BARBARA EHRENTREU

 

BARBARA EHRENTREU

 

Taking Life To The Fullest

 

Take life to the fullest

Ride your dreams into the clouds

Search for the sweetest smelling flowers

And bathe in the gentle sunlight

As you inhale the fragrance of

The growing plants around you

Let that be absorbed into you

And be a sponge for life

 

Don’t stop just because there might be

A glitch in your plans

Or something went awry and you have

To start all over again to accomplish

What you set out to do

This is just a small twist in the scheme

and you can overcome it

by doing things to your fullest capacity

 

Halfway efforts bring half the results

so always try to put all of yourself

into everything you do

The bird tweeting outside my window

and the seagulls flying over the blue waters

of the bay do it with everything they have

The bird sits on its perch and bursts out with song

and the gulls use all their power to keep flying

 

We need to right ourselves if the cart of our life

overturns and remember it is only a little twist

and we can face whatever we need to do

with determination and patience

When you persist you will reach your destiny.

Copyright 2021 by Barbara Ehrentreu

 

The Old Carved Tree

 

The old tree had many trunks

connected to each other by a giant expanse spreading across the lawn

Digging its massive roots into the soil, it filled the space.

 

We happened upon this tree as we strolled the red brick path

of the heretofore unknown park we had passed by for years

But today as the heat of the mid-afternoon sun forced us to find shade

we saw hydrangeas blooming in profusion and an arched gateway to a cooler place.

 

It had been there in that spot for almost thirty years escaping our notice until today

 

And we walked toward the ancient tree which on closer examination

held the carvings of visitors with hearts and names all over its surface

Though some of the bark was peeling and some of the carvings had faded

I felt the magic this tree held inside

Its aura bathed the park in light and love

and I imagined the many visitors’ presence when I touched its rough and weathered surface. The heart of this old tree was still beating strongly

as it stood ready to face the new carvers who only wanted to leave their mark on the world

as their predecessors had who voiced their dreams

as they drew their names, hearts and initials into the tree’s identity.

No matter where they were now the tree held their secrets forever.

Copyright 2021 by Barbara Ehrentreu

 

Finding A Way To Live

With Respect And Dignity

 

In the course of life events happen around us

They sometimes create in us a feeling of despair

So much so you want to shrink from existence

due to the way you see the loss of two important parts of life:

Respect and dignity

 

When you treat people with respect you are acknowledging their presence

as human beings who breathe the same air and have the same feelings

We are all fellow inhabitants of this planet and so must treat each other

as equals with respect and allow each person to keep their dignity

Do not belittle someone because they are different

Give them the space to be themselves and accept that difference

Treasure the idea we are all different and deserve to have the dignity

of being able to be different

 

With respect comes the ability to understand another’s actions and feelings

and with that understanding we arrive at accepting that

we all need to keep our dignity

It is an essential part of existence to be able to be an individual

and take care of yourself

Of course, we must conduct ourselves with dignity in public

for that is where we all meet and share the experience

We must understand the needs of everyone with whom we meet

and treat them with dignity and respect

 

It seems so easy, and you would think the world would not need reminding

but we must constantly remind everyone that these are given rights

That no one should ever be in a position

where they lose respect and dignity

due to a misunderstanding of the situation

We must be ever vigilant and protect all

so dignity and respect will be the norm.

Copyright 2021 by Barbara Ehrentreu

 

BARBARA EHRENTREU

 

BARBARA EHRENTREU grew up in Brooklyn and moved to Queens. She has lived and taught in Long Island, Buffalo, NY and Westchester, NY as well as a year in Los Angeles, CA. She has a Masters Degree in Reading and Writing K-12.  She was a teacher for twenty years in elementary school where she taught Reading and Writing. She currently is retired from teaching but she tutors and is living in Stamford, CT with her family. Since March, 2020 she has been tutoring online. If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, inspired by Paula Danziger for her children's writing workshop at Manhattanville College, won second prize in Preditors & Editors as Best Young Adult Book for 2011. Her second book, After, considers what can happen to a teen when her father becomes ill with a heart attack. It is based on her own experiences when her husband had a heart attack and the aftermath of what she and her family experienced. The sequel to If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor titled, “Who Is Jennifer Taylor?” is currently at her publisher, and she is almost finished writing the last book of this series: The Mill Valley High series. Barbara has a poetry book, You’ll Probably Forget Me: Living With and Without Hal, which won Honorable Mention in the NLAPW (National League of American Pen Women) Vinnie Ream contest for 2017. Several of her poems are published in the anthologies: Poets Unify World (#1 Bestseller), Crossroads: A Poet’s Life Journey, Poets To Come: Walt Whitman Bicentennial Anthology for 2019, Queen, World Poetry Open Mic 2016, 2017,2018,2019,2020, Prompted: An International Collection of Poetry, Beyond the Dark Room, Storm Cycle and Backlit Barbell. In addition, her short screenplay for “The Kiss” won 1st Prize for a Romantic short screenplay at Indie Gathering, and was nominated for Best Dialogue in a Short at Action on Film. Her poem, “A Walk Down the Path of My Memories” won Best Poem for 2019 at Action on Film. She has interviewed several authors virtually and has been interviewed several times virtually. She is the Regional Director for the West for Motivational Strips, the world’s most visited writers’ website, and she has received several awards from Motivational Strips and some other foreign governments including: World Poetic Pillar Award 2020-2021 from World Nations Writers Union, Kazakhstan, Certificate of Author Recognition the Order of Shakespeare Medal 2020, from Sahitya Academy, the coveted Indian Independence Day Honor from Gujarat Shaitya Academy on August 15, 2020 and 2021, Cesar Vallejo Premier Mundio 2020 from Union Hispanomundial de Escritores (UHS)  and Motivational Strips, Premio Mundial A La Excelencia Literaria 2019-2020, The Order of Shakespeare Medal, 2019. From Kazakhstan, she received the World Poetic Star, August 23, 2019, in 2018 Ambassador des Literature from Motivational Strips. She has a blog, Barbara's Meanderings, and has been hosting a radio show on Blog Talk Radio: Books and Entertainment Tales from the Pages, once a month for eleven years. On Facebook she is a member of several poetry groups, including: Motivational Strips, The Garden of Poetry and Prose, WPOM Poets and Friends, Poeming Friends and Poets Attic. She belongs to Greenwich Pen Women Letters and SCBWI.