Lou Ann Mandzuik

Custer, Washington

I received a BA in English in 1968, married, did various elementary teaching and secretarial jobs, became a full-time mother, wife and homemaker, and am presently employed as a care giver to the elderly. Rediscovered poetry in 1991 and write as outlet for emotions, also to record memories. Other hobby is photography. My goal is to combine photos and creative writing to make Creative Memories in scrapbooks. I have some poems published in Ideals and The National library of Poetry anthologies. Outlook on life: "look for the positive, add a touch of color to the ordinary, look for beauty in an unlikely place, savor the moment, look for the best in people, believe good triumphs over evil."

Letting Go

There's time for letting go,
A time for moving on,
A time to look ahead and know
That you will still be strong,

There's a time to say good bye,
To leave behind regrets,
To remember all the happy times
And let the bad times rest.

A time for letting go
Does not always mean the end.
It's just the course of life's sure flow,
It's but the river's bend.

Treasured Moments

Treasured moments may be brief,
Like the flight of the butterfly.
Catch them in a memory net
That will never let them die.

Reflection

She, who had such dignity,
Could not hide from me,
Her care giver, who bathed
Her naked, flabby flesh.

She could not hide her soul
Laid bare before my eyes.

Why did I detest her so?

The mirror of her thoughts
Reflected my own naked soul.

The Story Inside the Locket

There is a story not been told
inside a locket of pure gold,
Of lovers whose heart's were
entwined
With thoughts that knit both soul
and mind.
They feasted each on Eden's fruit
While angels watched but stood by
mute.
But soon a serpent in the dust
Caused their love to wane and rust.
They both agree that they should
part,
But pain lingered long in a young
girl's heart,
And even though she found another,
He seemed no more to her than
brother.
For at her death the locket she wore,
Inside the image of her first love
bore.
One wonders how her life would
have changed,
If love's first course had not been in
vain.