14
in other words
february8
2011
New in Town: Pour Me a Pint
By Shannon Romtvedt
When I was a kid, my mom tried
to teach me piano. She was an excellent
pianist and teacher, but she was also my
mom. So after a year or so we called it
a day. It’s been a long time since I’ve
touched a key but I will always remember
that Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
and All Cows Eat Grass.
Phrases like these are momentous
because once they’re glued they stick.
Teachers as well as advertisers rely on
catchy phrases and pneumonic devices.
It’s an effective way to promote a product
or plant an idea or keep a thought in
your brain for life. So how about this
for a reader board? Every Great Town
Has Draft Beer…Every Great Town Has
Draft Beer…Every Great Town Has
Draft Beer.
Before its doors closed, I’d go to
the Lyons Den to grab a beer. It had a
THE
By Lynn Berry
nice long bar, the same people in it every
day, tippy stools, awesome waitresses,
greasy food, and most importantly, draft
beer. No ping-pong table, but cross the
street on a Sunday, challenge the table,
and you’ve got it all. The Lyon’s Den
had its faults, but it had draft beer.
A cold beer out of a bottle serves
its purpose and really, it’s not so bad. I
like the mountain trick on a Coors, and
a 12 pack of lager on a camping trip is
a good time. The main problem with
bottled beer, tasted side by side with
draft, is that it takes on the flavor of
bottle. You can taste the metal of the
can and you can taste the bottle of the
bottle. Freshness aside, it’s tough to beat
a frothy pitcher of beer, foam sloshing
over the side as you pass it around a
table of friends. It’s the next best thing
to having a keg at home.
True enough that Lyon’s Den
wasn’t the only place to get draft beer in
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Was our home life perfect? Absolutely not.
Nothing can be exactly the way we want it to be, but
in the understanding and in the accepting emerges the
priceless treasures of insight, growth, and possibility.
io want what we have and have what we want is
freeing. My perception of my mother’s example above
will be created into poetry, adding to the artistic
universe. Anyone can do this. You can do this. ihere
are many examples of people’s ability to reach and
stretch. You may have your own story. Write it down,
record it, share it.
On the new iV series, Oprah’s Master
Class, renowned poet, Maya Angelou, stated that
although she has had many clouds in her life, she
also has had many rainbows. Her poetry reflects
this awareness. Our life experiences can lead us to
insights that connect us to our higher selves, which
then connects us to others. Writing helps us realize
the consciousness, ideas, and different perceptions
needed to expand.
In the poem below, much esteemed
poet, Langston Hughes, writes a poem that reflects
the spirit of his former life, through his mother’s
words, combined with the vernacular and fortitude of
his culture:
Mother to Son
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
StPierreGraphics@aol.com
ihe Inkwell needs you. Send in a piece of
your prose or your poetry. Art encourages others to
create and expand. Be a part of this spectacular spiral
of courage, motivation, determination, and expansion.
ihese acts can be found among normal people, in
everyday living situations, and when we choose to
view the world from the writer’s or artist’s eye, we
discover examples all around us.
When I was a freckle-faced little girl, my
mother never told me of these qualities, she showed
me. After my father had left when I was about five
years old, my mother raised me and my little brother,
and any orphan animals and friends we dragged
in throughout the years, on a nurse’s salary. I can’t
remember when she didn’t work more than one job
in her attempt to keep us warm and fed. Having
to rent, we moved constantly, due to the whims of
a landlord’s decision or constant rent increases. I
admire her resolve in the time she spent in between
her exhausting twelve hour work-shifts, endlessly
looking for a safe home that accepted kids, animals,
a mediocre salary, and maxed-out credit. And she did
it, every time. Courage, Motivation……. My mom
jokingly says it was mere survival instinct, but I view
it differently today. Moreover, she moved beyond her
circumstances; she went on to complete her Master’s
Degree while we were still under her care, and her
PhD later in her life. Determination, Expansion…….
VERNONIA
town. But it was the only bar with taps.
I love to eat breakfast at Café 47, have
coffee at the Black Bear, play ping-pong
and have mixed drinks at the Cedarside,
eat dinner and listen to music or go to
First Friday at the Blue House, and drink
draft beer at the Lyon’s Den. Not all on
the same day, as far as I can remember,
but that tends to be my pattern.
The
friendly
competition
between the Lyon’s Den and Cedarside
also provided general amusement. Bar
hopping, in essence, requires at least two
bars. Having bars close by, or across the
street in this case, makes the term come
to life. People would walk, skip, and run
back and forth. I’ve yet to see an actual
hop but I was watching for it.
I used to scan the line-up on
both sides watching people talking and
smoking on my way home from work in
the evening. It was a personal game to
see if I recognized everyone or if there
was a newbie. All heads would rotate
with general curiosity as my vehicle
passed by. People would holler to the
other bar, trying to get a friend’s attention
or just for the heck of it. On occasion
a truck would bump its way out of a
parallel spot, either against the sidewalk
or the vehicles front and back. Made me
wonder why there wasn’t a sign in front
of both bars that read, Park at Your Own
Risk!
Rumor has it the Lyon’s Den
is switching hands and there will be a
new place in town. I’m hoping people
will go to it, for one. It’s my town now
and I want to see businesses thriving
as much as the next Vernonian. Hope
number two, drum roll please, is for beer
on draft. Cross your fingers and chant
together, Every Great Town Has Draft
Beer…Every Great Town Has Draft
Beer…Every Great Town Has Draft
Beer!
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the
floor---
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s.
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now---
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal
stair.
------------Langston Hughes
---Writer’s Idea: If you don’t already, start a daily
journal.
---Writer’s iip: In the evening, write five positive
memories or positive things that occurred that day.
ihese can become starting points for additional
writing projects.
---Please send your original submissions to, (or if
you would like a copy of any of the published poems
in their entirety), InkwellVernonia@msn.com or
by mail: PO Box 333 Vernonia, OR 97064. Please
include your name and contact information.
Write--Express--Expand.
Lynn Berry holds an M.A. in English, specializing in
feminist literature and literary criticism. She has spent
several years teaching Literature, Composition, Poetry,
Creative Writing, and Critical Thinking at various school
districts and colleges, and occasionally provides writing
workshops.
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