Some folks think miracles are a rare thing nowadays. But Everett Cross knows otherwise.

Hospitalized 10 years ago after his second stroke – the first was in 1983 – Cross, 79, lay barely conscious in his bed.

“I remember looking up and clearly seeing a double-edged sword, glowing with blue and purple around the edges and a white rod,” he said, his eyes getting wider. “It was hovering above my head and was pointing at me. I asked my wife, Eleanor, if she could see it, but she couldn’t. After that, I rapidly began to improve.”

Cross didn’t think much more about the incident until he returned home. Still on the mend, he was puttering in the garage when he spied the book “Power Through Prayer” that had belonged to his father. It was just lying on a workbench with a specific page marked. He opened the book and as he read the poem, he realized that the vision he had seen in the hospital was related to Archangel Raphael, the angel of healing.

“I have no idea how the book got there,” said Cross. “I didn’t even know who Raphael was or about the sword until I read the poem.”

The former tree surgeon, who had always dabbled in poetry, was inspired. Feeling like he had been given a second chance at life, Cross sat on his couch “with so much note paper” and let the words and thoughts flow out of him. “I used the poems as a tool to help my brain come back,” he said.

But the tool quickly turned into a bit of a trade.

“I write poems about everything,” he added. “Sometimes I have three or four poems going at once, whatever strikes me.”

Family, friends, and growing up in Lubec – where he is known as E. Melvin – are popular topics, but sometimes people request that he write a special poem for them. He is always glad to oblige.

“I feel so happy inside and this is my way of giving back, something to share,” he said. “Everything comes out. I feel like I’m accomplishing something.”

And not much gets him down. Along with two strokes, Cross has a pacemaker and has had surgery for skin cancer. He fell out of a tree while working one day, and he also received assorted injuries when fishing.

Not one for reading instructions, Cross went fly-fishing after getting his pacemaker. As he cast his line out, he fell onto the rocks and pulled the lead out of his pacemaker. Later when he took a gander at the pacemaker “dos and don’ts” list he realized fly-fishing was off limits for that very reason.

“It was right at the top of the page, but I never bothered to read it,” he said a bit sheepishly.

Actually, fishing mishaps abound. Cross’s first stroke occurred on a Sunday morning while he was hoping to hook the big one. His son, a minister Down east, playfully admonished his father, telling him, “Well, Dad, you should have gone to church.”

Cross also suffered broken ribs while engaging in his favorite sport.

“My doctor has said he wants to come fishing with me, and he is going to bring his medical bag – just in case,” Cross said. But through it all, his positive attitude prevails.

“Whatever you have, you have to accept it,” he said. “You can’t just sit on the couch and grieve and pity yourself. You’ll find sympathy in the dictionary.”

Cross hopes to publish a book of his poems someday, but for now they reside neatly in his briefcase.

Should his dream book ever become a reality, I am sure eager readers will line up around the block to get a copy and to view the world through Cross’ poetry.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865, log on www.eaaa.org or e-mail info@eaaa.org.