“I can rhyme a grocery list, but I can’t make a meal,” says 20-year Cortlandt Manor resident, Barbara Schore, with a laugh. The widowed mother and grandmother has had a life-long love for rhyming words. The former Hudson Valley Hospital Center employee says, “I always dreamed of being a lyricist and singer, but the funny thing is I can’t read music or carry a tune.” Despite these limitations, Barbara told River Journal that she wrote the lyrics to Another One Night Stand and I’m So Scared, two songs featured on singer Marty Bear’s album, Road to Home, released in 1981.
An enthusiastic person with a wonderful sense of humor, Barbara derives inspiration for her poetry from day-to-day experiences. She has written poems that reflect on every stage of life from her observations as a young theater makeup artist to coming back to life after the passing of her husband. Like most writers, she occasionally experiences writer’s block. When she does, she often fears she will never write another poem. “It seems I write the best when the pressure is on. Like the time I wanted to write something special for my daughter’s wedding, but I was at a loss for words and ideas. Then days before the wedding, an idea came to me while riding the bus to work.” Once Barbara gets an idea, the words flow, and she doesn’t stop writing until she completes the poem. In 2022, she wrote a book, And So I Wrote, available on Amazon. Her mantra, which also appears on the back cover of the book, is Shear a sheep, you make a sweater. Share a thought, you make a friend.
“Older people have the wisdom of the ages,” says Barbara. She is very proud to share her poem, Shared Thoughts, with River Journal as part of Old Traditions, New Beginnings, a not-for-profit project and collaboration between the office of State Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg and local senior citizens.
SHARED THOUGHTS
By Barbara Schore
This one writes and this one paints
this one sings, this one sews
and this one, well who knows
So many talents one can find
so many passions left behind
The picture left unpainted
the rhyme that wasn’t written
the song that wasn’t sung
The people all grow older
but the passions, they die young
Now they sit alone on benches
shaded by the trees
the writer and the singer
holding dreams and memories
and the people walk right by them
not a moment do they give
to stop and hear the stories
or the dreams that they once lived
Old Traditions, New Beginnings is a compilation of stories 250-1000 words per submission from those 60 years and older. Those interested in contributing their own writing or volunteering to help others share their contributions are encouraged to email district95@nyassembly.gov.
