HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

The heart is a wonderful organ, how often have we heard it said,

It’s such a vital part of us without it we’d be dead.

Four weeks after conception, well before we officially arrive

It begins to beat and doesn’t stop until we’re no longer alive.

The heart has a magical capacity for love...as everybody knows

The more it loves and is loved the stronger that it grows

Our brain is used for knowledge but its our heart that guides the way?

In fact, it is so important it has it’s ver own holiday?

Valentine’s Day is a day that has set itself apart 

As the only holiday we have that celebrates the heart.

A heart that nurtures us while dancing an energetic but delicate ballet

A heart that must be treated with kindness not just today but every day

Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us to see

For even though the heart is strong it can be broken easily.

I think a fitting epitaph for any of us when we depart

Would be that we were gentle with other people’s hearts.

So be gentle with each other’s heart today, celebrate with candy, flowers or a kiss

And remember this whole thing started with an organ no bigger than your fist.

WHERE DOES BEAUTY COME FROM?

How does one know what is beautiful? What sets our senses aglow?

Take women of the world for instance the ideal beauty depends on where you go.

How many new parents, at the viewing window naturally assume

That their baby is the most beautiful baby of all the babies in that room?

There are some panoramas we regard that create universal admiration

But even those at times are open to interpretation.

The sun rising over the mountains or setting beneath the sea,

A rainbow arching across the sky a songbird in a weeping willow tree.

There’s beauty in a smile, in a secluded walk along the sand

In a lover’s glance, a moonlit night or in the wrinkles on a baby’s hand.

Each person knows what beauty looks like but how do you surmise

Helen Keller was able to see beauty without the use of her eyes.

There are some who believe there is beauty in all things, you can find it everywhere

And the magic in life is discovering the beauty that’s already there.

These people would be considered scholars, they were both intelligent and wise

They knew the beauty that’s in front of us is best viewed from behind our eyes.

GOOD BYE SHIRLEY!

Her name was Shirley Temple, in the 1930’s she burst upon the scene

She was young and cute and sweet as punch and she lit up the movie screen.

My generation remembers watching her movies when we were girls and boys

As she danced and sang and her curly hair bobbed it filled our hearts with joy.

We loved to watch her escapades, we never knew what we might see 

But whatever predicaments she found herself in, they were always rated G.

Did you hear that Miley Cyrus? She too was a child star who worked

But her tongue was used for singing and I know she never twerked!

She was young and cute and wholesome...a pint-sized sized protege

But she could hold her own with movie stars of her day.

The little girl we all loved to watch grew up...as we all do

And when she died Monday in California a little of our childhood died too.

Friends drank Shirley Temples to remember the passing of this star 

Deborah and I broke out our Curly Top VHS and cranked up the VCR.

So farewell Poor Little Rich Girl, thank you for giving us such a thrill

Will we miss you Little Princess?...Shirley...we surely will!

ROUTINES

It’s a funny thing about routines, at times they can cause us despair...

But it’s also easy to fall into them and find some comfort there.

I for one love the routines in my life, I don’t find them dull...and once more

It’s the very routines that over the years have become the traditions I adore.

Waking up next to Deborah every morning, walking together at first light

Solving a crossword, sharing meals then back in bed at night.

Rocking babies, doing homework, driving children wherever they needed to go,

Vacations in North Carolina every summer, and that one winter seeing snow.

Watching the grandchildren play soccer all those early Saturdays

The family getting together for dinners, birthdays and holidays.

Putting up a real tree each Christmas, helping children and grandchildren believe

Opening presents and eating pizza is our routine Christmas Eve.

Routines may not seem sexy or breathtaking or romantic at first glance

But I believe they are...if we give them half a chance.

What if we viewed the routines in our life more like the pages of a book

And instead of dismissing them as mundane we took a closer look.

For I believe it’s in our daily routines where living and life coincide

And where, if we are lucky, our joy and happiness reside.

THE BEAUTY OF BOOKS

I’m working in a bookstore now and having a wonderful time.

In fact it was there while awaiting customers I wrote this daily rhyme.

When I had finished a simple question suddenly occurred to me

Do I write the poems I want to...or do the poems find their way to me?

When I was but a little boy sitting atop my mother’s knee

The world became a magical place when she would read to me.

So many things I learned because she took the time to look

And share with me the wonders inside the pages of a book.

I learned a cow can jump over the moon and blind mice can go on the loose.

I learned a seeing mouse can climb a clock and there’s a lady names Mother Goose.

I learned of a boy who cried wolf and all the trouble that followed him

I learned about 3 pigs and a real wolf and of the scary brothers Grimm.

I leaned a monkey can be curious and the need for heroes will never end

I learned to say good night to the moon and a spider and a pig can be friends.

Then the day came to leave my mother’s knee and I started reading on my own.

And through the pages of more books...oh the places I have flown.

I’ve have been around the world, I’ve traveled through time and space

I’ve been inside so many buildings and I’ve never left a trace.

I have my mom to thank for starting me reading all those years ago

And I thank her each time I open a new book as I wonder where I might go.

So parents remember it’s never too early...in books a magical world awaits

And for the rest of you might like to know...it’s also never too late.

I know what you’re thinking...next time I should not my responsibilities shirk

And instead of writing poetry...perhaps I should get to work.

FREEDOMS

We are blessed with many freedoms in America, we should count them every day

Because in many countries of the world these freedoms have been stripped away.

We are free to choose our leaders and though they often cause us shame

In the end because we’re free to choose we only have ourselves to blame.

The press is free to report the news into our homes and haciendas

Yet it seems today the different news agencies have their own agendas.

We are free to worship any God or no God, win or loose

Yet we’re not as accepting of others if a different God they choose.

We are free to speak our minds and accept any consequences that may ensue

Yet we usually don’t like other people who hold different points of view.

We are free to bear arms across this land but the number of innocents afflicted 

Has caused many to feel uncertain and wonder if that right should be restricted.

I believe our freedoms, as wonderful as they are, have caused an unsolvable riddle

For it appears our freedom to choose has split this country down the middle.

It makes one wonder if these two sides will ever get along

While each side thinks that they are right and the other side is wrong.

Still these very freedoms we all fight about are the freedoms we adore

And what our soldiers, since this country began, have continued fighting for.

I think we should remember another freedom, yes I think it would be wise

If we all remember we also have been blessed with the freedom to compromise.

When we forego compromise, when we ignore this small detail

A country with the freedom to succeed becomes one doomed to fail.

To me freedom is a lot like love: it’s a gift and a blessing to be free

And like love, unless it’s nurtured...becomes a faded memory.

If we don’t want that to happen, then we must take this burden on

So our children will still be free to count their blessings after we are gone.

DIFFERENT OR UNIQUE?

There is a word in our language that, when we look upon our life

Is the reason the world has so much trouble, the cause of so much strife.

That word is DIFFERENT for how delightfully enjoyable and beautiful would our world be

If so many people didn’t look at one another and see them differently?

When we see someone as different fear seeps into our hearts and minds

And where there’s fear...animosity, hatred and prejudice cannot too far behind.

What starts out merely as a way to tell that person apart from you or me

Somehow ends up with people treating one another differently.

We end up in a word of labels, a world of discrimination, chaos and entropy

A world of injustice, oppression, of wars and bigotry. 

A world where suspicion and distrust rule and seeds of animosity are sown 

All caused when we find traits in people that are different from our own.

What if we all looked at one another in a completely different way

What if we could find a word that would keep our fear at bay.

What if we weren’t afraid of diversity but reveled in it’s mystique

And instead of seeing others as different, we saw them as unique.

Perhaps then, in each life, we might focus on the good things that we see

And in the end create a world of peace and harmony.

I imagine by now many of you are thinking this man is different, he’s a freak

Ah, but I suggest you not think me different, no I prefer the word unique?

(Did you notice when you call me different a host of negatives abound

But when you use the word unique...see how wonderful it sounds?)

It seems to me we should strive for a world where differences aren’t critiqued,

A world where people are more accepting...hmmm, now wouldn’t that be unique?