Morning devotion

 

Bought Back

 

I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. Job 19:25

 

Yay, Jesus!

The end is the beginning.

Because of the Lord, 

we keep winning.

So we turn to Him

and forsake sinning.

And look forward to

an endless beginning.

 

I know my Redeemer lives.

near beginning/ending PAD 29-3

 April 29^th

 

I work at a Nature Center,

With thirteen great kids.

We learn things from the sun

To plants and katydids.

 

But those little cherubs

Are a lot of work.

At time they’re so fun,

Or can drive me berserk.

 

At the end of a work day,

My brain’s grated like cheese,

It’s so hard to think

And write poems such as these.

 

But I am a writer.

That’s what I do.

As we near the end of this challenge,

I will see this through!

Near beginning/ending PAD 29-2

 Beginnings

 

Beginnings promise

Encourage steps

Goad to action

Inspire ideas

New adventures

New opportunities

Interesting experiences

New relationships

Going forward

So let’s begin

near beginning/ending PAD 29-1

 Endings

 

Endings look back,

Nurtures introspection.

Did it turn out well?

Is it filled with good memories?

Now that it’s over, are you ready to say

Goodbye and go forward?

So, what’s next?

Color PAD 28-3

 Indigo

 

Blue violet

Calm tranquility

Harmony

Mystery

In a dream of indigo

Twixt happy and sad

Color PAD 28-2

 Periwinkles

 

Amidst a field of periwinkles

In a meadow wet with dew

Little fairies danced about

Within a mountain view

 

A nearby lake lay calm and still

The valley filled with peace

What happy little fairies

In a visual masterpiece

Color PAD 28-1

 I Like Purple

 

I like purple, it’s very fine.

It’s a favorite color of mine.

Purple jackets, and purple pants,

Amethysts, onions and eggplants,

Plums and grapes upon the vine.

 

Purple sunsets in lovely expanse,

The betta fish, and purple tangs,

Purple comforters, yarn and twine.

I like purple.

 

Roses and candles for romance,

Purple shoes in which to dance,

Sapphires and the purple of wine.

Purple is a color divine.

So, I will tell you in advance,

I like purple.

 

 

Forget Blank Poetic Bloomings

 Regrettably Forgettable

 

I was trying to think of a lady’s name today.

We knew her years ago.

She used to lead the singing in a previous church.

I asked Hubby if he remembered her name.

We had her over for supper once.

She sold a puzzle to one of our friends.

She had a unique way of memorizing directions.

She’d close her eyes and picture them.

The more I tried to jog my husband’s memory,

I realized how unmemorable she was.

All the years later when discussing

that particular church with others,

nobody said anything about her.

I don’t know her name,

where she moved to,

or if she is living or dead.

I do hope she has better friends

who remembers who she is.

 

 

New Blank PAD 27-1

 New Florence

 

I always wanted to go to Florence, Italy,

Because I lived in New Florence, PA.

I wanted to see why some Italian

Thought it a fitting name for our tiny town.

 

But when I finally made it to Florence, Italy,

I discovered the locals called it Firenze.

Should our tiny town be called New Firenze?

Knowing us we’d probably translate it “Frenzy.”

 

The town I live in now is Cortez.

Wouldn’t it be weird if tourists came

And called it something else? “Cortese?”

Which means courteous or polite.

 

So the next time I go to Firenze,

I’ll tell them I’m from Cortese.

I hope they don’t misunderstand

And think I’m boasting about my manners.

 

New Blank PAD 27-2

 New York memories

Getting lost, rush hour traffic

Rather watch You Tube

Hermit crab poem PAD 26-3

 Sticky Note Left on Door

 

I’m here, and you’re not.

Now you’re here and I’m not.

Why I came?

I forgot.

Hermit Crab poem PAD 26-2

 To Do List

 

Caregiving for Jake

Meals, dishes, walk

Bible Study

Poetry project

Clean porch furniture

Start mower, mow

Get groceries

 

Jake cancelled

Mower won’t start

 

Redo To do List

 

Meals, dishes, walk

Bible Study

Poetry project

Clean Porch Furniture

Get groceries

 

Did Bible study and poetry

Fell asleep

Redo To Do List

 

Meals, dishes walk

Clean Porch Furniture

Get Groceries

 

Got distracted by a You Tube Video

 

Redo To-do list

 

Meals, dishes, walk

Get Groceries

 

I don’t feel like doing groceries

 

Redo To-do list

 

Meals, dishes, walk

Binge on Korean Romance

 

 

 

hermit crab poem PAD 26-1

 

Countries I’ve Been To

The Bahamas, Canada, England, France, Germany, Holy See, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Peru, Puerto Rico, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Turks and Caicos the United States of America (all fifty states), U. S. Virgin Islands, and Wales.

Countries on My Wish List

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia,  Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belgium, Belize,  Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Chile, China, Columbia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador (Galapagos Islands), Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Georgia,  Ghana,  Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India,  Israel, Jamaica, Japan,  Jordan, Latvia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uruguay, Vanuatu, and Vietnam

I’ve got a ways to go.

 

 

Memory PAD 25-3

 Distinctive Memory

 

We had a small house for seven of us.

We rarely had visitors that weren’t kids.

But one Sunday, after church,

Mom brought some friends home for lunch.

 

That sent us all back to the bedrooms to eat.

We’d come out when we needed refills.

I went out to get another piece of corn on the cob.

Mom handed it to me over a lady.

 

A drop of butter fell in her red hair piled high.

I grabbed the corn and hurried out.

That’s one memory that remains unfaded.

I wonder if she ever noticed.

Memory PAD 25-2

 Summer Sounds of Childhood

 

When I visit my childhood home, the first thing I notice is the quietness. It’s an old neighborhood now. All of the kids grew up and moved away. When I was a child, the valley was filled with noise. Children playing, shouting, fighting, calling across the way. Cracks of baseball bats hitting balls, the thump, thump of the basket ball pounding on the neighbor’s driveway. The clinks of horseshoes on the metal posts. Yells of “Through, through,  hit the wicket!” when we played croquet. “Ready or not here I come,” when we played hide and seek. Parents used what my aunt called the bellering system. No cell phones back then. They just stood on their porches and yelled when it was time for their kids to come in, except for our neighbor’s dad who had a distinctive whistle that brought his children home. In the summer time, with all of the big yards, there was always a mower running. And on summer nights Bob Prince’s distinctive voice rang out. Sounds of the Beatles, the Beachboys, and Simon and Garfunkel added to the neighborhood noise. But now even the mower sounds are muffled with the growth of the big trees that make the yards look small.

 

A noisy past world

Many years have come and gone

Same place, now quiet

Memory PAD 25-1

 Colorful Memories

 

My childhood spent in P. A. hills and trees

Brings back some multi-colored memories,

Of winter’s evergreens, black, gray and whites

Sled-riding hills and boisterous snowball fights.

 

Pale purple violets, yellow butter cups,

Spring sprung new life and maybe even pups.

Orange tiger lilies, lilacs, touch-me-nots.

How fast the world greened up was in our thoughts.

 

In summertime the world was colored green.

Ran barefoot in white clover, home to bees.

The Siberian crab apples turned red,

On them, and grapes and blackberries, we fed.

 

In falls, the hills glowed orange, bright red and gold.

Deep purple plums, and pumpkins appeared bold.

We swished and scrunched and jumped in fallen leaves.

And no one scolded us tomato thieves.

 

The colors of my childhood make me smile.

It’s fun remembering them for a while.

Time of Day PAD 24-3

 

Morning Dance

 

Sun rising over neighbor’s housetops, then

I put on ankle weights and grab dumbbells.

Out on the porch, I set timer to ten.

I dance about as peppy music swells

In earbuds to not wake anyone else.

Since Colorado mornings are so cold,

I move to keep warm as if under spells.

I have a high fence so I can be bold.

I tend to dance where the sun light shines gold.

I’ve got to keep moving as I grow old.

time of day PAD 24-2

 

Belly growls

Thinks it’s almost noon

Work to do

Keep going

Better put the chicken on

And make the salad

Time of Day PAD 24-1

 

The sun tried to hide in the tree line

But bursts of pink, orange and purple

Gave it away 

Book PAD 23-3

 

Journals

 

Every time someone gives me a nice journal, as a writer, I feel a little insulted. It means they probably paid more for a blank book than one some author labored intensely over, like I do when I write. I know I’m supposed to fill these journals with wisdom, poetry or some such thing making them a cherished keepsake. But I always write on the computer, even when I journal. So I have a bunch of blank journals taking up shelf space.

 

Blank books stare blankly

At me from my tall bookshelf

As I type away

Book PAD 23-2

 Take a Chance

 

April 23^rd, today is

National Take a Chance Day,

National Talk Like Shakespeare Day,

National Administrative Professionals' Day,

National Picnic Day,

National Cherry Cheesecake Day,

National Lost Dog Awareness Day,

and those are just the national holidays.

International holidays, about thirty of them

include World Book Day.

 

So today is the day to take a chance

and invite your administrator

(in Shakespearean language)

to a picnic, featuring Cherry Cheesecake

and together you can read

“Dog Gone: A Lost Pet’s Extraordinary Journey

and the Family Who Brought Him Home.”

Good luck with that.

Book PAD 23-1

 Where Book Ideas Come From

 

At the grocery store this morning,

I decided to buy a frozen turkey breast.

I chose a nice big one—almost a ten pounder.

I like to freeze leftovers in small packets.

 

I hefted it up, turned and just then

a little dog walked by me, centered

right under the turkey breast.

For a moment, I pictured me dropping it.

 

I imagined the local newspaper headline

Woman Murders Puppy in Grocery Store.

But thankfully the turkey made it to my cart,

safe and sound and the dog lived another day.

 

But it may make a beginning of a romance novel.

A tall handsome man walks his service dog.

A young beautiful woman turns and…

Maybe not the most bonding experience,

but don’t all romance novels began that way?

 

 

tell me/don't tell me PAD 22-3

 Tell Me Again

 

Tell me again.

Don’t get offended

Or frustrated.

I know you probably told me,

But it doesn’t mean I remember what you said.

And I may not even have been listening.

You’ve got to get my attention.

And even when you have it,

that doesn’t guarantee anything.

I may not have heard you correctly.

So be patient.

Don’t fret.

Just tell me again.

tell me/ don't tell me PAD 22-2

 Tell Me a Story

 

One with a beginning, middle and end.

One with intrigue, mystery, romance.

One that encourages, informs, reassures.

One that makes me laugh, cry

And maybe even sigh.

May it have characters I can root for,

A villain that gets his just desserts

Or learns his lesson.

The lost found, and the hopeless rescued.

May it be it tied up like a neat bow at the end.

Those are the stories I like to hear again and again.

Tell me/don't tell me PAD 22-1

 Commiserate, Please.

 

Don’t tell me

how wonderful it was

when I was sick in bed

and missed it.

I’d rather not know

how much fun you had.

You could show a little remorse

and say it just wasn’t the same

without me.

Blank Day PAD 21-3

 May Day

 

Memory of a fair spring day,

dancing around a May pole

holding on to colorful paper streamers

until the pole was decorated.

 

Sharon Bracken was the queen.

I was shy and knew I’d never be picked.

My awkwardness in second grade

seemed to fit my dad’s comment.

 

When Danny Glass and I

became dancing partners.

I’ll aways remember Dad saying,

“Don’t step on his feet, they might break.”

Blank Day PAD 21-2

 Rainy Summer

 

I remember when my cousin and I

would take walks on summer rainy days.

No umbrellas, rain coats or rain shoes,

just letting the cool wetness embrace us,

enjoying the sounds of pattering rain

on the trees, the buildings, the ground,

the drumming on cars and anything metal

the smells of a fresh clean earth,  

and the incredulous comments 

of astonished drivers in their snug, boring cars.

Blank Day PAD 21-1

 

Take a Chance Day

 

Today is National Kindergarten Day,

National Rendering Day,

National Yellow Bat Day,

and National Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day. 

 

None of these things inspire me

except maybe National Chocolate-

Covered Cashews Day, but

I have neither chocolate or cashews.

 

However, the day after tomorrow,

(April 23^rd) is National Take a Chance Day.

Followers suggest trying something new,

Taking the next step to your dreams.

 

Step out of your comfort zone

Disregard fears, doubts, hesitation

Pursue goals and take risks.

Embrace new opportunities.

 

So put up that website,

Submit that proposal

Buy that plane ticket
Or sign up for that class.

 

Whatever you’ve been dillydallying about,

April 23^rd is the time to go for it.