NANCY A. RICHARDS
(1937-- )
Clergy; Poet
Missouri Senior Poet Laureate Runner Up 2004
Saint Louis, Missouri


ORIGINS



Before my parents, before time, I was an idea in the mind of God,
an idea that came into being.

I am from fertile Wisconsin farmland, cold great lake waters,
stony beaches, moraine dunes, gentle mountain slopes
and shimmering northern lights.

I am of family dairy and truck farms, paper mill and breweries,
slaughter house and packing plants, blue highways and back roads,
fishers and hunters, electric company lineman and private secretary.

I know the taste of wild blueberries, the scent of lilacs in bloom,
the tug of a fish on the line and the feel of my dog's fur,
the glow of a freshwater pearl, the sound of a train passing through.

I was formed in a nuclear family, a small town, neighborhood
schools, a Girl Scout troop, a white frame Methodist church,
a historic women's college.

Everything that was is now. I am part of it and it is part of me.

© 2005 Nancy A. Richards