Untitled


Poor as I am
hard as I try
I still remain so far
from the way of Francis

So bound up
in my little way
even on this last lap
holding a hand of pennies

      Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel wrote this untitled poem on the back cover of her program schedule during a Week of Community  Franciscan event July 8-13, 1990 at St. Anthony Retreat in Three Rivers, California. The piece proved quite poignant; a copy was used on her memorial program for her funeral service on April 20, 2007. Wilma was a devout Catholic and Secular Franciscan; her strong spirituality is reflected in more than a few of her poems found throughout the body of her work.
      At the bottom of the Timeline, the telling poem Self-Knowledge first appeared in I Killed A Bee For You ©1987, Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel and was also featured in Highway 99: A Literary Journey through California, a 1996 anthology edited by Stan Yogi for the California Council for the Humanities.   (back)