Donuts Give Me Solace
Donuts give me solace;
I'm embarrassed to make the claim
But donuts give me solace
Just the same.
When anxiety frays my nerves
And they're in need of balm
Sugar and carbohydrates
Keep me calm.
A doctor could give me Prozac
When life has me crazed.
Instead let's buy some donuts
And make mine glazed.
What happens,(I know you're thinking)
When my blood sugar begins to drop?
I just have another donut
With a little chocolate on top.
Insomnia
On winter nights
I lie awake while the
moon shines through the window
and the hoot owl beckons me
to join him.
I consider it,
then pull the covers tight
against the cold.
In spring I'm tempted
to join the Whippoorwill
in the meadow on his
all night vigil.
Then I hear the coyotes'
howl echo from the hollow
where the creek runs cold,
and reconsider.
I listen to the
metallic whine of the cicadas
on hot summer nights
and watch as the night breeze
billows the curtains back and forth
above my head while
the leak stains on the ceiling
metamorphose into shapes and animations.
In autumn, close to
Halloweeen, the wind blows
brittle leaves against my window;
a premonition of the
winter chill.
And as the house creaks
against the wind's coercion
I wait for sleep to come again.
C. 9-26-00
Valentine 1984
Like a great tree
whose roots seek life
far below the ground,
our love lifts strength
from deep within us
Like a sea gull
who is free to fly
with the wind and clouds
you soar through the
sky of my dreams.
Your love for me,
a gem I found
in my wanderings
is the lodestar
by which I steer
Our Eighteenth Year
I remember the girl you were.
I can still see your smile
and the sparkle in your eyes.
Even then you possessed a mature
character and judgement.
You were a voluptuous young wife.
How I yearned for you
when we were apart.
Together we shared the urgent
intimacy of the young.
What a new mother you were.
So proud of those girls of ours.
Giving the best of yourself
to the kids and me,
claiming nothing for yourself.
Eighteen years its been.
How the years have flown.
The girls in their teens and
me balding and gray.
Yet you've kept that same smile
and your eyes still shine.
Thank you for all you've given me.
You've been my anchor through the years.
Your patience and wisdom have been
my mainstay; your beauty and grace, my charm.
You've been mine for eighteen years.
May I ask for eighteen more?
The future is an uncharted journey,
but we'll travel together,
and I'll love you all the way.
C.1984
Rachel at Fifteen
She's up in the morning
at the crack of dawn,
searching in the closet
for something to put on.
She grabs a piece of toast,
gulps a glass of juice,
she leaves a trail of papers
and her shoestrings are loose
As she rushes down the driveway,
can't be late for the bus!
She's waving at the driver.
Go to school today she must!
She's our teen age beauty.
She's our Homecoming Queen.
She acts like she's crazy
But she's just an average teen.
She has a new boyfriend.
Is it James or John, or Pete?
No need to remember names.
She'll have a new one next week.
She wears her Nike sneakers
and her Levi button ups.
Her closet's full of clothes
but she never has enough.
Pizza, Coke, Rock'n Roll
fast cars and ear rings,
football games and movies;
these are her favorite things.
She's our teen age beauty.
She's our Homecoming Queen.
She acts like she's crazy
But she's just an average teen.
C. 9-4-84
Rachel
Rachel, Rachel, please don't cry.
Come sit by Daddy and tell him why
the tears flow down your face
like rivulets of dew across
the petal of a rose.
Lift your face and look at me.
Open those eyes and let me see
the blue sky of a cloudless day
with kites of innocence and joy
dancing in the wind.
Take my hand and let's go play.
Running and jumping we'll spend the day.
Until the music of your laughter
as you frolic through my life
brings tear drops of my own.
C. 1971
To Kelly
Hey, Kelly, slow down!
You're growing up too fast.
It's hard to believe
how the years have passed.
I have so many pictures
of you in my mind.
I think of them often as
you leave childhood behind.
When I remember how the wind
would blow your yellow hair
about your angel face,
it just seems so unfair
that life takes little girls
and turns them into grads,
just when it's smoothing the
rough edges off their dads.
I see myself
when I look at you.
But your free spirit
will enable you
to soar beyond my dreams
to heights I've never known.
Your flight has begun
although you're not quite grown.
You are my daughter.
we're bound by flesh and blood.
But as you grow
the memories will flood
my heart and soul.
It's hard not to cry.
But, Kelly, I love you
so fly, little girl, fly!
Why I Love My Grandpa
I really love my Grandpa
Although he's big and hairy
But when you stop to consider
That no's not in his vocabulary
It's really a pretty good deal
For a little tot like me.
Let me tell you about Grandpa
And I think that you'll agree
.
Whenever he picks me up
He's never one to linger.
He goes in any direction
That I point my finger.
If I see a toy at Wal-Mart
I've as good as got it.
All I do is point and grunt
And Grandpa pulls out his wallet.
I can't grab at others' food
(Who knows where my hands have been?)
I'm always welcome in Grandpa's plate.
My germs don't bother him.
I'm always pulling on his beard,
Which is only fair I suppose.
Because he nibbles on my ears
And he even bites my toes.
