thrill for a little kid.
We always had to have a real live tree. I loved aroma and the old ornaments that my Babci gave us from Poland. Delicate glass Santas, snowmen, and angles. I would make paper strips into rings and construct colorful chains to add to the decorations. Colored lights, silvery tinsel, and all the other wonderful treats for the eye. A train that was so old, it was held together by masking tape was placed under the tree every year. If you had the pellet to put in the chimney, and added water, it would puff real smoke as it chugged around the tree. Lights would flicker on and off in the passenger cars so that you could see the silhouettes of the riders. We were so poor, that we rarely got any presents except for the hand-me-down clothes from our older cousins. I remember one special year, when I wanted a toy sewing machine that really worked to make clothes for the used Barbie doll that a neighbor gave me when her daughter got the newest model. It was late Christmas Eve, and I was sure that I would never get it. My mom and dad bundled up and left the house at five in the evening. Back then, stores used to close at five, but would stay open until six during Christmas time to give customers extra time to shop. I was the most excited kid in the entire world when they came back home with a small metal sewing machine that actually worked when you turned the wheel by hand. It is one Christmas that I will never forget as long as my mind still works to remember.
My father passed away from his illness when I was 14. My mother still worked at Woolworths. My father left us with so many unpaid bills that she had no choice. Creditors were always knocking at our door. Both my brothers were so much older than I was, and they had moved away years ago. It was just mom and me now. I was just starting high school. It was the sixties, and everything was now Mod and modern. So, my mother decided that a real Christmas tree was too much work for a single woman with a daughter. The day that she came home with that silver aluminum tree, I was shocked. At least it wasn’t pink aluminum, which was also in vogue back then. For the first time in forever, we had real gifts and a real celebration. My mother was finally free from abuse and we were going to have a good life from now on. Shortly after that, she left Woolworths and started at Kennards’s Department store where they sent her to school and she worked her way up to the head of the department. She was super smart even though she had to leave school in the ninth grade to go to work because of the Great Depression. My brothers always teased that they had the education and degrees, but mom was smarter, and ended up making more money than any of us. She eventually worked at Sears & Roebucks, and worked her way even further up in the retail world.
Years passed, and we had less and less snow in our area. When we did have snow, it was in late January, maybe even February, but never for Christmas. A White Christmas was a thing of the past in my part of the world. How I missed the sledding and playing in the snow. My mother grew older, and feebler. She had multiple small strokes, multi infarct dementia followed. I was clearing out our old house so that I could move her to a place that could care for her. Up in the unfinished attic, I came upon a tattered faded box that was falling apart. I carefully opened it to find that silver aluminum tree. It was a tad bend up from being stored away for so many years, but it was just as gaudy and shiny as it ever was. It brought back so many memories, memories that are worth keeping. Remember to keep Christmas in your heart every day. Happy Christmas Everyone! May you have much snow to play in!
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https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2020/1...
_____________________
Christmas Past
I can clearly remember Christmases when I was young, and it would snow, and snow, and snow! Snow covered everything in November and December. It was beautiful and glorious, and so much fun. I loved to play in the snow. I still love to play in the snow at almost 70 years old. Oh how I loved to sled down the hill in our back yard, onto the frozen creek, and smashing into the embankment wall on the other side. All the neighborhood kids would come over to sled down our little hill. It seemed so big at the time. But, years later when I returned to my mother’s house, I realized how small it really was.
We were poor, but my mother worked to support us because of my father’s disease. She worked in Woolworth’s Five & Ten. After school, I used to love to take the bus that traversed the Pike, and then walk the 2 miles down to the Merchandise Mart where the stores were. When I was growing up it was the only group of stores outside of the downtown area. Now they are called strip malls. Woolworth’s was a place of magic to me, with toys, and clothes, and a soda fountain. So many fond memories. My first hot dog, my first soda, my first milkshake, and TV celebrities from the local Philadelphia area would visit to sign autographs. I met Sally Star and Big Chief Half Town. Such a thrill for a little kid.
We always had to have a real live tree. I loved aroma and the old ornaments that my Babci gave us from Poland. Delicate glass Santas, snowmen, and angles. I would make paper strips into rings and construct colorful chains to add to the decorations. Colored lights, silvery tinsel, and all the other wonderful treats for the eye. A train that was so old, it was held together by masking tape was placed under the tree every year. If you had the pellet to put in the chimney, and added water, it would puff real smoke as it chugged around the tree. Lights would flicker on and off in the passenger cars so that you could see the silhouettes of the riders. We were so poor, that we rarely got any presents except for the hand-me-down clothes from our older cousins. I remember one special year, when I wanted a toy sewing machine that really worked to make clothes for the used Barbie doll that a neighbor gave me when her daughter got the newest model. It was late Christmas Eve, and I was sure that I would never get it. My mom and dad bundled up and left the house at five in the evening. Back then, stores used to close at five, but would stay open until six during Christmas time to give customers extra time to shop. I was the most excited kid in the entire world when they came back home with a small metal sewing machine that actually worked when you turned the wheel by hand. It is one Christmas that I will never forget as long as my mind still works to remember.
My father passed away from his illness when I was 14. My mother still worked at Woolworths. My father left us with so many unpaid bills that she had no choice. Creditors were always knocking at our door. Both my brothers were so much older than I was, and they had moved away years ago. It was just mom and me now. I was just starting high school. It was the sixties, and everything was now Mod and modern. So, my mother decided that a real Christmas tree was too much work for a single woman with a daughter. The day that she came home with that silver aluminum tree, I was shocked. At least it wasn’t pink aluminum, which was also in vogue back then. For the first time in forever, we had real gifts and a real celebration. My mother was finally free from abuse and we were going to have a good life from now on. Shortly after that, she left Woolworths and started at Kennards’s Department store where they sent her to school and she worked her way up to the head of the department. She was super smart even though she had to leave school in the ninth grade to go to work because of the Great Depression. My brothers always teased that they had the education and degrees, but mom was smarter, and ended up making more money than any of us. She eventually worked at Sears & Roebucks, and worked her way even further up in the retail world.
Years passed, and we had less and less snow in our area. When we did have snow, it was in late January, maybe even February, but never for Christmas. A White Christmas was a thing of the past in my part of the world. How I missed the sledding and playing in the snow. My mother grew older, and feebler. She had multiple small strokes, multi infarct dementia followed. I was clearing out our old house so that I could move her to a place that could care for her. Up in the unfinished attic, I came upon a tattered faded box that was falling apart. I carefully opened it to find that silver aluminum tree. It was a tad bend up from being stored away for so many years, but it was just as gaudy and shiny as it ever was. It brought back so many memories, memories that are worth keeping. Remember to keep Christmas in your heart every day. Happy Christmas Everyone! May you have much snow to play in!
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December 4, 2020
Poetry Books
Thank you for your continued support. All of my books are available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Christine-...
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https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Christine-...
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November 29, 2020
Early Freeze
I am thrilled to have my poem “Early Freeze” (reprint), page 70-72, published by GloMag. Thank you, editor Glory Sasikala.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Oee8...
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Oee8...
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November Song
I am extremely excited to have my newest poem “November Song,” published by Sylvia Magazine. Thank you editor Millie Kidson!
http://www.sylviamagazine.com/novembe...
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http://www.sylviamagazine.com/novembe...
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Words Spill Out
Poetry, rhymes, and musings by Ann Christine Tabaka
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