FOOTPRINTS IN THE LEAVES

It’s been said a million times before…but since we know time can be fleeting

‘Take pleasure in the little things’ is a phrase that’s worth repeating.

As an illustration of this point I offer now to you

a day that was filled with little things…little things…times two.

Two people take a morning walk…leaving two sets of footprints in the leaves

along the way they hear two mockingbirds chirping in the trees.

They pass two people walking…their pace a little slow

what’s slowing down their walk is simple…they have two dogs in tow.

Two sets of smiles quietly exchanged in a beautifully natural setting

Two people pause a moment…for two dogs in need of petting.

Two eagles sitting on a pole…it is their normal place for meeting

Two people stop and wave to them…it is their normal way of greeting.

Two smoothies shared for breakfast keeping two people healthy and alert 

Two tuna melts at a cafe for lunch…and two donuts for dessert.

Two people moving silently together…two bodies at Tai Chi

Two people watching TV together…a documentary.

Two people reading in their bed…two people turning out their lights

Two people glad they spent this simple day together…

two kisses…

two good nights.

Two people drifting off to sleep…and as their dreams take wings…

Two smiles on two people’s faces….as they dream of little things

Of donuts, tuna melts, and eagles…of birds chirping in the trees

Of smoothies, dogs and a morning walk leaving footprints in the leaves.

THE BOOK

The gift he gave her on their wedding night before they drifted off to sleep

was a book…an empty book…which she didn’t get to keep.

I will keep this book, he told her and throughout life’s different stages

whenever I shall make you sad…I’ll write it on these pages.

I will record it in this book…indelibly…in pencil or in pen

so I’ll be sure I’ll never make you sad that way again…

It was a beautiful gesture…and she still remembers his look

that night…so many years ago…when he didn’t give her that book.

But life has a way of moving on…like an eagle it takes flight

and she never gave a second thought to the book he mentioned that night.

Until after a lifetime together he was gone…and she was cleaning out his drawer

when she happened on that little book she remembered from before.

It was a little weathered…worn around the edges…she thought as instinctively she sighed…

It’s a little wrinkled here and there she mused…but, you know what…so am I.

And just as he had promised…written in this pad

were the dates and times and reasons he had ever made her sad.

Chronicled together…her heart aching at the sight

were a lifetime of disagreements, little squabbles…little fights.

Completed in his handwriting some in pencil…some in pen

all followed by the same pledge…This will never happen again!

She held the book close to her heart…and shed some silent happy tears

when she realized he hadn’t made an entry 

in over 30 years.

THE BOOK OF LOVE

“The book of you is complicated…

how shall I read it?“ I purred…

“By turning my pages slowly”…she grinned…

“and savoring every word.”

THE GREATEST ADVENTURE

As children they loved listening to fairy tales

of adventures…large and small

then once upon a time they discovered

life …is a wonderful fairy tale

and…the greatest adventure of them all

A SIMPLE QUESTION

We see pictures of hungry, sad and poor people in the world…

and we question…how can this be?

We wait and hope someone will help them

perhaps their friends or family…

After all…If a member of our family or a friend was hungry

we would gladly share our food.

If their heart was broken or they were sad…

we would try to soothe their mood.

If a member of our family or a friend needed money

we would find a way to share

If they needed shoes to cover their feet…

we would gladly give them a pair.

If a member of our family or a friend had no home

we would try to ease their pain.
We would want to keep them safe and warm

we would offer them shelter from the rain. 

But…if we believe everyone is our brother or our sister

then doesn’t that make everyone we see…

every person in the world

a member of our family?

So instead of questioning how can this be

and waiting for someone else to help the hungry, sad and poor

Shouldn’t the more appropriate question be

What are we waiting for?

AN UNFOLDING LIFE

Although it seems at times life moves so fast we have trouble keeping up

(Wasn’t it only yesterday our children were babies…our dog was just a pup?)

But there are times we look into the mirror and think as we grow old

how life doesn’t actually fly by….it evolves slowly…it unfolds.

And as life unfolds in front of us…at its slow and steady pace…

We see changes in our friends and family…we see it unfold upon our face.

So every now and then we stop and take a moment….allowing memories to rise

Memories of bygone moments that unfolded before your eyes.

Moments with our family and friends…when we were little girls or boys

Moments of great sorrow…

moments of great joy.

It is one of the wonders in an unfolding life…how our memories move so fast

that every now and then our present mixes with our past.

And we realize at these moments…before the moment’s done

how our present past and future have become united into one.

And for that one brief moment…our past, present and future pause for us to see…

and marvel in that moment…how we’re living in all three.

Perhaps that’s why times seems to move so fast…and before we know it we are old…

Perhaps that is the reason…

and the answer 

to how and why a life unfolds.

LITTLE PIECES OF BREAD

When her Grandma was alive sometimes they’d sit in her backyard without saying a word.

They’d throw little pieces of bread upon the ground and silently feed the birds.

“Sometimes I get lonely.” Grandma would tell her in a sad and mournful tone.

“But as long as birds are visiting, I never feel alone.”

There were days they lost count of how many birds there were…

It’s just one of the wonderful memories her Grandma bequeathed to her.

She remembered this heading to the car for Grandma’s funeral

“Wait…I’ll only be a minute!” she said

Then she ran back into the house and came out with a loaf of bread.

At the cemetery when the service was completed…she gave Grandma a goodbye wave

then gently sprinkled little pieces of bread quietly upon her grave.

“What are you doing?” her mother whispered as her last little pieces were thrown…

“It’s to remind the birds where grandma is.” she said, “so she’ll never be alone.”

BIG AND DUMB

BIG AND DUMB

We called him big and dumb when he walked into our school.

What is it, I wonder, about us as children…that sometimes makes us cruel?

He was bigger than the rest of us…(this was many years ago)

but as far as his being dumb…well…we really didn’t know.

We just knew that he was bigger…he was different…that was all.

Perhaps it wasn’t that he was big…but that our minds were small.

Perhaps we were a little afraid…he was something we’d never seen

Why is it fear of someone different…can sometimes make us mean?

But once I got to know him…once I took the time to see

except for his enormous size…he was so much more like me.

He had courage and determination…he had his insecurities…

and just like me, I found out…he liked his hamburgers with cheese.

In time we became friends…and, as friendship often does,

we focused on what was important…and not how big he was…

And I was glad he walked into my school…glad our lives had overlapped…

What is it I wonder, about us, as children…that we so easily adapt.

Though we may hesitate at first…at something novel or unplanned

we easily accept it once we come to understand

that the world is such a beautiful and exciting place to be

and what makes this world so beautiful is its diversity.

So we hope we learn from mistakes we made…and leave behind once and for all

those times we acted out of ignorance…when our minds were much too small.

And we hope as we grow older…we look back where we came from…

and we remember lessons from our youth so we don’t grow up big and dumb.

THE DOLL

You may ask yourself this question…How important is a doll?

You may think in the scheme of life…not too important after all…

But I would beg to differ…because somehow my little girl found a way

of all the dolls upon the shelf…she picked me that day.

She chose me over all the others…it took her quite a while

I like to think there was something in my eyes…or the crookedness of my smile.

From that moment we were inseparable

Inside…outside…in any kind of weather

We played…we ran…we laughed…we drank tea

We went everywhere together.

I loved the times when she was happy…when her smile was innocent and bright

When she would toss me in the air then hug me with all her might.

I was glad to be there when she was sad…or to help her face her fears

Those times she used my only dress to wipe away her tears.

I remember the day she left me in a restaurant…

I was frightened and lonely without her arms around me

and I remember how relieved I was

when she came back and found me.

This went on for years and years…all I needed was an occasional sew-up

But although dolls remain the same…little girls all grow up.

She didn’t need me like she used to…she spent more time off by herself

and I went from sleeping next to her…to a spot upon her shelf.

Where I now sit and watch her…remembering our laughter…and our fun

and the moment I resign myself to thinking my usefulness is done…

The instant I start thinking I’m just another doll filled with stuff

she gives me a little hug or says I love you

and I think…that is enough

Enough of a reason…enough proof…enough of a diagram

to remind me how important I was…and how important I still am.

ABOUT AN EGG

When our granddaughter asked us to help her with a project…something about an egg

she didn’t need to ask us twice…she didn’t have to beg.

because we know that time is fleeting…and as our grandchildren grow

the more memories we can make the better…so never will we say no…

Her project: to design a contraption…a creation of her own making

that when dropped from a certain height…will protect an egg from breaking.

Her job: to draw up blueprints and ready a report…

Our job: to offer assistance, guidance and support.

We tried three different contraptions…(they could be no bigger than a soccer ball)

and to our amazement, once each was dropped, the egg didn’t break at all!

Three entirely different contraptions and not one egg did we abuse

and now it’s up to her to decide which one she will use.

The collaboration was fun for us…as we watched her give each egg a throw

and we thought how lucky we have been watch our grandchildren grow.

How we were glad to be of help…glad to have saved one egg from breaking…

and glad to add another memory to a lifetime we are making.

She thanked us for helping her with her egg…and as we headed out the door

we smiled knowing it wasn’t just about an egg…

it was about so much more.

A LITTLE BETTER THAN BEFORE

We have a chance each morning…before we walk out of our door

to be a better person…than we were the day before…

Right away we notice…when our feet first hit the floor

that we’re a little different than we were the day before.

Certainly we’re a little older…but there’s also something more…

more than just our age that makes us different than before.

Love and loss…victory and defeat…we never know what’s in store

Whatever happens…good or bad makes us a little different than before.

Each day brings with it new adventures…each moment we’re awake

and we hope we learn as much from our successes as we do from our mistakes.

But on we go…we forge ahead…out into the world we soar…

hoping today we are a little better than we were the day before.

Perhaps a little kinder, more compassionate, more accepting…and what’s more…

perhaps a little wiser than we were the day before.

If not…there is one consolation…tomorrow…when our feet first hit the floor

We’ll be given another chance to be a little better than we were the day before.

SOMETHING ABOUT HER SMILE

He was looking at a picture of his wife…thinking of their first date… first kiss…

and now that she is gone…all the things that he will miss…

“You look sad.” the young girl said to him as he sat upon ‘their’ rock

“Sometimes I get sad too.” she said…but he didn’t want to talk.

“Why are you here all by yourself?” He asked.

“What are you doing talking to me?”

“Don’t you have someplace else to go?”

“Someplace else you need to be?”

“Do you like ice cream?” she asked

“How long since you were born?”

“How dangerous is it to pet a snake?”

“Have you ever seen a unicorn?”

The old man tried his best not to answer…but there was something about her smile he adored…

and as the questions kept on coming…she was too hard to ignore.

“I’ve never seen a unicorn.” he said

“Snakes are dangerous…you know.”

“I like my ice cream chocolate…and I was born a long, long time ago.”

She kept asking questions because that’s what a little girl does

and as the old man kept responding he forgot how sad he was.

After a while from atop that rock he was now happily sitting on

he turned to thank the little girl

but he couldn’t

she was gone.

He looked but could not find her.

Where was she?

He didn’t know…but she took with her his sadness 

she took with her his woe.

“It can’t be…can it! he wondered after sitting there a while

and returning to the picture of his wife he nodded,

“I thought I recognized that smile."

A LITTLE TASTE OF PARADISE

Last night we had a cookout…it didn’t take much skill

with some family and a friend…we threw some hot dogs on the grill.

We talked of many things…as we ate our hog dogs…charred

then sat around a campfire we lit in our backyard.

As the embers roared…we cooked marshmallows and made and ate s’mores

It wasn’t any different than we’d done a thousand times before…

And I wondered how Fate has given us this night…this wonderful little slice

where everything is perfect…could this be paradise?

And when the evening ended…the fire was out…we said good night

we lingered for a moment..in the aura of moonlight.

And I looked up and thanked the heavens…for this evening I was graced

If not with paradise’s entire meal…at least a little taste.

And as our family and friend waved goodbye and faded slowly out of view

I realized…every now and then…a little taste will do

I 'MAGIN IT

She told these wild stories when we were little…about dragons and dinosaurs…

She said she was a princess who loved to run along the shore..

She said sometimes she flew with angels….She said angels like to hold your hands.

She said she visited castles…on the tops of mountains…in far away lands.

And I would listen to her stories when we played together every day

and when I asked her how she did it…I ‘magin it…she’d say.

It’s really very simple…If I want to float up in the air

or fly across the ocean…I ‘magin that I’m there.

Every time I ‘magin…I’m in for a big surprise

that’s why every time I ‘magin…I never close my eyes

I want to see what kind of bird I am…on that nest in the top of the tree

I want to see what I am wearing…as a pirate on the sea.

I never know when I ‘magin…what adventures will await

I want to see the color of my horse as I storm the castle gate…

I want to see as I sit upon my throne if my cushion is bright red

I want to count the number of diamonds in the crown upon on my head.

And she taught me how to ‘magin…as I joined her on the seas

as we stormed castles together…as we floated on the breeze….

as I helped her count her diamonds as she sat upon her throne

as we ‘magined neither one of us would ever be alone…

And though it’s been many years since I have seen her…

there are days I ‘magin we are still pirates on the sea…

or storming castles together….

and I ‘magin…

so does she.