love/anti-love PAD 9-2

 The smile that played on his lips.

The way he said her name.

I knew he was in love.

love/anti-love PAD 9-1

 Past Loves

 

Our past loves are like paints

on an artist’s palette.

Our inward beings

Our personalities

Painted by those young loves.

 

The little boy that asked me to color with him.

The young man who held my books.

The neighbor boy who changed from annoying

to hey not bad—the first kiss.

The first long term relationship

who was difficult to break up with.

The love that just didn’t seem to work out,

but was equally significant.

All the short-term ones.

 

The purples, blues, greens, yellows, oranges, reds

of my soul.

And that one that lasts coming into half a century,

painting my soul with various colors each day.

Major Event PAD 8-3

 

Johnstown Flood 1977

 

Johnstown, PA had three major floods.

In 1977, I was spending the summer

with my sister in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

 

I heard about the flood on the radio.

The only major event that happened

in my small  town in my lifetime—

 

And I missed it, but there were many

who wished that they had, too.

Major Event, PAD 8-2

 Three Days After Christmas and Easter

 

We celebrated the birth of Christ

in 1981, and three days later

our daughter Lori was born.

We took her home in a Christmas stocking

that the hospital ladies had made.

A tiny baby in a big, red stocking.

 

We celebrated the resurrection of Christ

in 1985, and three days later

our son Eli was born, though we didn’t

take him home in an Easter basket.

That would have been a big basket,

since he weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

 

major event PAD 8-1

 A Piece of Gum

Over fifty years ago,

my best friend’s worst enemy

offered her a piece of gum.

 

Of course, we were curious.

She attended a Bible Study.

So my friend and I went.

 

The pastor explained

the difference between religion

and a relationship with God.

 

We invited Jesus in

and our lives changed course.

Just an act of kindness.

Luck PAD 7-3, Poetic Bloomings The Best Life

 The Best Life

 

The best life is not

When things always go right

Not just being

healthy, wealthy and wise.

 

Or creating, learning

And having fun each day

When all is hunky-dory

Everything our way  

 

It’s a matter of love

Loving God above all else

And loving others

As we love ourselves

 

And receiving their love in return

Though it’s not something we can earn

luck PAD 7-2

 The Superstitions

Mountains in Arizona

Stories by Akimel O'odham people

Mysterious sounds,

Disappearances and deaths

 

Now a treasured attraction

Hiking, biking, horseback riding, water sports

 160,000 acres to have a little fun

Unless you disappear or die

 

I drive by it every time

I visit my daughter and son.

I would stop, if I didn’t have

a proclivity for getting lost.   

luck PAD 7-1

 Highway 666

 

Highway 666 ran through my town.

Delinquents kept taking the signs down.

The governor thought 666 bad luck.

But in our minds that number stuck.

 

They changed the highway to 491.

And I tell you that it is no fun.

That number is bad luck to me.

Because it doesn’t stay in my memory.

 

In order for me to write this poem.

I had to google the highway that goes by my home.

minimum PAD 6-3

 Minimum Sleep

 

I refuse to get out of bed

before five.

I need enough sleep

to stay alive.

 

So when I’m wide awake

at three or four,

I’ll stay and pray

and rest some more.

Minimum PAD 6-2

 Minimum Speed

 

I’m glad

there’s no minimum speed

on mountain roads.

When my big, old Caprice

chugged up Wolf Creek Pass,

like The Little Engine that Could,

I’d tell the kids,

“Going forward is all that matters!”

Minimum PAD 6-1

 Spring

 

A robin perched on my back fence.

When wind blows

Sky snows

Clouds loom gray

A minimum sign of spring

Encourages

Like a compliment on a bad day.

Tell Blank PAD 5-3

 Tell Jesus

 

He’s alive and well

You can talk to Him, you know

His ears are attentive

Reception isn’t slow

 

Tell Him all about it

He won’t be surprised

He knows anyway

He’s forgiving and wise

 

If there’s something broken

He’s the one to heal

He can do anything

He is truly real

 

So tell it to Jesus

He wants to be your friend

And walk hand in hand with you

Until your journey’s end

Tell Blank PAD 5-2

 Tell Me a Story

 

I remember those days

When my daughter Lori

Went to bed and would say

Tell me a story

 

Of you and your sisters

And the rest of your family

So I would stir up

All in my memory

 

Of all we played

In the trees and the hills

Of bicycle and sled rides

Of walking on stilts

 

Of walking in the rain

Or playing in the snow

Of summer vacations

To Delaware, we’d go

 

Of neighborhood kids forming

The Sunflower band

Or trying to make money

At our lemonade stand

 

Or splashing in the creek

Since we didn’t have a pool

And of all of the things

We did in our small school

 

Till amidst her stuffed animals

She would fall asleep

Until the next night

And she would repeat

 

“Tell me a story.”

Tell Blank PAD 5-1

 Tell Me If I Stink

 

One day my friend said,

“Tell me if I stink.”

Would I do that?

I had to stop and think.

 

She works on a farm

And shovels manure each day.

She has a “poop mobile”

To haul it all away.

 

But I’m thankful

There wasn’t much to tell.

Because through the years,

I’ve lost my sense of smell.

Mistake PAD 4-3

 Mistake Vs. Betrayal

 

“Forgive me!”

he pleads to his wife,

“It was a mistake.”

 

A man doesn’t

accidently drop his pants

and sleep with another woman.

 

There’s a difference

between a mistake

and betrayal.

 

And whatever happened

to the word,

“sin”?

Mistake Poetic Asides 4-2

 My Pink Coat

 

We went to France the month of May.

And on one clear thing, I did dote.

Of my packing, I realized

I should have taken my pink coat.

 

My pink coat’s warm and waterproof.

Best all-weather! It wins the vote.

I didn’t think I needed it.

I should have taken my pink coat.

 

We walked about in cold and rain.

And soon, I sneezed and had sore throat.

My “raincoat” wasn’t waterproof.

I should have taken my pink coat.

 

And so, my sis heard me complain.

So many times, that’s all I wrote.

I wish a dime each time I said,

“I should have taken my pink coat!”

 

Soon, we’re going to Italy

And on my list, I will take note.

Of all the things that I will pack,

My number one, is my pink coat.

Mistake PAD 4-1

 Giving Old Ladies a Good Laugh

 

When I went to Iquitos, Peru,

on a mission trip,

I thought, after years

of Spanish classes, I’d be able

to communicate fairly well.

 

But one afternoon

as my roommate

and I were peeling potatoes

in the hot kitchen,

I asked about washing them.

 

I wondered why

the old ladies,

who we were helping,

looked up in the air

and started laughing.

 

It wasn’t until

I was back in my hotel room

that I realized

that instead of using the word

“lavar” to wash

I used the word “levantar”

to raise.

Music act or artist 3-3

 When sister Kathy

Plays her old accordion

Joy comes in a box

Music act and artist PAD 3-2

 When God Sings

 

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

 

If God spoke the world

into existence,

I can only imagine

what happens

when He sings.

Perhaps that’s what happened

when Christ rose from the dead.

Music Act or Artist PAD 3-1

 The Oregon Trail

 

The song Happy Birthday

keeps running through my head,

from the time I get up,

till the time I go to bed.

 

Our Nature Group “heads west

on the Oregon Trail.”

They made up the words

and sing them so well.

 

To the Happy Birthday tune

with my uke, I play along,

as we sing out the words

of their made-up song.

 

We sing about picking up

buffalo chips for the fire,

eating beans and white rice

and how of walking, they tire.

 

Chasing butterflies,

Playing with their dog,

Running through the prairie,

Jumping off a log.

 

When their wagon train

went down a steep hill,

one of their Conestogas

took a nasty spill.

 

So far there’s seven verses.

I’m sure there’ll be more,

by the time their shoebox wagons

meet the Pacific shore.

Happy/Sad PAD 2-3

 A Diamante

 

Happiness

Joyful, Light

Dancing, singing, skipping

Gifts, Freedom, tears, loss

Crying, grieving, moaning

Painful, sorrowful

Sadness

Happy/Sad PAD 2-2

 A Place Called Happy

 

It’s okay to be sad

Take that trip

Down, down, down

Feeling the loss and the pain

Just don’t stay there

There’s a place called happy

That makes room for wounded souls.

Happy/Sad PAD 2-1

 Happy

 

If you’re happy and you know it

Clap your hands

Raise them up

Close your eyes

And be thankful.

And, maybe, do a little jig.

Optimistic PAD 1-3

 

Optimism

Through times of trouble

Sunshine on a cloudy day

Optimistic PAD 1-2

 Optimism

 

O utlook

P erception

T aking a peek at positive possibilities

I magining dreams coming true

M aking room for answered prayer

I nterceding for the Father’s will to be done

S tepping out in faith

M itigating fear and worry

Optimistic PAD 1-1

 

There once was a lad named Worry

Who lived in fear and flurry

Optimism said, “Relax!”

Examine all the facts

 No need for hurry scurry

stornello form Poetic Bloomings

 On this Easter Morning

 

On this Easter morning, wake me up, I pray.

With bleary eyes, I’m trying to start my day.

I’m Your child, but I feel like a lump of clay.

 

Since You made Adam from dust, I have hope still.

Mold me and form me, according to Your will.

Breathe in me life, may the Holy Spirit fill.

 

You’re still in the business of raising the dead.

I’m encouraged by the Scriptures I have read.

We did have death, but You gave us life instead.

 

And as we celebrate the day You arose,

We belong to You, from our heads to our toes.

Your blood purchased us from the enemy’s woes.

 

Holy Father, thanks for the gift of Your Son.

“It is finished,” He had said. So it is done.  

Through His sacrifice, we have already won.

 

And so, this Easter Morning as we arise,

Through Jesus, we have found favor in Your eyes,

And have eternal hope when the body dies.

Morning Prayer

 Open My Eyes

 

Open my eyes

To Your hand in my life

Open my ears

To Your voice

Open my hands

To give

And may my strength

Be used to work in Your honor

 

Let us walk hand in hand

May I feel Your arm around my shoulders

Your pat on my back.

Your high five when I’m in Your will

May I feel Your smile on me

May I hear You singing over me

May I know Your love and affection

 

May I be about my Father’s business

Rejoicing that You have a purpose for my life.

Ekphrastic from photo

Feuerwerk Houses

 

The small German town

of Feuerwerk houses,

with their strips of design

on their outer walls,

like a page from a fairy tale,

invite eager adventurers

up cobblestone streets,

through rounded arches,

further up and further in.

Ekphrastic from a photo

 The German Castle

 

Tall and narrow, with minarets,

perched on rugged mountains

like a commanding princess

with her skirt of golden foliage

and a backdrop of more mountains

severely treeless, covered in ice,

topped with a creamy blue sky

with ocean-like waves of clouds.  

Prepper Poetic Asides

 Trip Prep

 

Planning a big trip

Takes time, money

And steady nerves

 

With many tasks

Overwhelm

Can suffocate

 

With World News

Bombs, Terrorists

Fear can paralyze

 

It helps to remember

All the other trips

That turned out fine

 

And to remember

That wonderful God

Is only a prayer away.

Colorado weather

 

The sun was shining

in the blizzard today

Reminds me of the Holy Spirit

in times of trouble.

Poet's Block

 This Poem

 

This poem is shy

Doesn’t what to come out

Don’t even know

What this poem is about

 

So I’ll sit here

Wait till it shows its face

And I wonder

If it’s close to this place

 

It might be out

In a raging river

The thought of it

Makes me quake and shiver

 

Or way up high

It flies in a balloon

Someone, pop it

So it comes to me soon

 

Or it may be

Deep in a submarine

Maybe this poem

Will not ever be seen

 

Or it may be

Aboard a high-speed train

Or it could be

Out singing in the rain

 

Oh, here it is

Seven verses in all

Sometimes a poem

Is determined to stall

history Poetic Bloomings

 HisStory

 

The Word left Heaven, came to live on earth.

Taught, healed, lived and died as a sacrifice.

Those who believe are given a new birth.

Yes, for our sins the Lord has paid the price.

 

And when He rose again the rulers said,

“This looks bad for us all who condemned Him.”

They paid the guards to say He was still dead

and that His disciples had removed Him.

 

And still today, those who do not believe

design to change and rewrite His story.

And maybe this cruel message we’d receive,

if we did not taste His love and glory.

 

He’s still in the business to resurrect

the dead hearts of those who do not reject.