John Getz Poetry Scholarship
The John Getz Poetry Scholarship is possible due to the generous donation of Nancy Jones, XU graduate-Dec. '76
Immediately upon completion of her degree, Nancy was hired by Milford High School to teach juniors American Literature and sophomores Literature and Composition. Ultimately, she spent a fun career in Public Relations and Marketing with her valuable Xavier degree in English.
Nancy named the first Internet Service Provider in the Tri-State area- FUSE still serves SW Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Indiana. She introduced many of the Custom Calling features and the first digital telecommunications in the Tri-State. She won a graduate teaching assistantship to teach news editing and magazine editing production at Ohio University. She worked at SAVVY, the first women’s professional business magazine in New York City and she wrote ABOVE THE 37TH PARALLEL, a play about love, life and living with Multiple Sclerosis:
https://behindthecurtaincincy.com/2011/08/18/above-the-37th-parallel-runs-sept-17-18/
SKIPPING STONES
I didn’t bait my own hook
or release the fish
If I caught him
Dad declared
“dinner”
And the scaling and fileting began
The riverbank charmed
With rocks of pink, green, sparkles of quartz
I ran to find the smooth surfaces
The ones that would jump, jump, leap like the fish
before succumbing to the hook
or the depth
of the water below
LEGACY
I hear
my mother’s voice
every time
I open the yellow
recipe box
full of her handwriting
her smudges
of butter, flour, Campbell’s soup
“nothing like a good casserole”
warm, comforting
full of mother’s love
scribbled hastily
or clipped from
newspapers, magazines
compliments
of friends, neighbors, relatives
tucked away in
this box
legacy of love
RHYME
Tucked in the silverware drawer
or her coat pocket
Folded on the kitchen table
or the glove compartment
of her red car
They were not love poems
Instead he wrote of
ordinary things
the rose trellis in the back yard
the rhythm of the rocking chair
the dust in the cornfield
the prick of the holly tree
As ordinary as planting beans in May
canning tomatoes in August
raking leaves in October
shoveling snow in February
My mother delighted in each handwritten gift
His poems were more than ordinary
PERSPECTIVE
I have never
wanted to climb
a mountain
fly a plane
live in New York
or
scuba dive.
I did want
to travel
love deeply
raise a family
and
write a play.
I did
live in New York
and
some dreams
are
small enough.