Thursday, April 21, 2011

Even The Sun Shed Tears: Karen Hurst Johnson 1952-2011

Even the Sun Shed Tears
 Karen & Timothy Hurst Johnson



Karen fell asleep in death last night... She was a woman of some kind!


Karen loved New Orleans & lived here for qwhile doing some work for the Villa Treme African American Museum & Amistad Research Center in the late 1990's.  We had made plans for her & her husband to come down for a visit this summer. 

My heart  goes out to her family...Isaiah 65-17-23. 

Who will be my best friend now? 

I can't breathe right now... 

"And He will wipe every tear from their eyes & death will be no more, neither mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more. The former things will have passed away". Rev 21:3-4. 








What a blessing is my friend... 

In Memory of Karen Hurst Johnson

By Jacquelyn Hughes Mooney ©11


What a blessing is my friend! 

Who listens to you... 

And loves you... 

Through thick and thin. 

That patiently waits for you 
As you go along through murky waters. 
Angst, trials and trivails. 


That sees your world... 

Though enchanted eyes and marvel. 

Such delight in such a friend! 

Does such a one comes oft? 
Not.. 
But when they do, 
it can cleanse eons of desolation. 


Friends like Karen... 

Who themselves so cool. 

From far away ... 

And in the neighborhood. 
Stretching her love... 
To those who are out. 
Not part of the in crowd 
These who are not. 
Just makes you want to shout! 


The ones who are forgotten 

Or no one who desires... 

To know their hearts replete. 

But Karen works through the mire... 
And sees the jewel complete. 
Simple and unpretentious... 
She has no guile. 
But deep, deep pools of wisdom. 
And an amazing capacity to make one smile. 
Despite all your sorrow. 


What a blessing is my friend. 

Who loves you through thick and thin. 

My heartelt prayer to my God... 

For permitting me 
To see. 
What is to be. 


And what she gives... 

Without question.. 

Without ridicule... 

Without the requisite resume... 
And background check... 
That far too many demand. 
Before love is given... 
By command. 


There is no pretense... 

Flawed jewel that she is. 

She is my friend ... 

To the end. 
And she sends... 
Her love to you. 
All rights reservedJHM©Blackberry Jam & Wine ,






Gardenias and Lilies For Karen 


By Jacquelyn Hughes Mooney ©11 

I have gardenias and lilies to enfold you… 

And relish in fragrant clouds girdling us. 

More composed then an early morn… 

In the temples of Tunisia. 
Or the cooling caverns of Carlsbad. 
And more vivid then the complexions of Santiago… 


Kuba… 

At the zenith of Zaire. 

So are my memories of that tempo… 

While we were still at once… 
My mind’s eye wanders and receives… 
The heart expanse follows my North Star. 
My yearning strains… 
O Wandering Moon! 
Splendid, glorious orbs emanating a sumptuous blaze! 
On a backdrop… 
So deep and rich. 


While I desire to be… 

I forget not. 

Those twenty years of nights… 

Of thine to me. 
I kneel in Rosas Blanca… 
Amidst a silky canopy. 
Intertwined redolent reflections of gladness… 
And long ago sadness. 
To know my sorrow is to declare… 
Missing you, 
Missing you… 
Missing you. 
The flowers would weep… 
Indeed! 


For the life I threw away was one I needed to. 

But not you… 

Never you. 


As my sojourn reconvenes… 

I’ll take shards of you with me. 

And leave crystal fragments of me behind. 

O cultivates the fruits of your yearnings. 
Placing the harvest in an urn… 
Marking it Graceful Manners. 
Please do recall in a special vase… 
Having encased recollected musings. 
Keeping it safe with supremeness… 
And leniency… 
In a vial of gardenias and lilies… 
That will forever more, 
Always reside with you. 
All rights reserved JHM©11 Blackberry Jam & Wine