GOODBYES AND WHYS

 Writers’ Pantry #65 and I find myself in a bit of a funk, and my muse wandering off in the rain somewhere.  Submitted to Poets & Storytellers United   April 11, 2021

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GOODBYES AND WHYS

Another dear friend has transitioned

to the what-comes-after

Longevity

is filled with so many goodbyes.

If karma exists,

it’s taking me longer 

to learn this life lesson than they.

It is comforting, however, to know

when I arrive 

there will be a veritable chorus

of welcomes awaiting.

UP AND AWAY

The Sunday Muse #155

 UP AND AWAY

Wafted away in my poppy red dress 

carried on a current of summer breeze, 

up, up and away and free as a bird, 

with the eye of a great bald eagle.

Just as I dreamed it, I soared away

high above troubles and woes

hearing the voices of those below

Saying “Here she comes............ there she goes”!

THOUGHTS ON AGING

 It's Meet the Bar at dVerse, and Grace has asked us to consider poems about our body.  Growing older brings some indignities it's best to consider with humor, otherwise they're a bit depressing!  Here are my thoughts on the  subject.  Submitted to dVerse  April 9, 2021

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        GROWING OLDER

It’s wonderful to be older, 

And oh, so very wise

…but I observe I have acquired 

    some bags beneath my eyes.

My years of diligent labor 

Have made me efficient about the house

…but now, when I look in the mirror

   my knees appear to blouse.

After all my years of practice,

I know quite the proper thing to say

…but I note on close inspection, 

   my hair is turning gray.

Seniority has its privileges

Of travel beneath foreign flags

…but, when I check my silhouette, 

    I believe my bottom sags.

When youth defers to me,

I think it’s really sweet

…but along with that, it’s sad to see

   my skin’s begun to pleat.

I’m now  loaded with self-confidence

When before a group I speak

…but, as I leave the podium,

   I hear my joints begin to creak.

Yes, aging has its privileges

And all in all they’re not so bad

…but they would really please me

   with that youthful body I had.

BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS

Weekly Scribblings #64, and Rosemary has asked us to feature some non-human pet or "beloved companion".  Through the years there have been dogs and at present there are two cats who allow us to live with them, but I've chosen to write of a inanimate object that accompanies me from abode to abode. Submitted to Poets & Storytellers United  April 7, 2021

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BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS

Eons ago, when I was fleet of foot and haunted antique shops in quaint little towns, I spied a porcelain bluebird looking forlorn on a shelf.  I brought him home, and dubbed him my bluebird of happiness, and gave him a choice spot in a decorative birdcage. That was over 30 years ago.  In the ensuing years when I moved, he moved along with me.  As age crept up on us, he left the cage and moved to a bookcase shelf in my library, and now resides on a sunny windowsill in my office/den.  We both have the patina of age,  He remains my talisman, my friend, my reminder to be grateful for the gift of life. 

WINE ON THE VINE

Quadrille #125  and Linda Lee gives us wine  or a form thereof for our quadrille of exactly 44 words, not including the title.  Submitted to dVerse  April 5, 2021

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   WINE ON THE VINE

On the garden arbor

sun ripened plump

purple clusters hung

ready for plucking,’

an afternoon treat

while reading under

the old elm, or destined 

for sparkling jars of grape 

jelly.  In years of innocence 

I had no idea they were

              wine on the vine.                 

THE PRIDE AND THE FLOCK

THE PRIDE AND THE FLOCK 

“I’m King of the Jungle“, the lion roared.

“We rule the jungle, my pride and I.”

“Baaaa humbug", replied the lamb. "Everyone

knows pride goeth before a fall.  ‘Tis I

and my flock who rule the jungle.  We’re

the flockin’ greatest of all.”

So it continues, the age-old conundrum

as old as the tick of the clock……

who is it that rules the jungle…..

Is it the pride, or is it the flock?

OPTIMISM

Open Link night, when we post a poem of our choice.   The grass is greening, the trees are budding, and my innate optimism is flourishing.  Abraham Lincoln said "A men is about as happy as he makes up his mind to be". and I think Abe might have had something there!  Submitted to dVerse, April 1, 2021

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OPTIMISM

I looked inside to find despair

And found it simply wasn’t there

I thought perhaps that I could dredge

Some past affront and bitter edge

Maybe some hated dreadful wrong

That I could pack and take along

A personal loss on which to dwell

Some bottomless pit into which I fell

Surely if I think long enough

I can find some agonizing stuff.

But, try as I might to take a tumble

Into a hopeless, tangled jumble

Faith picks me up and takes me on

To each new and special dawn.

And life continues in beautiful prism

Buoyed on by endless optimism.