We are watching you.

A singular anniversary
of a love shared.

Shared between two
Lovers urgent desires.

An anniversary enjoyed
Anticipated and Experienced

Contemplated now
And again and again.

With joy and surprise,
Each a heart warming day.

Through adolescence
To giddy teenage years.

First love deeply felt
Lost in the nights of fire

Love refound amongst the ashes
Kindled in friendship and desire.

A family reformed
Hers and mine made six..

Love found and lived
Each day among the drama

Internalizing lessons learned
Changing self to help one or all.

One step, two, taken
Make a difference

Grow in breadth and width
Sharing and relieving trauma

Satisfaction and resolution gains,
Professionally and personally.

Anniversaries pile up
One upon another and another,

Physical ailments accumulating
Gathering strength and debilitation.

A life now constrained
Pain unrelieved lived

A new life chosen
Slower and without anxiety.

New choices to be made
Creating differently

Using life and experience
Poems and treasures.

Anniversaries mounding up
Heaping pounds and greyness

A body shows the wear
To the wearer of the body.

Slowing life, rushing forward
To another anniversary.

Gathering years of mountains of joys
And ant hills of sorrow.

Happy Birthday brings all together
All happenings and experiences

Even of the two lovers
So long long ago.

Alive for the moment
Of remembrances of remembrances.

Until the next turn of the clock.
Tick Tock, tick tock.

Originally written: January 25, 2012

This is a day for family
For the sharing,
For the learning,
More for the loving.

Thanksgiving,
Giving thanks,
Life sharing,
Joining, separating,
Joining again,
Year after year.

A Day of Thanksgiving.

Originally written: November 27, 2003
Updated: January 6, 2012

Family and friends gather together to give thanks. Some years there are more thanks than other years. This past year has been one with pain and anquish for many. I hope and pray 2012 will be a better year for all of us.

Choices can be black
Or white
Very easy to discern
Without regrets.

Many days
And times
There are no white
Nor black anywhere
On the horizon

Yet a choice
Must be made
Ambiguity is the normal order
Choices with little information
Of lessor evils
Or least negative impacts.

All choices
Come with small
Or large regrets
Ambiguity reigns supreme
Yet choice is a must.

Postponement’s a no-no.
Procrastination in past
Can no longer be used
Decision must be made.

Regret will be a part.
Pride will be a another part.
Growth within your heart
And progress will happen
Knowledge and experience will queue up.

Another choice
Will be right there
Demanding another choice
And so we go back to the first line.

Originally written: November 13, 2003
Updated: January 4, 2012

We have had to make difficult choices. This poem is a reflection of those choices we have made and will make it life. We cannot live without making these choices. To live is a choice. Yes, I have accumulated regrets, but along with those regrets comes happiness and pride. With age we become wiser in the choices we make. At least most of the time.

Oh dear Lord,
This year is about to be over.
What next will come our way?

This past year
Was filled to overflowing with
Too many, way too many;
.

People hurt or killed by others
Jobs lost causing bankruptcies
Banks focusing on dollars in arrears
Homes lost displaced families
No job or home created homelessness
No food or water caused starvation
Earthquake caused Tsunami and nuclear disasters
Tornados sweeping clear land and lives
Fanaticism begat escalated responses
Occupy here and occupy there
Wars and armies trampling rights and lives
Wild fires taking homes and lives
Politicians use of sound bites
Media stampedes to get latest
Cancers taking too many beyond the veil
Memories and abilities lost to alzheimers
Commercialism of holidays
Some Corporations pure greed
The Great Recession continued

This past year
Saw some amazing stories of:

Soldiers coming home
Families being reunited
Last space shuttle an end of an era
People helping others unknown
British royal wedding – William and Kate
MIddle East Spring rebellion freeing citizens
Flyers bill of rights becoming law
Tourism begins to increase again
Santas paying for layaways

Oh dear Lord
May the list of amazing stories be greater
Than the list of sad and painful occurences.

May people the world over
Find a bit of optimism in the face of tragedies.

May each treat each other
As we want to be treated.

Originally written: December 29, 2011

Posted on Expats Post on December 29, 2011 http://expatspost.com/creative/2011-reflections/

I repost it on my blog to provide continuity with last year reflection on 2010. I will be doing the same for future years. The new year has lots to look forward to. May each of you be blessed and have a prosperous new year.

Autumn has arrived.
The brisk winds blow.

The temperature announces
Frost on the grasses.

The early morning
Crisp in newness.

My breath
Comes with clouds of white.

Yes, autumn has arrived.
I am refreshed.

Originally Written: November 14, 2003

Ahhhh! The brisk breeze kisses my cheeks and air is crisp and tastes so fresh. The leaves are changing colors from shades of green to fall colors of yellow to brilliant reds. I know that later they will turn to browns. It is autumn and I am refreshed. I hope you are too.

Each morning I awake
A new day before me.
Opportunities unlimited
Are there just waiting!

Choice made
Selecting and eliminating.
Opportunities narrowing
My possibilities

Each achievement
Each possibility left undone
Accumulates
And changes lives.

Each evening I celebrate
Both successes and failures
All are important
To all my tomorrows.

Originally written: November 12, 2003

I was thinking about choices made and not made, of opportunities
that went unfulfilled. I was musing how a simple small choice changed
my life. A simple choice was a single step down a narrow pathway.
Each decision was a footstep to where I am today. They can be retraced,
but even that would be a different. There is only going forward with a smile.

Scritch Scratching Away

I sit here and scritch
Scratch my thoughts.

Of life and love,
Upon this piece of paper.

It surprises me
As much as you.

The words that flow
And appear upon the page.

Yet, I feel tranquil
As the page is filled

Filled with drivel
And drabble from my mind.

Originally written: November 12, 2003

I am surprised by what words appear on the page sometimes. At times the words hide behind a grey screen of fog called writers block. At other moments the words flow directly to the page without a thought or effort. The prose arrives complete without correction or interference. Then there are those hours and days of hard work to mold a piece into a sentence and into a stanza. Yes, I am surprised as you, the reader, how some pieces twist and turn.

Amid the splendor of my dreams
With ardent passions.

Beloved, reality is so much
Better than dreams.

Within the wonders of your arms
I surrender to you.

Originally written: November 23, 2003

I wish everyone could have these feelings about a special someone. It is a unique and rare moment I have been told. Please note Kristin’s bare feet and Dwayne’s look on his face. I was honored to preside at their wedding as they exchanged vows.

Death where are you?
I walk my path
Enjoying each step
Not knowing,
Yet anticipating
A path of love,
A path of family.

I walk my path
Purposely not afraid,
Yet expectful.
A path of love
A path of family.

I have seen you
I know you!
You are the veil
Between loved ones.
It is a fine and thin
Veil of existence.
I walk my path patiently.
Death, where are you?

Originally written: November 30, 2002

My grandmother visited my mother immediately after her death to wave good-bye from outside of the kitchen window as my mother ironed cloths in the evening. I have friends and aunts who have felt the presence and believe they had communication after their spouse had died. Yet, I know it is improbable to expect direct communications with any deceased person. I wonder what is the mystery permitting some to be visible through the opaque veil between life and death.

Home is Where my Heart is

My heart is where
My love is.

Home is not a house.
Nor any physical abode.

It is the place
My heart seeks.

It is not in the
East, west, north, or even south.

It is just there
Where you are, my beloved.

Originally written: November 30, 2002

When I am not near you my heart knows there
is something missing. It beats steadier when
you are near.