MISTER BOJANGLES

Is it wrong to love a fast food restaurant, to develop a serious love triangle?

You wouldn’t think so if you ever ate...a dinner at Bojangles.

Oh yes I love my family and their affections I do vie for

But Bojangles biscuits melt in my mouth and their sweet tea is to die for.

If I could eat at Bojangles once a week...now wouldn’t that be great!

Unfortunately the closest Bojangles to me in Florida is across the freakin’ state.

So until the CEO of Bojangles decides to move their Florida locations

I must be satisfied with going to Bojangles when we are on vacation.

But that is not a problem, in order for my Bojangles obsession to survive

I’ve scoped out all the Bojangles on our 600 mile drive.

I may not remember my children’s birthdays- what am I a memory machine?

But I can tell you the first Bojangles out of Florida is in Georgia at exit 16.

I may not always remember the exact day of my anniversary... is it really that taboo?

But I can tell you to reach the 2nd Bojangles...take a left at exit 62.

There’s a Bojangles in Franklin, North Carolina, the franchises are still growing

But the one in Franklin is special, we can stop there coming or going.

And when we get to our cabin, after driving so many hours in a day

There is a Bojangles patiently waiting for us just 8 short miles away.

So here’s my vote for Bojangles...the best fast food restaurant in the south

And kids, if you want me to remember your birthdays make a biscuit that will melt in my mouth.

And remember when this old man goes...when I’ve finally up and died

Bury me with a buttermilk biscuit at my mouth and some sweet tea on the side.

WHAT IF...

As you watch the world unfold around us edge closer and closer to the cliff

A host of questions come to mind all beginning with, ‘What if...’

What if we didn’t think of one another as foe or enemy

What if, instead of fighting one another we fought together to be free

What if we hugged and kissed one another, like family members do

What if we danced and played together no matter what our views.

What if we sat and talked and walked and consoled each other’s tears

What if we listened to one another and shared our laughter and our fears.

What if we realized everyone is beautiful, every sister, every brother

What if we finally understood how we complemented one another.

What if we don’t do anything and the world as we know it falls off that cliff

As we’re falling to our doom will we wonder then...what if...

WE ARE ALL NOVELS

I was straightening the bookstore the other day, before we opened...all alone 

When it hit me how every person in this world is like a novel of their own.

An ongoing and unfinished novel that too our happiness or dismay

Is being written, edited and rewritten a little every day

Neath the binding of our skin, we, as author or playwright, 

Transcribe our story every day in words of black and white.

It’s an epic novel where we learn from our mistakes and hope they aren’t repeated

And not until the day we die will our novel been completed.

As we age our spine may sag a bit, our cover may degrade

Our pages may discolor and our bindings may get frayed.

Yes the ravages of time on our book may take it’s toll

But a good book never loses it’s heart and will always have it’s soul.

Besides anyone who enjoys a book and calls themselves a book lover

Knows you cannot, you mustn’t ever, judge a book just by it’s cover.

Remember, yesterday’s words, once written, are permanent, no sense trying to fight it.

But we can alter the outcome of our story tomorrow when we write it. 

For that is the beauty of our novels, each day the book expands

And no matter what happened the day before, the ending is in our hands.

LESSONS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD

One never knows where our lessons will arise, we should always be on our guard

They crop up in the strangest places, like out in our own back yard...

We have some beautiful palm trees which need a little care

When their fronds die they don’t always fall off but hang there in the air.

Sometimes you can give them a little tug and this will set them free

Other times you need to climb up and cut them from the tree.

There I was the other day beginning a morning of yard work

When I noticed one such hanging frond and gave it a little jerk.

The frond stayed attached to the tree as, of course, you might have guessed

But when I tugged upon that branch I disrupted a doves nest.

I hadn’t noticed the nest tucked into the security of the trunk

But when I heard it hit the ground my heart immediately sunk.

The mother dove quickly flew to our fence, the first landing spot she could find

Then immediately started warbling me a piece of her angry mind.

As I was apologizing profusely, in between her angry tweets

I discovered her two babies, on the ground next to my feet.

One hopped once, then twice, then immediately breaking the suspense

Flapped his wings and joined his mother perched upon the fence.

The other baby tried his best but could only hop around

He wasn’t ready yet to fly, he was stuck upon the ground.

I watched him hop until he found himself a secure place in which to hide

I apologized to the birds again but they didn’t seem pacified.

I left him there and went about my yard work, cleaning up the lawn

When I came back to check on him later, that little bird was gone.

I wasn’t sure what happened to him, what was his consequence

Until days later when I saw the three dove family sitting on my fence.

Had they returned to show me they survived and were now all on their own

Or had she brought them back to see the man who destroyed their house and home?

Perhaps they wanted to remind me the next time I see a palm frond hanging in the air

To smile as I pass it by...there could be a family living there.

LAST DAY

We’ve heard the question before; it’s a common paradigm

If you had one day left to live--how would you spend your time?

If you were told this is your last day then you’ll be leaving everything behind

I wonder, after hearing that, what pops into your mind?

Is there a person you just thought of, anyone at all

To whom you might want to write a letter, or, perhaps give them a call?

Is there a person you’ve been missing who you’d want once more to see

Would you say, ‘I love you’ to those who matter--to your friends and family?

Would you watch the sun rise one more time or count the stars up in the sky

Is there any place you ‘d like to go before you say goodbye.

We never know...today just might be the day we disappear

There is no guarantee this won’t be our last day on this sphere

If this is our final day on Earth, the final moments Fate allows

Then it stands to reason, if you think about, the most important time is now.

Each day, each moment it’s important before we leave this world behind

To do the things that a moment ago popped into our mind.

So please excuse me if I abruptly finish this poem I intended, first, for you

You see there are a lot of things I feel I have to do.

OUR DUTY

We have a duty to the children of the world from the moment of their births

A duty to make them feel safe and happy on this planet we call Earth.

A duty to teach them right from wrong, to respect the plants and birds

A duty to show them the actions we take are more valuable than our words.

A duty to show them kindness and love, to help them grow and cope

A duty to teach them honor and justice and fill their world with hope.

A duty to teach them about friendship and of the things we must learn to accept

A duty to show them all life is precious and how promises are kept.

A duty to help them handle failure, to show how good manners are never outdated

A duty to show them how tenderness and charity can never be overrated.

A duty to let their imaginations soar, to show it’s not weak to say when we’re wrong

A duty to show that compromise and acceptance are ways to prove we are strong.

A duty to teach them to sing and to dance, to draw and to paint and to write

A duty to show them how to enjoy life from the morning on into the night.

A duty to teach them everyone is important no matter their sex, color or race

For when we fulfill our duty to our children the world is a much better place.

We must not forget this duty to our children we must fulfill it before they are grown

How else will they understand their duty when the duty becomes their duty alone?

AMERICA FOR A MOMENT

We spend our days as a country divided--so many different groups and factions and clusters

So much so that the melting pot of America has lost it’s glow, it’s allure, it’s luster.

Our country was founded on the concept of freedom; it is at our core...our very heart.

Yet this freedom to be different keeps pushing us further and further apart.

Democrats, Republicans, Christians, Protestants, Yes to guns, no to guns, Straights and Gays.

Black and White, Rich and Poor--we’re becoming as different as night and day.

This in itself is not a problem, our differences make the world a more interesting place

The problem arises when these differences in others we fail in ourselves to embrace.

Then America becomes a country we call the land of the brave and the free

Only as long as everyone in America thinks and acts just like me.

As I watched the World Cup Soccer matches and fireworks on the 4th of July

I couldn’t help thinking for a little while at least America was unified.

Americans watched our soccer team, Americans celebrated Independence Day

There are moments every now and when we celebrate America the old fashioned way.

One country, one people, one America united for a moment in our beliefs and our views

Americans celebrating America--Americans when we win or we lose.

Tomorrow we go back to being an America divided, me being me; you being you.

I only wish that united feeling would last...longer than a moment or two.