Clik here to view.
The Father – Child Relationship: Bonding With Your Kids Over Books
Regardless if a man is a full-time father (a house-spouse) or a noncustodial parent (a divorced dad), there is a multitude of children’s books is which the daddy is simply not there. Other children’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Tale of Two Walls
When I was a GI in Germany in 1973, I was able to visit the other side of the Berlin Wall. In order to show the soldier the importance of its mission in Europe, the U.S. Army took a select few into...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Merry X-Mas/Merry Tex-Mas – Another San Antonio Solstice
Short sleeves and shorts are not out of the question as we head in to another South Texas celebration. A shed in Monte Vista has a rustic barbed wire wreath I’ve got Mexican hot chocolate simmering —...
View ArticleClik here to view.
27 Things to Know on Your 27th Birthday
Don Mathis has written a poem for his son’s birthday every year since 1994. Charlie Mathis will be 27 on February 1, 2020. Here’s some adages from his ancestor to mark the occasion. 1. If you struggle...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Childhood Treasures
Box of Memories In the movie Amélie, the young Parisian heroine discovers a canister of childhood memorabilia hidden by a boy who had lived in her apartment decades earlier. She decides to find the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Want a Poem
I want a poem like a near-death experience. I want a poem hot as wasabi. I want a poem pungent as a skunk. I want a poem like a roller coaster. I want a poem like a river in flood I want a poem like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Daddy Acrostic Dictums, 2020
Every year, Don Mathis offers a collection of words of wisdom about dear old dad – each one with an acrostic headline pertaining to the adage offered (see An Acrostic Father’s Day Tribute and What Does...
View ArticleClik here to view.
National Day of the Cowboy
The National Day of the Cowboy, the fourth Saturday in July, was created 15 years ago to preserve the role and contributions cowboys and cowgirls made to our western heritage. Cowboy traditions were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering the End of WWII
World War II ended 75 years ago with the armistice of 14 August 1945 (Victory Over Japan Day). Two weeks later, the formal surrender was signed on 2 September 1945. But for some holdouts in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Celebrating International Bat Nights
More than 30 countries across the globe will celebrate International Bat Nights the weekend of August 28-30. Bats traditionally have a bad reputation because of their association with Dracula; indeed,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An Open Letter to Congressman Henry B. González
National Voter Registration Day is September 22. The National Association of Secretaries of State came up with this idea in 2012 to urge citizens to vote; more than 300,000 responded. Publicity from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Join the Great American Smokeout November 19
The American Cancer Society sponsors the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday of each November to encourage Americans to stop tobacco use. In 1970, Arthur P. Mullaney of Randolph,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pennsylvania Avenue Yard Sale
Poor Donald Trump, once so hale and stout, is now looking for his federal bailout. He lost his job and got an eviction notice, but that’s not the worst thing to happen to POTUS. Trump must have a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Presidential Birthday
Charlie Mathis will be 28 on February 1, 2021. The Family Leave Bill was enacted when you were just a newborn. And Bill Clinton was your president all your life – until you were almost eight....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hold Me!
Here’s a poem of love and lust. Hold Me! Hold me like a cigarette and I will take your breath. Hold me like a bottle of beer, and I will get you wet. Rub me, scrub me like a bar of soap until I’m...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Celebrating Black History Month
As far back as ancient Africa, the griot (gree-oh) would ‘sing’ the stories of the tribe. These rhyming histories would praise the king or memorialize the accomplishments of the empire. According to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Father’s Legacy (in honor of National Story Day on March 14)
National Write Your Story Day is March 14; a day that encourages you to put pen to paper and chronicle your own adventures. Here is a chapter from one man’s son: *** My Daddy used to tell me that a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
D.C. Spring Haiku
D.C. Spring Haiku – by Don Mathis The National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., runs until April 11 – and the buds are in full bloom! If you have never seen this gift from the people of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Milestone for Mom
My mother turned 75 in the year 2000; and to mark this milestone, I proposed a ritual, a blessing, and a coming of age ceremony. I asked Mom to write some words of wisdom, a few paragraphs about the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Turning 70
First and foremost, my mother and father not only gave me their genes, they gave me dozens of morals and maxims to live by. Mom and Dad grew up in the Great Depression so I absorbed their habits of...
View Article
