Dolly Staaf Carlson

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

I am a grandmother, published freelancer and dreamer. I'm also a Stephen Minister at Westminster Presbyterian church in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania. My degrees are from correspondence schools: Famous Writers School and Institute for Children's Literature. I've also completed many courses in the Unity School of Christianity, the University of Southern California (Irvine Campus), Psynetics in Anaheim, CA and others. In the 60's and 70's, I sold a dozen Confession stories (most to Jean Sharbel, who was then with Dauntless and is now with Macfadden). My last name back then was Sankovich. From then until now I've had many religious and inspirational articles and poems published in the US, Canada and Italy.

My Face In Your Mirror

I don't know how ego is properly used
or how to keep spirit from being abused
(Perhaps schism is only a thing of the mind
and Reality buffers Truth
to assuage humankind)
My past and present identity is mixed
The positive and negative between and betwixt
I'm probably whatever you'd like me to be
Or is that another sign of senility?
A little levity is good for the soul
And, with God, it's okay to play the fool
Who I am and what I do
is just another part of you

The Penultimate Question

One day heaven
One day hell
What's all this about being well?
Will we never ever learn
That we're patterned to return?
Could acceptance be the key
To unlock life's mystery?
Anchored wings awhile will fail
Heaven weights the soul to sail?

In God's Image

Quest for answers
never cease
With knowledge does
emptiness increase
Just "live the question"
we are told
The quest will not
all truth unfold
Only love is pure
extant and free
Only love fulfils
and lets us be
Yet repeatedly we fall
from comfort's ken
We want to know
Mystery, the how and when
Provision of Providence
change of mind
Process and evidence
One of our kind