A Collection of Verse

"Kwiet" "The Unborn Child"

SOME OF MY POETRY COLLECTION

To see many of these poems illustrated with photos and accompanied by music,
visit From My Heart and Songs For The Butterfly.

FROM MY HEART

My heart's a backyard haven
Where cherished roses grow.
Few visitors have seen them.
The gate was locked, I know.

It's been my secret garden.
I've planted it for years.
It took a lot of tending,
Was watered with my tears.

One day a gentle sunrise
Streamed in to mark the way,
And told me now's the hour
For cutting this bouquet

AND THE WORLD GOES ROUND AGAIN

Such a very simple scene--
A small cafe, a table cleared,
One couple leaves, the next stands by--

And the world goes round again.

After sunset stars appear
With a promise of new dawn,
Sunrise glow and a new day--

And the world goes round again.

A darkened room, and old eyes close.
Next door a baby born.
Today my turn, tomorrow yours--

And the world goes round again.

There is something magical
In the way God planned the rain,
Flowers bloom and seed and die--

And the world goes round again.

Mountains lift and waters flow,
Streams are fed, the rapids go,
Waters make the earth renew--

And the world goes round again.

WALKING IN THE GARDEN

If I feel distressed when I get home from work,
I kick off my shoes for my favorite perk.
A stroll through my garden, a daily surprise,
And it never fails to bring joy to my eyes.

The roses are fragrant, the tree looks so grand,
The ivy is cheerful and growing out of hand.
A pinch from an herb starts a good supper plan.
Can I reach that rainbow? I just bet I can.

My mom would have loved this, my small paradise.
And thank you, Lord, for the gift of my eyes.

My neighbor is ill and would love a bouquet.
Looks like there'll be tomatoes for giving away.

Well, look at that vine! It has all come in bloom!
If I collect one more rock I'll be just out of room...

Here's a drink for you, rosemary. The birds love this seed.
Here I'm talking to plants, but it's what we all need.

Just a walk in the garden so eases my mind.
There's no better therapy ever I'd find.

At last a deep breath, a smile, and a sigh.
Life began in a garden. I think I know why.

TOGETHER FOREVER

Every day
in every way
I love you
more and more.

You are my light
and my best friend--
home is where you are.

The years run by;
I can't recall
my life apart from you.

It may be from eternity
that we were one, not two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My best friend--
With you in my life,
I have a second heart.
All my joys are doubled,
All my sorrows are cut in half.
No matter if we're far apart,
I feel the comfort of your presence.
We've been through so many things--
Do you remember that long trail?
Sickness, health, and pantries bare,
Tears and many smiles.
We've even been to Hell
And came back to tell the tale.

COLORS OF MY LIFE

My heart will sing the colors of my life.
My eyes have seen the rainbow days of life.
Amber glow, scarlet flame, lilac fade.
All the colors I've lived I have made.

They cross o'er the years like a sigh,
Like a rainbow there etched in the sky.
Like a bridge all across my life.
Rainbow bridge reaching across my life.

TRIBUTE TO ANCESTORS

The pictures there are faded.
I look upon each one
And think about the lives they lived
And everything they've done.

The starchy shirts, the Sunday best,
The dark clothes so severe.
What is that look in those quiet eyes?
Was it vision? Was it fear?

I've researched all their records:
The births, the deaths, the Wills.
I know their travels on land and sea,
Their hardships. My heart stills.

Their suffering unspeakable;
So many had to flee
From war. starvation, loss of home.
They still fought to be free.

Their travels over muddy trails,
Rough transport, cold and heat;
Food often rationed carefully,
Exhausted bodies, aching feet.

Some carved a homeland out of swamps,
Some choked on windblown dust,
Some slept in cabins where snow came in--
Persisting all in trust.

Their clothes they often made themselves,
From dawn to dusk their chores;
Nothing was wasted, all was used;
They planted, laid by stores.

They worked too hard, they died too young:
They had no luxury.
They never failed to stay the course;
And the fruits have come to me.

The hardship's not shown on their brows.
Their eyes are calm, their will;
Yes, it is history, what they did--
But it is family, still.

I think I see a glimmer there.
Those steady eyes may be
Conveying one strong message:
They did it all for me.

I think they labored all their days
To leave a legacy
Of brighter lives for those to come;
They did it all for me.

Let me be worthy of their gift.
I never want to see
A day I take for granted
What my family did for me.

MAMA'S SILVERWARE

When I was young I didn't want
To use old silverware.
Such a bother! Who had time?
Who could even care?

Life was today, and that old stuff
Was really out of date.
I had lots of things to do,
Always running, always late.

And time went on. Then Mama died.
Her silver came to me.
I shoved the chest under the bed.
Out of sight, out of mind, you see.

On holidays I drug it out.
The polishing made me groan.
And time went on. Then I got ill,
With time to think alone.

The months of pain, the helplessness,
Near death--I lived it through.
I suffered chemo, but could I whine
When children were suffering it, too?

When I got well, I found a joy
In the most amazing things:
The wonder of flowers, the kiss of rain,
The thrill that a rainbow brings.

And even more astounding,
I pulled laughter down off a shelf,
I gathered jokes to pass around,
And I learned to laugh at myself.

And right along about that time
I began to touch with care
Those grand old forks and spoons and knives--
Mama's silverware.

And every time I brought it out,
I saw as plain as day
How Mama smiled when she received it
On her wedding day.

And all the dinners and all the tables
That silver had been a guest
Just blended there with my own friends
When I wanted to serve them the best.

Then the polishing became a glow
Of many feasts and years
That old silver had endured
Through laughter and through tears.

How many birthdays, friends now gone,
And Easters, all those springs!
Remembering all those lemon pies
For friends dressed in their finest things.

Thanksgiving dinners--let me see--
Yes, there were quite a few
From Mama's first to just last year--
I think it's 82.

And all the times the gravy spilled,
The family jokes, old stories told,
Lots of photos passed around
Till the meal would be stone cold.

Yet how they tasted wonderful,
The dinners on those days.
I think it was the silverware
Instead of gourmet ways.

It's such a gift, that everydays
Will make a memory
That can be treasured down the years
By folks you'll never see.

Never would I ever dream
That I would learn to care
And look with love on that old stuff--
Mama's silverware.

LOST MEMORIES

They traveled far together
For over 50 years.
Two hearts that never parted
Through many smiles and tears.

They managed through the wartime,
One of their few times apart.
They brought the skill of marriage
To something of an art.

When one would have to travel,
The other came along.
Wherever one was welcome,
The other would belong.

One was bright as sunshine,
One the reflecting moon.
One would lead the dance,
And one would hum the tune.

One would start a story,
One would tell its close.
One would grab a camera,
One would strike a pose.

Important cares of one
Were then the cares of two.
What one was contemplating
The other always knew.

But slowly something happened,
A thief who quiet came.
Then one became more watchful.
And one forgot the name.

A shadow fell upon them
And slowly built a wall.
One grieved in deepest sadness,
And one could not recall.

How much they loved each other
Since many years they met.
Now one cannot remember
And one cannot forget.

TREASURE HOARD

The sun is slipping away before my eyes,
And miracles lie burnished in long rays
That hid familiar streets in day's disguise
When common gold flit past the heedless gaze.

Could I have saved the sun, gilt-echoing
Her plunge, in crystalled laugh or sculptured frown?
Have cupped farewells from robin's fading wing?
Arrested satin petals?---The sun goes down.

Eternal sunsets rule the world, eluding
Jeweled prisons, rich or poor, to steal
The path of gypsies--fleeing or intruding
Free of ceremony's crushing seal.

Gold-slender rays descend on darkened lands
To rest on silent wonder's open hands.
1963

GOD GAVE HANDS FOR LOVE

Rough hands toiling in grime and heat,
Thin hands white with strain,
Young hands taking a hopeful wheel,
Gnarled hands bending in pain--

Asking our help to order His world,
God gave hands for love.

A mother brushing her daughter's hair,
A lover clasping one dear,
A father protecting a little child,
A brother waiting near--

Asking our help to comfort His world,
God gave hands for love.

Brushing fair colors into new life,
Smoothing soft clay from a jar,
Teasing bright strings into silver song,
Tracing the path of a star--

Asking our help to beauty His world,
God gave hands for love.

Hands stretched out to answer need,
Hands spread out for greeting,
Hands raised up to carry a load,
Hands reached out in meeting--

Asking our help to comfort His friends,
God gave hands for love.

Contented hands holding a treasured book,
Peaceful hands folded in prayer,
Silent hands still and unconscious in sleep,
Quiet hands resting from care--

Asking our help to cherish His gifts,
God gave hands for love.

Feeling the satin of roses and dew,
Touching the arm of a friend,
Receiving a gift from a trusting child,
Having a hand to lend--

Asking our help to cherish His gifts,
God gave hands for love.

Hands giving time to a lonely heart,
Hands offering wine and bread,
Hands wrapping shoulders in warmer shawls,
Hands closing a crime, unread--

Asking our help to care for His cares,
God gave hands for love.

MOTHER

I wish that my Mother
Could come back today
To sit back and smile that
Her kids found their way.
God knows that we vexed her
And caused her some grief;
But as we turned out,
She could breathe her relief.
We know that she wanted
The best for us all.
I'd just like to hug her.
I'd sure like to call.
Nowadays we do email;
She'd be saying "Oy Vay!"
Then she'd laugh and go try it!
But she had to go away.
She left 'way too young
And in too much pain,
But the garden she planted
Has become golden grain.
I think when I see her
We'll laugh and we'll cry--
Then we'll put on the coffee:
The rest will drop by.

APRIL DEATH

Chill loneliness
Of rain-soaked twilight broods
Above wet roofs,
And hushes Spring across the lawn
Around deserted school next door.
So quiet there
Where empty windows stare
Unseeing at the budding trees
And wait for Sunday's sunrise.

. . . . .

And quiet here
Where now a candle
Pushes darkness to the edge of life,
And Aves' fragrance softly drifts to fading orchid.
Dim sidewalks of concern lie now deserted,
Uncurtained windows almost dark;
Budding Spring is hushed
In lonely twilight,
Washed in rain
And quiet peace
For Sunday.

1963

STORY OF A SURVIVOR

You cannot tell a Survivor
By looking in the eyes.
Some pain leaves no bruises,
Some tears bring forth no cries.

The first sign of a Survivor
Is a loss that hurts so deep,
Be it illness, fear, abuse, despair,
Or a loved one gone to sleep.

A Survivor is one who's faced hell
And come back still able to smile.
A Survivor is one whose eyes see the dark
Or whose heart has been broken awhile.

Survivors come in all shapes and worlds,
And their ranks are not limited by age.
They may have been children abandoned
Or forced to turn an unwilling page.

Like the flowering vine torn asunder,
The Survivor oftimes blooms the most,
Protecting and sheltering others
From the sight of a horrible ghost.

You cannot tell a Survivor
By looking in the eyes.
The face and the smile may lead you
To completely miss the disguise.

If you watch by the road in your travels
You may see a glorious sight:
A Survivor there hugging another
To blossom away a dark night.

REFLECTIONS

Our lives are running
Side by side
On different roads,
Yet we reside

Within one home--
A friendship place
To share a magic
Time and space

We keep in touch
With much to share,
And in the quiet,
We know we care.

Our separate hearts
Are somehow one
Like a reflection
In the sun.

My friend, your soul has touched my life,
Your heart has made mine smile;
My spirit gladly walks beside you,
A gift I have a little while.

I see a star:
You make it new.
I know you not,
Yet always knew.

My every thought
Finds yours there too.
So much our visions
Share a view.

I guess they call
It destiny
When strangers find
A rendezvous,
When you bring out
The best in me
And I reflect
The best in you.

MY STAR TREASURE

Send me out among the stars
And ask me what my eye can see,
I'll read the names and faces of
The people cherished most by me.

In life they tell me what I earn
Will be my key to happiness.
From other worlds, I see so true
The things in life that really bless.

It's not that ladder, climbed on earth,
It's not the cash makes life worthwhile,
But gentle hearts who gave me love,
With music, verse, sweet words, a smile.

I count each one, like treasured gold
And place them at my rainbow's end
With never fear of losing them,
The ones I truly call my friend.

My life is full, my life's complete.
I've sailed on inspiration's skies
With cherished friends beside me there
Who filled my heart, my ears, my eyes.

A WINTER EVENING

Day blizzard settles
in swept peace?

It ends.

Interest unbends
over an easy chair.
Thought shuffles, mumbling,
out a dusky door.
Effort drowses
under friendly blankets.

It is finished.
Rest.

CHRISTMAS POETRY

Christmas Snow

softly falling,
a curtain light
around still spires
in peaceful night

(He comes)

slipping past,
small or unseen,
to rest on straws
or hide between

(He comes, He comes)

splendored mite
in white disguise
with captured fires
from open skies

(He comes, He comes, He comes)

Gift

Love set his sun
So kindly far
That only wise
"Have seen His star."

Time's children filled
Wide, quiet skies
From one star caught
In open eyes.

Life waits with gifts--
A seeking one
Finds tiny stars
That are a Sun.

Meditation in a Cave

Almost beyond man's view are fiery spheres
Defying calculation, splashing, spun
Against an empty dark to poise for one
Exploding second wise men label years.

Beneath expanding vision's reach appears
A plasm street where urgent cities run
On tiptoe, not distracting eyes that shun
Such trifles for the flash that burns and blears.

Yet heedless, carnival and sky-crossed light
Announce pale wonders into silent skies
And hypnotize star-searching, weary sight
That dares to lift unguarded, listless eyes.

Yet could a down-cast gaze rend dazzled night
To shear the shadows from a Child's disguise?

Epiphany

Gold,
Frankincense,
And myrrh they bring

To newborn-child--
Priest,
Prophet,
King...

Do they with awful wisdom see
His three-tiered crown,
His dignity,
The death He deigns to live in them
Invisibly?

Christmas Light

"Gloria"

broke over the hillsides
when constant angel voices
no more could be confined.

"Glory to God"

covered the hillsides
where shepherds' daily watch
gave eyes to teach the blind.

"Glory"

lighted the hillsides
as a helpless Child
flamed a Sun beyond mankind.

Lord, that I may hear.
Lord, that I may see.
Lord, that I may find.

YESTERDAYING

When twilight falls
My mind goes straying
To years gone by,
To yesterdaying.

From the mists I see a smile,
My Mother lives again.
I walk the paths at Grandpa's farm,
Sweet clover nods in rain.

And there I see a little girl.
She looks a lot like me
Before she grew and roamed the world,
Just full of hope, so free.

I smell the fields of new-cut hay,
I see the harvest moon.
Was that so very long ago?
Could it be gone so soon?

I've marked my days, Ive charted years.
I've lost and loved and won.
I've painted rainbows in my heart.
I've captured the setting sun.

The years have worn old pathways,
Tears have been shed, and dried.
A few missteps down wrong dirt trails,
A little patience tried.

In just a moment it has passed,
And I stand here alone.
That which was big has turned to small.
The little girl has grown.

Now in the mirror I see a face.
Have I become so wise?
I see the wonders of my life
Through brand-new child's eyes.

WEAVINGS

We each have our own place to go
With special colors ours to show.
Our days that seem a mystery
Will find their place in history
To change the face of worlds worn,
To imprint love on hearts unborn.

No one's walking silent there.
No one's words are lost in air.
Somehow all the raveled ends
Are used to weave eternal blends.
We may not see; we may not know--
Our tapestry will glow and grow.

LOVE SONG TO MIST

Mist on the water, waves on the shore,
Snowflakes on the mountains, and more...

Raindrops on hillsides, dew on the flowers,
Clouds chasing the hours...

I've moved among them, I know them all,
Everywhere I've heard waters call.
Ever they circle, ever they spin,
Forever teaching my soul to begin again.

Mist on the water, waves on the shore,
Cleanse my heartbreak forevermore.
Mystery water, all secrets you've found;
Eager, I listen for your every sound.

Mist on the water, waves on the shore
Open my heart to a miracle's door;
Mist on the water, telling life's tale,
Teaching my spirit to sail.

Mist on the water, rainbows I see,
Time that's been lent me I'll go sea to sea,
Always finding new waters ashore,
Catching the wave, my heart soars forevermore.

Mist on the water, rainbows in the sky,
Your beauty incomprehensible, it fills my hungry eye.

Mist on the water, a dream on the shore,
I'll carry it on forevermore.

Ever, forever, I'll carry your magic with me.
Mist on the water, waves on the shore,
And they go on forevermore.

Ever, forever, I'll carry these waters with me.
Mist on the water, waves on the shore,
How they flow forevermore.

BILL'S SUNFLOWERS

How many times
We saw them there
Beside the road,
Bill's gift to share.

A country thing,
Their sunny faces,
Could bring a smile
To stormy places.

When I faced storms
Some years ago,
I looked for sunflowers
When I felt low.

My storm was cancer,
And chemo, too,
But my silk sunflowers
Helped pull me through.

And this year my brother
Met storms that hard.
I thought of the sunflowers
He grew in his yard.

I hoped his sunflowers
Would shine the way
And bring him across
To a brighter day.

But instead he harvested
Those life-giving seeds,
And left them behind
For the birds' winter needs.

DANCING WATERS

No matter where I travel,
A wondrous chord will ring
In celebration with my heart
When waters dance and sing.

I CAN'T ACT MY AGE

Don't tell me to sit quietly,
Chew on my bran and relax!
My feet just gotta get up and go,
My heart's still gonna make tracks.

I never got with that old rockin' chair,
Though it sometimes has had its appeal;
Life is such a glorious feast
And I'm ready for the next meal.

My eyes aren't what they usta be,
But I haven't filled them yet.
I may not remember all the names,
But I want to meet those I've not met.

Let me fire up my scanner with garden views;
Let my webpage have midis along;
I wouldn't be wanting to pass my days
Without the color and song.

So many delights to greet me each day,
Even petting a dog or a cat,
And hearing the birds in my backyard tree.
How could anyone feel old with all that?

So many more things I can't wait to do.
(But I don't plan much time in the malls.)
I'll drive up the coast on old Highway 1.
I'll go see Niagara Falls.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are waiting for me
Where my autoharp gets brand new strings.
The Tetons are calling me: I must return
Where that glorious range always sings.

If I can still play with some words in a verse,
Eat lunch with an ocean view,
Walk in the mountains and touch the sky,
My heart will awake and renew.

I never will tire of hearing a laugh,
Or seeing somebody smile.
I'll never be weary of seeing a friend
Whether often or once in a while.

No way I'll ever be over the hill,
Tho' the field may look dead as straw;
A few little raindrops left here and there
And my spirit starts yelling, "Hurrah!"

A look at a crystal with amethyst hue,
A blossoming rose by the road,
The smell of tomato vines heavy with fruit--
These make life a very light load.

When I hear some music, my feet start to dance,
Then soon I'll be singing out loud.
I can't pass a dollhouse without looking in.
I talk to myself. That's allowed!

I'll work and I'll play 'til I just cannot budge,
So don't send me to pasture. No way!
I'm still not ready to act my age.
And don't hold your breath for that day.

DOWN MANY ROADS

Life takes us down so many roads,
With twists and turns not planned.
The road is often bumpy.
Sometimes the view is grand.
A FRIEND ALONGSIDE

The world can be a lonely place.
Sometimes I want to hide,
Except that God has given me
This gift, a friend alongside.

We don't talk much about it,
For words add nothing more.
But my friend and I are closer
Than the sea is to the shore.

When one of us is happy,
The other cheers to the sky.
When one of us is in distress,
The other helps to cry.

When times are calm it may appear
We've drifted some apart.
But like the undercurrents,
My friend's deep in my heart.

It only takes a ripple,
No matter glad or sad,
And there we are like shore and sea
To share the good or bad.

I know I'll see my friend again
As sunrise comes each day.
Perhaps I take it for granted...
Will the sea and the shore always stay?

I'm thinking that it would be better
To speak what I know to be true,
To finish each day with a whisper,
"You're my friend; I'll stay beside you."

BY LAKE MICHIGAN

A ghostly minstrel passed along the shore
And sang remembered sights and sounds;
He told of drums,
Announcing peace or war,
Of beads and bones once cherished
But left behind,
Of singing forests leveled
And throbbing cities raised,
Of skies brought low
By lifted silver wings.
I listened,
But the minstrel of the lake moved on
To nowhere,
Leaving treasures
In one disappearing drop
Upon my hand.
1959

AND LOVE COMES BY

And one day Love walked by my door
I looked up and saw something there.
Oh, just a shadow, I can't see
Whatever might be passing there.

The next day still the stranger came;
This time I heard a quiet chime.
I listened just a moment, but
The music drifted off in time.

But finally Love stood in the room
And I could feel that pulsing heart.
So finally Love brought me a gift,
A passion that will not depart.

Now Love can speak in whispers,
Too quiet for my earthly ear;
The message, oh, so gently spoke,
Yet to my heart resounding clear.

THE GIFT OF VISION

A glittering moment
That dazzled the sky,
Then trailed off in darkness
To my mournful eye.

LESSON OF THE ROSE

When sunlight paled and vision failed
I touched a rose that softly trailed
And heard those colors sing again,
Ablaze in shade and rain.

AT SILOE

Rejoice in darkest night! It cannot win
So brilliant triumph over dimming sky.
Petty sparks slip silently within
Night's waters, calm and deep to purify.

Rejoice? When shadows suffocate the moon?
When staring eyes lose sense in hollow fright?

Gaze on--past visions blurred too soon--
And know that darkness testifies to light.

LESSON OF SPARROWS

Go back
Beyond all time
To breathless edge where light
Obscures the sight. Then stand--or plunge
And fly.

HOPE

Run before the day
Like sunrise,
Transforming treetop paths.
Create the joyful miracle
In wait for your own step.

DONOR

Did you live
As rich or poor?
Did you know
You'd be a cure?

Did you love,
Or were you sad?
Did someone call you
Mom or Dad?

Did your heart
Learn how to dance?
Did your life
Have its full chance?

Where did you walk,
What did you see,
Stranger who gave
Your eyes to me.

DANCING WITH JOY

I'm just an old woman,
But last night I danced.
We whirled 'mongst the stars
And the moon was entranced.

We flew far away
Above trouble's sound,
He held me so tightly
My feet left the ground.

Oh, it had been ages,
So long since I danced
With heart full of magic,
My dream thus enhanced.

So long since I'd seen him.
He still looked the same.
Our lives had somehow parted.
And "Joy" was his name.

My dream was so real,
My heart touched the sky
With brilliance of angels,
Their wings lofting high.

The dance sadly ended,
It should have been years.
We clung just a moment,
I whispered through tears,

"I don't know when
I'll see you again,
But do come back soon--
We'll dance on the moon."

He faded away then.
I woke from my dream
And looked out my window
Upon a moonbeam.

MUSIC ON THE AIR

After darkest night I woke
To sunrised morning fair
With butterflies and sunflowers
And music on the air.

Clouds all lifted from my eyes
Leaving blue sky there
With butterflies and rainbows
And music on the air.

The tears my heart so cried
Have been released from care
By butterflies and chickadees
And music on the air.

My spirit flies aloft again
To find a gift so rare
Of butterflies and roses
And music on the air.

Not all the world's gold
Could ever dare compare
With butterflies and sunflowers
And music on the air.

MUSIC OF MY LIFE

I hear the melodies, music of my lifetime
And how they began so long ago.
Radio crackling and glowing in the dark,
Background music playing at the picture show.

Dancing in high school, spinning the records,
And treasuring every song that I had sung,
Now when I hear them, my heart returns again,
And I'm back to the time when I was young.

And later music helped me through loss and agony,
Through illness, and times of painful strife;
Music has soothed me, music filled my soul:
Music marked the moments in my life.

Time moved in measures so elegant and simple,
And I didn't even understand
My life had a rhythm with music playing there
Like a song directed by an unseen hand.

Now suddenly I realize that I am writing, too,
A symphony of memory and time,
So quietly composing the melody and words
To play a new creation that is mine.

And now I make the music. This music that is mine
May reach through the years still to ring.
Someday a spirit may listen once again,
May hear the words my heart will surely sing:

I've played my song, I leave it for those who want to hear
The melodies that made my life's refrain;
My life wrote the music, my spirit will remain.
Listen and rejoice, I live again.

TIME

Time, don't you hurry so.
Mind if we move real slow?
I'm in a mood to go back for some reminiscing.

Fly away, time is flying away,
And I follow on slow wings.
It's come twilight I know
And soon I must go,
But somehow I have years to gather.

Follow me down time's passageways
And we'll discover magic days.

Time, you hurry so.
Mind if we move slow?
I'm back to reminiscing.

Time, once my castaway,
Now treasure found today,
So pressing, I can't delay, must gather.

Take a moment and scan the years with me.
We have treasures to find.

Just that moment will awake our dreams again
And leave golden memories behind.

JUST

Just a little word spoke carelessly
Just a trivial incident of strife
Just one minute of troubled happenings
Can rob you of a precious friend for life.

Just a few small words of misunderstanding
Just a moment's anger left to grow
Yes, it can take only a moment,
To lose a friend, to let a friendship go.

And there's no emptiness to match the loss
Of someone that we cherished as a friend.
What could replace that part, a broken heart,
What would help make this scar to mend.

Nowhere can you find words so fair
To explain to someone lost that you still care.

Just a few small words of misunderstanding
Just a moment's anger left to grow
Yes, it can take only a moment,
To lose a friend, to let a friendship go

Just a little word spoke carelessly
Just a trivial incident of strife
Just one minute of troubled happenings
Can rob you of a precious friend for life.

Just a few small words of misunderstanding
Just a moment's anger left to grow
Yes, it can take only a moment,
To lose a friend, to let a friendship go,
Don't lose that friend, don't let that friendship go

BITS

Bits of this, bits of that
They surely make up our day someway,
Bits of love, and bits of happy
Build the path along our way.

Bits of sunshine, bits of flowers, too,
And even a few raindrops can do.

Bits of blue sky, bits of smiles,
Bits of kindness scattered around
Bits of work and bits of play
Make for a good planting ground.

Bits of Heaven and bits of earth,
Bits of little birds chirping, too;
All are planted in our life,
Making a garden we walk through.

Bits of rainbows, bits of rain,
And even thunder has a say,
Bits of sunflowers, and bits of pain,
So many bits along our way.

Bits of loved ones, bits of care,
Bits that happen all unaware.

Bits of together, bits of alone,
Making our garden our own.

Bits of snippets, bits of moments,
They work to make our life be
The bits of beauty brought into place,
A crazy quilt of harmony.

Bits of this, bits of that
They surely make up our day,
Bits of love, and bits of happy
Build the path along our way.

THESE PRECIOUS THINGS

In the twilight I recall
My chosen precious things,
Treasures only for the heart,
Like the butterfly's light wings.

They alight upon my hand,
Give me reason for a smile,
And I beg them to be mine,
Just to stay a little while.

But then their fleeting beauty flies
Away into the sun,
And I watch them as they fade,
Until a new day has begun.

I would hold them, yet I know
They are only for a day,
Not possessions to be owned,
But a gift to give away.

Still I hold them in my heart,
These very precious things,
Just the way the sunlight holds
The butterfly's bright wings.

HERO

Heroes come very quiet now.

Standing--with metallic headaches--
nowhere;
Guarding--with hourly pay--
nothing;
Serving--with automated talents--
no one . . .

when the lines reach out to the lands about
they take life down a wired way
where the children cry and the sickly die
and a hero draws his pay

Dawning sun rests on an altar
Where nuns adore at Mass--

and the candles burn in an unconcern
while a hero tends the lines

Morning blooms where a teacher's story
Shapes a future into hope--

and the children hear about Paul Revere
while a hero tends the lines

Afternoon leans through a window
Where artists capture life--

and the poets write about sun and light
while a hero tends the lines

Evening brushes down its curtain
For the world's daily rest--

and the cities slow to a vigil glow
While a hero tends the lines.

ETERNAL EDUCATOR

Spring

Soft willows lean from spire-tops; winds sweep
Past cavaliers arrayed in green-garbed height;
Rain-polished days, bright-cheeked and fresh from sleep,
Invite the young to Easter hunt's delight.
Fresh energy and puddles magnetize.
Released, the children tumble forth to face
A new world, shining wide to fill their eyes
With wonders freed from snow-locked commonplace.
A Boy of rain-bright skies and budding streams
Instructs, aware that temple dazzle pales
Beside the sun's new-breaking dawn that beams
A Child to see for age whose vision fails.
Spring skips ahead to bloom's full finery
And sings its glory's pink vitality.

Summer

Hungry days beam wide to draw within
The arms of dawn and dusk all hours in reach;
Their minutes hoard the sun in bronze-toned skin
And bulge with golden life packed tight in each.
Sun's honeyed radiance enrobes full flowers
And glistens treasures to untiring bees;
Soft kernels fill and firm in silken towers;
Rich-burdened streams flow towards receiving seas.
Sun-warming smiles on sandy roads surround
A dusty Teacher handing hills of bread
To harvesters encircled on the ground
To gather strength for heavy grains ahead.
Fruit strains against green-shading bonds to free
Its captured golden sun's intensity.

Autumn

Smoke idles aimlessly among the golds
Or wind bites viciously with cruel control
At splashing hues. The last leaf grimly holds
A dying end, but falling boasts a goal.
The autumn glow triumphs success, then browns
And drops its weathered hands, content. The hands
Tell all: read in the somber palms that towns
And senses fail, but death's attainment stands.
The hands tell all. A Teacher's Hands inform
With red-pierced eloquence of lifework's cost;
Above the watching class they speak of warm
Life smashed to splendored color by the frost.
Red-ripened days rehearse a victory
In closing chords of blazing brilliancy.

Winter

Deep stillness hides familiar mysteries
And cloaks a clattering world in peaceful rest
A moment. Morning seeks activities
In vain. Life is suspended; she has dressed
In modest veils, renewing unperceived
Within retreat. She readies for return
From silent cloisters, eagerly received;
Until her step, the guard is taciturn.
White, silent, motionless--a Teacher lives
A chilling lesson, stark enough to stun;
He shows a white-hot light that burns and gives
Cold silence until flowers can meet the Sun.
Warm life beneath cold white throbs quietly--
A waiting silence of expectancy.

TEACHER'S SKETCHBOOK

Teacher

Rewards crouch still behind the door
Not breathing,
As the clock moves on its busy treadmill as before.

Then, in an hour of unconcern,
A fleeting, half-familiar smile slips out
To punctuate the hour's beaten path
With glowing chips of grinning diamonds.

Les

Genius, casual in white levis,
Smiles privately
At life's demands
That slip between his fingers
Like grains of sand.

Tony

Fluttering and noisy,
He seems a scolding jay
Darting chaos
Into blessed, still domains
And powerless to halt
His own wild flight.
A quiet hand discovers just
A tired bird
In need of home.

John

A fresh breeze bearing colored bubbles,
He sparkles unpredictably in morning sun.
Careless wind would hide its secret.
But evening catches it at work
Filling steady sails
With treasure-bearing strength.

Nancy

Sunlight cupped and blown
Beside a budding tree,
She casts a heartache to the winds
And squints a smile upward
With arms around a collie's neck.

Greg

I missed the sun.
A lissome ray
Was used to cross my eyes
Each day,
Till I scarcely noticed it
In watching for the roses.
Today
I missed the sun ray
That was too silent,
And the roses weren't so sweet.

Bill

A bitter chip
To smash through careless air,
He spins to the ground
And slivers to the touch.

Ray

Apathy,
Draped heavy and warm,
Sheathes a sharpened knife.
He waits--oblivious--
For the challenge sufficient
For baring the blade.

Sandy Lost

Eyes dark in leaden depth
Rage battles
Somewhere under shadowed coral reefs
And leave a wake of dying foam
Upon a sand-swept beach.

Sandy Found

Midst footsteps
Vanishing into sand and waves,
Beside decaying gulls
Half-buried with smooth-blown sand,
Another track--
Steps holding moisture--
Leads out toward the trees.

Tom

All-boy enough
To grin through football smashups,
He tackles, too, the larger foe
Of disappointment, dailiness, decision,
Emerging in the floodlight victory
Of God's designs, a priest.

Kathy

Uncertain and afraid,
She beats a tuneless drum
To drive away ignoring, silent ghosts--
But silent listeners also flee.
And then she weeps
For silence.

Death Steals In At Dawn

Shiny model airplanes stand expectant
Until packed away
In some courageous moment.
How can the wings catch sun so commonly
When they will fly no more
From carefree scattered places?

There lies a bit of school,
Traced yesterday in frowning earnestness
And stacked in readied disarray
To fill tomorrow's needs.

A rustling wave of blue and green
Blurs near and focuses
As fellow scouts file into place
And kneel
And bow their heads.
One empty space breathes silent echoing
Where "Agnus Dei" will not meet again
The simple innocence of whispered hope.

Threads of blue sky-winged play
Eraser-labored problems,
And unmarked offerings--

All stretching from short yesterdays into today...

Cut short.

Tomorrow is in heaven.

Spring Concert

They come, ejected from assembly lines
And automatic kitchens, stamped designs...
Fatigued, big-city bored, but conquering
Thick hot spring dusk to do
Dull duty and review
Their adolescent offspring's studied toil.
A vision springs before them, banking snows
Of stage-ranged flowers, royal
And cool (that close look knows
To be the teens--transformed, behaved, all smiles).
Then music flows down the aisles.

Tranced surprise
Matures to pride and drifts in clouds to easy skies.

Time vaporizes.

Spring flowers blush in loyal
Expectancy to hear
Bright bugles call "The Battle Hymn" to rise:

...Quiet wonder whispers to appear
Before the gloried Lord
And beat united chord
Of marching hearts: one fire-pillared prismed voice
Following one choice
For all, and honoring
A single call. Gold coil
Explodes in pompous drums, excited clarinets,
And soaring voices; sets
Itself afloat to lift and hold
Above the gold
Of trumpet calls, "...Amen...."

Tears swelter from strong men.
They feel the call, and light
Plays through the purple mists of flooding tears
To catch pink-cloud hoped years
Of youth.

They turn to face the stifling night.

SONG OF MARGARET

Light sparkled through the poplar's green
As singing youth grew tall
In Laviano's fertile field
Far from Cortona's call.

For seven years her skies released
Love's warm, refreshing showers,
And Margaret bloomed heedlessly
In admiration's hours.

Rains turned to storms and shook the trees
Free of their golden sleeves;
Bare arms reached up, but mother's love
Had vanished with the leaves.

Arms always hope. The barren boughs
Awaited fuller skies;
Arms reached to second mother, but
No answering arms would rise.

Jealous sun glared arid strife,
and poplar's green decayed;
But death produced a teeming soil
For foliage then arrayed.

Orange-scarlets tumbled in the sun
And danced upon the air;
The fires of love and hate and need
Had fused to wildfire there.

The streets were bright when Margaret passed.
No eye could gaze unwon;
Her flaming beauty passion-crazed
Montepulciano's son.

There under brilliant leaves were raised
The empty arms until
He brought a royal name and wealth
To barter for her will.

Away into the darkened hills
The maid and noble fled
While scarlet leaves fell to the ground
And lay in dream piles, dead.

But Margaret's sixteen years dreamed life
In richer love and gowns;
She dreamed in eyeless vision's gaze
Of riding through the towns.

He promised all that love could hope
To find for starving life;
He granted all that love could hope
Except the name of wife.

She ruled as mistress in his halls
And lived in satin dreams;
A wine-red love surrounded her
In hypnotizing streams.

Behind the dark of willow trees
She lived dark history,
And darkness sometimes haunted her
In a voice of mystery.

The streets were bleak when Margaret passed.
No step could move unscorned,
And bitter were the tongues that lashed
A shame so rich adorned.

She shut out darkness, voices, doom;
She drew the satin deep,
And reveled in the wine-red love
In warm, unconscious sleep.

Nine winters passed and brought nine springs.
His lands spread far and wide,
And called the lord to visit them;
She watched him mount and ride.

A night and day she looked for him
While leaden moments crept;
Her candle burned in every hour
As peaceful households slept.

Then came a sound outside the gate
With morning's early red;
She sprang to meet her cavalier...
His dog--alone--struck dread.

The dog looked worn, but turned again,
Refusing to be caught;
Forgetting cloak, she followed him,
Afraid of what she sought.

Through rutted fields the dog led on,
And under tangled skies;
Beside an oak he stopped and turned,
As to apologize.

A grayish paw brushed grayish leaves
Aside from shadowed place;
The trees were silent as she gasped--
She saw her lover's face.

Green-golden poplars whirled into
Her mind, and scarlet gowns
Of maples flashed in dead gray piles
While willows spun dark crowns.

Then reeling forests slowed and shrank
Beneath an oak's stern stand
Above a murdered, putrid corpse
That marked with wisdom's brand.

The oak stood faceless in the face
Of wonder, dumb and blind;
It witnessed without scorn or blame--
So ignorant, so kind.

Upon it fell her sickened eye
As if to blank out sight;
And "Judgment" blazed her drugged brain
With searing, smashing might.

Her Judge, she knew, was present there
With payment just and meet
For evidence too ugly-real:
Her sin lay at her feet.

The voices that had haunted her
Threw off their dark disguise;
A rival Lover seeking her
Stood by to claim his prize.

The streets were wet when Margaret passed.
Her small son clutched her hand
And gazed at her disfigured face
And could not understand.

She crept up to the friars' door
And stood defenseless--known;
They knew--knew treasure--and they saved
Cortona's precious loan.

They took the guilt rope from her neck;
They gave her son their might;
And then they gave her Francis' cloth
And fired his third great light.

THE SKIES ABOVE MY YARD

Standing in my yard I see
An ever-changing artistry
In wondrous paintings on the sky
That touch my soul, delight my eye.

Their magic colors speak to me
Of desert days or nights at sea,
Of gentle lovers, friendships deep,
Of childhood joys, and dreamy sleep.

I lift my eyes to name the hues
Of ripened reds and crystal blues,
Of smokey grays and gilded snows,
Peach bruised to orchid, faded rose.

A backyard bench is my front row
To view the planet's constant show.
Like gold, this special place I guard
And watch the skies above my yard.

IN THE MOUNTAINS

My heart's in the mountains, among the tall trees,
I could walk there for hours in the echoing breeze.
The aroma of cedar fills my soul with delight.
I smile at the flash of the chickadee's flight.
A scampering squirrel stops and pops up his head.
I pick up a pinecone, but then leave it instead.
This high peaceful place is a blessing to me.
Perhaps it's a glimpse of what heaven will be.
I can't get enough of the pines and the sky.
My heart's in the mountains. I'll show you why.

PUPPY AT EMERGENCY

June's sky waits darkly, ready to make
Night's grave, uncharted change from now
To tomorrow. Sunday slips into place.
Below, the hospital's white pace
slumbers, halls grayed, accenting how
Emergency door watches, awake.

. . . . . . .

it had been a long wait at the door
for the whining pup . . . almost a day . . .
but he's been good . . . still, no Jim came
to take him home . . . he was tired and lame
from chasing the ambulance . . . and the play
with Jim had been so short . . . before . . .

LOVE

Life was peace
'Til you came by
Needing love
More than I
Needed peace.

EASTER ISLAND

Lush forest
harvested to bitter rock.
Dead eyes
bid us heed.

JACKIE AND MARINA

If they should see
In sorrow's mirrored house
Their merging shadows,
Could they speak?

Or only stare on clinging children?

Or would their hearts,
Made softer yet by pain,
Give and receive mute, boundless balm
Of woman's sympathy:

"I'm sorry . . . "

DAYDREAMS

If you MUST build that castle on the beach
Where you know the tide will reach,
You'd better not plan to move in and stay:
Don't even look back as you walk away.
SUNDOWN

My game of life
Rained out,
I find time
To trim my lamp.

COMMITMENT

Merciless and cold,
It tears flesh and bone to spill
Warm, shimmering gems.

IMMOLATION

when pain
quite fills itself,
it overflows
so quietly.

LONGING

My love
is a golden agony
glowing like lightning
just above
my lifted hand.

ON WRITING

My joy and torturer,
Faithful and inconstant,
Wring my tears!
I come again,
Your conscious fool.

MEDITATIONS

Tiptoe ever quietly
Through years,
Still
Footsteps echo in the sky
Like far-off crashing worlds.

~~~~~~~~

Time measures our moves in a fragile sphere,
A bubble afloat in infinity
Where timelessness lives ever now and here,
And time is already eternity.

~~~~~~~~

Doors close.
What must be will be.
The past has passed forevermore,
But what remains is more
Than will ever be
Again.

MAGDALENE

No marble-carven purity
Nor pink delight
With flowers freshly picked
Was Magdalene,
But alabaster oil--richly warm--
Poured freely
On the Master's feet.

AWARENESS OF PRESENCE

God trembles at the surface of the moment,
Waiting entrance to a fleeting sky.
Strength, strongest in restraint, creates no ripple
'Til love stirs whitened wind in passing by.

THE GAME

Filled bleachers of my youth,
Games lost and won,
Are left deserted,
Save when I return--
Losses and wins
More thoughtful now--
To rehearse the plays
Apart.

AWAKENING

I saw the sun reach through the purple skies;
But you looked toward the rainbow in the east.

(Learn now to contemplate
The iris marshes blooming tall
Within each raindrop resting on the glass.)

I heard a symphony of thundering strings;
But you played plaintive notes upon a pipe.

(Learn now to catch a theme
Recurring ever: wondrous scale
Of sacred world sounds, sung only once.)

I stumbled under heaven's blinding stars;
But you walked in the candleglow of death.

(Learn now to run sure steps
And carry Day disguised through night
By the vigil lamp of every earthly breath.)

BUTTERFLY

Pray, do not harm the butterfly
That lifts its light across your sky,
Its colors glowing meant to be
A ray of hope for you and me.

Such gems of beauty must take wing
To help our lonely hearts to sing.
Its life is short, so let it live
And learn how much it has to give.

NUN'S TRUNK

Home,
As it ever is;
Home,
As it never is--
Security
Is steel rivets . . .
And so is pilgrim.

CROWS

Damn crows!
What's wrong with them?
Raucus, squawking,
Flying madly over my house.

I look outside and past the fence.
A dozen crows are circling,
Interweaving over the street.
On the asphalt lies a fallen mate.
Above her flies her family
Screaming, crying,
Clad in mourning black.

EXILE

Sing not, Lorelei,
To pilgrims
Weeping Mara's stormy tears
Upon the salty decks
Of exile . . .

It is their prism.
They see horizons dead to you
Where harbor lights
Beam silent chants
Across calm-silvered waters
Until darkness breaks a magic hour
And brings fulfillment.

Sing not, Lorelei,
A song to comfort
Wanderers dulled in loneliness
And agonizing in desire
For home.

DAYS GONE BY

It lately seems I'm counting loss
Of treasured friends, of family dear,
Of days gone by, and happy times
When younger life kept joy so near.

A celebrated holiday
Is nowadays just not the same;
The music brings sad memory,
The candles burn a somber flame.

Those loves I left in bygone days,
They turn my heart's refrain to tears,
My soul feels sadness pulling down
To darkened place of unnamed fears.

The melancholy hours grow long,
As pictures form sweet mystery
Of precious things I knew and loved,
All faded now in history.

I wonder, as I turn each year,
The way one turns a yellowed page,
What can redeem these bygone days
And free me from this gloomy cage.

How differently my life has turned
As now new interests catch my eye,
Perhaps it's only life going on
Can melt the hold of days gone by.

THE DAY
SEPT. 11, 2001

This was the day of horror
No eyes should ever see,
With loss of life and innocence,
Hearts torn from sea to sea.

ARE YOU WATCHING, LORD?

Are You watching us, O Lord?
As the sky is filled with flames,
As our hearts are torn asunder
With the growing list of names.

Are You watching us, O Lord?
As our heroes dig and cry,
As the children ask and wonder
Why their parents had to die.

Are You watching us, O Lord?
As the plans of death are made,
As the anger and the hatred
Raise a hand that won't be stayed.

Are You watching us, O Lord?
As our hearts look for release,
As our minds wrench in confusion
Seeing war but seeking peace.

Are You watching us, O Lord?
As we bow beneath the shame,
As we witness evil actions
Hiding guised behind Your Name.

Are You watching us, O Lord?
As each decade comes and goes,
As our footsteps seem to echo
Through a world lost in woes.

Are You watching us, O Lord?
Hear our broken spirits sigh.
Still we grasp the hope of ages,
Knowing that You, also, cry.

SEE HOW I LOVE YOU

When trouble came
With all the pain,
I finally awoke again
To hear a loved one whispering:

See how I love you.

When sunlight pales
And vision failed
I touched a rose that softly trailed
And heard those colors sing again:

See how I love you.

See how I love you.
See how I love you.
Gently listen, gently hear....
See how I love you.

When hearts despaired
When no one cared
I lifted up my weary head
To hear again a hopeful word:

See how I love you.

It's funny how the daily din
Can blot out that sweet voice within,
But listen, and you'll hear again:

See how I love you.

SUNFLOWERS AND CHEMO

Sunflowers and chemo--
How strangely life will go:
The glorious and the painful
Right there together grow.

There's a story here,
As you might know.
It happened
Just five years ago.

As fast as lightning I got ill;
The doctor shook his head
And told me to take chemo--
A word I'd learned to dread.

So it was: chemotherapy.
I knew it'd not be fun.
But even worse the worry
That it was to be done.

I wandered in a daze before
I spotted something in a store--
My eyes upon some sunflowers fell
Just smiling up at me.

They seemed to say
It would be all right.
I brought them home
To cheer my sight.

Every time I looked at them
The dark cloud became less.
And finally I was ready for
My chemo treatment stress.

Later on when I was sick
I seldom saw my flowers,
But I knew they were there
Waiting through the dark hours.

Deep waters, storms, oh, yes, indeed!
My body then too tired to care.
My mind still holding out a hope
That sunflowers were somewhere.

Somehow someday I would be back
To smile on them again.
They waited in the dark alone
For the day after the rain.

Then one day I went out to see.
It seemed so long ago!
High time to find them a brighter place,
Any maybe for myself, too.

The sunflowers looked so cheerful.
Couldn't I do the same?
I wrapped myself in colorful scarves
And headed out in the world again.

Slowly the weakness went away.
My hair again began to grow,
And I still have those sunflowers
That helped me years ago.

COULD BE

Wish it could be,
could it be,
it could be,
it could be me.

How I wish to be
away and free,
if it could be,
could it be me.

Oh, I wish to be
away and free,
if it could be,
could it be me.

I see the sky high above me
And it seems so far away.
I know that somebody told me
That I'd fly there someday.

And so I keep moving on
Until my new life can be found.
My spirit's way up there flying
While I'm tied to the ground.

I, I want to fly
Like a flower in the sky.
I long to try,
If I could fly,
I would fly, oh, so high.
Could it be, how could it be
Oh, could it be,
Could it be me?

I want to fly
I want to fly
Like a flower in the sky.
I long to try,
Wish I could fly,
I would fly, oh, so high.
Could it be, how could it be
Oh, could it be,
Could it be me?

I see the sky high above me
And it seems so far away.
I know that somebody told me
That I'd fly there someday.

Keep moving on
Until new life can be found.
My spirit's way up there flying
While I'm tied to the ground.

I see the sky high above me
Yes, it seems so far away.
I know that somebody told me
That I'd fly there someday.

And so I keep moving on.
My new life will be found.
My spirit's still up there flying
While I'm tied to the ground.

I, I want to fly
Like a flower in the sky.
I long to try,
If I could fly,
I would fly, oh, so high.
Could it be, how could it be
Oh, could it be,
Could it be me?

I want to fly
I want to fly
Like a flower in the sky.
I long to try,
Wish I could fly,
I would fly, oh, so high.
Could it be, how could it be
Oh, could it be,
Could it be me?

KWIET

a time to wait...
a time to stay...
now's my day
to wait and stay...

i am still
and small
i await a call

wait and stay...
time to wait and stay...
now is my day
to wait and stay...

HYMN SING

Hymnsing, a journey my heart sings
A song of beginnings
I'm on my way, I will go

Hymnsing, a fountain of lifespring
The gift of a morning
I'm on my way

I go now to meet a new day
To make my own way
I will go.
My eyes stay high on the sun's ray
Following the wing's way
I will go.

SAMPLE THIS DAY

Hey, flowers are laughter
Happily after
Sample this day

Hey, blossoms are dandy
Sweeter than candy
Sample this day

Hey, eh

I live to fly
Bright as a rainbow
Filling my eye

Hey, flowers are laughter
Happily after
Sample this day

Hey, blossoms are dandy
Sweeter than candy
Sample this day

Hey, petals are blooming
Morning and nooning
Sample this day

Hey, color is glowing
Breezes are flowing
Sample this day

High over meadows
I live to fly
Bright as a rainbow
Filling my eye

Hey, flowers are laughter
Happily after
Sample this day

DANCING

Every morning I open my eyes
Sunshine runs in
Like a wonderful prize
Every morning a gift I will show
Every morning I'm ready to go

See the flowers and feel the breeze
Hear the birds singing in the trees
Feel the magic upon the air
Hear the melodies playing there

And then I'm dancing dancing
There with the flowers
Dancing dancing through the hours
Dancing to music I can hear
Dancing again without fear

Dancing again without fear

FOLLOW THE WINGS

High over trees
past the hills
cross the seas
I must go very long
To a place I belong

On once again--
I do not mind the pain
I will go very long
To a place I belong

Bright wings call me on
Wings I'm resting upon
My heart gladly sings
As I follow the wings

CELEBRATE!

Celebration! Come Along!
Celebration! Come Along!

It's a party. Come along!
Such a party. Come along!
It's our party. Come along!

Celebrate! Oh no, it's not too late.
Come on and help us celebrate!
'Cause we climbed that mountain to the very top
And now it's time for us to cel- celebrate!

Now's the time we'll dance and we'll sing
And we'll laugh that the tough times are past
We'll rejoice to see this happiest day.
Celebrate! We have reached it at last.

HEY LOOK AT ME!

Hey, look at....
Hey, look at....
Hey, look at....
Hey, look at....
Hey, look at....
Hey, look at....

Hey, look at me!
When did you ever see
Such a beautiful sight?
I deserve a spotlight!

You would do well
Just to hear what I tell.
I am a star, and that's right.

Hey, look at me!
What a pleasure to see
Flashing wings glowing bright.
I don't need a spotlight!

You would do well
Just to hear what I tell.
I am a star, and that's right.

Just watching wonderful me
Will dazzle your little eyes
Bring on the contests
Just let me show off
I can win any old prize

I can dance circles,
Circles around the sun
Hey, try to chase me,
Don't try to catch me.
I'll give you a good run.

RAINBOW FRIEND

When I'm lost and lonely,
My heart so full of rain,
I only need, need to
Think of you once again

For you are my sunshine
And you are my lifeline
And you are a rainbow to me

When I'm lost and lonely,
My heart so full of rain,
I only need, need to
Think of you once again

For you are my sunshine
And you are my lifeline
And you are a rainbow to me

Sometimes when you go far away
I wonder if there'll come a day
When we'll have a moment to last through the years
And I'll have enough time to say

When I'm lost and lonely,
My heart so full of rain,
I only need, need to
Think of you once again

For you are my sunshine
And you are my lifeline
And you are a rainbow to me

SONG OF LOVE

My heart's love always will be
In your hands
In your hands
Wait and See

Constant and true I will be
In your hands
In your hands
Wait and See

Forever we'll go on to be
Only one in the sun
Wait and see,
Wait and see.

I'LL STAY

I'll stay I'll stay I'll stay
I'll stay I'll stay I'll stay
Stay, I'll stay by your side
All the day, every day by your side

Our days have been good in the sun
But daylight's gone, time has run.

Stay, I will stay by your side
All the day, every day by your side
Let me stay, stay by your side
Let me stay, stay by your side.

The night can be sad,
Wind can be cold,
The dark cannot
Break my hold.

Stay, stay by your side
Let me stay, stay by your side.
All the day, every day by your side
Let me stay every day by your side

The night can be sad,
Wind can be cold,
The dark cannot
Break my hold.

I see a new sunrise for us
And I see a new Sunday too
Somewhere we'll be together again
Somewhere the sky will be blue.

Stay, let me stay by your side
Let me stay, stay by your side.
All the day, every day by your side
Let me stay every day by your side

We'll watch for the sun
Morning is near
It soon will be time
Daylight is here.

DREAM AGAIN

Dream, Dream Again
Dream, Dream Again
Dream, Dream Again

All throughout the night time
I dream of somewhere far away
And travel the horizon
To other worlds another day

I know I'll see another place
That I was born to see
I know that I will meet someone
Beyond a distant sea

Here alone I dream again.
Have I become so wise?
I see the wonder of my life
Through my own wide-awakened dreaming eyes.

FLY AWAY

Fly fly away,
Let us fly, fly away
Come take my hand
and we'll fly fly away

Fly away, fly away.
Oh, come with me
and we'll fly away.

Fly away, we will fly away.

Rainbow wings around,
Above, sparkling in air.
Light the sky with magic,
Oh, follow me there.

Flowers and sunshine rings
So bright color the sky.
We'll be there today.
Oh, come, come let us fly.

Fly away, let us fly away.
Oh, come with me
and we'll fly fly away

Fly away, let us fly, fly away
Oh, come take my hand
and we'll fly away

Fly away, fly away.

Fly away, let us fly, fly away
Oh, come with me
and we'll fly fly away

Fly away, let us fly, fly away
Oh, come take my hand
and we'll fly fly away

Fly away, fly away.

SEE THAT BUTTERFLY

See that butterfly
Lighting up our sky,
Its color meant to be
A joy for you and me.

This gem must take wing
To help our hearts to sing.
Its life is short, so let it live
And learn how much it has to give.

LIGHT MY WAY, BUTTERFLY

Light my way, tiny butterfly.
Bring me your secrets from the sky.
Stay and tell me the magic you know.
Can you teach me to fly?

Then you alight so softly near.
Gentle whispers I'm sure I hear:
"Listen to your own heart," they say
"And it will show you the way."

SUNFLOWERS AND RAINBOWS

Sunflowers and rainbows
Can take your breath away.
But sunflowers and rainbows
Never stay, they never stay.

Look and see
Where sunflowers and rainbows may be.
Look and see
Sunflowers and rain, rainbows
Are here carried in me.

RAINBOW

To be a ray
Prisming
In someone's mist
Each day
Is love.

SMELL THE ROSES

Take time to smell the roses
Before your day is through,
And think of people in your heart
Whose lives bring joy to you.

Take time to look for sunsets
And let your spirit sing
That earth displays its beauty
For every living thing.

ODE TO EL NINO

Hey, El Nino, take a hike.
We can't budge on foot or bike.
Sandbags stacked around the door,
Squishy carpets on the floor.
All the roads are mud and grunge.
Geez Louise! We ain't a sponge!
Pitter patters everywhere
Not romantic anymore, you hear?
Do I love thee? Let me pen:
My lawn's in my neighbor's den,
My poor car's become a boat,
Every house has its own moat.
Weatherman says, "Wear your slicker
Two more months." Can't you go quicker?
To sum it up we've had our fills
Of El Nino to the gills.
California needs it sunny
To show off each beachgirl honey.
A little rain is good, no doubt;
But we have had it! Cut it out!
1998

KITTENS

A kitten's work
Is never done.
There's air to chase,
Ten ways to run.

It takes all day
To fill my eyes
With sunny grass
And butterflies.
1982

OPPORTUNITY

Life rolls out into acres ahead,
but up into bundles behind.
1964

LOVE

Life was peace
'Til you came by
Needing love
More than I
Needed peace.
1970

~~~~~~

You drift, like a melody,
Through the quiet places
Of my mind.
It's so like you--
To be there when I pause.
1971

EGYPTIAN CAT

As the Ancient Ones stand
Serene and grand,
Holding court even now,
I taught them how.
1982

BLUE AS BLUE

My heart is in a purple funk
Although the skies are clear and blue.
My presence is required here;
My spirit's writing songs with you.

WINGS OF A SOUND

I hear an airplane overhead. It drones,
Crescendos, fades--music of industry--
So common.......

An aproned mother hears the sound
And stops, soapsudsy dish mid-air, to see
A small brown package sent--how many times?--
From Army post. The last of home:
His watch and wallet, sixty cents, Mom's picture....

Bronze-golden cheeks turn up as sky-flecked eyes
Seek for a silver glint. Strong motor sound,
Vibrating twelve-year dreams, clears through the mists
To semi-circled views of neat green fields
And rises over sun-blazed snows--then all
Condenses on Dad's promise in a smile....

Beneath the sound an aged woman shrinks
As bombs explode her peace anew. Short
Is life, and death is one, whether quiet
In the candlelight of praying nuns,
Or violent in rubble-shattered streets....

That is an airplane passing overhead.
I doubt that any person even hears.

$15 HUSBAND

Once upon a weekend date,
I made my way home somewhat late,
To find my roommate, a good friend,
Saying "This guy's tenure here must end."

She handed me a form and check,
Said, "Fill this in, 'cause what the heck,
They'll match you a computer date
And you might find a decent mate."

Peering at the form, I had to squirm,
But, yes, that guy was sure a worm.
So I chose my answers carefully
With hardly a lie--well, maybe three.

My roommate's paying, and so no skin
Off my nose, Long shot. Send it in.
But, whoa! I had surprises due.
My list came back in a week or two.

To shorten story (& save a rhyme),
My computer date and I spent time
From Friday lunch to noon next day.
Oh, Lord, the darndest things I say!

A few years later did we hitch,
And now it's our 27 year itch.
This painful verse I think I'll halt
And say, "Hey, Fran, it's all your fault."

The end.

SPRINGTIME

Mow,
Mow,
The grass
Doth grow!

Dern stuff.....

O'HARE

>Well, I'll be switched!
>My latest trip
>I barely escaped
>Becoming a VIP.

> >Hubby left me
>At airport's edge.
>I got on board
>Prepared to veg.

> >Mid-flight a stew
>Called out my name
>And scared me spitless.
>Bad news? A game?

> >Oh, no, just hubby'd
>Called O'Hare
>To have them move me
>By wheelchair.

> >An old dame, yes,
>And I can't see,
>But not so bad
>As to wheelchair me.

> >I said, "No Thanks.
>I have a dream
>To cross O'Hare
>Under my own steam!"

MY DAY WITH MY BAY

The way I spent my time today
Is the sort of thing that makes neighbors say,
"It won't be long now til they take her away."

I have in my yard a shrub, a bay tree
About ten years old, always green, always free,
So ready to serve, asking little of me.

In my kitchen there's always a new drying bough
Of my bay leaves for cooking, so friendly somehow.

Last night I noticed that tree to my shock:
Its leaves mud encrusted, and pests run amok.

So I started this morning with a warm soapy blend
To wash off the leaves, give them luster again.

A spray with a hose just would not do the job,
So I handwashed each leaf, from bottom to top.

For leaves that had served me so well the years thru
It wouldn't be fair to just clean up a few.

Well, it took me till noon, not a moment too soon,
As my husband concluded I was one looney tune.

I figure this tree's been my friend a long time,
And it wasn't time wasted: I dreamed up this rhyme!

SPARROW

That sassy sparrow
with bold white markings
has nearly worn my mailbox down
with landings near his nest.
Three families raised already,
and still that
compulsive procreator
is at it again,
flying from mailbox to nest,
chirping loudly for a mate.
The females are nowhere in sight.
And he's looking a little old.

TO BE A RAINBOW

To be a ray
Prisming in someone's mist each day
Is love.

TRAVELS

I've never seen the pyramids,
Nepal or China's Wall.
My travels were of circumstance
And not adventure's call.

The wonders that my eyes beheld
Took me to heaven's halls;
Yosemite, Lake Michigan,
Tetons, Niagara Falls.

Now age and limitations
Have set my borders nigh;
I marvel now at butterflies
and roses and blue sky.

BUTTERFLY ENCOUNTER

Out on a casual walk one day
I met my Soul along the way,
So startled that I'd never known
Such wondrous joy could be my own.
We danced on rainbow-colored beams
For just a moment, so it seems.
Our meeting brief, you'd soon depart
To leave me with a longing heart.
I lift my eyes to skies above
And look for you, my soon lost love.
I cannot grieve. I gained a sight
to most denied--My Life's Delight.
My spirit stays with you so high
In glory bright, sweet butterfly.
2002

BEREAVEMENT

Where now? Do I go now?
Life is racing, I am still.

Losses. Days too quiet.
Empty places. How to fill?
----
Where now? Time goes strangely.
I see shadows. Nothing's real.

Go now. Time to go now?
Maybe somewhere I can heal.
----
Where now? Shall I go now?
Change strikes terror--I must stay.

Hushed now, I seek silence.
Let my heart search for my way.
----
Listen. Raindrops whisper.
Is my answer in the rain?

Changes. Tiny changes.
Will my pathway smooth again?
----
Peaceful comes the sunrise--
Comes to bring me another day.

I watch for the moment
With the answer that I so pray.
---
Hope steps through the doorway,
Lifts me up from bended knees.

Peace flows. Peaceful harbor.
Peace comes gently as a breeze.
2004

Poetry by Dorothy
Original MIDI "Kwiet" by Andy Klapwyk
Original Music "The Unborn Child" by David Folsom