MORE THINGS I WONDER ABOUT

Sometimes I love to let my mind wander…let it wonder…let it roam free…

For I never know what random thoughts will find their way to me.

I wonder what is really happening on Jupiter and Mars

I wonder if it’s easier to dream when one is gazing at the stars.

I wonder if anyone has ever seen a unicorn or leprechaun.

I wonder if anyone has ever mistaken the sunset for the dawn.

I wonder what it would be like to be a bird…or a bee…or a butterfly…

I wonder if a field of flowers is the heaven colors go to when they die.

I wonder when it comes to love…what happens to ignite it.

I wonder what would happen if war was declared and no-one came to fight it.

I wonder how many different ways there are for people around the world to swoon

I wonder if you could walk on a moonglade…would it take you to the moon.

I wonder what it is about a baby’s laugh that beguiles and endears.

I wonder if you cry in the rain…will anyone see your tears.

I wonder why some people find it so easy to conform.

I wonder if a rainbow is the sky’s apology for a storm?

I wonder if there are parts of prejudice I will ever understand.

I wonder why a walk in the moonlight feels better holding hands…

I wonder on a cloudy night if fireflies become the stars.

I wonder if it’s time to stop wondering…before I wonder off too far.

A THREE HOUR LOG

The first night was to prove to us there were special times ahead

When we lit a 3 hour log in our fireplace before we went to bed.

We all slept soundly comforted by our dreams, not much tossing…not much turning

And we awoke to find that 3 hour log, in the fireplace, still burning.

Have you ever wondered what makes a host of little memories join together to form a whole?

What etches them into our heart…what imprints them on our soul?

Our family members from all over…filling up their cars…going for a ride

meeting at a state park where we rented two cabins side by side.

An owl was there to greet us, Nana’s chocolate chip cookies, a riddle book…

Playing football between the palm trees, lasagna that took all night to cook.

Sitting outdoors by a campfire, walking a boardwalk under a star lit sky…

Listening to birds sing in the darkness…shining a flashlight on alligators eyes.

Sharing a cabin with two grandchildren…hoping they would not hear me snore…

Playing Pictionary together…on the cabin’s wooden but sandy floor.

To guarantee you have a host of happy memories there is only one sure fire plan…

You get together often…and make as many as you can.

Waking up early, heading back to the boardwalk in the coolness of an Autumn breeze

Seeing the birds we only heard last night as the sun peeked over the trees.

Wherever we looked…all around us…birds of every size and color could be found…

Cranes and kingfishers and herons…eagles in the sky and on the ground.

Hiking through the woods…losing track of the time of day

Walking on the tree tops across a bridge that bounced and swayed.

Memories that hopefully will remain forever within our brains

A hammock nestled between two trees…grilling in the rain.

Card tricks, playing poker and Uno as outside began to flood

Sitting on the porch and watching children playing in the mud.

Home-made chili with rice and macaroni served up on a rainy night…

An inside campfire, eating s’mores…with marshmallows cooked just right.

Ending the evening playing Reverse Charades as socks by the fireplace dried…

Playing together as a family and laughing until we cried….

Yes, coming together and making memories is what life is all about…

And if we’re lucky, like that 3 hour log…some memories will never burn out.

LITTLE ACTS OF LOVE

Have you ever wondered where our ability to love originates?

Wouldn’t you like to know?

What are the seeds and when were they planted…that has allowed our love to grow?

A little girl with two months to live…she didn’t show sorrow…she didn’t grouse…

Her final wish was that Christmas carolers would sing outside her house.

She was too sick to watch but she heard them from her window…and was as happy as can be

when her mom told her there were carolers singing…as far as the eye could see.

Little acts of love: Like the person who’s leaves ‘FREE FLOWERS’ in a vase out by the street.

Like the girl who passes out hand-drawn rainbows…to anyone she meets…

Like lending an ear, a touch a smile…or a kind word to ease someone’s load…

Like stopping on the highway to help a turtle cross the road.

Like people pausing from their marathon…the only reason why:

to stop, salute and shake the hand of a veteran standing by.

Walk down any street and you’ll see random acts of kindness…random deeds

Random acts of love are blooming grown from random seeds.

Planted perhaps long ago…perhaps in random rows….

Random seeds that bloom…as random people grow…

Grow…to plant their own seeds…across the lands…the seas…the skies…

Perhaps this is the way love grows…the way it multiplies.

Perhaps it is these random seeds of love we sow

that make a loving person…a loving parent…a loving husband…a loving wife?

Perhaps it is these random acts of love and kindness

that bring love love to a life?

IT'SUP TO US!

This starts out as a question:

If you saw someone being bullied…if it happened right in front of you…

would you try to make it stop…isn’t that what one should do?

If you saw someone being bullied…If you saw another person being mean…

would you sit there and do nothing…or would you intervene?

When we see someone being bullied…we should not act blase…

We should be outraged that there are people who mistreat other people in this way…

I was bullied while in grade school…he had a mean smile…never funny…

when every day he stopped me in the hall and relieved me of my money…

That was over 50 years ago…but it’s lodged within my brain…

I still remember embarrassment…I still remember pain.

Bullies have no moral sense…no inner voice… no class

while the victims of their bullying have a heart made out of glass.

Bullies callously pick up that heart and drop it on the floor…

where it breaks into a thousand pieces…damaged…forevermore..

And once a heart is broken…(because that is what a bully does)…

It will never be the same again…or put back the way it was.

It is up to us to protect glass hearts…so no bully will ever again drop them…

If we are serious about stopping bullying…then it’s up to us to stop them.

So it’s no longer a question…

When you see someone being bullied…if it’s happening right in front of you…

you must be the one to make it stop…in fact…it’s what we all must do?

Because when we see bullying and don’t stop it…then we need to understand…

the blood from the shattered heart left behind…is blood that’s on our hands.

WHO AM I?

I overheard a conversation between an older man and a little girl while standing in the check-out lane

that made me marvel, once again, at the purity of a child’s brain.

“How old are you?” The old man asked.

The girl held up two fingers…”I am three.”

The old man chuckled then asked, “and who are you?”

And she answered…”I am me!”

Here I had to stop and wonder…what would be my reply

If someone asked me for an answer to the question…who am I?

For ‘Who am I’ is not an easy question to truly comprehend…

‘I am me’ is a wonderful answer but in truth…it all depends.

I am a child when I eat ice cream or dance out in the rain

I am a friend when I share another friends happiness or help them through their pain.

I am a husband when I kiss Deborah good night and look into her eyes.

I am a child again at a carnival… when I’m trying to win a prize.

I am a PopPop who has been a horse and a magician with a magic show

I am a man who feels blessed to have been around to watch his children…now grandchildren grow…

I am a dad to our three children…even when they’re far away

I am a brother, a cousin, an uncle…depending on the day.

Sometimes I have been all these individuals in a single afternoon

It seems a multitude of people envelope me…like the stars surround the moon.

So in answer to the question ‘Who am I?” 

“I am me.” is certainly true…

But it also depends on where I am…and who I’m talking to.

And, when you stop to think about it, 

It’s fun to look at life this way…

Because I never know, when the day begins,

How many mes I’ll be today.

And as for that little girl…who as she left the store was sucking on her thumb…

I had to smile as I pictured all the mes she will become.

AS RICH AS I CAN BE

They were sitting in the afternoon sun …in a field of flowers atop a little rise…

When the daughter asked a question which took her mother by surprise.

“Are we rich or poor?” The daughter asked…

”Amanda at school…she swore…

that since I don’t wear the nicest clothes…our family must be poor.”

“The answer’s not that easy.” Mom said…

“That settles it the daughter cried…we’re poor…I guess I kind of knew it…

“Rich or poor is not black and white.” Mom smiled

“It depends on how you view it.”

“Rich isn’t always about money…rich can also be a feeling

If we had all the money in the world would these flowers be more appealing?”

“Would the birds sound any different if we wore the finest clothes?

Would those clouds be any whiter?

Would the breeze smell any sweeter?

Would the sun shine any brighter?”

“I don’t need money to love a sunset…

To marvel at the sky so blue

And no amount of money in the world can change how I love you…”

“Money can bring you many things in life.” Mom said

as she stared deep into her daughter’s eyes… 

but there are many more important things

that money cannot buy.”

The next morning her daughter greeted the flowers

smiled at the sun and whispered good morning to the sea…

“Mom. I can’t wait to tell Amanda,” she said at breakfast…

“I’m already as rich as I can be.”

HAPPY THINGS

Our world is like a pendulum…and whenever sadness swings

It’s nice to take a moment…and think of happy things.

Rainbows, ladybugs, traveling….buying a magazine from an old newsstand

balloons, sunsets, picnics…walking barefoot in the sand.

Lunch with friends, a starry night…the beauty of a flower

walking in the rain, a picnic…singing in the shower.

Sharing a kiss or a hug or a touch…eating Apple Jacks…

smiling at a stranger…being delighted when they smile back.

Taking your dog for a walk, watching the ocean flow and ebb

Blowing bubbles, sitting in a rocking chair, reading…surfing the web.

Playing board games with the family…watching squirrels play tag among the trees,

The smell of a campfire burning…the gentleness of a summer breeze.

S’mores, pizza, chocolate covered peanuts…listening to your favorite song,

not caring who is watching as you dance or sing along.

Spending an afternoon in a museum, licking ice cream with your tongue

walking hand in hand down memory lane..remembering when you were young.

I could go on and on and believe me I surely will

because there are so many things in life that provide me with a thrill.

But I realize to be beneficial…what will set this poem apart…

Is if you, the reader, has a chance to express the joy within your heart.

So at this point I will stop my reverie…(no need for praise or thanks)

The remainder of this poem I leave unwritten…if you feel like it…

please…fill in the blanks…

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OUR TRUE BEAUTY

Nature has provided her creatures with a beauty all their own…

but it was here she began to improvise…

for she knew to be truly beautiful…

all creatures must synthesize. 

She gave to each tree its own artistry…

despite how tall or big…or wide…

yet she knew the true beauty of the forest

comes when her trees stand side by side.

She gave each bird a unique and beautiful voice…

despite their differing shape or size…

Yet she knew the true beauty of their voices…

Is heard when they harmonize.

She gave each snowflake a unique beauty…

making sure no two are the same

Yet she knew it is only when they lie together…

that their true beauty is proclaimed.

So doesn’t it stand to reason…

if nature went to all this fuss…

To ensure true beauty is only achieved in concert…

she would do the same for us?

She gave all humans similar features…

she created us this way…

making us all the same…but different…

each with our own unique display…

She meant for us to come together…

like the trees the birds the snow.

She understood only by coming together…

can our true beauty grow.

But in all our years upon this Earth

We humans are divided still….

Which means we have never realized our true beauty…

Alas…

perhaps we never will.

HOME

We were driving from North Carolina to Florida under a light blue cloudless sky

When I got to thinking about life…as I watched a host of mobile homes pass by.

Big ones…little ones…trailers…VW campers…some were short…some were long…

So many people going somewhere….who took their homes along…

For me, no better excitement…no greater feeling can be found

than when our house is filled with laughter…when our family’s gathered round.

When everyone has assembled from wherever they have roamed

I am blanketed in contentment….it’s when I feel…I’m home.

I used to think everything had to be perfect…everyone together for a holiday

In our home…around our table….to make me feel this way.

But over the years I have come to realize this feeling…the genesis of my rhymes…

This sensation often shows up…in the oddest places…

at the oddest times.

Yes, this feeling that overtakes me…I have joyfully become aware…

I don’t have to be in my house to feel it…and my entire family need not be there.

It shows up at Ava’s softball game… talking to Ali on the phone

Having dinner at Ryan and Amy’s house…watching Bryan fly his drone.

Visiting Damien and Trista in Orlando….when Aden spends the night…

At a restaurant with Fred’s family….walking under the stars with Deborah on my right.

Taking Taylor out to lunch….why this feeling even extends…

to when Michelle and Alexa come to visit…or having dinner out with friends.

Could it be that home is love…and love is home…it sounds almost like a 60’s song…

And anywhere we see family and friends…that feeling comes along…

To remind us wherever we travel…wherever we choose to roam…

Love will always travel with us…kind of like a mobile home!

KIM'S WIGS

There is a wig shop on the corner in Asheville…it’s been there over 40 years

But now that wig shop on the corner… is causing many to shed some tears…

Because in a few days Kim, who owns the shop, is retiring…which means her little store

will close it’s doors for one last time…she’ll be selling wigs no more.

We have passed that wig shop often and often have we stopped to stare

at all the different types of wigs Kim stocked…all those colors…all that hair.

But in the 30 years we’ve been admiring the myriad of wigs that Kim kept in…

we only paused outside her windows…we never once stopped in.

So why are we sad the wig shop is closing…why should we even care?

Because: 

even though we never set foot in Kim’s store…it was nice to know she was there.

In a world that moves by rapidly…with so many parts that do not last

it was comforting knowing that little old wig shop would be there when we passed.

For 44 years when winter changed to spring…when summer breezes filled the air…

when the leaves of Autumn began to fall…the wig shop was always there.

When our children were children it was a tradition…a place we’d always stop…

we could see their joy and excitement mirrored in the windows of that old shop.

Every year when we walked in the city we’d stop…we’d gaze…and what’s more…

we happily watched our children grow up in the windows of that store.

I know change is inevitable…and dealing with change can make us stronger…

But that doesn’t stop us from wishing some things….would stay the same a little longer.

There are days I wish would never end…and moments I endeavor….

to stop time’s inescapable passing…and let those moments last forever…

But, alas, we all grow a little older every day….It’s a fact we can’t ignore

And a wig shop that has lasted 44 years…will one day close it’s doors.

Yes, we know these things must happen…we know there’s usually good mixed with the bad…

But that doesn’t stop us from remembering what was…and feeling a little sad.