Posts for June 19, 2023 (page 2)

They sit in a bingo hall,
about 200 of them 
marking up their cards
as numbers are called, 
ripping game tabs.
by the handfuls.
Some win a few bucks.
Most don’t.
                                             How many of them
                                             know that as they play their games
                                             five people are lost under the sea
                                             in a submersible trip
                                             to the Titanic
                                             gone wrong? 

In some weird way,
My father always knew
That somewhere down the line
My road would lead straight up to you.

He had been patiently waiting,
Keeping this knowledge to himself.
Knowing that it’d spoil the sweetness
That was yet to come.

Crystal blue water

The air full of laughter

The water is warm

But the wind is getting cold

Hot pizza and wet hair

Catchy music

And fruity drinks,

Good friends and

A day that I wish

Would last forever

the moon led me home that night
on a silver winding country road
that curled its way through hills
and valleys, spinning,
weaving me into its light,
past fences and shining cold fields.
we spun together
through the starstrewn night
singing and shifting
past farm house and barn
to the end of the lane,
the moon shifting his face
to the glass of a swollen river.

KW 6/19/23  (originally written 2/18/88)

Days like these, I’m restless

overthinking every detail
sinking on the inside with weight of past decisions,
career paths, life trajectories

sending me spiraling

wondering how it all could be different
how I could be someone else entirely.

I cling to things I’m sure I got right
like my kids, my partner, a dog as neurotic as me,
being a steward of this land,

and all the amazing humans I am privileged to know
who do work to make life better for everyone

keep my head above water with hope
tomorrow won’t be one of these days,

but instead a day when I feel light
like I could float above the hills with happiness
for all the small good things in this world

So, I kick my feet, grin, and
push my way through these murky waters.

Little scholars, hills, and hollers
Ordinary days
Up and down the hills we ran
And in the creeks we played

Waited at the end of the lane
To take the school bus into town
Over bumps and curvy roads
Up the hills, and down

We drove to town to hit the books
But our learning wasn’t just at school
There was learning in the living
Gave us even greater tools

Spreading bare toes in summer grass
Sledding in winter snow
Working hard on the farm
And on Sundays, to church we’d go

We learned a lot about beauty
And a lot about hope and faith
Learned that if you put forth good effort
A lot of difference it will make

Learned to love our neighbors
Even if they lived a few miles down the road
Learned to depend on God
And how to shoulder heavy loads

In addition to the hard
We also knew how to have fun
Like indulging in an impromptu mudsling
At the setting of the sun

We burned the trash and drove the tractors
Spent hours in the woods
Rural childhood, wild, and wonderful
I’d go back, if I could

My pill minder boxes are empty.
Time to take out the trash, again. 
Now you are taller than me.
I never go to the
children’s books section.   
Not realizing,
cherishing,
the last
times- 

Why the face, neither long nor short?
A petite frame making her way
through seasons, a boat through a lock,
the clanging of machinery, the water rising
and here is where the party was held,
nothing left but a Dumpster full
of paper plates and plastic cups,
pictures and memories, a milestone
celebrated or maybe mourned.

A bird builds its nest, 
Adding sticks and grass to it. 
This is the bird’s life. 

Electric fire
pulsates through 
the heated air 
then reaches me
from across the room 
your eyes meeting mine 
Your lightening green glare 
sending shockwaves to my blue hues 
Unearthing new and glorious colors 
Within me like an ancient relic 
From another worldly dimension 
And it’s wave on wave on wave 
Of us and us and us repeated 
For all of time coming….