Home Blank PAD 24-1

 Home

 

My bestie and I have different views of home.

She lived in the same house for seventy plus years,

the same house her parents and grandparents lived in.

When a woman she worked for died and willed her a house,

I suggested she move in there since the house if very nice.

She looked at me as if I suggested killing her alpacas.

“This my home,” she said, with great conviction.

 

I grew up in the same house for eighteen years

and couldn’t wait to get out and see the world.

I have lived in three states, and traveled to all fifty,

three other continents and several foreign countries.

“Oh,” I said, “To me, home is where the toothbrush is.”

Appreciation PAD 23-3

 The Nature Center at Butler Corner

 

A forest of ponderosa pines

swaying in the breeze.

Hiking trails peppered with pinecones

The fragrance of earthiness

The crackling of twigs

Blue skies and bluebird songs

Cool air and prickly oak brush

The shouting and laughter of children

The story trail, picnic tables

Weaving studio, alpacas and goats

Big barking dogs, honking geese

The gazebo, nature center building

The old-fashioned schoolhouse

And my tall, thin friend

who has lived there since childhood

in the two-story house

her family occupied for a century.  

I appreciate her willingness and effort

to share her riches with the community.

appreciation PAD 23-2

 Thank You to Poetic Asides

 

For Robert, not Bob

Who does a fine job

To make a safe place

To poem in this space

 

For poets, all kinds

With brilliant, fine minds

Who play nice and fair,

Encourage and share

 

For poems they create

Of love and of hate

Todays, tomorrows

Of joys and sorrows

 

Creativity

Humor, esprit

Curiosity

Of great worth to me

Appreciation PAD 23-1

 A Thanksgiving Poem

 

Thank You

For family,

Friends, food, clothing, shelter

A quiet small town to live in

And a restful heart in You.

 

The appreciate form by Earl Parsons. 24687

setting PAD 22-3

 Tea and Biscuits

 

Sis, our niece and I had a boat ride

on Loch Neagh, UK’s largest lake.  

The boat pilot was very friendly

and taught us about eel fishing.

 

He surprised us when he  

pulled up to a remote inlet

and led us to an old fishing hut

amongst the birch, ash and oak.

 

All three of us had a good laugh later

when we compared notes.

We all had imagined being murdered

and our bodies never found.

 

But he served us tea and “biscuits”.

That’s something very UK.

That was the fourth out of five times

we had tea and sweets that day.

Setting PAD 22-2

 The Little Me

 

My sister has a painting

of children in old fashioned garb:

the girls in long dresses

and the boys in ruffles and knickers.

They’re walking down a road

toward a gate, accompanied by a collie.

The focal point is a little girl and boy,

about seven or eight years old.

They’re walking together, holding hands.

His attention is on her. She’s smiling.  

I always liked that painting.

The little girl looks like me as a child.

 

In Northern Ireland, the owner

of Kelly Moon Castle gave us a tour.

We oohed and aahed at the refurbished rooms

filled with fancy furnishings, beautiful staircases,

myriads of statues, antiques and paintings.

Imagine our surprise when a painting, the same

as my sister’s, hung on one of the walls.

We took pictures of what my sister called,

“The little you.” It made me feel special,

like I was the little girl in the picture,

with Someone I loved smiling at me.   

 

Setting PAD 22-1

 Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

 

Nearly 100 feet

over the rocks and sea.

 “Take a step, don’t look down!”

An adventurer’s treat,

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.

Northern Ireland, so sweet. 

If you’re acrophobic,

crossing is quite a feat.

Please, don’t bounce on the planks!

“Take a step, don’t look down!”

It helps if you repeat.