CHANCE

He showed up unannounced…this dog we’d never seen

He stood there, tail wagging…his faced pressed against our screen.

We opened the door to say hello…to, perhaps, pat him on his head

but he had other plans for us and slipped inside instead.

He followed me out to the porch…the scenario unfolding…

Was it my wonderful personality attracting him…or the cracker I was holding?

He finished my cracker, every bit…he did not leave a trace

He sat there while I petted him…and occasionally licked my face.

We discovered that name is Chance…that he loves nothing better than to roam

when his owner stopped in to say hello…and take his companion home.

He said Chance likes to wander but an internal GPS he lacks

Because sometimes in his roaming he can’t find his way back.

And it is no use trying to call him…as he traverses new frontiers

there’s no chance he can hear me…’cause he’s deaf in his left ear.

But when he can’t find his way back…he’ll stop wherever he has roamed

And howl until I find him…then together we’ll walk home.

And as they walked together down our driveway…it was a wonderful epilogue

to see the love a dog has for his owner…and an owner for his dog.

And that night we bought dog biscuits…because here’s something that we learn:

There’s a good chance Chance will roam again…

a good chance Chance will return.

MOONLIGHT

I’m not quite sure how it works...or how it came to be...

but when I walk in moonlight…I forget what’s troubling me.

It happens when I walk on the beach in an early morning breeze,

when I walk along a lonely path…surrounded by the trees.

When I walk among the mountains…when I stop to dream

in a meadow bathed by sunlight, beside a lake, or river or stream…

It seems nature has provided us a multitude of ways…

to add peace and harmony to our nights and serenity to our days…

By inviting us all to take a walk…perhaps this is her goal..

to unburden our minds, comfort our hearts and quietly soothe our souls.

ONE RED TULIP

Every year as Winter wanes and the Spring sun illuminates the skies

from the sepia surroundings of our garden…one red tulip is the first to rise.

It is an amazing spectacle…a miracle of design

And I often think, how that little red tulip’s life…is similar to mine.

The tulip celebrates a birthday every year… every year it starts anew.

Which, if i’m not mistaken, is exactly what I do.

The first years of a tulip’s life …when it’s life has just begun

It only looks to be showered by the rain…and nurtured by the sun.

So too it was with me those first years…for I had no regrets

and I was always happy when my basic needs were met.

In the middle of a tulips life…before each season ends

It looks to other flowers and insects and birds to be its friend.

Here again with the tulip I am joyfully compared

For in the middle years I realized…life is better when it’s shared.

As the tulip ages it’s not concerned whether it’s bright red, big or small

It finds it’s comfort and it’s happiness in being a tulip after all.

So it was with me as more and more birthdays came and went

I settled into who I am…and I finally became content.

And the older we get…the tulip and I, when each new birthday does arrive

We are happy to be celebrating…happy to be alive.

Perhaps that’s why I love birthdays…for the possibilities a new year brings

Perhaps that’s why I’m so enamored with the first red tulip every Spring.

TEARS

I find tears mystifying…and without trying to be coy…

How is it the well supplying tears of sorrow is shared with tears of joy?

It’s true...sometimes we cry from happiness...

sometimes heartache is to blame...

But why, if we cry for different reasons, 

do all tears look the same?

And where does all this water come from? 

Is there an ocean in my eye?

Does my heart control the faucet?

Will the well ever run dry?

Are tears meant to help cleanse our souls?

Why do some tears seem to glow?

Does crying help grow seeds of happiness 

while dousing flames of woe?

Some of our tears are personal. 

Only we know where they come from

Other tears are universal

and are shared by everyone…

When chemicals are unleashed on innocent people

When a man with a gun walks into a school and makes people die…

tears flow from faces all around the world

and we are left to wonder why…

Why does this keeps happening?

Why does the world do nothing…but stand by?

Perhaps it’s time to act together

and do something more than cry.

If not…then tears of sorrow 

will forever cascade from our eyes…

the faucet will remain open

and the well will soon run dry.

THE ELEPHANT AND THE GIRL

We visited an elephant sanctuary and once again I can affirm

of all the animals out there…my favorite is the pachyderm.

Specifically the elephant…at least as long as they exist…

because, since 1989, they’ve been on the endangered species list.

But this story is about a little girl…she was only three years old

but what she did at the sanctuary…was amazing to behold.

She entertained those of us in the crowd…to our collective jubilation

as she toddled around and bellowed out her best elephant imitation. 

What made it more amusing…coming from someone so young and small

is that the sounds coming out of her little mouth didn’t sound like an elephant at all.

Those of us who heard her thought…that’s not an elephant song!

Those of us who thought we knew…could not have been more wrong!

For the elephant also heard the little girl and immediately commenced

In walking over to her and inserting his trunk straight through the fence.

They stood there separated but together and it gave our hearts a whirl

to see how they communicated…the elephant and the girl.

And I thought for a wonderful moment how the elephant and the girl were linked…

Burt how when girl grows up to be big and strong…the elephant will be extinct.

HOW HAPPY

When we are young it’s easy…we can’t make a mistake.

If we want to know how old we are…we count the candles on our cake.

As we grow older, we still have candles, but when it comes to the amount…

unlike when we were children…we pay less attention to the count.

Joy becomes more important than time…within our heart and head

So we stop counting up the years…and count our happiness instead.

When we look back on old memories, of ourselves…our friends and family members

It's not the age we think about…it’s the happiness we remember.

Oh we may be sad a moment…thinking time has moved too fast..

Sad, not because we’re older…but because that moment’s passed.

But sadness quickly turns to joy when we realize…however,

Although time goes by so quickly…our memories last forever.

Now I smile when I celebrate a birthday…or look at old photographs again..

For I know how happy I am now…and how happy I was then.

COMPASSION

She was trying to teach about compassion, about charity as a way of living.

But when times are tough for everyone how can anyone talk of giving?

“We could begin with the homeless man on the corner,” she said.  “I know his name is Jack.”

“He begs for food, sleeps in a box and has no shirt upon his back.”

“You pass him every Sunday before you sit upon your pew.”

“Giving must begin with us…is there something we can do?”

The heads of his congregation sagged and their eyes fell to the floor

“But we have barely enough to make ends meet,” one woman said.

“We can’t give anymore.”

Her face was cloaked in sadness until one young boy walked up the aisle.

He was holding something in his hands…and on his face he wore a smile.

“I have lots of shirts at home”, he said…and she thought his voice divine.

“More shirts than I could ever wear.…”Would Jack like one of mine?”

And she knew she needn’t preach no more.

For the young boy did all he could

to teach about compassion and giving…

and the congregation understood.