The Poetry Marathon

I miss your laughter
and the way you sang out loud.
I miss the comfort of your wisdom.
The way you held your head so proud.

I often wish that we could visit
like we did back in the day.
I have so many things to tell you.
I always wonder what you’d say.

When I look back and remember
on the days that formed my childhood years.
I see you standing front and center
through a rainbow blur of tears.

I see you smiling thorough the hard times
and all the good times too.
I wouldn’t be who I am without you.
Oh dear Grandma, I miss you.

How can we heal all the hurt in the world?
Undo the past and the harms that linger?
How can we stop the blaming, shaming, and wagging of the finger?
How do we right the wrongs that abound.
To create change we’re so desperate to see.
I don’t have all the answers, but it begins with you and me.

When will the painful judgments stop?
and when will we cherish each other?
When will stop seeing otherness?
and instead see our sisters and brothers?
When will we live up to the promise
of all this country was intended to be?
When will hear freedom ring from sea to shining sea?
I don’t have all the answers, but it begins with you and me.

Who will start the journey from our painful past to healing?
Who will find find expression for all we have been feeling?
Who will build the bridge from where we are to where we’re going?
Who will use their wisdom and our expanding sense of knowing?
Who will light the fire, to spark the change we wish to see.
I don’t have all the answers, but it begins with you and me.

A heaping scoopful of courage.

A dash of blind faith.

A portion of patience.

Generous grace.

Add a sprinkle of love.

Let the whole mixture rise.

Prepare for the feast

of a beautiful life.

She shares my laughter
and soothes my pain
embraces darkness
and celebrates rain.

She’s the only person
who accepts me for me.
When I encounter a blind spot
she helps me to see.

I’ve never known anyone
so strong and wise
A stalwart soul
who can empathize

A generous heart
that gives so much.
She creates safe space
with a healer’s touch.

I’m so grateful for
the love she shows.
And if she ever wondered,
I hope now she knows.

Birdsong and first light 
announce morning’s arrival.
But I choose to sleep.

A darkness crossed over my heart
more than once.
No crowds gathered to see it.

I had always been told
that the dark would pass.
But I never chose to believe it.

When the light returned
my heart felt burned
from adjusting back to its brightness.

Like a total eclipse
it was only a blip
my heart again emanates lightness.

Chickens were my truest friends.
I spent hours talking to those hens. 
While the rooster crowed and strut about, 
the hens and I would hash it out. 

I made other friends- a skunk or two, 
a baby owl, some bunnies too. 
I tried to rescue baby birds, 
fallen from nests or somehow hurt. 

When I was 9 we moved away 
and I remember to this day
I so loved being a country girl. 
That move forever changed my world. 

I never was the same again.
I still miss those animals I called friends. 

Lotus blooms reflect
a fountain held by angels. 
Central Park in spring.

When you were a little girl 
you had no quarrels with the world.
Life seemed so much simpler then
in the warm embrace of family and friends. 

But over time life disappointed.
The truth you’d known became disjointed. 
The trust you’d had had been betrayed 
and you have suffered since that day. 

I hope you know 
that you belong. 
That in facing your struggles 
you’ve learned to be strong.

You’re now teaching others
some lessons you've learned. 
You're turning your pain
into good in the world.

When Gracie cuddles up to me
a fur ball of love is all I see. 

I refer to her as my therapy dog 
and people seem to play along. 

But it’s really not a joke to me. 
My Gracie is great therapy.
 
There’s nothing wrong in any day
that sweet Gracie cannot chase away.