LAKE COUNTY — One hundred and fifty years ago today, the man who would later be called Mahatma Gandhi was born near the west coast of India.
A political and spiritual leader who guided India into independence in the first half of the 20th century, Gandhi was also a lawyer and a prolific writer. His 1909 book, “Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule,” which expressed his views on Indian independence, was banned the following year by the British government in India as a seditious text.
The following are two short pieces by local authors:
Second Opinion
I made soup today, squeezed myself into a kitchen just large enough to make one turn. I foraged the refrigerator and found celery, cut away the yellow and brown stalks and discovered new shoots. I found carrots and onions and cilantro. I washed and chopped and made each one ready for another life. I cooked and mashed the peas, added ideas at the end and tasted for salt.
Two hours later I emerge. I do not know if it is good soup or not. Oil of garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire and bay cling to my skin. When I eat I taste an infusion of today and time and all its possibilities; an elixir of choices I had, decisions I made and what I have to offer someone who is hungry.
— Wendy Overin
Weeping Willow
A willow stood in Grandmother’s yard.
Majestic, it governed our lives.
Its shade made for summer suppers
Of fried chicken and string beans,
Vats of iced tea and peach ice cream.
Its switches stung our legs when we erred.
Its tendrils caressed us when we cried.
Most of all, it provided continuity
In a time when much was terribly
Uncertain and frightening.
It still lingers in that yard
Supervising other lives,
For we and Grandmother
Are long since gone.
— Gail Chastain
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The Creative Expressions column is a space for local Lake County poets and writers to share their work with their community. Creative Expressions is supported by the Lake County Arts Council. For more information and to submit a poem or short piece of creative writing, email rvschmidt2@gmail.com.
