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    Heart and Soul: An Inspiring Collection of Light Verse on Life, Love, Faith, and the Military
    Heart and Soul: An Inspiring Collection of Light Verse on Life, Love, Faith, and the Military
    Heart and Soul: An Inspiring Collection of Light Verse on Life, Love, Faith, and the Military
    Ebook213 pages1 hour

    Heart and Soul: An Inspiring Collection of Light Verse on Life, Love, Faith, and the Military

    By Jack London Riehl

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    About this ebook

    Gardens I spend a lot of quiet time in gardens,
    And not alone, for God is also there.
    In gardens, joy prevails against despair,
    For seeds of hope and faith and love and joy
    Grow very well in gardens.

    In Heart and Soul, retired high school English teacher Jack London Riehl shares a poignant collection of poetic family reminiscence, light military verse, and tender love poems that provides an engaging portrayal of one mans life.

    Jack Riehl begins his compilation with his first two poems he wrote at age eighteena required assignment for all high school yearbook staff that culminated in fueling his life-long passion for written verse. In his unique style, Riehl interjects a mix of wry humor and a whimsical view of life as he offers an armchair philosophers insight into how he learned to conquer disappointment, face the dilemmas of a soldier, laugh at himself, and think youthfully as he journeyed through eighty-eight adventurous years.

    Accompanied by over twenty timeless photographs, Heart and Soul offers wisdom for both the young and the old as it tenderly leads others through the circle of life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateSep 3, 2010
    ISBN9781450231831
    Heart and Soul: An Inspiring Collection of Light Verse on Life, Love, Faith, and the Military
    Author

    Jack London Riehl

    Jack London Riehl earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Washington University, St. Louis, and served in the Army during World War II and the Korean War. Now a retired high school English teacher, he lives with his wife near Nashville, Tennessee, where they enjoy spending time with their family.

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      Book preview

      Heart and Soul - Jack London Riehl

      Copyright © 2010, 2012 by Jack London Riehl

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid.

      ISBN: 978-1-4502-3182-4 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4502-3183-1 (e)

      iUniverse rev. date: 7/17/2012

      About the Cover

      Evergreen Lake is a beautiful, private lake that, for many years, was owned and developed by the author. He wrote many poems there. It has two and a half miles of shoreline and seventeen acres of crystal clear water. Because it is on the Mississippi flyway, a variety of ducks and geese visit it in waterfowl season. Its name was also chosen as a companion name to the Riehl family home place, Evergreen Heights in Godfrey, Illinois.

      Cover_evrgrn2small_20090909054242.tif

      Another view, at sunset, of the forty-four-foot-deep Evergreen Lake pictured on the cover.

      To the glory of God

      and

      dedicated

      to my dear wife, Carol

      Magic Pen

      I’ve always had a problem, friends,

      In case you haven’t heard,

      A most unusual problem, this—

      Concerning written word.

      Sometimes it is a blessing, and

      Sometimes it is a curse;

      You see, I have this magic pen,

      That always writes in verse!

      Ambition

      A scepter for the king of state,

      An eagle plume for poet great—

      But not for dreamers such as I,

      Just an ordinary guy;

      Yet ruler of a realm I’d be,

      The realm of doubtful poetry.

      A feather, too, for this poor king—

      Plucked from the lowly chicken’s wing!

      Contents

      About the Cover

      Magic Pen

      Ambition

      Thanks to

      Foreword

      Preface

      Dreaming

      The End of Day

      I. Family

      To Mom

      Mother

      Mom’s Message

      Love Note

      Mom Again

      Dad

      II. Friends

      Friend

      Hugs

      Milton

      Poor Joe

      III. How Time Flies!

      Calendar Poems

      Gardens

      Siege of the Seasons

      Caw

      Warm Colors

      Christmas Is a Magic Time

      Choir Rehearsal

      Christmas Anthems

      Christmas Thanks

      After Christmas

      IV. The Sharing

      The Sharing

      Love-Talk

      Goddess

      Cheer Up

      The Cure

      V. Jack’s War

      Travelogue (St. Louis to Sacramento)

      My Chapel

      The Dit-Dah Blues

      The G. B. (Goldbrick)

      A Soldier’s Dilemma

      Precipitation

      The Rumor Monger

      No Paper Doll

      I’m Dreaming

      Pfc.

      Corporal

      Sergeants

      Louies

      Rank

      Where Go My Clothes?

      Poison

      On GI Biscuits (or Ingenuity)

      On Bully-Beef

      The Chow in This Unit Is Terrible! (A Story)

      Signs

      Government Issue (GI)

      Beachhead

      Air Raid

      Sniper

      Aussies

      Reminiscing

      The Saga of ’Nam

      VI. The Lighter Side

      Wolf

      Pianos

      Chiropractor

      Pigs

      Cheetah

      Mother-in-Law

      Mashed Taters and Squirrel Gravy

      VII. Finding Love Again

      Autumn Love

      Miracle!

      The Gift

      Tears

      You

      Yours

      Proposal

      Rainbow’s End

      Carol

      My World Is Where You Are

      Home

      Tina-Dog

      VIII. School Days

      The Librarian

      Subbing

      Swan Song

      IX. Fields and Streams

      Fish-Bit

      Trout Fisherman

      The Hunter’s Reward

      Dove Hunter

      X. Armchair Philosopher

      Eagles

      Gossip

      Four-Letter Words

      Pronouns

      The Surgeon’s Prayer

      Fashion

      Book of Life

      Key to Happiness

      XI. Heart and Soul

      My God

      Have Faith

      Pioneers

      Foundations

      Above All

      God Bless You

      Microscopic

      He’s There!

      Rainbow Song

      Look Up!

      Tomorrow

        (A New Beginning)

      Long Hunter

      Hymn of Creation

      XII. Over the Hill

      Old-Timer

      Has-Been

      Think Young

      About the Author

      Epilogue

      Thanks to

      Renee Chavez, for her hard work, sensitivity, and expertise,

      and to

      John Mitchell Wilson,

      for his generous time and technical support.

      Foreword

      In the 1890s, Walter A. Riehl (pronounced Reel) was a local, amateur heavyweight boxer in Alton, Illinois. He was chosen to fight an exhibition fight with the world heavyweight champion, Bob Fitzsimmons, whose tour of America took him to that small Illinois town. This exhibition bout heightened Walter’s interest in boxing.

      Records show that on October 28, 1899, the British-born Fitzsimmons was booked to fight in Tattershall, Illinois (near Chicago). It is believed that Jack Riehl’s father, Walter, made the long trip to the windy city area for this fight.

      Walter was born unable to hear a birdsong or a clap of thunder or the bell in the boxing ring that always starts off every round. Walter arrived late only to find a rugged, muscular-looking man sitting in his seat. He could not hear or understand the other man’s words, but could see him jabbing his thumb at the seat number on his own ticket stub. It was the same number as Walter’s ticket number.

      The fight was sold out; obviously there were two tickets with the same seat number, one a counterfeit made by an unscrupulous ticket scalper. Walter had traveled a long way, and the cost of the ticket had set him back quite a bit financially. He did not know or care who the man was, but, being a heavyweight fighter, he confidently took off his coat and prepared to punch the stranger in the nose. Before the two men actually came to blows, boxing fans seated nearby seemed to realize Walter was deaf and wrote him a note. Only then did Walter realize he was preparing to punch in the nose the famous novelist Jack London.

      During the fight, the two men shared the no-longer-disputed seat on the bench. After the fight, Walter Riehl and Jack London went out to a nearby steakhouse to enjoy a steak dinner together and afterward corresponded.

      Walter and Caroline Riehl’s first baby was a girl they named (Betty) Jane. When a second child, a son, came along on May 19, 1922 in Godfrey, Illinois, Walter and Caroline fortuitously named him Jack London Riehl, after Walter’s famous writer-friend.

      Walter completed his schooling only through the fourth grade because of his hearing disability. (In those days, there were no special education programs.) However, he was a voracious reader and had a library of hundreds and hundreds of books. Jack inherited his father’s love of books and of good literature.

      Like Jack London, the well-known author and adventurer, his namesake, Jack London Riehl, has also been a writer and adventurer. He was accidentally and almost fatally shot at

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