poet – Ruth E. Hendricks Photography

Remembering Cj

Cj was born sixty years ago today.

March 2, 1964.

She was a wonderful teacher, an excellent mother, a beloved sister, an inspired writer and a good friend.

Unfortunately she passed May 23, 2018.

To see more photos, poetry and memories click this link which takes you to the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project Poe Art Page from 2011.

She taught in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and was fluent in ASL. I remember her signing with such fluid skill and feeling at a concert in East Liberty as the choir sang “Go Tell It on the Mountain”. In addition to being a fellow of the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project she was a Madwoman Poet at Carlow University

“Unwritten” Play this song Cj click link

Cj used to motivate us to get writing during the WPWP Summer Writing Institute for Teachers at the U of Pittsburgh by playing this song.

Missing you Cj.

March 2, 2024 by Ruth Categories: PhotographyTags: Cj Coleman, memorial, photography, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA, poet, postaday, teacher, tribute to a friend 7 Comments

Poet Linda Pastan

As I read Linda Pastan’s obituary in the Washington Post I remembered a book of hers on my shelf. When I read The Last Uncle I was so moved by her poetry, I wrote to her. She wrote back. Fortunately I’d tucked the postcard inside the book. Postmarked 2004.

Because I don’t have permission to reprint her poems here today, my wish is you’ll find one, they are out there on the Internet, read her words and know the world will miss her.

A link to Linda Pastan reading three of her poems.

Here’s a link to Kirk Lawrence reading of one of her poems on YouTube titled My Obituary

Credits-cover design Eleen Cheung.
Cover photograph by Bob Grove of ***The Artist’s Father*** by Paul Cezanne from Collection of Mr.and Mrs. Paul Mellon Published by W.W.Norton

February 2, 2023 by Ruth Categories: PhotographyTags: Arleen Cheung, Bob Grove, Linda Pastan, obituary, Paul Cezanne, photography, poet, poetry, postaday, postcard, writing 4 Comments

Robert Burns Statue in Brisbane – Guest Blog

In response to yesterday’s post about January 25th being Robert Burns’ birthday

In my inbox was an email from my friend and blog follower Gayle. Gayle lives in Brisbane, Australia. I’d “met” her through the Woolswap exchange program she created and runs.

Would you believe there’s a Robert Burns statue in a park Centenary Place, directly across the street from where she lives in Brisbane? Here’s a photo of the statue. I’d a link in my original post of a list of sixty Burns statues around the globe.

Photographed in Brisbane by Gayle’s partner, Dean

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And here’s a comment from my friend Joanne with what her sister wrote after viewing the blog post. Joanne’s sister Mary wrote of the annual dinner that she and her friends celebrated in Canada, on the poet’s birthday –

JB says

Ruth – here’s a comment from my sister Mary up in Canada:
“Our friend Esther always had a special dinner for the occasion ……
We all decked out in whatever tartan we had (I made Nova Scotia tartan vests for Bernie and me) . We were allowed to bring Scottish themed appetizers (I took little oat cakes with a whiskey flavored cheese ball) (or is it whisky – actual scotch whiskey is spelled differently from the others).
Anyway Esther served the entire traditional meal – a modified Haggis (liver flavored meatoaf) served with a wee dram of Drambuie, cock-a-leekie soup, roast beef with taters and neeps (mashed potatoes and turnips), and a trifle for dessert. Dave spouted from memory the actual Toast to the Haggis as he sliced and served it, with much brandishing of a large carving knife and using his best Scottish accent. And we all came prepared with Burns poetry that we took turns reciting while toasting Burns. It was great fun. And it was there that a number of us tried Scotch for the first time and decided we liked it.”

It’s always fun to receive responses to a blog post.

January 25, 2022 by Ruth Categories: PhotographyTags: birthday part, Brisbane Australia, Centenary Place, guest blog, photography, poet, poetry, postaday, Robert Burns, sculpture, travel 1 Comment

Diane Kerr Poet, Author of PERIGEE

I received a copy of PERIGEE in the mail today. A gift from the poet Diane Kerr.

I had the honor of capturing her author photo which now graces the back cover of her just published poetry book.

Thank you Diane and congratulations on winning the Brittingham Prize in Poetry and having your book published at the University of Wisconsin Press.

To read reviews and/or purchase a copy click here

Release from the University of Wisconsin Press Click link for more information

“Diane Kerr mentors poets through the Madwomen in the Attic Creative Writing Program at Carlow University and is the author of the collection, Butterfly. Her work has appeared in the Alaska Quarterly Review, Mississippi Review, and Pearl, among others. She holds an MFA from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Kerr’s forthcoming Perigee follows a speaker’s emotional reckoning with a traumatic secret she felt pressured to keep during her girlhood. In varied lyric narratives, these poems reinforce that shock and suffering have no statute of limitations.”

________________________________________________________________________________

Perigee.

the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is nearest to the earth.

October 30, 2020October 30, 2020 by Ruth Categories: Photography, poetry, WritingTags: author, author photo, book, Brittingham Prize in Poetry, Carlow University, Diane Kerr, Madwomen in the Attic, PERIGEE, photography, poet, poetry, postaday, University of Wisconsin Press, writing 5 Comments

A Tribute to Jimmy Cvetic

Remembering Jimmy Cvetic (click for article by Rich Lord)

Vietnam Vet, Police Detective, Boxing Coach and Poet. Poet is how I came to know him over the years, hearing him read at Hemingway’s Café in Oakland where he organized the Summer Poetry Reading Series for decades. He had an incredibly generous spirit. No one will be able to fill his shoes. He wrote the following poetry books:The Secret Society of Dog, Dog Unleashed, Dog is a Love from Hell, Dog Days published by Lascaux Editions.

Jimmy Cvetic

September 8, 1949- February 15, 2019

Jimmy with Franco Harris on August 17, 2017 Little Italy Days in Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh PA. I photographed them after Franco played in a Bocce game on Cedarville Street.

Click here to read Jimmy Cvetic in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Saturday Poem : Another God Poem

February 16, 2019 by Ruth Categories: poetry, Tribute to a FriendTags: boxing coach, Franco Harris, Jimmy Cvetic, memorial, Pittsburgh icon, Pittsburgh PA, poet, poetry, police detective, postaday, tribute, Vietnam Vet 4 Comments

You always ask if there is anything you can do…….

A good friend passed early Wednesday morning. You always ask if there is anything you can do…..

E64A6081-9C28-4E2F-ADC3-AE72009D3B33 Cj and her daughter at Thanksgiving a few years ago.

She was a loving mother, a devoted sister, an excellent teacher, a strong woman, a heartfelt writer and a steadfast partner. An advocate for so many students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Inspiring thousands. A Madwoman writer at Carlow University.

I can picture her signing Go Tell it on the Mountain at a Christmas Choir Concert

Reading her poetry at Poe*Art, touching us with her words.

Playing music to motivate the scores of teachers who became students every summer in The Western Pennsylvania Writing Project at the University of Pittsburgh.

Another friend who taught with her for a couple of years remembers her playing Rocky’s Theme to get the students geared up for testing. The same friend said Cj always made lemonade when life handed her lemons. So true.

Here is another song she’d play for her students and sign with them.

The plea for help with medical expenses is now compounded by the additional need for Funeral/Memorial costs. If you’ve ever received a bill in the mail after someone has passed you’ll understand why I am getting this request out to the world. Cj was always supportive of my blog efforts and an avid follower.

No amount too small to help the family through this difficult time Click to donate

Thank you. E64A6081-9C28-4E2F-ADC3-AE72009D3B33

May 25, 2018 by Ruth Categories: Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: Carlow University, friend, friendship, funeral expenses, GoFundMe, interpreter, music, Pittsburgh Public Schools, poet, poetry, sign language, signing, teacher, The World's Greatest, University of Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania Writing Projecct, writer, writing 14 Comments

A Happy Valentine from 2007, Found While Cleaning

This photo and note were sent to me in 2007 by my dear friend Dorothy Holley.

I found it today (Valentine’s Eve?) while cleaning a desk I rarely use. It was a lovely find as Dorothy passed in June 2010.

I included her note on the back, telling how she took it through a window and a screen.

Now and then I see one in my yard, too. Cardinals look stunning against the evergreen by my porch, especially in the snow. Dorothy loved the birds and waited to capture this picture.

She was a good encourager to me.

Placed her Valentine’s photo on red paper to take a shot with my phone to share with you.

If you’ve followed the blog, you’ve “met” Dorothy before.The Quart Jar Poet film is for sale as a fundraiser for Madwomen in the Attic, Carlow University.

https://rutheh.com/2010/06/08/dorothy-h-holley-poet-friend/

https://rutheh.com/2016/11/09/meet-the-man-who-made-copies-of-the-film-quart-jar-poet/

And here’s a poem by Liane Ellison Norman about Dorothy’s iris.

https://rutheh.com/2010/07/22/i-dug-up-the-iris-by-guest-poet-liane-ellison-norman/

February 13, 2018February 13, 2018 by Ruth Categories: PhotographyTags: bird, bird feeder, cardinal, cleaning, Dorothy Holley, friend, guest blog, Photo graphy, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA, poet, postaday, Valentine, Valentine's Day, winter 17 Comments

By Their Sidewalks You Will Know Them

First posted in February 2010 and again in 2013. Thanks Timons Esaias Guest Poet

Tim’s Poem Came to Mind as I Admired the Concrete First Time in Two Weeks – Photographed Feb 2010

By Their Sidewalks You Will Know Them

Originally there were eleven Commandments

Moses, perhaps confused by the unfamiliar

snow, ice, and sidewalk,

botched one, and left it out.

But Buddha said that though Life is Pain,

falling on ice is gratuitous pain

and those who cause it, by neglect,

should never escape the Wheel of Rebirth;

and Lao-Tzu agreed, for those who will not

clear the path will never find the Way.

Zoroaster, in the endless war of light

against ice, demanded diligence;

claimed that those who surrender

the public way to the Enemy

have empty souls,

can scarcely be regarded as human.

The Prophet, regarding sidewalks and snow,

is silent; but his sura

Sand Drifting Against the Caravanserai Gate

is thought to apply. The condemnation there

is brutal and eternal.

Plato counted safe sidewalks as fundamental

to the ideal Republic, noting that those remiss

in this clear duty lacked all character;

and his pupil – perceptive, immortal Aristotle-

further declared, famously, that

lack of character

is destiny.

-Timons Esaias
Timons Esaias is a writer and poet living in Pittsburgh. His short stories, ranging from literary to genre, have been published in fourteen languages. He has had over a hundred poems in print, including Spanish, Swedish and Chinese translations, in such markets as 5AM, Bathtub Gin, Main Street Rag, Willard & Maple, Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Literary Journal of Baseball and many others. He has also been a finalist for the British Science Fiction Award, and won the Asimov’s Readers Award. His poetry chapbook, The Influence of Pigeons on Architecture, sold out two editions. He is Adjunct Faculty at Seton Hill University, in the Writing Popular Fiction M.F.A. Program. This poem was originally published in hotmetalpoets.com when it existed.

This entry was posted on February 19, 2010. It was filed under poetry, Things in the Snow and was tagged with city scene, HIghland Park, photo of the day, photography, Pittsburgh, Poem, poet, poetry, shovel, sidewalk, snow, Timons Esaias, urban scene, winter scene.

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16 responses

Bill

Too deep for me.

February 19, 2010 at 7:07 am Edit

Toni Kichi

Makes me happy that our sidewalks are clear and clean – thanks to Mike!! I couldn’t handle all those punishments! Seems like an almost normal day today!! Thanks for starting it with something special!!! Did Bill mean the snow was too deep – or the poem??!! Either way, I agree! My mind is mush (like this snow will soon be) — been in the house too long!!!

February 19, 2010 at 8:42 am Edit

Dorothy

All tis is great Ruth. It is like your photos and words are a diary of living through these snowy days.

Dorothy

February 19, 2010 at 9:12 am Edit

erica

Too wonderful for … words?? 🙂 Changes my attitude on shoveling, altho I am already somewhat aware that I smile and feel satisfaction when I get to the concrete! A bit anxious now, tho, about the snow still on the bushes, bending branches low over the sidewalk leading to my caravanserai gate ……! 🙂

February 19, 2010 at 9:52 am Edit

Arlene Weiner

There is a special place in hell

where, frozen in ice, only his rear

exposed to Satan’s teeth, he’ll dwell

whose sidewalk’s untouched while his driveway’s clear.

February 19, 2010 at 10:50 am Edit

joseph k

that is one great photo

joseph

February 19, 2010 at 4:27 pm Edit

Bonnie Imhoff

I know the snow is a pain, but it is beautiful. I enjoy the pic very much.

MARCH 5, 2015 BY RUTHCATEGORIES: IN THE SNOW,PHOTOGRAPHYTAGS: CITY SCENE, NEIGHBORHOOD,PHOTOGRAPHY, PITTSBURGH PHOTOGRAPHY, POETRY, POSTADAY,REBLOG, SIDEWALK, SNOW, SNOW SHOVEL,SNOW STORM, TIMONS ESAIAS, WEATHER,WINTER7 COMMENTSEDIT

POST NAVIGATION

HIDDEN PICTURE IN THE SCHOOL PARKING LOT PILE OF ASPHALT

LIGHT AND LANDSCAPE SHOW OPENING IN THE CULTURAL DISTRICT

7 THOUGHTS ON “BY THEIR SIDEWALKS YOU WILL KNOW THEM – GUEST POET TIMONS ESAIAS- ORIGINALLY POSTED 2-19-2010”

Sue Reinfeld says:

Mar 06, 2015 at 7:04 am (Edit)

Makes me feel good about clearing my sidewalk, even though it is pain.

Like

REPLY

Erica says:

Mar 06, 2015 at 8:35 am (Edit)

So glad you reposted this!!!! xo

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Toni says:

Mar 06, 2015 at 1:44 pm (Edit)

Fits the last month or so very well!

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Naomi Baltuck says:

Mar 06, 2015 at 7:29 pm (Edit)

So funny, and the photo is a perfect pairing Ruth. Stay warm and cozy. Spring is right around the corner!

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Stef says:

Mar 09, 2015 at 9:14 pm (Edit)

LOVE the poem! Smart, witty, cheeky creativity makes me smile.

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REPLY

Sartenada says:

Nov 17, 2015 at 1:44 am (Edit)

Wonderful winter / snow photos.

Liked by you

REPLY

Ruth says:

Nov 17, 2015 at 8:06 am (Edit)

Thank you

February 8, 2018February 8, 2018 by Ruth Categories: Photography, poetryTags: city, guest blog, HIghland Park, ice, photo of the day, photography, Poem, poet, poetry, postaday, shoveling, sidewalk, snow, Timons Esaias, urban scene, weather, winter, winter scene, writer, writing 5 Comments

Listen to Garrison Keillor Read Liane Ellison Norman’s Poem Today

Saturday morning I went to a wonderful poetry reading at Calvary Episcopal Church on Shady Avenue (in Pittsburgh). It was a grand crowd of friends, fellow poets and family. Jan Beatty gave a marvelous introduction and then Liane read poems from her book. They had to get extra chairs! Afterwards there was lots of hot coffee and croissants, raspberries and blueberries and other delicious pastries. Her grandson helped sell the books and make change.

Liane Ellison Norman’s new poetry book is Breathing the West: Great Basin Poems.

On Monday December 3rd, one of her poems will be read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac. How cool is that?

Here’s the link so you can listen to the reading of Tree by Liane Ellison Norman.

Poet Liane Ellison Norman and her husband Bob

December 3, 2012December 3, 2012 by Ruth Categories: poetryTags: book, Breathing the West: Great Basin Poems, childhood, friend, Garrison Keillor, Liane Ellison Norman, photography, poet, poetry, poetry reading, The Writer's Almanac, travel, writing 6 Comments

Count the Pigeons on a City Rooftop

At first glance you think you are seeing architectural details, all along the roof ledge. There were at least fifty of them. Part of city life- the pigeon. Today’s photo/post evokes the poet Timons Esaias whose chapbook title is The Influence of Pigeons on Architecture For a copy ($8.50) contact Tim via his website.

You may remember Timons Esaias was guest poet on the blog for his poem. By Their Sidewalks You Will Know Them (click here) posted about this time last year.

Birds in the City

Not in a tree this time
or flying above.
People have feelings about them.

Pigeons on City Roof top — Carson Street on the South Side. A beautiful blue sky.

March 1, 2011May 24, 2011 by Ruth Categories: Light in the City, Pittsburgh PhotosTags: architecture, city scene, photography, pigeon, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Photgrapher, poet, postaday2011, south side, Timons Esaias 6 Comments

Tag: poet

Remembering Cj

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Poet Linda Pastan

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Robert Burns Statue in Brisbane – Guest Blog

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Diane Kerr Poet, Author of PERIGEE

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A Tribute to Jimmy Cvetic

Jimmy Cvetic

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You always ask if there is anything you can do…….

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A Happy Valentine from 2007, Found While Cleaning

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By Their Sidewalks You Will Know Them

7 THOUGHTS ON “BY THEIR SIDEWALKS YOU WILL KNOW THEM – GUEST POET TIMONS ESAIAS- ORIGINALLY POSTED 2-19-2010”

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Listen to Garrison Keillor Read Liane Ellison Norman’s Poem Today

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Count the Pigeons on a City Rooftop

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7 THOUGHTS ON “BY THEIR SIDEWALKS YOU WILL KNOW THEM – GUEST POET TIMONS ESAIAS- ORIGINALLY POSTED 2-19-2010”

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