RECESS
It’s fun to watch children
play freeze-tag and kickball-
games we played in 1964-
in the noon hour sunshine
on the playground at recess
but sad to see teams
still chosen the same way,
two popular boys taking turns
calling out a friend’s name
until the final few
are left to pray silently
they will not be last,
assigned by default to a boy
with no faith in them at all.
With poems of fatherhood from a male point-of-view,
SLOW RIVERS is a wonderful and affordable Father’s Day gift!
Supportive stores and a new website
make ordering SLOW RIVERS easy!
I advocate purchasing SLOW RIVERS through independent, brick-and-mortar bookstores whenever possible. Some of the bookstores which have strongly supported my book are listed below.
Brilliant Books in Traverse City is iconic in that community and was the first store to stock SLOW RIVERS. They offer free shipping for online orders.
Stirling Books and Brew in Albion is a first-rate store which supports its community ferociously and where one can enjoy a good cup of coffee while deciding which books to buy. The poem ‘Lopez Taco House’ is perhaps my favorite poem in SLOW RIVERS and describes events which took place in a restaurant by that name and located just a few doors down from Stirling Books and Brew.
Bay Books in Suttons Bay is also known for community involvement and is staffed by kind, intelligent booksellers. They frequently host wonderful in-store events.
Schuler Books – with stores in Ann Arbor, West Bloomfield, Okemos and Grand Rapids – is extremely supportive of local authors and has helped me immensely. They have signed copies of SLOW RIVERS on the shelves at their Grand Rapids store.
Hidden Nook Booksellers in Grayling is a small but dynamic store which added my book to their shelves immediately, giving this poet a lift when he truly needed one.
I have surely forgotten some stores deserving of mention here and will rectify those omissions in the near future.
I have a new website, josephneely.com, which lists additional options for purchasing SLOW RIVERS; click the link for details. I am grateful to all who buy and read my book, regardless of how or where they purchase it. Thank you!
The State of our Union
(an occasional feature of this blog)
This is the complete and unedited transcript of a post made on Truth Social by the President of the United States over Memorial Day Weekend. Cogent or unhinged? Healing or divisive? Dignified or demeaning? You decide.
“HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE,THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN — ALL PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY. HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL. BUT FEAR NOT, WE HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS OVER THE LAST 4 MONTHS, AND AMERICA WILL SOON BE SAFE AND GREAT AGAIN! AGAIN, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!
And finally . . .
RIP Rick Derringer (1947 – 2025).
I used to be the lead singer in a band with friends who were much more musically talented than I. Singing Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo was the closest I ever came to feeling like a real rock star. Darlin’ Mama, light my fuse!
Subscribe to be notified of new posts by email;
it’s free and your information is never shared.
Leave a comment so I know you were here
and please share this blog with a friend.
A New Poem Every So Often.
(No regular schedule right now; life gets in the way.)
Joseph Neely, all rights to original material reserved.
The Occasional Poem 
Joe, A Recess Poem brings back many uncomfortable memories for a boy like me, who went to seven different elementary schools (!!!) and was always among the final two chosen for teams, with one popular “captain” just saying to the other, “You take both of them, let’s just play.” For the unpopular, the only thing we learned from those recess games was resilience.
LikeLike