By Eugene Marckx Dale lived alone with his mother, except on nights when the banker’s top hat was hanging on her bedroom door, or the senator’s homburg, or the general’s roughrider hat. Dale slept on a cot off the kitchen pantry, so she could be available when they came through. Most days he’d wander along…
Questions for Myself Do I love my father?How did my father wound me?How did my father change my parenting? Fathers and Sons By Eugene Marckx Dale lived alone with his mother, except on nights when the banker’s top hat was hanging on her bedroom door, or the senator’s homburg, or the general’s roughrider hat. Dale…
Was it mothering or smothering?How was it to be mothered for me?Was I mothered by my father? Nestor By Eugene Marckx A featherbrained idler – what your grandfather said of him, and farmers hereabouts who should’ve known better, long after Nestor took to the road. Then he was forgotten, but the forgetting couldn’t quite fill…
Where did he go?Was he here but not present?Did he struggle to connect with me?Did he feel the loss like I did? Direction Calling [cpm-player skin="device-player-skin" width="450" playlist="true" autoplay="false" shuffle="false" type="audio"][cpm-item file="https://www.agatheringofmen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DirectionCalling.wav"]DirectionCalling[/cpm-item][/cpm-player]
Do I give the speaker my undivided attention?Do I use body language (nods, eye contact, etc..) to show I’m engaged?Do I ask clarifying questions?Do I immediately rush to judgement?Do I respond to win points? Mullah Nasrudin's Flower Garden Told by Eugene Marckx The Tangled Hills By Eugene Marckx Find a place at the edge of…
My Anger tells me to...When angers in charge of me what can I do?When angers in charge of me what must I do? A Thorn in the King’s Foot Adapted from a tale by Duncan Williamson, Scotland’s greatest storyteller ‒ Penguin (1987) Many years ago lived a king in a large castle. All around his…
Adapted from a tale by Duncan Williamson, Scotland’s greatest storyteller ‒ Penguin (1987) Many years ago lived a king in a large castle. All around his kingdom the farmers worked hard, and he told his queen, “These are my bees. Without bees we have no honey, but my people work. And half of all they…
Is my brother just someone I share DNA with?Am I a brother to my neighbor?Am I a brother to my Enemy?Does my brother have to look, sound and believe as I do? The Good Samaritan Gospel of Luke 10:25-37
Is there something to be gained by looking at and descending into grief? The Snow Man recited by Gene Marckx By Wallace Stevens One must have a mind of winter To regard the frost and the boughs Of the pine-trees crusted with snow; And have been cold a long time To behold the junipers shagged…
Where in me to my Demons reside? What do they corrupt in me? Can you describe your angels? How do they assist you? Dirge recited by Eugene Marckx BY KENNETH FEARING 1-2-3 was the number he played but today the number came 3-2-1; bought his Carbide at 30 and it went to 29; had the favorite…