piano serenade while cooking
and a collegial shout out to the king
can make a hump day joyful
in this little life we live
Month: September 2016
Stay Gold
from this flight: find light
carry it twenty years past
your flight-or-fight life
through the turbulence
of youth’s wanderlust wonders,
past career questions,
into the blue sky
of a healthy tomorrow
shined by little grins.
find the golden light
carried by heavenly wings
that kept you on Earth.
happy fortieth,
twenty years without cancer,
and still shining bright.
Running in Circles
a teacher’s drive-by:
surprise observation day
(six times a school year)
always on my toes
bending them close to standards
they’ll never quite meet
but we can all hope
(miracles do still happen–
just ask my cat’s tail!)
Tuesday, Taught
the kid argument
that plagues my mornings and nights
chips away my soul
Bites and Pieces
somewhere between the data crunch
that swallows all planning time,
the tech issues that chew up a third of every class,
the common planning that gnaws into bitching about work,
emailing counsellors about kids who’ve bitten off more than they can chew,
grading grammar that nibbles away time with my own kids…
there’s a teacher waiting,
the entrée of this piecemeal,
ready to share the most delectable taste
of what this world asks and offers.
Silver Lining Lunch Date
clouds can’t cover blue
with a reflection like this
waiting to bathe joy
Introverted Beauty
a lonely park walk
can rejuvenate the soul
(my soul needs flowers)
Freedom Has Its Price
the raw emotion
that floods my writing fingers
has been gone this year
(i await new juice
to pump up my active voice
like a sober drunk)
Call to Prayer
it isn’t church,
but a Sunday morning sunshine ride–
a line of bikes glistening in waning summer heat,
with shout-outs as loud as a preacher who
calls his parishioners to God:
Bike up!
Bike back!
Slowing!
Gravel on the path!
Car up!
Clear!
the words trickle down the line,
heated breaths repeating them
so loud that even prairie dogs
stand at attention to hear.
and we wrap ourselves
in blue-sky calorie burning
led by a fast-paced 78-year-old man,
just as forgiving for our
missed turns and flat tires
as the best of His missionaries.
Coveting
a small joy; not mine
brings tears while i cook dinner
(yearning for what’s lost)
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