gratitude

 I bow my head in gratitude

Thank you for Venice.
Thank you for England.
Thank you for France.
Thank you for Ireland.
Thank you for Italy.
Thank you for Tuscany.
Thank you for Rome.

Thank you for two new knees.
Thank you for my implants.
Thank you for my eyes.
Thank you for my face lift.
Thank you for my hair.
Thank you for my skin.
Thank you for my weight loss.

Thank you for my house on the beach.
That you for all my money.

Thank you for my health.
Thank you for my husband.
Thank you for Michael.

Thank you for Joanie.
Thank you for Luke
Thank you for Helen.
Thank you for my father.
Thank you for my mother.

THANK YOU FOR LOGAN:

counting the ants

it was a hot summer day
and there was nothing we kids could do
but sit under the shadow of the largest maple tree.

there was five of us
and we had our backs up against the trunk of the tree

what are we going to do

it's too hot to do anything

so we sat for a few moments in silence

then we decided to count the blades of grass
got to a hundred
and gave that up.

look at the ants, patrick said
let's see what they're doing

so we cuddled in a pack
and watched as the ants came in and out of a hole

they were busy these ants
and some of them carried stuff on their back
took it to the hole
and buried it.

this went on for twenty minutes

and then we decided it was enough.

it's really too hot to do anything
but sit here and do nothing.

in the nothing
we talked about billie moore and david moore
cousins
both 18
they had both been overseas
they were coming home
one had a ticket
one didn't.

billie and david switched tickets
david's mother got the telegram
her son had been killed in a plane crash.

then two days later came to find out
it was Billie who was dead
not David.

the screams that came from Billie's house
when his mom found out
we all agreed it was a terrible thing.

We remembered Billie's mom
and laughed
she and her husband used to have whopper of fights
you could hear them out in the street.

one time we were in the alleyway
and dishes went flying in the air from the
middle of the house to the front of the house
it was like throwing a frisbee
only it was a white dish

anyway that was life in the neighborhood.

yeah, we remembered Billie, his mom and
their family.

then we kind of broke up the circle as the sun
started to go down and one by one each said, see ya
as our moms called us for dinner.

the suitcase

she told her two boy grandchildren
when the time came
the little red suitcase in the corner of my room
is for my final trip -

my major adventure if you will --
and she chuckled.

what's in the suitcase grandma
they inquired

she replied, things for my trip
my blue dress
black pumps
stockings
silk underwear
white pearls
and a small box -
over 50 years old
with withered flowers

oh, she was 16 when she received them
picked right out of her front garden


he had come bounding up the front stairs
her handsome young beau
box in hand

here you go he said
and he held it out to her expectantly
she took the small white box tentatively

there was a twinkle in his blue eyes
a merry smile on his lips

she had visions of what - 
what could it be
and she thought dreamily

she opened the lid
and there it was
four white daisies on a puff of white cloud

he laughed out loud
this knight of hers.

she shook her head and
laughed too.

for such was young love
and taken for granted too.

now it is her time
and she wants the small white box buried
in her grasp

no one needs to know
just her two boy grandchildren


a momento of a love
full of mistakes, laughter and
of course adventure.

and no one needs to ever know
just her two boy grandchildren
what was in that small red suitcase
in the corner of her room.

the beach

i go down to the beach in the
  afternoon
and because of the time the tides pull
  the water out in tugs of strength.
my feet dance in the froth
  and my toes dig into the sand
my mind says I will win this dance and
  I am to stand straight as the water surges and
circles and tries to unearth my feet.
i waiver but do not lose my balance,
 and I say -- oh, i am winning against
 this tug of mighty ocean and me
until i am slapped in the thigh by a
  wave of majesty and my feet pulled
  out from me -
and I laughingly land up in its almighty
  wet arms of majesty
drenched from head to foot
and a mighty roar is heard from the ocean in the deep -
as another wave fast approaches
and a gentle breeze is felt as the waters rushing in lick
the sand of the shore in its glee.