Could you tell how old you'd be
......if you didn't know
The Hike I remember a hike we took. Do you remember it too? We hiked up the side of a mountain. All alone, just
me and you.
We followed a rough and dusty road with the sun, and the birds, and the bees. The higher we climbed, the
closer the sky, and we soon saw the tops of the trees.
On our left side was a very deep gorge divided by a swift running stream. And when we'd hiked about half
way up, found a lake with a glassy sheen.
We circled the lake and followed a trail that led through a swampy marsh. And when we emerged we found a
place where the ground was not so harsh.
So there we laid down among the trees, and the buzzing of the flies and bees. Then refreshed ourselves in
a clear, cold brook. Do you remember the hike we took? Yes, I remember it too.
O'Bese(t)
O'Bese(t) within, I beg you please, do not tempt me, do not tease, nor stir those little piglet nips to store
their mass upon my hips!
O'Bese(t) within, why must you try to tempt me with your hungry cry, when just
a few short hours have passed since you awoke and broke your fast.
O'Bese(t) within, please do not start for
already you touch my heart. Your tendrils spread beneath my skin, inviting all those piglets in.
O'Bese(t)
within, I will not heed that grumbling, growling, inside need. My heart tells me it is too soon, I must not feed
you before noon.
O'Bese(t) within, I have to run before the darkness hides the sun, and burn up all those
piglet spies, before they settle in my thighs.
O'Bese(t) within, why can't you see the time is never right
for me to finish meals in timeless haste, when they just settle on my waist.
O'Bese(t) within, please go
to sleep. I've fed you more than you can keep. Those piglet cells must pass away so I can feast another day!
1980
My Prayer
I said a prayer this morning it was a strange yet
gentle prayer I had not thought beforehand of what I would say But the words came from my mouth and upon hearing
them entered my thoughts And now I quietly sit and ponder these words that came from my mouth before entering my
mind They fit well within my frame of mind today flowing gently in and out filling churning spaces with peace empty
spaces with understanding Stirring dormant spaces into action making all the pieces fit The words take shape and
flow into all the nooks and crannies of my mind defining acceptance, forgiveness and love I had let hate and anger overcome
me and could not pray He saw my need and filled it and now I can feel the movement of thoughts within my head My
prayer? "Lord, fill my mind with all kind and gentle thoughts this day, Amen" Psalm 51:6
1990
You You - you're like the wind in my hair You gently touch me in passing and create
many memories in a fleeting moment
You - you're like a song in my heart You lightly
drift into my thoughts and create a sing-song melody in melancholy memories.
You - you're like the sunshine
on my face You softly caress my cheek and create a warm sense of longing in a caring embrace
You - you're like the tears in my eyes
You suddenly fill me to overflowing and create a pool of loving from
puddles of friendship
Gentle Thoughts I thought about you a moment ago In a fleeting memory you flashed into my mind A memory
of the time when you first became constant in my thoughts It was just a sudden recall that came then was quickly
gone But I smiled at the thought of you in that time when my life was in turmoil For then you made me realize that
my worries were frivolous You showed me peace in a time of discontent And you gave me love when loneliness imprisoned
me It was just a fleeting memory that drifted into my mind But you were ever present as you are in many memories And
I am reminded once again of your constant love and kindness And so I smile once more as a peacefulness surrounds
me And I gently reach out to grasp that fleeting memory And ever so gently you come to rest upon my mind
The Quarter Jar It's been there for almost ten years now Every
three or four months it gets emptied but now it's almost too full
She was lying there waiting for him to finish so
she could turn out the light when he came into the room
Heard that for a quarter I could get a little lovin in
here he said How much will I get for two
She laughed at his silly nonsense and reached for the light WOW!
stopped her hand in mid-reach
You're either really, really good or You're really, really old, he said Grinning
and nodding toward the full jar
She laughed again at his silly nonsense and turned out the light all the while
basking in the glow of his smile
Do you come here often he teased Only when the sum of the quarters offered surpasses
my age she replied with a grin
And he laughed as the quarters slipped from his hand into the mouth of the
jar
Daddy Lost I
stand here by your headstone as tears fall from my eyes Tears I should have shed so long ago.
My heart
cries out for answers to many questions, "Why?" Why did you feel it was your time to go?
Why were we hiding
from you, to us it was a game. We all were much too young to understand.
Why did we leave our hometown
and move so far away. Taken to a strange and distant land.
So many days we traveled, each took us
further on. So many nights I lay in bed and cried.
Haunted by the image of death seen by a child, told
not to speak of how my Daddy died.
Now my memories are scattered and fading with the years. But one I
have will never cause me pain.
You carved into a tree branch the initials of my name so much has
passed since then but they remain.
Just A Little Ditty Just a little ditty to rhyme a word or two 'cause I can't think of a single thing to
write a poem for you. The words sometimes come easy too quickly to write
down and other times they run and hide are nowhere to be found. So as I write this morning while sunbeams
light the sky where all this beauty surrounds me I ask myself, Oh Why? Why can't I find the sentence or start
one simple line Perhaps I should wait for His word to fill my dormant mind
2000
Come With Me
Come with me out through the back door where the
porch swing still hangs free There we'll sit and talk of old times As the sun sets through the trees Once again we'll
laugh together reminiscing of the time our hearts were young and still untethered jumping rope and singing rhymes
Remember
when we climbed the willow out by Jacksons pond that day cradled close among the branches winds came up, the old
tree swayed That old pond, it sure got muddy when we climbed out on the trunk Walking home we laughed and worried both
all muddy and we sure stunk
Remembering the time when Jimmy found a toad squished on the road We ran across the
meadow screaming as Jimmy chased us with that toad You pushed me through the fence in panic the toad came flying
through the air then you dove between the barbed wires entangling your long blonde hair You protested rather loudly as
Old man Jackson cut you loose and glaring back as Jimmy ran off you asked him how to make a noose
Funny thing
how times can change us sending each our separate ways You went off to school, I married found my niche, so here
I stayed Come with me out through the back door where the porch swing still hangs free There we'll sit and talk of
old times as the sun sets through the trees Once again we'll laugh together reminiscing of the time our hearts
were young and still untethered jumping rope and singing rhymes
When I didn't know when and all the words that fell were taken then But still you took a part of all
the words that spilled from the depths of my heart then when I didn't know you But my heart quite simply knew
Never Where
There is this little place I know That's not
too far from there to which I go when never time begins with never where
It is a quite elusive place that's
not too far from free of which I know where never time begins with never be
I know this ever never place is
not too far from here in which I sow my never time benign with never beer
So if you know this never place that's
not too far from where to which you go in never time perhaps I'll see you there
Wine Bottle Dregs
At times I find myself adrift in retrospective pose Reiterating
circumstance of past and present throes Or even worse I get myself a-mucked in re-run rhyme Then I must find an
empty shelf and stow it for a time Or thoughts become amired among a brain like scrambled eggs a plate of nonsensical
leavings bottom of the barrel wine bottle dregs.....
2002
Reflections
Out from within the window casts a lone reflection in the glass at
first it frightens to the core wondering what it is there for a shadow dim seen through in light but seen in darkness
brings such fright standing still it only moves when realization breaks the mood a fool revealed in windows cast of
one's reflection in the glass
