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”?