VERSIFIER (To my Husband)

"You say you have no style for poetry."

Do you know you write each day

A lovely poem formed through your kindness

Of the love words you would say.

That bouquet you bought this morning

Full of beauty, color, shade

Brought its cheer with tender rhythm

Thoughtfulness ... a rich brocade.

Yes! you write me poems of beauty

Words and deeds blend each a part

In the beauteous songs of gladness

That transforms both mind and heart.

INSPIRATION

A little bird poured out his soul in song
Not knowing its melody sweet and strong ...
Reached a child who was ill, making him smile ...
Or that an old man who listened awhile ...
Was cheered, resolving to fight life anew ...
Just as the bird lifted his wings and flew ...
He perched on a bough some distance away ...
So unaware of hope he gave that day ...
God's messengers of song play a big part ...
In aiding young and old to take new heart.

MEMORIAL

She unlocked the door of his tool-shed

She took a spade and hoe ...

A rake - and a ball of twine ...

To measure the garden row.

She brought none of his skill to the gardening

Just a poignantly awkward grace ...

But never, since the day he died ...

Have I seen such peace in her face.

LAST NIGHT I DIED

Last night I died!

My soul in poignancy detached from earthy ties.

Last night eternity seemed something tangible, something I had known

all along but could not define.

Eternity - winging through hazy recollections of beautiful dream clouds of fantasy, drifting on and on serenely,

endless in space - hearing soft fluttering whispers

of the night, whisperings of love, of happiness and peace.

Beautiful longings - crystalizing into life's sublime ultimatum

soaring on, ever on, drinking, sipping, toxifying

nectar held out to me, beckoning, tantalizingly real.

Last Night I Died!

ADVERSITY

There came into life one day

A grave perplexity

O'ershadowing my every hour

With deep anxiety.

Then reason came and calmy said:
"Such grieving should not be

This care will seem a little thing

In life's entirety."

Thus reason spoke and I gave heed

Now vexing thoughts to me

Are viewed as a somber thread

In life's rich tapestry.

_____________________________

(Paula, I hope you read this poem, I wrote it for you)

OLD LOVE AND NEW

First love is young love

Is hope and zest

But old love

Is tried love

And tried love

Oh, tried love is best.

Young love is always

Is likened as

Of gold

But love that is

Tried love

Is always new

Tho' old.

But tried love

Is dear love

Is true love

That stands the test

Of time

And tried love

This is a love sublime

In face of all

Divine!

TREE SYMPHONY

Trees, dancing in the breeze, thrill me

Trees, silent, still and tall, move me

Trees, charming at dawn, greet me

Trees, vibrant at night, rest me

Trees, scatt'ring sunbeams, inspire me

Trees, gleaming in the moonlight, sing to me

Trees, adorned with crystal raindrops, mystify me

Trees, robed in spotless snow, purify me

Trees, attracting merry birds, delight me

Trees, whisp'ring heart to heart, teach me

Trees, stirring in springtime, awaken me

Trees, aglow in autumn, enrich me

Trees, breathing out life-giving essence, reach me

Trees, revealing the Infinite, exalt me!

DISCOVERY

Ah!

Here it comes again

Giggling

Effervescent ...

It begins in the lowest levels of my belly

Creeps up to engulf my heart

Lightens my head ...

It makes me dizzy

Laughter bubbles about inside my mouth

Tickling my teeth ...

Dancing on my tongue

Bursting out!

See how it brightens the sun ...

Clears the skies

Softens the rain

Everyone smiles ...

"She's in love" they whisper

And I hear

Am I?

I am ... oh, yes

I

Am ...

I love the person

Who is

Me!

MY SON

When he was born I looked at him and thought:

What a precious little one.

I looked at him again and said: Is this

My son?

When he was three I looked at him and thought:

His troubles have just begun.

Look at him pucker his baby lips. How can I say:

No, son!

When he was five he started to school

His strong little legs in a run.

I saw him stumble and bump his nose. I cried:

O, son!

When he was seventeen he finished high school

With the highest of honors won.

I looked at him and proudly said: This is

My son!

O, world of turmoil

With your race for the young to run,

I beg you: Please be careful what you do with

MY SON!

I MAY ALWAYS

I may always have

Tomorrow to walk

In the rain but I would

Rather do it now.

I may always have

Tomorrow to sit

On a rock and look

At the rushing water

Of a mountain stream

But I would rather

Do it now.

I may always have

Tomorrow to watch

A crackling fire in

The fireplace but

I would rather do it now.

I may always have

Tomorrow to say

"I love you" but

I would rather

Tell you now!

I WISH YOU HONESTY

For you I have a simple wish
Not unkind or otherwise
Just a wish for your entire life...

I wish you honesty.
Honesty for you between your
Own heart and mind
And also the hearts and minds of others...

I'll wish that you believe what
You hear yourself say
And trust that others will do the same ...

For you, your acts will admonish
Your thoughts
If what you say is really what
You feel ...

In years to pass I shall remember
My honesty to you and yours to me
I shall wonder if you were honest
With me ...

If I take long in deciding
I shall add together what it cost me
Honesty is free but priceless
So what we shared is beyond
Human value to me ...

If in your own mind you believe
You were honest with me
We shall part as friends
If not
I wish you honesty!

Band of colors -

Cover a mountain

Rainbow

MY HOSTESS

Day opened wide her silver gates for me
And sent a golden sunbeam for my guide ...

She tossed a bluebird into bluer skies ...

And poured a song in grass along my side.

Day sprinkled flowers on the meadow's green

Like jewels lying on a velvet spread ...

And hung ripe apples on the swaying trees ...

Then turned the sunset skies to flamimg red.

Day proved to be a friend to me, indeed

She took the sadness my heart had known ...

Then gave me loveliness in place of tears ...

And brushed her laughing lips against my own.

THOUGHTS

Day and night they travel onward

Hour by hour as on parade ...

Some thoughts travel on to action

Some at home forever stayed ...

Some are languid passing onward

Leaving not a joy or pain ...

Transient as the smiles that greet us

Never to return again.

Thoughts can mar our souls

Forever blighting beauty from within ...

Sealing there our hearts forever

As in bondage so grim ...

Others soar to heights of glory
Wielding power that bringeth fame ...

Sweet the thoughts with flower's laden scented

As perfume they came ...

As ye think therefore ye liveth

Soar thou high above the rife ...

Feed thy soul with living beauty

For as ye think ye fashion life.

TO MARY

Your voice is silent, hushed in that deep sleep

But still-water, flowing

By the path we used to take,

In understanding music tells the things

That only you could say to me.

My surety of this is past all knowing.

My hand is empty ... wanting your dear touch,

But through the day

And most of all at sunset, one gold ray

Of light ... articulate

Reaches to clasp my all-too-wistful fingers

With loving caress.

The night beside me stands and stoops and lingers,

To tell me of your nearness.

Then sets the stars
That never have been there before your going

To guide my sleeping thoughts, seeking, forever seeking

Your too-missed, too-absent, dearness

IN THE ATTIC

I went up to the attic

One lonesome rainy day

For there on days such as this

My children used to play.

A swing tied to the rafters

And old board for a seat

And yonder stood a pair of shoes

Minus the little feet.

A doll in a doll cradle

A pencl and a pad

And on the pad was written -

"From David to my dear Dad."

A table in the corner

A hobby-horse and chair

And old couch in the shadow

Day-dreaming I sat there.

The darkness and the quiet

The patter of the rain

Soothed me to quiet slumber

Their laughter I heard again.

The clouds then stopped their weeping

Like mine their tears were spent

The sun shone on the roses

Whose bush the rain had bent.

A HAPPY THOUGHT

Have you ever noticed

How varied folks can be

How some are springs

And some are wells ...

And when it comes to me

I think that I'm a bit of both

A wellspring ... do you see?

For much that flows

From deep within

Comes bubbling out so free ...

Filling up each lovely day

As easy as can be

And where it all must come from

Is a mystery to me ...

But isn't it a happy thought

To stop and think a bit

That when we're simply being

We are blest by it!

ONCE I ENVIED

Once I envied the fishes

Their crystal halls of sea

And the lark its flight

Up heaven's height

Where I could never be.

I envied the sky its sunsets

The grass its dew of dawn

And the bee his secret shining hours

Beside the rose in her honeyed bowers

With crimson petals drawn.

But you have brought me sea and sky

Heart of flowers and dew

Though now all choices were offered me

I would choose of all to be

Lying here with you!

MORNING WALK

I couldn't take a walk today

For a dam broke in the sky

And flooded all creation

With rain-storms rushing by.

So I went to roam instead

Through meadows in the mind

And found forgotten flowers

On hillsides I once climbed.

Within there is a universe

As boundless as the one we see

Divine Mind, in us, infinite

Where, rain or fair, we wander free.

MOTHER

She put her eager hands about my life

And led me out into the bright new day ...

The clean, cool wind blew through my laughing hair

All wonder glowed upon my waiting face ...

She taught me how to love the great, tall things

We practiced how the robin tells his soul ...

She showed me how a rain-pool holds the world

How I could give a sunset-full of love!