LITTLE THINGS

I have always felt myself extremely blessed to have found myself a wife

Who believes very little is needed to make a happy life.

Before you think she doesn’t mean it, that it’s just idle talk

She has it perched upon our kitchen counter…painted on a rock.

After 25 years of marriage…a marriage not at all routine

Let me take a minute to show you exactly what she means.

It’s listening when the other person talks and hearing what they say.

It’s a card to say I love you at the end of a bad day.

It’s a little gift that’s given when there’s no reason for a gift.

Just to say the words I love you or to give her day a lift.

It’s a drive through the countryside with a picnic in the back.

It’s making pancakes for dinner and sharing one large stack.

It’s reaching something on the top shelf when Deborah is unable

It’s the family gathered for a short time around the kitchen table.

It’s sharing laughter, stories and joy with our children and grandchildren too

And smiling in contentment when the evening is through.

It’s enjoying our family together and creating new heirlooms

It’s holding hands, stealing a kiss or a smile across a room.

It’s taking one grandchild and swooping them away

For a sleepover and a dinner out as we celebrate their day.

It’s the sharing of our deepest fears, our long range hopes and wishes

It’s one person doing the cooking while the other does the dishes

It’s a surprise call in the middle of the day just to hear her voice

It’s being together when you are sorrowful or when you both rejoice

It’s watching a romantic movie with a little popcorn on the side

It’s remembering all the reasons you chose her as your bride.

It’s watching the sunrise together and thinking of the day you met

It’s lying in bed together after the evening sun has set

It’s a walk under a starlit night or a stroll along the shore

It’s simply living a life with another person you adore.

Yes very little is needed to make a happy life is not just idle talk

It’s the little things that mean the most and make love solid as a rock.

WORLD BREAD DAY

Today is a day to celebrate bread for without its nutrients we’d all be dead.

Without bread to put inside our belly where would we spread peanut butter and jelly?

And I’m sure everyone agrees, without bread there is no grilled cheese.

When I was young I’d only bite Wonder bread so pure and white.

Then I found a bread I loved to eat, a dark and chewy one…whole wheat.

On a health kick I said, “Let’s get real.” And my choice was a simple one- oatmeal.

For Breakfast one morning I got brazen and made French toast with Cinnamon Raisin.

My mom bought one to make me grow and I discovered the beauty of sourdough.

At the downtown deli one caught my eye, a pastrami sandwich on Jewish rye.

I found out if you add a sweet pickle you could eat anything on pumpernickel.

Today to be as healthy as can be…I’ll even eat bread that’s gluten free.

As this poem gets too long this I know…pleas pass the bran…I have to go.

COLUMBUS DAY

When I was young I couldn’t wait to go outside and play

Since school was not in session each and every Columbus Day.

We were taught all of the stories…how he sailed the ocean blue

With the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria in 1492.

We learned he was a great explorer, across the oceans his boats swirled

And we thought this Italian man who sailed for Spain discovered our new world.

He’s such a navigation hero our history books proclaim

That cities across this nation are christened in his name.

He’s been given the ultimate accolade…banks are closed and children play

As we commemorate Christopher Columbus with his very own holiday...

But then a strange thing happened, I found the history books were skewed

And I wasn’t ready for the things I read or the feelings that ensued.

It seems this new world theory comes with a little hitch

Columbus wasn’t looking for America he just wanted to get rich.

He thought he’d sail to Asia when he left Spain that fateful day

But he was wrong about the route and America got in the way.

it was in the Caribbean not America where Columbus made landfall

The fact is he never landed on or visited American at all.

About his claim of discovering a new world…it’s a very misleading stat

I think the Native Americans might have something to say about that.

Because if I’m not mistaken they were here many years before

Christopher Columbus accidentally bumped into the shore.

And would a man who we’ve been taught was courageous, great and brave

Kill the people who were already here or turn them into slaves?

Would we still look at Columbus Day with as much innocence and pride

If we knew how he decimiated a people and committed genocide?

No, I think it’s time we stop giving Columbus so much dignity and glory

And teach our children while they’re in school…both sides of the story.

Perhaps then, like South Dakota, we will commemorate and cheer

The real discoverers of America…you know, the ones who were already here.

So the next generation of children will be excited to go outside and play

Since school won’t be in session to celebrate Native American Day. 

PEOPLE WATCHING

Deborah and I love to people watch whenever we get the chance

It’s amazing all the things you observe if you take the time to glance.

We see sadness and heartaches every time we turn on the evening news

But when you walk among the people you get a different view.

On the streets, at the airports, anywhere that we might be

As we watch the people around us we’re surprised at what we see.

If you take the time to really look, if you stop and rest a while

You’ll see love is all around you and its existence will beguile

From out of nowhere as you’re walking comes a wonderful surprise

You notice a couple smiling at one another and you see love within their eyes.

Then you begin to look around and as your field of vision expands

You see another couple arm in arm or simply holding hands.

You see families bunched together with the little ones in tow

And you realize that’s what you looked like a few short years ago.

You see people recognize each other… then hug and laugh and talk

And strangers smiling at strangers as you continue on your walk.

You see that person helping this one and this one helping that

And you wonder when people hug…does everybody pat?

If you take the time to stop and watch the people along your way

You’ll quickly realize that love stuff…happens every day.

I know there is trouble in the world. I know there’s suffering and pain

Perhaps I’m somewhat of an idealist…or perhaps I am insane.

But if you take the time to people watch…before your day is though

You’ll see more love than hatred…and you might enjoy the view.

A PLACE WHERE THE ANGELS CAN PLAY

When someone is taken senselessly, like the victims of Sandy Hook

We don’t know where to go for answers, we don’t know where to look.

We are angry, no we are furious, we are bitter…we are sad

As we not only mourn the loss of their life… but the life they should have had.

When a hurricane randomly destroys whole towns as it did on the Eastern shore

People begin to lose their faith, “Why me, God?” they implore.

The truth is there are no answers and any reasons would be imprecise

Besides when you stop to think about it, is there any answer that would suffice?

A firefighter from New Jersey combined with a host of volunteers

Has found a way to ease the pain…to substitute laughter for the tears.

It’s called the Sandy Ground Project and it was started as a way

To provide hope where there was none…at a place where angels can play.

26 playgrounds are being built so that in time we won’t overlook

The teachers… the children…the families…the victims of Sandy Hook.

They’re being built to help the people who perhaps now need them the most

The people and families who lost everything when Sandy roared up the coast.

We all have tragedies in our lives and must cope with the sadness they spawn

We turn to our friends and family as we search for reasons to go on.

Then one day we smile, not that we’re over our loss, for that sorrow will never end

But we ask ourselves a question and the answer helps our heart start to mend.

We think of the person whose life was cut short, we are forced to reflect…to review

Then slowly we step out of the darkness and ask…what would they want us to do?

And though it doesn’t help ease the sorrow it does help us all to survive

Because the answer to that simple question helps welcome joy back into our lives.

And if we’re lucky the joy and the sorrow coexist, yes they find a way

Perhaps together they form the hope we all need…at a place where the angels can play.

THE BAD BOSS

If you are a good boss or have one then let me now bid you adieu

Because you’ll find there’s no reason to keep reading as this poem isn’t for you.

No this poem is about those bad bosses, the bosses filled with anger and spite

You know the one I’m taking about-the ones you kill in your dreams every night!

They’re the ones who manage the office, or the ones who tend to the store.

They demand everything they can from you, then immediately demand even more.

They’re happy with what you are doing as long as they’re the ones looking good.

But they never say thank you, good job, or other things you think that they should.

They usually make more money than you, while you do all of the work.

You try to be kind and accepting, but it’s hard to be kind to jerk.

So the next time your boss gives you grief…the next time you may wish him dead

Here’s a little something to remember, something to keep tucked in the back of your head

Yes when you think your boss is possibly the worst boss you ever thought he could be.

Smile to yourself and remember, boss spelled backwards is double S…O…B! 

LISTEN TO THE WIND

While sitting on my porch today I paused…and then I grinned.

For I had the good fortune of listening to the wind.

It’s Fall up in the mountains and with Fall we have the breeze

And today I heard her laughing as she rustled through the trees. 

We never see the wind go by…we know not where she begins

We only see where she is going and we know where she has been.

Leaves and flowers and feathers float on her back with ease

As they travel over the mountains, past the rivers…through the trees.

Aromas and sounds from all around us waft gently through the air

Drifting by momentarily on their way to who knows where.

The wind doesn’t stop to think about her message or wonder about her song

And she he cheerfully gives a lift to whatever rides along.

On the wings of the wind today floating merrily…drifting slow

I heard the laughter of little children and I heard a rooster crow.

While I sat in the midday sun enjoying the mountain and the view

Floating by upon the wind was the smell of Bar-B-Que.

Yes while I sat on my porch today watching the wind…enjoying the air

I had to wonder was I supremely lucky, or did I have too much time to spare?

Either way may I make a suggestion when you need a smile or a grin

Take a moment, stop, sit down, and listen to the wind.