Reading from “City Slicker’s Guide to the Amish Country”

Poetry Reading at Open Mike Night

The Lamp Maker

We live in a world in need of those with the magic of light. Men that can capture the glow and the twinkle from a witty man’s eyes. Men with sight. Men with imagination and wands to cast spells of warmth and delight— a Merlin, Aladdin or Fairview’s Lamp Maker.

Who? Mark Miles, the man who has made a quest to salvage the future from the past. The Amish Country’s magician who can reach into a barrel and coax a genie into a bottle, a toaster or a Coleman lantern. He turns the ordinary into extra-ordinary lamplight. Lamps that chuckle, giggle or gossip from a living room table.

Mark Miles, a 20 year Navy veteran now spends time combing through the inventories of second hand stores and flea markets where he looks for objects that call out from our childhoods. Coleman lanterns electrified can give us everyday reminders of quality time spent with our dads and grandpas. Vintage kitchen appliances repurposed connect us visually to grandma’s welcoming kitchen of years ago. You won’t believe the variety of antiques that he transmutes* into lighting, end tables, rustic flag holders, chairs and wine glass holders; all with his unique Americana style.

You can view many of the Lampmaker’s unusual designs on-line at his Facebook page: milesmakeovers, or for-sale in the windows of Fairview’s favorite bargain store, the Sunrise Thrift Shop, a few hundred paces east of the traffic light at the corner of M33 and M72.

*transmutes- alters or changes into something different than its original purpose.

.
Richard Rensberry, Author at QuickTurtle Books®
Excerpted from “City Slicker’s Guide to the Amish Country”
http://amzn.to/2n5srwa

Reading from City Slicker’s Guide to the Amish Country 3/4/17

reading-from-city-slickers

Country Feed Supply

.
As Winter tries to close its fist
on the furrowed fields
where discs turn
for the umpteenth time, there’s a memory
in the kernels of corn
dormant ’til Spring— a memory of green,
a memory of gold, a memory of shoots
and roots to behold.

It’s a miracle of darkness
and the blessing of light
when sun warms seeds to life.
The unfurling of Spring
is the beauty of God, peace
to Summer, praise
to storm, food on the table
and the chattel floor.

From field to hopper,
from hopper to bin, from bin to truck
then up and up
the Country Feed Store’s sixty-five foot
grain-leg drop. Feed for horses,
feed for pigs, feed for cattle,
chicken and eggs. One bag, two,
three bags full
of the sweetest seeds— non-GMO.

Excerpted from CITY SLICKER’S GUIDE TO THE AMISH COUNTRY
my newest book available in paperback on Amazon, April 2017.
Richard Rensberry, Author at QuickTurtle Books®

Poetry Reading From The Love Tree

skyline-reading-from-the-love-tree

Photo by Northern Exposure Photography & Arts  nephotoandarts.zenfolio.com 

Excerpt from THE LOVE TREE:

WHERE THE WAVES BREAK

You take me
where the waves break,
where the church bells toll,
where the gulls squawk
and the thunder claps roll.

You take me
to the ship’s stern,
to the storm’s red eye,
to the dog’s bark,
and the wind swept sky.

You take me
from the dark hour,
from the hammer’s head,
from the cold sweats,
and the tempest’s bed.

You take me
like a fresh breath
with a twinkle eye,
with your chin up
and your softest sigh,
you take me—
you take me
In.

Richard Rensberry, author at QuickTurtle Books
amazon.com/author/richardrensberry