Man on Fire

Red flames descend from the sky,

Burning into the depths of his eyes,

And crackle as they engulf his hair,

In tongues of fire.

The eyes, the eyes, stare out in

Placid indifference, while all around

Tongues of flame lick at the very air

Combusting in the night.

No stars here; no limned moon;

No serene reflections on the fiery

Pools below; only fire and burning,

And passion sleeping in those lidded eyes.

Saint or madman? Artist or lunatic?

Does it matter to a man on fire?

Can mere words express the desire

That fanned the flames into a conflagration,

And set the canvas alight? Oh, I long

For a flame to consume my desire,

To quench the thirst of my longing,

To plunge headfirst into the flames

That destroy all conscious thought,

All empty lies, all words written on

Cracked parchment. I long for the

Purity of fire, the peace of flames.

If I walked with you in the Garden

If I walked with you in the garden,

Like Adam or Ezekiel, or your friend

Enoch, I would not ask you why.

Instead I’d thank you for the

World you made, for the stars

In the skies, the birds of the

Air, the fish of the sea, and all

The creatures that abound there.

And I’d ask your help to preserve

These things, so that we don’t

Destroy in one selfish moment

What took you six days to build.

If I walked with you in the garden,

I’d ask that you make man’s

Burden light enough to bear;

That you give us strength to accept

What we must, and courage to do

What must be done. I’d ask that

You give us wisdom, so that we

Could be as merciful to one

Another, as you are to us.

I’d ask that you grant us tolerance

So that we stop the senseless

Bloodshed that masquerades

As belief in you.

If I walked with you in the garden,

I’d show you my heart, and ask

That you repair it, so that

I could always do what you require.

I’d ask for a song to sing so

That men might remember their

True calling, and not the vain

Lusting after things to make

Them forget.

And when at last my time draws near,

I hope that I have done enough with

What I’ve been given, that I be

Allowed to walk with you in the garden.

“Hello.” ‘ello “Orange soda, sis boom-ba.” oom-ba

Remember how much fun hearing your voice bounce around a big room and then come back to you was when you were a kid? Whether those are faded memories, or whether you still do it when no one is around-let me show you how to inject that fun into your poetry. The first few are some poetic and literary terms, and the final section will be a poetry form.

Poetry and music have a close kinship, so it shouldn’t surprise you when I tell you that a poetic echo has to do with the “music” or sound in a poem, specifically with regards to types of rhymes.

In general literary terms, an echo is a “repetition of the same sound, or combination of sounds, fairly close together, so that they ‘echo’ each other[, and is a] common device in verse to strengthen meaning and structure, and also to provide tune and melody” (Cuddon and Preston 247).

Alliteration, the repetition of beginning sounds, is probably the most familiar, but there are also vocalic and consonantal echoes, whose repetitions are subtler.

Vocalic echo repetitions are “vowel sounds [that] are repeated but not necessarily in order (cotillion/billygoat)” (Miller 14). If you look at Miller’s example you see he’s used the long “o” and short “i” sounds in cotillion. In billygoat the sounds are repeated, but not in the same order. If they had been in the same order it would still be considered a vocalic echo.

In contrast, consonantal echoes have repeated consonant sounds, “but not, as in alliteration, in the same order (tell/late, falter, traffic)” (Miller 14). When you look at Miller’s consonantal echo example you see the “t” and “l” sounds from the word “tell” are repeated, but in reverse order in the word “late”. Unlike a vocalic echo, if you choose not to reverse their order, it would not still be called a consonantal echo. It would be alliteration, or a type of rhyme, depending on where the repetition occurred within the word and within the stanza.

My favorite type of echo I call a literary echo. I use this technique when writing my essays, poetry, short stories or articles. Rather than repeating a sound, like in the terms above or in echo verse below, you repeat a topic or subject. Let me give you an example. I wrote a term paper a few years ago, and in my opening grabber paragraph I compared presidential candidates to apples and oranges (from the saying). When I closed my essay, I echoed this with a slight twist and referred to the whole thing as a fruit salad. This reminded the reader of where I started and helped me wrap up the essay.

Speaking of oranges, another example is the Writer’s Digest poetry winner a few years ago that used this technique, and oddly enough the subject of the echo they used was an orange. They began with a short stanza about the citrus fruit’s rhyming ability, and then went into the heart of their poem, which was not at all about oranges. They finally wrapped it up by referring back to the orange.

This can be done in any type of prose or poetry. In poetry and other short works, it can easily be used as a foil to the true subject of the poem and allow you add depth to your work.

Finally, I have a poetry form for you.

Echo Verse

BRIEF HISTORY

As many forms of poetry have, echo verse began in the Classical Greek period. It is a “a witty device known usually as echo verse [and] would simulate the syllabic repetitions and truncations of natural echoes for satiric effect” (Hollander 37). Hollander’s definition is for echo verse in its purest form, but any echo used for any type of purposeful effect could be called echo verse in modern poetry terms.

MUST HAVES

–An echo of similar sounds, not unlike my examples that open this article/editorial-although you will want your echoes to have more meaning.

–Not exactly a must, but more of a really good idea: be clever and purposeful with your echoes. Don’t put them in your poem to make noise, let them sing and elevate your poem in the process.

That’s it. That’s all you must have.

COULD HAVES or What’s The Poet’s Choice In All This?

–How you present your echo. You could have it on the same line like this:

I’d like a present. Sent.

You could have it on the next line, like this:

I’d like a present.

Sent.

You could designate your echo, like this:

I’d like a present.

Echo: Sent.

Get creative. However you decide to present it, make it meaningful.

–Choose what type of meter, or choose none at all.

Echoes are fun for kids, and adults and poets alike. I can’t resist adding something reminiscent of my favorite punny knock knock joke: Orange you glad you know more about poetic echoes? Yes, you may commence groaning-as long as right after you play with some poetic echoes.

Source Notes:

Cuddon, John Anthony, and Claire Preston. A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. 4th. MA: Blackwell Publishers, Inc., 1998.

Hollander, John. Rhyme’s Reason. 3rd. Yale University Press, 2000.

Williams, Miller (1986). Patterns of Poetry: An Encyclopedia of Forms. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press.

General Description

Rowdki was the most popular poet of the Samyan era in Persian history. As per the statement of famous historian Abdul Karim Bin Muhammad Esmani, his complete name is Abu Abdullah Jafar Bin Muhammad Bin Hakeem Bin Abdul Rahman Bin Adam and Rowdki was his sur-name. He was born in a small village Banj, which is situated in Rowdak city of Samarqand. Abu Abdullah Jafar became famous in the word with the relation of this city. His date of birth is not mentioned in the history anywhere, however, the historians wrote his approximate date of birth. He died in 304 AH or 916 CE which probably incorrect.

Pin-picture of Rowdki

Abu Abdul Rahman Rowdki was very intelligent from childhood. He learned the holy Quran by heart when he was eight years old. Abu Abdul Rahman also learned the art of recitation of Holy Quran in the early age. Then, he started poetry and became a perfect Persian poet of Samayan era. Rowdki is also known as teacher of poets in the history. Almighty Allah has blessed him with a sweet and attractive voice. He started singing and playing Guitar. Abu Abdullah Jafar learned the knowledge of music from musician teachers Bareed and Nakeesa. Soon Abu Abdul Rahman became a good and popular musician. In this way, he got place in the office of King Ameer Nasar Bin Ahmad Samani. He used to play Guitar in his office.

Blind by Birth

Most of the Historians are in the opinion that Abu Abdul Rahman Jafar was blind by birth. Persian poet Muhammad Aofi declared Rodwki as blind by birth. However, some historians have narrated that Rowdki become blind in the later stage of life. There are many perception about his blindness. The poetry of Abu Abdul Rahman Jafar shows that he became blind in the later stage of life because he has used colours in his poetry.

Reasons behind Blindness of Abu Abdullah Jafar

Historians have stated two reasons behind the blindness of Abu Abdullah Jafar Bin Muhammad. The reasons are appended below:-

1) First Reason. Renowned Persian poet Agha Saeed Nafeesi writes that a warm stick was put in the eyes of Rowdki, which made his eyes blind. He did not produce a solid reason of his statement. However, Nafeesi explained his statement and said that Rowdki was suffering from eye disease “Khonsa”. Khonsa is an eye disease which reduces the eye sight gradually. The people used to put a warm stick for its remedial. In this way, a warm tick was put in the eyes of Abu Abdullah Jafar, however, some carelessness occurred in the process, which caused him blind.

2) Second Reason. The historians also narrated a second reason of Rowdki’s blindness. Abu Fazal Balghami was serving in the office of King Ismail Bin Ahmad Samani, who was the best friend of Rowdki. When Islamil removed Abu Fazal from his office, Ismail also punished his closed associates and friends. It is also suspected that Ismail Bin Ahmad has put warm tick in the eyes of Abu Abdullah Jafar on this account and made him blind.

First Appointment

At the first time, Rawdki started job in the office of King Nasar Bin Ahmad Samani. Although, Rowdki did not use the name of king Nasar Bin Ahmad in his poetry, however, the historians have narrated his presence in his office. Once, the king Nasar prolonged his stay at Herat (now in southern Afghanistan). The people requested Abu Abdullah Jafar to convince the king for return to home town. Rowdki wrote a poem in which he invited the attention of King Nasar towards the problems of people and the king returned to his palace soon. Abu Abdullah Jafar also wrote poems for Ameer Abu Jafar, who was the governor of Seestan (now in Iran).

Fellow Poets

Abu Abdullah Jafar is the classical Persian poet. Following are some of his fellow poets:-

1. Shaheed Balkhi

2. Ghairul Adi

3. Abu Mesal Bokhamai

4. Muradi

5. Abu Abbas

6. Joyari

7. Khobazi

8. Abu Ishaq

9. Neeshapuri

10. Abu Zaraga Gorgani

11. Amara Marozi

Reason of Fame

A classic poetry, sweet voice and unparalleled control over the playing of guitar became the reason of Rowdki’s fame. It is generally considered that the name of Samanyan is live in the history due to the poetry of Rowdki. All great poets of Samanyan era have praised the poetry and art of Abu Abdullah Jafar.

Ideology

Rowdki has a thoughtful heart and sensitive nature. He loved the people and feels their pain. Abu Abdullah Jafar advises the people in his poetry and says that circumstances of the world does remain the same, it changes from time to time. Therefore, we should not worry about it. Rowdki loves the world and its dividends but also advises the people for patience because world and human both are mortal.

When the son of his dearest friend Abu Fazal Balaghmi died, Rowdki wrote a poem in which he advised him for patience. He advises for taking benefit from the gifts of Almighty Allah in this world but never become proud of it because everyone had to leave it. Abu Abdullah Jafar enjoyed simple and straight forward life. He likes simple people and dislikes hypocrites.

Characteristics of Poetry

The great Persian poet Nizami Arozi Samarqandi says that the poetry of Rowdki very effective. It effects on the heart of the readers. Nizami further narrated that once king Nasar Bin Ahmad Samani prolonged his stay during summer season at Hera. The people became upset there. They gave five thousand Dinar to Abu Abdullah Jafar and requested him to convince King for return to home town. Abu Abdullah Jafar wrote a poem and sang it in rhyme “OSHAQ” for King Nasar. When Abu Abdullah Jafar sang the last word of the poem, the king agreed and return to palace. It was the characteristics of his poetry.

Publications

Persian poet Muhammad Aofi says that Rowdi has written one hundred books of poetry. Perhaps, the quote of Muhammad Aofi might be right because Abu Abdullah Jafar was very rich poem writer. The historians narrated that Rowdki has translated the renowned Arabic book “Kalila wa Dimna” in Persian in the shape of poetry. However, it is not available presently. Only one Divan of Abu Abdullah Jafar is presently available.

Love has no shape, color, creed or caste

It has wide range and can never die out or last

To think of it is madness and sheer waste

Can any one explain whether it has sour or sweet taste?

The God has put one sensational device

It bits on ceaselessly with mute voice

It can cry, laugh and express anger

With all helplessness when faced with hunger

The wound can be healed with medicine

The happiness and sadness can also be seen

The heart may bleed but there won’t be trace

Only some lines ma reflect on sullen face

If love is to be believed then can be found in ant region

If it that is to be worshiped then it needs no religion

All religions teach and profess same contents

Never have they come out with any adverse statements

I tried to search some drawbacks or lacuna

It was present everywhere and in all arenas

Al spoke of one language with same spirit

The love and peace should lead the way even in dm light

So long there is love there is chance

It is to be tried by all and not at once

It has unique way of handling the crisis

The magic spell of it always forms the basis

Can love be altered to hate or poison?

Can there be any criteria or specific reason?

As love has no color or fragrance to smell

How poison can be expressed or written well?

Some scientists tried to test the poison

There was no need to explain its position

What did it cost to human life as result?

It has quality which is real and in built

Let love be not confined to any creed

Let it not be give any type of wrong feed

It must mushroom in natural way

No one may have any objection to express or say

It has push pull action

There is no swing or any reverse reaction

It will pulsate regularly to fine the refuge

Both the companions may have no reasons to refuse

If you can not facilitate then do not obstruct at least

It may give different color and twist

It will be pushed to corner and never meet again

The position may not come true to regain

It is hard fact of life that we must realize

If necessary then consent and oblige

Do not create any type of the blockade

Let it excel without being lost or fade

The Emergence of Private Sector Geriatric Care Management

Geriatric Care Management, a multidisciplinary profession made up primarily of nurses & social workers, first emerged as a professional field about 15 years ago when experienced clinical professionals, across the country began, to leave traditional third party settings. Disillusioned with the large caseloads typical in non-profit and publicly funded agencies, and the limitations of third party payors such as Medicare, a group of about 100 practitioners in 22 states had begun to set up private consulting practices to help family caregivers of frail elders . They met to share ideas and to discuss how they conducted their private clinical gerontology practices. The result of these early meetings led to the formation of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers (NAPGCM). NAPGCM currently consists of more than 1500 professional geriatric care managers nationwide with a vast majority in individual or group practices. The national association exists to foster the profession of GCM through marketing and public relations, legislative activism and professional development. NAPGCM facilitates a yearly national conference, publishes a practice journal and several other publications. Additionally, individual state and regional chapters host regular chapter meetings and some also hold chapter conferences.

-What is a Professional Geriatric Care Manager? –

A Professional Geriatric Care Manager (GCM) is a human service professional who specializes in assisting elders and their families with long term care issues.

Geriatric Care Managers:

1.) Conduct care planning assessments to identify problems, eligibility for assistance and need for services;

2.) Screen, arrange and monitor in-home help and additional health and mental health services;

3.) Review financial, legal and medical issues and offer referrals to other professionals for dealing with problems and conservation assets;

4.) Provide crisis intervention;

5.) Act as a liaison to families and long-distance care givers;

6.) Offer guidance in identifying alternative housing options and facilitating transitions;

7.) Provide counseling, psychosocial support, education and advocacy for elders and their families.
Case Example Part 1

It was 4:45 pm on a Friday afternoon and Dr. Jack Braun had just hung up the phone after speaking with Susan Moore, a nurse with the local Visiting Nurses Association (VNA). Dr. Braun said to himself, "Flo again!" Susan had informed Dr. Braun that his patient, Florence Clark, had been found in her home by an elderly protective service worker confused, short of breath and with seriously edematous legs and acute cellulitis in her left leg. Susan explained that there was evidence that Florence had not been taking her lasix for up to two weeks and she had recently fallen. Dr. Braun recommended that Flo be taken to the Emergency Department at the medical center for evaluation.

Dr. Braun had just seen Flo the week before. She seemed to be improving. Flo, a 92-year-old widowed woman, living alone in her own home, had been hospitalized twice this year, five months apart for congestive heart failure (CHF) after failing to correctly take her medications. While Flo's hospitalizations were relatively long, she had improved both times after transfer to the same skilled nursing facility (SNF), where she received rehabilitation and nursing care for about eight weeks. Dr. Braun expected the same course would be repeated. Flo was adamant about not giving up her home and moving to an assisted living community. She was still independent with self care and was actually able to drive herself around town. Flo had lived with and was helped by her son, until his death two years ago. Flo was estranged from her only other child, a daughter, who lived out of state.

Dr. Braun said to himself, "there has to be somebody who could help this lady on a regular basis, someone who could give her support and encouragement, help her to be organized and deal with her when she gets noncompliant with her medications." While Flo did have involvement with VNA, this help was intermittent as the VNA would take her on each time that she was discharged from the SNF. However, due to a recently imposed cap reimbursed system for Medicare payments, and Flo's relative stability after post acute rehabilitation, the VNAs never borrowed more than a week or two. Flo also had a case manager from the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) who, due to funding cuts, could only respond when a crisis emerged. Flo's income, from dividends and social security, far exceeded the public agency's income guidelines for ongoing case management. Dr. Braun remembered that Flo had a trust officer at a local bank, who handled her finances. The trust department also served as Flo's Power of Attorney.

Dr. Braun called the trust department toxpress his concern about Flo's accessibility to live independently and his idea for some type of ongoing professional involvement. The trust officer assured Dr. Braun that he would check into this possibility and get back to him.

Flo was hospitalized for eight days and then transferred once again to a SNF for rehabilitation and nursing care. A week after her transfer to the SNF, Peter McClelland called Dr. Braun to say that he had retained the services of a professional geriatric care manager to work with Flo.

Over the years, the field of geriatric care management has identified a range of effective methods for helping older clients. GCM's have learned to stay abreast of the rapid growing and changing array of long term care alternatives. GCMs typically identify problems that distinguish their clients such as: failing health and physical function, increasing problems with mental function and unmet need for care and assistance and often inexhausting housing. Additionally, clients commonly have either no family or diminished family involvement, some times due to estrangement but more commonly because of geographical distance in our increasingly mobile society. GCMs are rarely hired by the person needing care. They are far more likley to be retained for the client by a family member or another professional such as the client's attorney, trust officer or accountant.
The Growing Profile of Geriatric Care Managers

GCMs in well established practices are likely to be members of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers at the "Advanced Professional Level" of membership. Advanced Professional members of NAPGCM hold a masters or doctorate degree in nursing, gerontology, psychology, social work, or another health or human service field and have had two years of supervised experience in the field of gerontology (NAPGCM Directory of Members'00).
The Affluent Client-

For many of all class levels, aging is a difficult process that can generate stress for the older person as well as for family members and others. People involved in long term care often grow quickly frustrated with the overall lack of available resources. While elders with higher incomes and assets may be more likely to create resources for care, there are also aspects to affluence that can affect negatively on an elderly person who is experiencing an increasing need for care. For example, many lower income olderly remain relatively integrated in their community due to such factors as living in senior housing or having many involved local family members, particularly adult children. Lower income olderly also tend to qualify for means tested community elder services such as case management through a public or non-profit agency and may be more inclusive to participate in community programs such as local senior center activities.

By contrast, economic mobility in the elderly, can often lead to a lack of community integration as an upper middle class or affluent elders may not have had children or had fewer children who educational and career pursuits moved them far from their parents. Frail elders who are affluent may have recently discontinued a retirement lifestyle involving living in more than one home through the year, causing them to be less rooted in their community. As spouses and friends who are peasants die, long standing social networks disappear without replacement. Living in larger suburban homes, affluent frail elders may be less visible in the community and less active, as leisure interests such as vacations theater and restaurants become less viable given their failing health and little or no companionship.

While financially affluent elders may be less known in the community, they may be well known by their physician and his or her staff. As patients, affluent elders may be more educated, more demanding and less willing to accept advice they might disagree with. Economic mobility, at the very least, creates the illusion that much of life can be managed and controlled. An elder who may have had a successful career as a high-level problem solver may not be accepting from the advice from their physician that he or she is no longer capable of managing their medication independently or operating an automobile safely. The children of affluent elders, particularly those who live far away, may be demanding of the doctors time beyond the office visit as they may have a desire to be understood and have opinions about their parent's medical care but are unable to physically attend medical appointments with their parent.

As geriatric care management services are generally not reimbursed by a third party payor, the patient or a family member, pays the GCM out of pocket. Fees for private care management typically range from $ 80. $ 150. per hour. As a result of being a privately paid service, commonly, the clients of GCMs are at a minimum, middle-class and often moderately affluent to wealthy; excepting lower income elders who GCMs services are funded by a family member, often a son or daughter.
Case Example -Part 2

Dr. Braun looked at his schedule of patients for the day and noticed that Flo was scheduled for 2:00 pm. It had been 12 weeks since her episode of acute CHF with three plus edema and cellulitis necessitating hospitalization. Flo had now been home for three weeks since being discharged from the SNF. Dr. Braun then glanced at a fax regarding Flo from a private care manager.Dr. Braun remembered this GCM from years ago as a former clinical social worker at the medical center. The fax explained that he was now a GCM in private practice and that Flo's trust officer had retained him to coordinate Flo's multiple long term care needs.

The GCM explained that he had visited Flo at the nursing home. Prior to her discharge home, he arranged for Flo to receive weekly nursing assessments from a private duty RN. This nurse will also be maintaining Flo's medication box according to Dr. Braun's orders. The care manager also explained that he assisted Flo with the hiring of a homemaker / companion who will work with her in her home and in the community, four days per week. The homemaker / companion will be assisting Flo with preparing low sodium meals (a recommendation from Dr. Braun) verifying that Flo is taking her medication and reporting any concerns to the GCM as well as doing housekeeping and assistance with shopping. The last page the fax to Dr. Braun comprised an overall summary of Flo's progress including daily weights since her discharge from the SNF. The GCM would be attending the next appointment with Dr. Braun, and would be in regular contact with the trust officer, and would monitor her ongoing care needs at home. The GCM would also be exploring alternative care options including assisted living facilities that might better meet her needs in the future.

Dr. Braun felt significantly more reassured about Flo and wished several of his other patients would use the services of a GCM.

The Geriatric Care Manager and Physician Collaboration
The precedent case of Dr. Braun and his patient Flo is based on one example of the increasing collaboration of physicians interaction with the growing profession of fee based geriatric care managers, who have emerged to fill the void left by underfunded, inexperienced and overburdened public and non-profit community care providers .

Typically GCM involvement gains the elder's ability to manage his or her overall health care while also foster collegiality and more efficient communication with the physician and the increasingly complex long term care service network.

When considering GCM-physician collaboration, the following four salient features emerge that underscore a physician's opportunity to optimize the relationship between the acute care system and the chronic care needs of a frail elder with minimal social support.

1. The GCM can enhance the interaction between the patient and the doctor ..

As was referred to in the case example, GCMs often attend medical appointments with their clients. Particularly when a client has multiple medical issues and medications and / or when the patient may have some cognitive disadvantage. The involvement of the GCM can serve to insure that information is accurately exchanged between the physician the elder, the SNf and the home and community care providers. Additionally, the GCM can take on the task of assisting with communication in terms of status changes or making or canceling appointments between the physician's office and the patient. This is often done with phone calls or faxes to the physician or his or her nurse.

2. Ongoing assessment of an otherwise isolated patient.

Through regular contact the GCM is able to provide monitoring of the client's overall status. GCM can also arrange for more in-depth regular assessment or provide formal assessment in the areas of health / mental health depending on professional qualifications and certification. The GCM can relay patient concerns while they are at a "pre-crisis state", allowing the physician to intervene before a hospitalization or even an urgent, same day, appointment becomes necessary.

3. A GCM's involvement can reduce an elder's need for a "social 'physician visit.

The GCM is typically a well trained, experienced and caring professional. Through the process of care management, a supportive relationship between the GCM and the elderly client usually emerges. Due to this relationship with a prominent caring professional, the elder may become less inclined to make intermittent appointments with his or her physician when there is no real change in status. Additionally, given the psychosocial support and advocacy provided by the GCM, the elderly patient is less inclusively to use wi a time limited appointment to meet social needs, allowing the physician to enjoy a positive and productive doctor-patient relationship within that boundary

4. The GCM serves as a conduit of information between the physician and other health care providers and the elder's family and / or other involved parties.

While there are times when a private and personal conversation between a physician and a patient or a patient's family is necessary, there are other times when communication is more routine and does not require direct contact with the physician. As a professional with health care knowledge, the GCM can synthesize information relating to patient health problems, treatment options, changes in medicines, etc. and communicate these to the patient's family. GCMs routinely follow-up with family members via phone or E-mail immediately following medical appointments. An established and ongoing arrangement for communication with the GCM and long distance care givers or involved professionals, can reduce the amount of communication a physician needs to engage in beyond the patient visit.

Conclusion

This article is intended to illustrate the opportunity that exists for collaboration between physicians and professional geriatric care managers with the overeaching goal of better servicing frail elders. In addition to collaboration on individual cases, doctors and GCMs can be excellent referral sources for each other. Physician referrals to GCMs for patients with a clear need for and the means to pay for the service, can clearly assist in a development of a positive, time efficient and productive relationship between the frail elderly patient with multiple medical and resource problems and his or her physician. Likewise GCM's serve their clients well when they refer them to doctors who demonstrate a specific competency, for working with frail older adults.

Authors Biographies

Robert E. O'Toole, LICSW, is President of Informed Eldercare Decisions, Inc., a private company specializing in elder life planning. A founding member of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, he is a former editor of the Geriatric Care Management Journal.
450 Washington St., Ste. 108, Dedham, MA 02027
Phone: (781)461-9637 Bob@elderlifeplanning.com

James L. Ferry MSW, LICSW is a geriatric care manager based in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Jim is Ph.D. Candidate in Social Work at the State University of New York at Albany. His area of ​​research is in the psychosocial aspects of geriatric care management. Jim would like to mention that his wife, Margaret A. Ferry MD provided him with some valuable insight for this article, from her vantage point as an internist and clinical endocrinologist.

James L. Ferry MSW, LICSW

Advantage Care Consultants

PO Box 307, Deerfield, MA 01342 (413) 775-4570 jim@coachingcaregivers.com

MODE Of Cosmic Therapy: Unleash Trapped Sacred Sexual Energy

Stop with thy incessant babble. You sound like a broken tiny tears’ doll repeating ‘wha wha’ in unison with a wind-up faded circus themed jack in the box. Up and down, up and down saying the identical words trying to prove to anyone lame enough to listen how important you are and how vitally imperative what you have to say is. Don’t look now but no one is listening to your sad story, again.  What time you are not babbling on and on about what you do for others and how they don’t appreciate you, take you for granted, use you for their benefit, you are whining about how hard your life has been and how you always get the short end of the stick. Have you ever stopped to take a breath to realize just how much you are creating your own misery? You can babble all you care to but the truth stands while the rest falls away.

Check the temperature of your environment to see how many people are slowly exiting your life, refusing to be in your presence and avoiding you at all costs. Could it possibly be that you are the source of your irritation and not the other way around? How many times do you repeat how much you’ve done for someone or “after all the help I’ve given them and then they go and treat me like that.” If you are aware and have recorded (either mentally, figuratively, or physically, the supposed ‘help’ you’ve offered, you are an emotional tyrant invested tax collector who feeds off the misery you project onto others.

Instead of complaining, moaning, groaning, droning, looking for sympathy and gossiping about the ones who have done you so wrong, look to the source: YOU. Get the actual fully animated sickening picture of your exhausting emotional display. You are so miserable but refuse to ‘shut up’ long enough to see the wolf in the woods, howling. {He yelps at the full moon as if it’s wrong to be in the sky.} You are spoiled beyond compare! The distorted focus, (which is the source of your misery and despair) is a blood tinged key locked up in the past which you refuse to release. You insist on bathing in the ‘blood of old imagined wounds’ which you believe are the most severe and should have never taken place.

Big Deal! Whether they occurred or not is not the foreboding issue. The problem lies in the fact that your life is stuck on one track of desperation to hang onto something that is long since evaporated. So much time has elapsed since that so-called unfortunate event, but you won’t get in the present. You want to hang onto stinking debris and foul up the fresh air with morbid ancient emotional garbage. Give IT a rest. Give you a break and the others who must be involved with you. No one wants to hear the same old story over and over and over. Is THAT all there is to you life?

It’s almost as if you have to let go of that -gripe, offense, abuse, neglect, rape, maltreatment, physical abuse, desertion, abandonment, divorce, affair, sexual misconduct, robbery, lie, death, dishonesty, cheat, murder, disappointment, imprisonment, violation, excessive materiality, and etc., you would lose your identity. NOT so. You are much more than the sum total parts of your life! (And, most especially one event that you have magnified out of all proportion) Why do you need to focus on that all the time? IS it really all you have going for you? Do you honestly believe that you have no other existence outside of the so-called tragedy that occurred?Does it matter to you that you can’t find fulfillment in your sexual life?

Life brings to us all a wave of events: some pleasant, others unpleasant. But, no one is overloaded or ‘dumped upon’ unnecessarily. It does not matter if you don’t understand appreciate or value the unfortunate circumstances, the transformation is hidden in the horrendous pain and the complete release of it. “Hurt Me One More Time, Please” should be your mantra not so you can bemoan more but so you can see just how much you need to work on in the grievance department. (Don’t you realize, it’s a real turn -off-, sexually?) Pain, disappointment, sexual misconduct, emotional distress, depression, health set backs, accidents, unpredicted failures in business, adverse living conditions, weight management, unexpected disturbances, heartbreak in love affairs, and money problems are all part of living on the Earth plane. No one who visits this sphere of mortal activity gets out of here without some part of the “HUMAN” package. It goes with the territory.

So, what are you still grumbling so bitter and resentfully over? Do you think you are exempt from the human race? Afraid not! The more anxiety you need the more you breed. You can stop the flow of incessant fermented soup of slime anytime you so choose. No one other than you can do it. Not only does your mental state, physical well being, financial condition, emotional temperament, but more importantly than all of these incidentals, your musical artistic sexual sensual expression is diminished to the point of non-existence. And, tell me who wants to inhabit the Earth plane not able to flourish attractively, passionately and erotically? In other words, forget totally about PLEASURE! As long as you maintain the bitter grudge, resentment and animosity, you will enjoy no pleasure at all. Period.(First and foremost through sexual avenues)

Hate has a way of dispelling erotic pleasure! If that doesn’t matter to you it sure don’t matter to me. You’re the one who has to live as a dried up prune, feeling cheated, embittered, cynical, old, malicious and spiteful. Won’t be attracting much with those attributes? Wealth, health and happiness go hand and hand. Material abundance begins with removing not accumulating. When you have emptied the full vacuum cleaner it can pick up more but not until. To see dreams manifest in your life, you must redirect your attention onto a different realm of activity. You must be where you live now. Not yesterday, 6 months,10 years ago…

PAY ATTENTION! Get your thoughts off of the bad (What you perceive as terrible) and onto the possibility of what can be reaped from your garden of plenty. You do have a garden of plenty, don’t you? What is the garden of plenty? It is the sensual sexual sacred artistic vault of potential hidden deep within the recesses of your soul. You do possess a soul and it has a divine intent. This intent includes everything that you have ever encountered. Not some of it. [All of it.] . Don’t discount the realm of calamity. It will take some concentrated effort on your part to redirect your thoughts, words and actions. You must begin with ceasing to drag people into old matters of contrite flavors. Place your focus on what is occurring presently without your uttering words of despair and illness. You’re only as sick as you want to be. In other words: Get over yourself and how you’ve been done so wrong. “Don’t nobody care.” That is where your vital life supporting energy goes building and re-enforcing that ailing foundation. There’s no reason to follow that course any longer. Strip the faulty structure of its life supporting beams.

You must not ‘change horses in the middle of the stream’ by returning to old familiar ways. STAY with process, project, and experiment of releasing the past until you see results. Don’t leave the project unfinished. Don’t divert your attention no matter how bored, restless, eager, agitated or frustrated you get. Stay with the artistic sexual “YOU” program and do only those things that nurtures a sexually rewarding and satisfying agenda before venturing off into something else. That, alone, is true wisdom. Remember: sexy thoughts first, then, passionate words and last adoring sensual actions work together in an enthusiastic positive precise artistic fashion.

Do not confuse the path or process by saying one thing and doing another. Be loyal to your erotic wisdom and the sensual attracting magic it contains. How much energy and effort and focus will you have to invest? Enough to get a huge everlasting celestial orgasm!

The poem, “i carry your heart with me,” by E. E. Cummings has been a favorite love poem and a favorite selection at weddings for many years. The poem has gained renewed interest since being featured in the film, “In Her Shoes.” It is used with devastating effect in the film’s climactic wedding scene and again to close the movie. Countless fans have been inspired to review the touching words of “i carry your heart with me.”

The Poet

E. E. Cummings was born Edward Estlin Cummings in 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He died in North Conway, N.H., in 1962. Cummings earned a B.A. degree from Harvard in 1915 and delivered the Commencement Address that year, titled “The New Art.” A year later he earned an M.A. degree for English and Classical Studies, also from Harvard.

Cummings joined an ambulance corps with the American Red Cross in France during World War I. The French imprisoned him on suspicion of disloyalty, a false accusation that put Cummings in prison for three months. He wrote the novel, The Enormous Room, about his experience. Many of Cummings’ writings have an anti-war message.

Cummings was a fine artist, playwright and novelist. He studied art in Paris following World War I and he adopted a cubist style in his artwork. He considered himself as much a painter as a poet, spending much of the day painting and much of the night writing. Cummings particularly admired the artwork of Pablo Picasso. Cummings’ understanding of presentation can be seen in his use of typography to “paint a picture” with words in some of his poems.

During his lifetime Cummings wrote over 900 poems, two novels, four plays, and had at least a half dozen showings of his artwork.

Contrary to popular opinion Cummings never legalized his name as, “e.e. cummings.” His name properly should be capitalized.

The Poem

E. E. Cummings’ poetry style is unique and highly visual. His typographical independence was an experiment in punctuation, spelling and rule-breaking. His style forces a certain rhythm into the poem when read aloud. His language is simple and his poems become fun and playful.

Cummings’ poem, “i carry your heart with me,” is about deep, profound love, the kind that can keep the stars apart and that can transcend the soul or the mind. The poem is easily read, easily spoken, and easily understood by people of all ages.

The poem could almost be called a sonnet. It has nearly the right number of lines in nearly the right combination. But, typical of a Cummings poem, it goes its own direction and does so with great effect.

The poem makes an excellent love song when set to music. The outstanding guitarist, Michael Hedges, has set “i carry your heart” to music on his “Taproot” album. Hedges himself sings the lead, but the backing vocals are sung by David Crosby and Graham Nash.

More than 168 of Cummings’ original poems have been set to music.

Enjoy the words and the sentiments of this famous poem.

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

If one wants to know about the post-Independence Indian English poetry, suggest Iftikhar Husain Rizvi and Nasreen Fatima Rizvi, one needs to read poetry of such poets as “P.Lal, Krishna Srinivas, Nissim Ezekiel, Kamala Das, Keshav Malik, Pritish Nandy, Shiv K. Kumar, Jayanta Mahapatra, O.P. Bhatnagar, Maha Nand Sharma, Baldev Mirza, I.H.Rizvi, R.K.Singh, K.N. Daruwalla, Dwarkanath H. Kabadi, and Syed Ameeruddin.” For a clearer picture, I would like to add the names of a few more poets to their list: I.K. Sharma, P. Raja, Gopal Honnalgere, Bibhu Padhi, Mani Rao, Anuradha Nalapet, Maria Netto, Mamang Dai, Angelee Deodhar, Kala Ramesh, K. Ramesh, PCK Prem, and R. Rabindranath Menon.

Not that Rizvi and Rizvi have not included these poets in their review of the Indian English poetic scene. In fact, in a brief span of about 240 pages, they have carefully, neatly, and imaginatively written about the origin and poetical scenario in the first half of the 19th century, the second half of the 19th century, before Independence, i.e. from 1901 to 1947, after independence, i.e. upto 1970 (male poets), and female poets (up to the present day).

The authors’ review of the poetry scene, though devoid of serious criticism or evaluation, offers a larger coverage to prove that Indian English poetry has a history of its own and distinct identity and maturity to spread its fragrance far and wide. They mention hundreds of new names in their survey of the rapid growth of Indian English poetry during 1971-1985: Jayanta Mahapatra, Syed Ameeruddin, S.C. Saha, Proaba Bandopadhyay, K.V.S. Murty, O.P. Bhatnagar, I.K.Sharma, Niranjan Mohanty, Dwarakanath H. Kabadi, Vikram Seth, I.H.Rizvi, R.K.Singh, D.C. Chambial, Dilip Chitre, Baldev Mirza, Arun Kolatkar, Laxmi Narayan Mahapatra, Hemant Kulkarni, A.C. Sahay, PCK Prem, EV Ramakrishnan, Hazara Singh, Saleem Peeradina, TV Reddy, HS Bhatia, and scores of others.

The review of the poetical scenario from 1986 to date mentions works of Narendarpal Singh, A. Padmanabhan, Mohammed Fakhruddin, C.R. Mahapatra, Darshan Singh Maini, M.A. Nare, V.S. Skanda Prasad, P.K.Joy, P. Raja, Gopal Honnalgere, Maha Nand Sharma, Tabish Khair, Krishan Gopal, Hoshang Merchant, Shailendra Natayan Tripathy, Charu Sheel Singh, Y.N. Vaish, C.K. Shreedharan, Moin Qazi, M.K. Gopinathan, S.Samal, P.K.Majumder, Vihang Naik, R.V. Smith, S.L. Peeran, Prabhat K. Singh, R.S. Tiwary, A.N. Dwivedi, Kanwar Dinesh Singh, C.L.Khatri, and hundreds others.

As obvious, the authors have tried to be comprehensive “in the sense that more than nine hundred Indian English poets with about 1480 collections find room in it.” (Preface). They have mentioned all the established poets alongside new and ignored poets. Rizvi and Rizvi are fair, balanced and thorough in their presentation. They are clear in their mind that the current Indian English poetry scene is “crowded” with poetasters, versifiers, struggling poets, true poets, and great poets and that there is “a great need of putting things in the proper order….One has to sift gold from sands, but most of them, as far as possible, should be made a mention of.” (p.5).

The genre has survived over 175 years almost “without a tradition and without uniform source of creative energy. Its accomplishment lies in surviving without dogmas, without adequate critical support…. Its accomplishment lies, above all, in trying to stand alone and by itself,” to quote A.K.Srivastava.

Rizvi and Rizvi pay their tribute to the strengths of Indian poetry is English which is now internationally visible for encompassing “Indian situations, irony, mockery, satire against customs, rituals, politics, riches, contemporary problems, love and sex, and human relationship” (p.5).

In fact, their book complements a couple of earlier publications by this reviewer, namely, Indian English Writing: 1981-1985: Experiments with Expression (1987), Recent Indian English Poets: Expressions and Beliefs (1992), Anger in Action: Explorations of Anger in Indian Writing in English (1997), and the more recent, Voices of the Present: Critical Essays on Some Indian English Poets (2006).

There is substance in the authors’ claim that Origin, Development, and History of Indian English Poetry “is a ‘must’ for all the universities, degree and postgraduate colleges as also for professors and teachers of English in universities, research scholars, poets, and lovers of poetry.” It makes a refreshing reading and indeed offers a fuller picture of Indian English poetic creativity “after the end of colonialism”, and especially after 1970.

I.H. RIZVI and N.F.RIZVI. Origin, Development and History of Indian English Poetry. Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 2008. Pages 244, Price: Rs. 220/-. ISBN: 978-81-7977-266-9.

–Dr.R.K.SINGH

This practice is often done with different types of major purchases: automobiles, business deals, and yes (we know) homes!! Is this a good idea, especially when it comes to a For Sale by Owner home? Let us take a look at this concept.

There are occasions when an FSBO will receive multiple offers on their home. In that case they have a few ways available they can deal with this. One way is to let each potential buyer know that there ARE other offers being made to them. They can even “play a game” of telling the other prospects when a counter offer is made. An important thing this will do is jack up the selling price of your home. The logic being, whoever wants it badly enough will pay the highest price to you. This is almost like being at an auction. In this type of a scenario, telling prospective buyers about other offers is a good thing.

However, before utilizing this type of strategy you must understand any negative effects this could have on your sale. If one or more of your prospective buyers feels they have already proposed a fair price for your home; continuing to play this game could only aggravate them. You may well wind up with everyone getting disgusted with the process and NOBODY buying your house. Then YOU will be the loser, as the possible buyers will likely all go elsewhere instead.

Something else about an FSBO entertaining multiple offers for their home and telling the other buyers about them is this. Both the seller and the buyer run the risk of missing out on a great opportunity. This is an especially good point to make to the other potential buyers in a multiple-offer situation. Be sure to tell them all the great features of your home, yard and neighborhood. Do not leave out any important details. Let each prospect know what they will be missing if they drop out of the process. Remember – it is highly likely they already view your home as a “deal they cannot refuse.” Then they could wind up just as disappointed as you are if they miss out on the opportunity to purchase your home.

One thing you can do to make the most out of entertaining multiple offers for your home is to be prepared in the first place. BEFORE you begin as an FSBO do some research on this scenario. Go onto pertinent websites, talk to experts, find out how you should best deal with this concept; should it arise. Practice your negotiating techniques of this type beforehand, then you will be ready to deal with it. Another thing you can do is to get to know each potential buyer when they begin to make an offer. Learn about any limitations they may have financially or even mentally. Perhaps their personality type makes them adverse to this type of negotiating deal. You will want to know that before telling them about other offers. The best advice you can get on this subject is – to be prepared!

O Sliver of Liver (by Myra Cohn Livingston)

O sliver of liver,

Get lost! Go away!

You tremble and quiver

O sliver of liver–

You set me a shiver

And spoil my day–

O sliver of liver,

Get lost! Go away! (Livingston, 1979, p. 22)

When I taught second grade, my students and I played with poetry nearly every day. The poem, ‘O Sliver of Liver,’ was learned in one quick session–and practiced frequently so that all the children would have it on the tips of their tongues the next time liver was served at their house. (I even had children who asked their parents to serve liver–just so they could use the poem!) Poetry is fun and useful!

For too many of us, we had little experience with poetry as elementary school children and then had negative experiences with poetry as junior high and high school students. Unfortunately, as a result, now that we are teachers, we eschew poetry in favor of other types of literature. In this article, I will offer information about poetry as well as ideas for how to teach children about poetry while also allowing them to enjoy poetry.

There is a wealth of poetry for children available today. Basically, these volumes of poetry fall into four categories (Hopkins, in Rudman, 1993):

1. Single Collections, which are books of poems written by an individual poet; for example: Valerie Worth’s All the Small Poems and Jack Prelutsky’s Ride a Purple Pelican.
2. General Collections, which are books put together by an anthologist to highlight a variety of topics. For example, To Look at Any Thing edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins and The Place My Words Are Looking For selected by Paul B. Janeczko.
3. Specific Collections, which are compiled by an anthologist, focusing on one theme, bringing together the works of many different poets. Myra Cohn Livingston’s are among the best of this type, e.g., Why Am I Grown So Cold: Poems of the Unknowable.
4. Poetry Picture Books, which feature one poem by an individual poet, illustrated throughout by one artist. For example, Casey at the Bat, illustrated by Patricia Polacco and Nancy Willard’s The Voyage of the Ludgate Hill: Travels with Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen.

Prior to launching into a unit on poetry, the four categories listed above could be displayed on a bulletin board. Children could be challenged to find as many books as possible that fit into each category. The resulting collection will then serve members of the class throughout the unit of study.

Just as the books listed above are ‘older’ books, your students will find many older books, too. Poetry doesn’t ‘age’ as fast as some other types of literature, so your school’s library is likely to have poetry books that have this year’s copyright date as well as ones that date back to the 1960’s – and all of them will have potential value for reading and enjoying.

Bibliographic info on the books mentioned above:

• Hopkins, Lee Bennett (Ed). (1978). To Look at Any Thing. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• Janeczko, Paul B. (Ed). (1990). The Place My Words Are Looking For, New York: Bradbury Press.
• Livingston, Myra Cohn. (1979). O sliver of liver and other poems. New York: Atheneum.
• Livingston, Myra Cohn (Ed). (1982). Why Am I Grown So Cold? Poems of the Unknowable. New York: Atheneum.
• Polacco, Patricia. (1988). Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
• Prelutsky, Jack. (1986). Ride a Purple Pelican. New York: Greenwillow Books.
• Rudman (1993). Children’s Literature: Resources for the Classroom. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
• Willard, Nancy. (1987). The Voyage of the Ludgate Hill: Travels with Robert Louis Stevenson, San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• Worth, Valerie. (1987). All the Small Poems. New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux.