Charles Deemer

Elderberry Wine: Vintage 2000 Charles Deemer

In Elderberry Wine: Vintage 2000, 22 writers from the Clark College Mature Learning Program bring decades of life experiences to a wide assortment of writings. Sometimes its a memory of World War II: We jostled along with the crowd, laughing, embracing and being embraced by strangers. As darkness fell, we found ourselves in Lafayette Park, looking across Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House. A flag flew, lit by a spotlight, indicating the President was in residence. We stood silent, sobered and saddened by thoughts of the many who had given their lives to achieve this moment, and the wounded who would always bear the reminders of this war. Eileen Jones McGoffin The myth we were safe with two oceansTo keep foreign problems awayWas blasted apart in HawaiiBy the treachery dealt there this day. John G. Beckman, Jr. Or a humorous reflection on the perils of growing old: I dribble, I drool, Ive lost most of my cool, I cannot remember the day of the week. My right knees rheumatic, My wrinkles emphatic, My hair makes me look like a freak. Josephine PaterekMy prostate gland is out of whack, competing with my aching backHerb StokesAn anthology of wide range and moods, Elderberry Wine showcases poetry, prose and drama by John G. Beckman, Jr., Louise Beckman, D. Fred Benton, Alexandra Cooley, Marelyn E. Curtis, Marian Fox, Don Fraser, Marjorie Frauen, George Goodrich, Bill Green, Barbara J. Hamby, Gary Lamont Jensen, Ken Knable, Vickie Lindquist, J. F. Macdonald, Eileen Jones McGoffin, Josephine Paterek, Donna Schmaltz, Herb Stokes, Elizabeth L. Taylor, Anita Trabulus, and Joan Tyrrell.