WHEN WILL THIS CABIN FEEL LIKE HOME

 

After leaving our home in Florida…where we lived together for nearly 40 years

where we shared a lifetime of memories…filled with laughter…and some tears

We wondered…when we moved up here…to this place where I’ve written many a poem…

When, if ever, will this cabin… begin to feel like home.

We never dreamed we’d live here…where we visited Debrah’s mom and dad

Where on those visits they’d watch our children grow…

Where we felt the joy of their happiness and laughter

and the sorrow when it was their time to go.

We never dreamed we’d be living in this cabin…nestled among the trees

Where we played games around kitchen table

Told stories around the campfire…

And watched the flames fly high on a summer breeze. 

But the more we live…the older we grow…

the more, to us, it seems…

the contentment and happiness of life…

is just a matter of rearranging dreams.

We have found…

If there is love wherever we are making memories

If it’s a place where some of our dreams come true 

any place we happen to roam

Then that place…wherever we happen to be…

we are happy to call home.

That home isn’t just the house and town we grew up in

where at the end of the day we’d hang our hat…

Home is a feeling we take with us…It’s a little more mobile than that.

When we stopped and looked around our cabin 

we realized…it’s already filled with love, joy and laughter too 

It already contains a multitude of wonderful memories

It’s already a place where we’ve seen some of our dreams come true.

Which means there is no need to wonder when this cabin will feel like home

no need for worries…apprehension…or fears….

From the memories already echoing off these walls…

It’s obvious….

It has been our home…for years.

LIKE NATURE

 

Humans and nature are inextricably linked….

In truth, we may be more interrelated than anyone might think. 

Have you ever noticed how a person’s smile…

from a baby not far removed from the womb

to a child, an adult, or an old person…can light up the darkest room…

When you see a smile of love, kindness, acceptance

and feel how that smile is beguiling

have you ever wondered how many other people across the world

at the same time…might be smiling.

Which makes me wonder as we see people smiling

at one another…together… having fun

If our collective smiles around the world…help to feed the sun.

Have you ever noticed when you see someone crying

out of happiness, sadness or shame

or when faced with something wonderful…how our tears all look the same.

Have you ever wondered…when you see tears drop

Whether the situation is joyful , sad or terrifying

how many other people across the world…at the same time…might be crying.

Which makes me wonder as we see people crying

whether out of pleasure , sadness or pain

If our collective crying across the world…help supply the clouds with rain

When standing in front of the ocean, a sunrise

a mountain, a meadow glistening after a morning rain

we find ourselves sighing…for reasons we can’t explain

Have you ever wondered when we are overwhelmed at any moment

In this space we find ourselves occupying…

How many people other across the world…at the same time…might be sighing.

Sighs come when we’re awestruck, when we’re sad

when we’re filled with happiness…or when we are chagrined…

which makes me wonder if isn’t our collective sighs…that initiate the wind.

I like to think we are part of nature…that, as we meander through the years

we help provide each other 

with our sighs…our smiles…our tears.

UNTIL I SAY GOOD MORNING TO THE STARS

 

My day does not begin until I walk outside

while darkness still blankets the land….

and greet nature and all she has created.

that a makes this world so grand.

 

Until I greet the chorus of crickets

still singing harmoniously and strong. 

and marvel at where they find the energy

to sing the whole night long.

Until I greet the owl whose song

from her home in the hollow of a tree

rides upon the breeze…

and gently lands on me.

Until I greet that very breeze 

who after delivering to me the owls song

Whispers good morning to the trees

before she happily moves along.

And my day does not begin 

until…

after searching the heavens 

for a glimpse at Jupiter or Mars

with nature’s music as a backdrop

I say good morning to the stars.

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE

 

 As we re-shelved some old photo albums the other day

we were amazed there sitting on the floor

how our children and grandchildren occupying these pages 

are not children any more

When we opened onto pages of babies and children

who in the photos look so small…

We wondered when did they all grew up

and when did they get so tall?

Could they really be the children and grandchildren

who possess our chromosomes and genes?

When did these babies become children?

When did these children become teens?

The more we looked at their photos…

the more we wondered when.

When did these little girls grow into women?

When did these little boys grown into men?

It’s funny when you’re in a moment…

you don’t notice how fast time is moving on…

It’s not until later…looking back…when you wonder…

where has all the time gone?

And we smiled at each other understanding 

when it comes to the moments in our life

the who, what, how ,where and when

we know if we had the chance…

we would do it all again.

As we sat there musing on this thought…

lo and behold

we noticed a photo of our great-granddaughter

soon to turn one year old.

Sitting there looking at her photo

thinking of every upcoming what, how, where, when and who

we realized to our delight

that’s exactly what we get to do.

SMILE!

 

Do you ever wonder why we take photographs

of the people we love…

of the places we roam?

Why do we have so many photos saved upon our phones….

in albums 

or in frames around our home.

Could it be we understand hoe every moment is temporary

that we don’t control how long a moment lasts 

and a camera allows us to capture a moment

before it drifts into the past.

Since we are constantly amassing memories

from every January to December

we need our collection of photographs

to help us all remember. 

Each photograph is a portal 

taking us from our present into our past

by waking up a memory…

from all the memories we’ve amassed.

We are drawn into a photograph..

and for a moment our world rewinds 

returning us to a specific time and place…

If only for a moment in our minds.

The photo awakens a memory 

and as across our mind it spreads…

for a moment we transcend time and space

until we tuck that memory gently back to bed.

The experts tell us there’s no way to go back in time

no way to revisit people from our past…

places we have roamed…

I say tell that to the photos we have saved upon our phones

pasted into our albums 

and we have hanging in frames around our home.