May 4, 2026

Note Not Sent by Jim R. Rogers

Please join us at 8PM EST for tonight’s community table where our friend and poet Jim R. Rogers will read his poem, Note not Sent for us. If you’ve never been, you can expect circle shaped by a welcoming community. The Community Table is a simple zoom gathering place. We arrive as we are, carrying whatever the day has held. All are welcome. We’d love for you to join. Go to our calendar at this link for details: https://courageouscommons.com/events/

Note Not Sent

Each day I try to love him less
for soon he will be gone.
A loss I fear I cannot bear—
not now, of course, not then.

For so long, close is what we’ve been.
From day one, my heart
was pulled his way.

Through years and tears,
in and out of touch we were,
just living lives we felt were right
with not much thought about our fights,
which surprised us both since
love was strong, yet words not so.

The length of time and space
kept us barely joined
as the thread thinned down
toward the end of the spool—
but not so soon as thought by all.

Still here, still causing emotions
to dance, then sit, then go
to another place of feelings mixed.

Like I should be holding close every day,
get the chance to see him,
tell him, hug him—
but I can’t.
It would be too hard,
and I am not ready to do hard.

Maybe never.

So I give messy efforts
and am ashamed.

Knowing him, he will understand,
and knowing him he will say:
No, not this time.

---

even now.
after all this time
night comes before I’m ready

wrestling with sleep,
mind playing a messy
game of pac man.

every day reviewed, weighed,
evaluated—

even now:
what I saw / didn’t see
what I heard / didn’t hear
what I gave / didn’t give
what I got / didn’t get
what I said / didn’t say
what I did / didn’t do

then turning to if
about all of it,
thinking I did alright.

No.

I am not yet me.
I am still becoming.

Invitation: “Even now after all this time…”

By Jim Rogers at the Dead Mule of School of Southern Literature retrieved HERE on April 25, 2026.

Photo by Ire Photocreative on Unsplash

See all the books by Jim R. Rogers HERE and his latest book HERE

Jim R. Rogers, M.Ed., CFLE (Emeritus), is a writer and speaker who was a Family Life Educator and developed the ParentsCare curriculum, still in use by the Department of Social Services in South Carolina more than 20 years later. He trained and certified over 40 educators through a college-based program and spent 13 years on staff at Coastal Carolina University, leading workshops for parents, families, and youth. Rogers has published three books on parenting, wrote a parenting column for 19 years, and adapted his poetry into the stage production Geriatric Monologues. In January 2020, he was awarded CFLE Emeritus status in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field. Learn more about Jim R. Rogers HERE

Enjoy the TED talk below that features Robert Waldinger in his talk about What makes a good life.

What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it's fame and money, you're not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you're mistaken. As the director of 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.

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We will meet for the Community Table every Monday at 4:30 pm or 8:00 pm (EST) - Go to our calendar at this link for details: https://courageouscommons.com/events/

May Courageous Citizen

Doris “Granny D” Haddock

“Just as an unbalanced mind can accumulate mental stresses that can grow and take on a life of their own, so little decisions of our modern life can accumulate to the point where our society finds itself bombing other people for their oil, or supporting dictators who torture whole populations—all so that our unbalanced interests might be served.”