66...AND HAPPY!

I am 66 years old today and as I turn another page

I am happy for all life’s wonderful moments that help cushion my old age.

I’m happy for the love I’ve shared…all those rides on other people’s shoulders…

Isn’t it amazing how love has a way…of preventing getting older? 

I am happy for my family, my friends, the people who have helped to make me…me

and I’m happy for the childhood I’ve brought along with me.

I’m happy my brain can calculate how old I am…as I walk further down life’s path

and happier still my heart and my mind…were never very good at math.

Finally I’m happy knowing even though today I’m the oldest I have ever been

I am also now the youngest age I will ever be again!

MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT

I have a special birthday…to me that’s very clear

I mean what luck is it to have my birthday on the last day of the year!

And when Deborah asks me what I want tomorrow…how will we celebrate this day

I look at all I have…and know exactly what to say.

I have a family…and I have love

In life…two simply wonderful feats

I have a place to live

I have clothes to wear

I have enough to eat.

I have the oceans 

I have the mountains

I have the rivers

I have the seas

I have sunrises and sunsets

I have the flowers and the trees.

I have my health 

I can sing and dance

I can read and I can write

I have the birds that sing to me each morning

and the stars that shine at night.

I have friends 

I have our morning walks

at this stage of my life I have no need for speed

Hey you might remember this year

I even found some weed!

I am one of the lucky ones

My lif has fit together easily 

I have the life I always wanted

A life of poetry…

As I reflect on the eve of my birthday…once again I must concede

I do not want a gift this year…for I have everything I need.

So for my birthday, tomorrow, Deborah

as I celebrate all the gifts I’ve been bestowed…

I’ll settle for a piece of cake

and could you make it al-a-mode.

ODE TO A GARDENER

He loved to garden, her father. He understood the land

He didn’t just have a green thumb…he had green fingers on green hands.

When it came to plants he was a wonder…boy…could that man grow things

When asked why his garden was so beautiful…he’d humbly say…I know things.

I know a gardener needs to respect his land

I know he must be kind

which is why I take only what I need

and leave the rest behind. 

I leave some of what I grow for Mother Earth

sometimes I leave half..sometime two-thirds

to feed the insects, the deer, the raccoons

the rabbits and the birds…

To all the creatures and to the land

I leave behind a little food…

It is a way to show them my respect

to spread my gratitude…

I often find it is easy, he said 

to thank the sun, the rain…the breeze…

because most of the time in my garden

I’m already on my knees…

Yes…her father had the most beautiful gardens…

he understood the land and how things grew…

but perhaps the biggest reason was how he adored the land

and how the land adored him too.

GETTING OLD

When his joints ached as he rose

he kicked the chair leg in despair.

He knows it is the fault of age…

but it’s easier to blame the chair.

SOMEONE THEY COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT

They never regretted their decision to marry…

there never was a doubt…

for they found someone easy to live with

whom they could not live without.

A NEW TRADITION

Last year I thought I’d start something new…a new custom…a new tradition…

It never caught on but I’m bringing it back…this year…with a few revisions…

My idea is to celebrate December 26th! 

like Christmas, it’s filled with joy and love and laughter

but has the disadvantage…of arriving one day after.

If not…I’m afraid December 26 is fated to remain unreckoned…

doomed to stand in relative obscurity with its neighbor…January 2nd.

I think it’s time we celebrate those days…days that could have been so great

if they hadn’t been ill-fated…..to show up one day late.

Do you know the name of the first man on the moon?  

Of course…everybody does?

But do you remember the second…Ed Aldrin…his family called him Buzz.

Buzz Aldrin… the second man to emerge from the Lunar Module….

his history forever destined to be blurred…

Just like the groundhog who quietly emerges from his burrow…on February 3rd

Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world…the second is almost as high…

yet K2 remains an afterthought…kind of like the 5th day of July.

Everyone knows Amelia Earhart, her story is one of courage, strength and devotion.

She was the first female pilot to fly by herself…across the Atlantic Ocean.

The second was Geraldine Mock, and at her even more accolades were hurled

for she kept going after crossing the Atlantic…and flew around the world!

Isn’t it funny how life works, for no one could have foreseen

that Geraldine would be a footnote in history…just like the day after Halloween.

But such is the way the calendar unfolds, be it September, October or December

some days, like people, are destined for greatness, while others we hardly remember.

I think it’s time we change all that…and give these days their due

For I believe ‘days after’ deserve their place in history too.

At the very least ‘days after’…I, for one, think you’re great…

If nothing else you’re four times luckier

than February 28!

CHRISTMAS INTERROGATIVES

Blending families is never easy…sometimes it may feel strange

as the people, places, the customs…the traditions around us change.

We knew when we brought our families together years ago…we needed to find a way

because…when it came to celebrating Christmas…we couldn’t all have Christmas Day…

So we decided with our children…a new tradition we would weave

that we would celebrate our Christmas…with pizza…on Christmas Eve…

And for years that is what we did…a Christmas tradition all our own

but then our children grew up…with lives and families of their own…

So we decided with our children and grandchildren…a new tradition we would weave

That we would celebrate our Christmas…still with pizza…sometime around Christmas Eve.

And that is what we do now…in our household Christmas is still a must…

but in order to celebrate together…we cheerfully adjust…

We come together on a day we mix with joy and love and laughter

It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas day…a little before…or after.

It seems we found along the way… the secret to Christmas lives…

of all the unlikely places…in the interrogatives.

As we create our new traditions…as the years go flying by

HOW we celebrate Christmas isn’t as important…

as to the reason WHY.

WHEN we celebrate Christmas isn’t important…it’s only important WHERE

A place we’re all together…a place we choose to share.

Yes, through the years…as our traditions have changed…

the key to Christmas…I think we found it!

WHAT’s under the Christmas tree is not as important

as WHO is gathered ‘round it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT EVER

He had worked hard for this moment…

He’d been focused…driven…undaunted

He’d reached a point in his life

where he could give his daughter anything she wanted…

He proudly asked her to make a Christmas wish list.

She wrote…focused…driven…undaunted

hoping ‘Santa’ would be able to bring her 

the one thing she ever wanted.

She finished quickly…her list was short…at first he wondered why

Once he read it he closed his eyes…then he began to cry…

‘Dear Santa’, it read, ’this Christmas ‘all I’m looking for…

I want to be with Daddy…I want to see him more.’

And as he clutched that letter to his heart

he realized what he should be working for…

and that Christmas he made a vow 

to be with his daughter more.

That Christmas she unwrapped an envelope

with a letter inside that read:

‘I promise to be home for dinner every night

I promise to tuck you into bed.’

‘I promise to spend more time with you…

I promise I will find a way.

I promise starting this Christmas

to spend much less time away.’

And so he did…he gave his daughter

a gift that didn’t cost a dime…

He gave her exactly what she wanted

He gave his love…he gave her time.

Yes, she got her wish that Christmas

and lived ever after…happily

and through the magic of a Christmas wish

ironically…

so did he.

MY BABY

Simply put she is my baby

and my baby she always will be

I’ve known that from the moment

she grew inside of me

But life has a way of moving

how quickly the changing zephyrs whirl

where once crawled my little baby

now stands my little girl.

“She’s your little girl!”, says my mind

As it tries desperately this knowledge to impart..

But I’m not always listening

“She’s still your baby!”, says my heart.

And at every stage in her life

my mind and heart shall disagree…

Young woman, woman, mother

She’s still my baby to me.

And I imagine this is to be my destiny

the way it always will be…

that she will remain my baby

even when she’s 93.

LOVE IS ALL AROUND

There are many things we’ll never understand about love…

many secrets we’ll never find…

like how whenever love is shared there’s always a little left behind…

It lingers on the ground…It drifts upon the air

perhaps that’s why we’re fond of saying…love is everywhere.

Why not stop and take a moment this season

and think of the compassion it took to design love…

then look around your life…and see if you can find love….

For one of the wonders of love……is how easy it is to see….

It’s in your wife, your children, your grandchildren…

your friends and family

It’s in smiles, it’s in laughter…you’ll find that it appears

In a baby’s eyes, a tender touch…it’s even in some tears…

It’s in a hug…a kiss, a look…it’s universal across all lands

It’s in the gentle way we touch……the way we hold each other’s hands…

Why you can find it anywhere…if you look…if you believe

It’s waiting in the flowers…It’s reflected on the leaves…

This was just to get you started…

I’ve only named a few…

The remaining verses in the poem…

well…I’ll leave that up to you…

Up to you to find them

in their different sizes, shapes and kinds…

Up to you to discover all those little pieces

love has left behind..

NEVER LAUGH AS LOUD

Although the holidays can be a festive time…it can also be a time when we’re reminded of the precarious and fragile nature of life…a time we remember those not celebrating with us this year…a reminder of how our life is changed without them…It’s not that we will stop celebrating…only that our celebrations will never be the same…

NEVER LAUGH AS LOUD

A death leaves us forever somber…

surrounded by a cloud….

It’s not that we will never laugh again…

we’ll just never laugh as loud…

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED...

We have found some odd items on our morning walks

some things that surprise, that shock and awe…

We’ve found money.  

We once found a man sleeping on the street.

Hey, one morning…I found a bra!

But a funny thing happened yesterday morning

as we were out enjoying the flora and fauna…

there on the sidewalk…directly in front of us

a small packet…of…marijuana.

Deborah posted our find on her Facebook account

‘this will be funny’…at that time we thought

and it was…but it was also amazing

to see all the responses she got.

Now I’ve been writing a poem every day

I’ve been doing this for a few years…

It is my hope that my words will bring laughter to some

and on occasion, perhaps, bring them tears…

But no matter how elegant my phrasing

it is with great sadness I must concede

There has never been more interest in any of my poems 

than there was in that packet of weed.

We heard from many of our friends…

every one had a fun thought to add…

Why we even heard suggestions and comments 

from friends we didn’t know that we had.

Personally I am over my inferiority complex

I have worked through my suffering and pain…

I understand people are less interested in poetry…

and more interested in Mary Jane.

In fact at this moment I’m feeling quite euphoric

I don’t care that my poetry world’s out of whack…

I feel only peace, love and understanding…

and boy…could I go for a snack!

THE GIFT

Her only wish that year was to have a Christmas tree…

for she lived where no trees grew…

“I do not wish it to be very big,” she said

“a little one would do.”

She had been sick for a while and her children were bereft…

wanting to make her wish come true

not knowing how many Christmases she had left…

So one day off they went…leaving their tiny home by the sea

and walked until they came to a place

of winter snow…

and Christmas trees.

Halfway up a mountain they stopped…they knew their search was done.

Their mom’s little tree sat in a clearing…illuminated by the sun.

They told the little tree about their mom…about their tiny house by the sea

and asked if she would be so kind…as to become their Christmas tree.

The little tree stood tall…at least as tall as a little tree could.

Would I like to be your Christmas tree?…she said. 

“Of course…

of course I would.”

Tenderly they cut her down…and carried her to their tiny house by the sea

and when their mother woke up that Christmas morning…

she awoke to her Christmas tree.

Their mom recovered fully…and is to this day content…

happy as can be

and she tells her children the best gift she ever received…

was that little Christmas tree…

But when she thinks about it…

when to that Christmas her mind drifts…

she understands the the importance of that tree

but she knows 

the journey

was their gift.