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A Flag To Remember
Stacy Jackson
2019, Poetry

⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎

I want to be clear about my intentions with the way I am making the notes on poetry books.  I am not reviewing the books in a classical sense.  My intention is to write my thoughts about the work as I read it.  This is just my ideas and things i might alter or change, and maybe some critique of the work.  It is not intended to overly criticize the author or their work.  I wouldn’t spend time reading an entire book if I didn’t appreciate the work.  That said, I’m giving the books a score based on my own gut reaction to the work.  It’s just my opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt.

⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎

23 September 2025, 7:42am

“A Flag To Remember”

I think it can be difficult to write poetry for a cause, even when that cause is important to the writer.  I have struggled with it in my own work, and have increasingly avoided topical or cause-oriented poetry.  In this case, because of the nature of the collection, or what I believe to be its nature, we need something to act as the gates we walk through into the author’s world.  I like this as the opening poem.  It’s a declaration, but I hope it’s also an indication of what to expect.  I think the poem could be tightened up just a bit, and there are some grammatical issues.  I’ve read a lot of self-published poetry, and these are pretty common across those poet’s work.  I think it’s a minor (and easily solved) issue.  I probably won’t mention it throughout, unless there is something egregious.  Good start.

“The Undecided”

Hmm…This is a brief poem, presumably about those whose gender is only defined as a part of cultural norms, but which would otherwise remain nebulous.  Maybe it is nebulous to those individuals still, even though there is pressure to put oneself into the boxes built by our societies.  My only critique of the writing would be that not every poem needs a rhyme.  I suspect now that there will be a heavy emphasis on rhyme, but that’s a talent few possess.  I certainly don’t.  I think if the author wants to be fully honest, she might try not forcing the poetry to rhyme.

“Penchant For Hoodies”

Storytelling.  I could see this whole situation, but it was told is only seven lines.  “Smuggled with goosebumps” is a great line.  It tells me a lot about the speaker.

Title suggestion: “Hoodies”

“An Ordinary Poem”

This little poem is so close to breaking free and becoming something.  I am usually okay with referencing a classic or clichéd poem, but I think maybe this could have started with just the classic lines and then the poem could start to become unraveled until we get to “We know people change / We know people change to.”  Those two lines in particular feel like the start of something else, like a cycle of repetitions interspersed with examples from the author’s life where people didn’t change.  That would start to sound like a chant of hope in a world that doesn’t deserve hope.  Promising, but ultimately flat.

“When you’re rejected by your mother and your father, you’re always looking for someone to replace that love.”

“The Butterfly who is Always Fearless”

I don’t have a lot to say about this.  There are some confusing lines, but it is either a poem to the author herself or to a sibling, so I fear that crucial context is missing and having work like this double checked by someone is good.  They can tell you where there might be some confusion.  I think it does a good job of making me want to know more about who this person is.  I wanted to explore some of those details.

Title suggestion: “Fearless Like A Butterfly”

⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎🏳️‍⚧️⭐︎Continue Reading

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Deer, Turkey, Toads

This was a surprisingly good and productive day.  Brent & I went to Glencoe to do a final cleanup of trash & get the propane tank listed and picked up.  The only thing left to do out there is the owner of the mobile home to come out and get it, but everything we were going to do is done (unless the mobile home pickup results in a mess, which we may need to hire someone to cleanup).  Everything takes so long.  On the way to the recycling center, there were deer and turkeys in the Johnson’s yard across the creek.  Both are common, but not usually at the same time.

Brent is fun to hang out when he’s not focused on trying to get out of the task.  He has relaxed since buying his house and moving.  When we couldn’t get find a place to take a refrigerator, we took it to Brad’s and to my surprise Brent went in and visited with Brad, AJ, & Kenzie.  They are remodeling at Brad’s and he is not talking about moving any longer.  I don’t agree, but it’s not my house and not my life.  It was actually a pretty good visit in spite of the smell of smoke.  Brad says he quit again.  I’m glad to hear it.  I would love if he started taking care of himself more!!

It was a long day, and I didn’t get home until 8, so I only did a 25 minute walk.  I got in a lot of movement throughout the day, so I still feel pretty good about it.  The park was full of toads and there were teenagers hanging out on the playground.  That made me feel good actually; I worry about young people not spending enough time just still being kids.  I got in my steps, avoiding stepping on toads, and got back home.  I’m so tired now, but I have a washer & dryer now and I put a load of laundry in for the first time and so I almost feel like this is where my time in Guthrie starts.  I don’t have anything to pull me away to do other tasks.  

[Walk #335, 1.15 miles]

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The Magnolia Seed Pod

What a great walk!  The temperature was great, so I woke Justin up to go with me and to get in his own exercise.  I had him choose three non-consecutive days to do exercise, and after a lot of protesting he chose Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday.  Yesterday, I wanted to get in a specific early morning walk, so I wasn’t available (he won’t do it on his own yet), so we started his new routine today.  He will end up having a consecutive situation this week, but then we will be on track starting next week.  

I was a little misleading to start with, knowing full well that walking up to Highway 33 and across the bridge is almost exactly one mile.  I didn’t not tell him that, but I didn’t mention how far it was, just to say it isn’t too far.  I’m trying to encourage him to get in 25 minutes at least, and that should be one mile.  This little trick doubled that at least.  I will say, as nice as that walk is, highway traffic is very loud.  

After we crossed the bridge, and after I had paused to try and get a good photo of a blue heron (I didn’t; I never do), we made our way down along the side to cross under the bridge.  I wanted to see if there was another way back across the creek nearby, and after walking a bit, I pulled out my phone to check.  No.  The next bridge a on the other side of town, so we’d have to go back up and across the way we had come.  But by that time, it seemed just as easy to go around through downtown, so we did that.  A magnolia had dropped pods on the sidewalk, and it reminded me of the magnolia I would pick flowers from on the way home from school.  I loved picking up the discarded pods in Fall and picking the flowers in Spring.

As we turned onto Division to go up to the crosswalk, I failed to see the split level of the sidewalk and fell onto the sidewalk.  Crushed my phone’s screen protector, but it had done its job.  I was actually impressed that the fall didn’t phase me or my breathing.  It doesn’t even register on my heart rate tracked by my watch.  It just did not phase me one bit.

We made our way back across, Justin completely over me “stopping to take photos like you’ve never seen anything before.”  I thought that was funny.  We walked back through the neighborhood once across the bridge, and over to Banner Park, where I completed my walk by going once around.  I wanted to get that last mile in.  

It did teach me that I can easily just walk to downtown.  And I will.  Especially as I get more used to doing three miles a day, and if I start adding more.  It won’t take much to go down, stop in to the bookstore we passed by, or in one of the places for a coffee.  It could make for a more interesting routine.  And if that seems too far, there are easy places to park to do a downtown walk.  I do wish there were more businesses going in.  I don’t want to see Guthrie die.  Downtown is such a big part of its identity. 

I had expected to get in a short walk, but I’m so glad I did something longer.  I feel good.

[Walk #334, 3.12 miles]

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Threes All The Way Down

I’m feeling both exhausted and very accomplished!  I got in my 3.33 miles this morning, and while that was my goal, I almost felt like I could have done more…that is, until my headphones stopped working properly and my shoes started actively falling apart! 

Even after having those issues, I considered just continuing on until I heard a train coming and I thought it would be fun to be on the bridge as the train passed underneath.  I am just a kid in an adult costume after all.  And it was fun.  I enjoyed that quite a bit.  Little did I know, it was one of three trains that would be coming through, so I still could have gotten a little extra in.  I would have been pretty tired when I got back though, so I think I made the right call turning around when I did.

This is a great week to get back on track with soups.  I normally just have a crockpot of soup, and I have what I need to make a light version at the moment.  I can also make some cauliflower rice meals with broccoli & sweet potato.  That would give me some variety without going overboard on calories.

I had another excellent conversation with Robert last night.  He keeps me feeling motivated with my exercise.  Later today, I’m going to make a list of the things I need, like dumbbells and yoga bricks.  I might just get online and order them.  I’m trying to get back to being serious about fitness; it might be the push my body needs for some weight loss.  We will see!!

[Walk #333, 3.33 miles]

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Psychosis & Plans for the Future

I can’t stop thinking about how strange the world is right now.  There are many people who believe tomorrow they will be raptured.  There are stories online of people quitting their jobs, selling their stuff—one lady is keeping her kids home from school, so they can all be together when it happens.  It’s like a collective psychosis.  It’s funny, but it’s actually disturbing.  What are those people going to do on Wednesday?  Sure, the prognosticators will choose a new date to grift the gullible, but what about the people who gave up so much on a lie?  I’m concerned.

The influencers have convinced millions that a slain racist is a martyr, but they don’t look into it.  The system is set up for people to follow blindly.  If someone says it with a podium in front of them and a cross behind them, they cannot be lying.  And so, they are losing their minds.  Some are convinced that he will be resurrected, comparing him to Jesus.  The man who advocated hate and fear and division, the man who would take food out of a child’s mouth if their parent wasn’t sufficiently deserving.  The man who believed that LGBTQ people should be stoned to death, as it says in The Bible.  That man, that hate monger.  They are wrapping him into their belief system.  It’s gross.

My walk was warm, but good.  It’s been a year and a half, but I am still amazed when I can do these walks and not be out of breath.  I am a little under the weather today, but that’s the ragweed.  We just can’t seem to get a good break from it and the longer the pollen count is high, the worse I feel.  It’s going to be even higher tomorrow.  I’ll just have to take some extra meds.  I don’t know when we’ll get a reprieve.  We need a good sustained rain, but there are just more of these showers in the forecast, and those don’t really help much.  

In honor of walk #333, which I will be doing tomorrow, I’d like to get in 3.33 miles.  I just think that would be fun.  I’ve been going around the park 4 times, and that doesn’t even get me close to that.  I’d have to go around about 12 times.  I can do it, and I’d like to do it.  Maybe I’ll have to incorporate some of the sidewalks as well.  If I go really early, I can walk the sidewalk along Noble and go across the train tracks.  It sounds like a lot, but I can do it.

[Walk #332, 1.39 miles]

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Do You Remember?

Cloudy day.  A little bit cooler than yesterday, but definitely still warm.  I thought I might get a full hour in, but that didn’t quite happen.  I think if it had been a weekday and the park was empty, I might have done the full hour. 

I’m not sure why I seem to be shying away from my neighbors.  They don’t scare me; I’m more afraid that I bother them.  I guess I still feel a little like a guest in their home.  I just need to work on feeling more ownership of my place and some sense of being a full part of the community.  I’ll get there.

My leg was swollen and tightly squeezed into my jeans.  It has me worried because it’s been about 9 months since I was dealing with that issue.  I honestly don’t know what I might be doing wrong.  It’s frustrating because I feel like I’m trying so hard and not only am I not losing weight, but it feels like I’m gaining.  I know I’m not doing everything in my power.  I could start there.  Maybe white rice is my Achilles heel.  Maybe I’m using too much salt.  Maybe I’m cheating too often.  I need to go back to square one and built from the bottom up.  Eliminating doesn’t work for me, but starting over will. 

[Walk #331, 1.65 miles]

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The Spirit of Fun

The goal was to walk over to the skate park and back.  We got close to it, close enough to see, but Justin was struggling, so we didn’t actually go up to it.  Still, we got in a good walk, and I’m hoping he can see it is very doable.  Yeah, he was exhausted this time, but it does get easier over time.

I am so happy to see all of the Halloween decorations around the neighborhood.  I love seeing people get into the spirit of fun; I worried a little when I added a spiderweb to my front door the other day.  None of my neighbors had anything up.  Maybe they won’t ever, but it is still a little early for some people.  We’ll see.  In one yard, there was a giant skeleton and a giant Jack Skellington, which sang a song from the movie as we walked by.  I love that kind of thing.  Even if I don’t want certain things in my own yard, I’m always excited when others have them in theirs.  I also hate those decorations while in a store, but in a yard I’m into it.  In a store, I’m just there to get what I need and get out; I don’t need the clamor.  I’m appreciating the neighborhood more and more.

I also got a lot of good landscaping ideas.  I need to come up with a concept and try and execute it.  In the past, I’ve just gathered things I like and tried to make it work.  And it doesn’t.  I need charts and plans, spreadsheets.  I’ll keep an eye on other yards in other walks.  The goal is to eventually walk every part of the neighborhood, but I admit it is a little more comfortable on a weekday midmorning.  I’m not opposed to waving at neighbors, but I do like to take pictures of things and certainly don’t want to inadvertently upset anyone.  

[Walk #330, 1.57 miles]