So simplistic were the rhymes
Of my childhood
Aesop and Mother Goose
Taught me how to be good
Kind and wise
Avoid Miss-Understood
Yet, they did not share with me
In black and white ink
How to dare to care
When life is on the brink
Of falling in and down
Afraid there is no settling
The nesting and pruning
Of love birds in tune
With one another
Humdrum forgetting
Singing, fanning plumage
Making room
If you should find a lover
Try to keep her hand
But if lost remember -
Not to weep for
The Summer nights
On a cold, dark night
in June.
Fur babies and toddlers Ambled up and down Undulating hills Edge of grass against Soft waves of sand All breeds of humans Come from sun up to down I landed on these shores To start a life anew To resurrect and hope For a future Somehow the shine On the water Brightens the day Even when tears Choke back the words A stranger sits beside me And is more of a friend Than any Telling me her story Without asking Noticing my tears She bids farewell I say goodbye to Ollie Her dog She smiles Acknowledging Her one and only Love
Being present Even if Mind is elsewhere What I promised To my chillins When born Their knowledge of love Comes from this assurance I am always there for them No matter where I am To be present Even in absence Is all we require Of love If this is too much or Love is not enough Better to depart And allow The space to be Renewed If you will
Chillins, term of endearment for Scout and Jem by Calpurnia their cook, in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.