A PATCHWORK QUILT

As Deborah lay sleeping next to me the other night I thought about the family we have built.

I couldn’t help thinking how a family is like one of Deborah’s patchwork quilts.

Two people meet and fall in love…and amid their smiles and grins…

their fabrics are sewn together…and so the quilt begins.

They adopt or become pregnant. They have that certain glow.

Another fabric is added…and the quilt begins to grow.

More children bring more patches which they happily affix,

and friends they’ve known forever are added to the mix.

The colors and patterns begin to blend as sewn in are hopes and dreams

and the larger that old quilt becomes the more beautiful it seems.

For a quilt is ever changing like the waves upon the sea

Reshaping a little every day…just like a family.

What makes a family special…when the quilt is all spread out,

we see connecting all the pieces…a thread of love throughout.

It’s true a quilt will age with time and it’s colors fade…however…

If the thread of love is strong…that quilt will last forever.

Perhaps that’s why I sleep so peacefully…knowing the family we have built

Is as warm and comforting and beautiful…as one of Deborah’s patchwork quilts.

PARENTHOOD

As a family we make memories

from our times of childhood

and as parents we attempt to ensure

all these memories are good.

So we do everything we can,

we expend all our energies,

to guarantee our family

is making happy memories.

But we’re also aware, life has its ups and downs

its ascendancies and dives.

And we can’t prevent bad memories

from entering our lives.

Which means when memories are bad

when unhappiness increases

we are there with all our love

to help pickup the pieces.

Knowing the best that we can hope for

in this thing called parenthood

is that when all is said and done…

most of our memories are good.

DAYLIGHT FOLLOWS NIGHT

In the wake of another senseless tragedy,

all to commonplace today,

It’s hard to know what one should do

or find the right words to say.

I do know when sadness overtakes us 

it’s easy to lose sight

how we spend half our life in the light of day

and half in the dark of night.

When we are steeped in sadness,

when we think darkness will forever stay

the moon and stars provide us hope

and help to light our way.

And don’t ignore the evening primrose

or the jasmine shining bright

or the moonflower or the water lilies…

which only bloom at night.

Reminders that even in our darkest moments

seeds of hope and love can be sown.

Reminders that even when surrounded by sadness

you…are not alone

I hope anyone who is sad today

will try hard not to lose sight…

will remember all the people who love you…

and how daylight follows night.

A WALK FOR PEACE

Lately, I’ve been dubious of religions…the way they’re painted on the news.

We see only the radical ones…with their racist and hateful views…

So in order to learn a little more…and help my religious knowledge increase…

I joined a crowd of diverse faiths as we took a walk for peace.

The idea: 

To try and understand one another…to begin a dialogue…

as we marched from church to church…from mosque to synagogue.

I spoke with people of many faiths. I can't remember all their names, 

but, no matter who I spoke with, the message was the same…

It was a message of love and understanding spread out for all to see

a message of hope and friendship…of togetherness and unity.

None of these people were hateful, instead, they shared complementary views

These were not the people…I have seen painted on the news.

As we walked together in fellowship…in love and harmony

I had to stop a moment as this thought occurred to me…

What if every religion is painting the same picture but from a slightly different view…

Using different perspectives, different palates, different brush strokes…different hues.

Any religion painted with love, meant to nourish the soul and heart…

though slightly different from the others…is itself a work of art.

And those religions painted with hate…have no place upon our wall

For by color and definition…they are not religions after all.

Religions, true religions, paint one message: to help love in our world increase…

And religions, true religions walk together and dream of peace.

NEW GLASSES

I remember getting glasses…and feeling so sublime.

I was in the second grade…seeing the world for the first time.

But my eyesight gets a little worse each year…a fact I can’t ignore.

I was 7 years old back then…today I’m sixty-four.

So when I picked up my new glasses yesterday…as I am wont to do.

I put them on my face…and I marveled at the view.

The world was bright and beautiful…so much clearer than before…

and I smiled until I saw my reflection…in the mirror on the door.

I couldn’t believe my eyes!  I was so much older than before!

I’m sure I didn’t look this old…in the last pair of glasses that I wore.

So I quickly ran and got my old glasses…and I was glad to see

a younger man was in the mirror…staring back at me.

So now I have two pair of glasses…one for seeing the world clearer…

and one I put on anytime…I’m looking in a mirror.

THINGS TO UNDERSTAND

He cannot see a rainbow…for his world is painted black.

He cannot see the sunshine…though he can feel it on his back.

She cannot hear her mother’s voice…they do their talking with their hands.

She cannot hear the music play…and we struggle to understand…

How this is even possible?

How did this come to be?

And what life must be like…for those so different than we.

So we attempt to comprehend without making too much of a fuss

And we try to share our world with them as they share their world with us.

And though we’ll never truly understand what being them is like…

we begin to realize, despite our differences,…we are so much more alike.

And she helps us understand her language and and we help him understand the sun

and we think: if this is true for us…shouldn’t it be true for everyone?

What if the things that make us different…instead of being feared or being banned…

What if the things that make us different…

are just different things to understand?

WHY DO WE MARCH?

“Why do we march for peace, Mom?” I heard her ask as they walked  next to me.

“For the same reason,” her mother answered, “that you and I plant a tree.”

“It will be many years from now…once that seed is laid

until your children…or perhaps your children’s children play under its shade.”

“We plant a tree for the future…” and here a smile crossed her face,

“hoping the tree we plant today will make tomorrow a better place.”

“That is why we march, my love…because I feel this need

To make the future better…to plant another seed.”

“A seed of love and optimism…that one day hate will cease…

so your children or your children’s children will finally play in peace.”

I felt proud to be marching next to them and smiled as I kept pace…

determined to help them plant a seed of hope today…

that will make tomorrow a better place.