A PARENT'S PRAYER

 

When we bring a baby into this world…we celebrate the day.

We hold our breath until the doctor tells us everything’s okay.

We’re happy knowing our babies are breathing on their own, have all their body parts,

that their blood is flowing as it should through their veins and arteries and hearts.

We want them to know how much we love them…that in their lives we’ll play a part.

We hope they grow up with gentle souls…and with kindness in their hearts.

As they grow we continue to celebrate them…each and every day.

It matters not if they’re transgender, bisexual…straight or gay.

It matter not what religion they adopt…which god to whom they choose to pray.

we want them to know we’re walking with them every step along the way.

Wherever their paths may lead them…our wishes for them remain the same

as they were the first day we laid eyes on them…when we first called out their name.

We want them to know how much we love them…that in their lives we’ll play a part.

We we hope their souls stay gentle…and kindness fills their hearts.

We want them to know that we will celebrate them…each and ever day

We want them to know we’ll be walking with them every step along the way.

TWO BOOKS

 

Working with many different people in the bookstore 

(This should come as no surprise)

I am blessed with many opportunities

to look into their eyes.

Each one of us is our own book…

chapters filled with joys and sorrows and cares…

and I love how our two books come together

when my eyes meet theirs.

For in that moment…that brief interchange

be it in the evening or in the day…

their eyes can often tell me more of their story

than their words could ever say.

I’m amazed how the eyes can convey a feeling

with but a momentary look…

exchanged for but an instant

over the purchase of a book.

And, although our stories come together only for a moment…

and then that moments gone…

It’s nice for each of us to be a portion

of the current page we’re working on.

It’s nice to think from a simple exchange

that started with a look…

I could be a sentence…

perhaps a paragraph

in someone else’s book.

And from that brief encounter

where our two stories intertwine

they could be a sentence…

perhaps a paragraph

in mine.

UNTIL SOMETHING BETTER COMES ALONG

 

We cannot agree on everything!

We have different morals…different values…different beliefs…

but, I imagine, we can all agree that our time on Earth is brief.

That in the vastness of the universe..we humans are quite small…

that with all the knowledge out there…

no one individual can possibly possess it all.

To think we could all agree on everything 

is too innocent…

to naïve

for we all have different things we know 

and different things that we believe.

We live by customs we grew up with…

by rules we feel are strong…

and we’re not willing to change these…

unless they’re proven to be wrong.

But philosophies are meant to change 

when we realize they are wrong…

meant to be replaced 

when something better, in our mind, comes along.

Here is but one philosophy…

it’s been with me for a while:

I believe in laughing

singing

dancing

sharing

acceptance 

giving

I believe in the power of a smile.

I believe in doing no harm

I believe in showing love to everyone I see…

I believe in treating the Earth 

as if she’s a member of my family.

This is how I try to live my life…

sometimes I get it right…

sometimes I get it wrong…

but this shall be my guiding philosophy…

until something better comes along.

HOW TO PUT AN END TO WAR?

 

There is a wonderful sensation parents feel…

it is quite beyond compare.

at first it may seem solitary…

but…

it’s shared by parents everywhere.

It matters not what nationality, 

what religion, 

what color…

this is a universal feeling…

one all parents find as captivating…

as enchanting…

as appealing.

Their children have all gone to bed…

they’ve long since quit counting sheep

when parents peek inside their bedrooms…

to stop and watch them sleep.

And in those quiet moments 

as light seeps in from the hall

all parents wonder how they can feel so much love…

for someone so innocent and small.

They smile at the stillness…

it’s a time when all activity has ceased…

their children are safe, secure and happy…

their life is calm…

their world at peace.

It’s a moment parents all across the world

hold in high esteem…

A moment shared by everyone

as they watch their children dream

For in that moment 

before they turn and bid the day adieu

parents realize how lucky they are…

that their dreams are coming true.

Quietly and lovingly they close the door…

knowing this memory is one they’ll keep

until tomorrow night when they return…

to watch their children sleep.

I wonder would we still have wars….

would hatred for each other run as deep

If instead of fighting 

we just compared notes 

on how our children sleep?

FRIENDSHIP WITH A RABBIT

 

I met this rabbit on my morning walk…two months ago…near as I recollect…

He was sitting in the center of where two roads intersect.

I said, “Good morning, little rabbit. Isn’t it a pretty morning? How are you?”

Little rabbit did not answer…but then…rabbits seldom do.

But neither did he hop away…he just watched me walk on by…

I remember thinking…that was odd…and pausing to wonder why.

The next day…the same scenario….if my memory is correct…

the two of us met up again where the two roads intersect.

This became our normal routine…I’d greet him…walk by…he wouldn’t’ flee…

until…one day…without notice…he began to hop along with me.

Sometimes he’d hop beside me on the street…sometimes on people’s lawns instead…but, realizing I walked too slow…he often hopped ahead.

We’d walk and hop together to the end of the street and I don’t know the reason why…

it was here he’d stop…look up at me…as if to say goodbye.

The other morning, as had become our routine, I saw him up ahead…but much to my surprise…as I neared the spot we’d meet…little rabbit faded from my eyes.

Were the street lights and shadows playing tricks on me…bewildering my eyes…

or was that the ghost of little rabbit stopping by to say goodbye?

All I know is from that moment…I remember exactly where and when…

Little rabbit’s not been back to hop with me again.

I take this as a reminder to cherish our friendships every minute of every day…

because we never know in this ever-changing world when they may fade away.

And though I know ours was a short friendship…

I still miss him…

and in retrospect…

I shall always cherish a friendship made…

where two roads intersect.

SILVER AND GOLD

 

There is so much wisdom at our fingertips these days

that’s been passed down throughout the ages

penned for our edification by wise women and men

by philosophers and sages.

Perusing their different writings in their different languages 

causes one to happily proclaim:

In all the words they left behind,

their message is the same.

There before us in a few simple words

they left the key to the art of living.

They wrote of 

Love

Compassion

Acceptance.

They wrote of giving

and forgiving.

They left behind these words as a gift for future us

knowing someday we wold read them

and hoping an entire world of people

one day

would, also, heed them

For they knew the words they left behind are only silver

once written down…

once told.

and only when all the people heed them

will they turn from silver into gold.

Many generations have tried their best

the words of the sages to fulfill…

only to fail in their attempt…

hoping the next generation will.

My generation has also failed 

but I hold onto the hope…

that I’m still not too old

to see the day when their words of wisdom 

written long ago

turn from silver into gold.

KEN, ANNE AND ELEANOR

 

The Holocaust was a reminder to us…

besides being a most horrific crime…

that dark forces of evil and intolerance 

have been flowing since the dawn of time.

If you want a sampling of how cruel and inhuman 

we, who call ourselves human, can be…

I’ll be frank…watch Ken Burns’s ‘The U. S. 

and the Holocaust’ and read Anne’s diary.

An innocent young child who, because of her religion, 

faced unimaginable enmity and strife…

who never had the chance to grow old…

to have a long and happy life.

She was but one of millions of Jewish people 

who, at the hands of the Nazis, died…

a crime so horrific it didn’t have a word to describe it…

it does not…genocide.

But as I watched Ken Burns ‘Holocaust’ and read Anne’s words…thinking no crimes have ever been as gruesome as these…

I began to wonder if there were other children in the world 

who have written similar diaries.

Looking back on the history of humankind…

I imagine there are a few…

and as difficult as it would be to hear their words…

I think we need to read them too.

Other groups of humans 

whose annihilation was in other human’s plans…

If these children had written diaries…

would their words be similar to Anne’s?

From Native Americans, Blacks, people of color, women 

who have endured so much torture and pain…

to LGBTQ+ people all over the world 

and most recently…the people of Ukraine.

There are times when the stream of evil begins to overflow its banks 

and no matter how much we pray…

its waters rush in determined to eliminate 

anyone who gets in their way.

When groups of people are signaled out…belittled…

made to feel different and small….

until more diaries our discovered…

Anne’s words must speak for them all.

Anne never got to finish her diary…

she died just before the end of the war….

but I imagine she wouldn’t mind if it was finished 

with words from Eleanor…

Eleanor…who throughout it all…remained steadfast…

resolute and strong….

She said there can be no compromise at any point 

with things that we know are wrong.

Perhaps one way to keep the stream of evil contained…

to keep it from overflowing its shore…

would be to watch Ken’s series

read through the pages of Anne’s diary…

and heed the words of Eleanor.