Edwin Takala
Iron, Minnesota, USA
Edwin TakalaIron, Minnesota, USA |
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Edwin Takala, age eighty, started writing poetry when he was sixty-seven. He has published two books of poetry ranging form humorous to philosophy to current events and personalities. He spent forty years teaching in high school in St. Louis Country, mostly in Embarras, Minn. He lives on a farm and has been actively engaged in farming all his life. He served during World War II in an armored infantry battallion as a staff sergeant in charge of a machine gun section in the European theatre. He is married with five children and eight grandchildren.He has also written some local history as well as some essays. His poem placed in the top ten at the International Society of Poets in Washington, D.C., in1994. |
Old Ed's been around for eighty odd yearsThrough toil and trouble, triumph, and tearsHe spent a lifetime tied to the land In spite of all problems he thought life was grand For forty some years he spent teaching school Though he did some dumb things he was nobody's fool During the war he served as an infantryman He survived in good shape when shit hit the fan He travelled the world; he liked to roam But come right down to it there's no place like home He jumped from an airplane at seventy-five Grandma didn't think he would come out alive The children surviving have done very well What more can you ask when the world's going to hell Don't waste your time mouring, but have a good time Live while you're alive to the end of the line | In the bathroom when using toilet tissueIf economy is a big issueFirst clean your glasses Then your nasal passes Then use it for what it was issued If you reverse it then no one will kiss you |