only my youngest
would agree to overalls
shared with her Mama
our shared high school life
is about to come to terms
with empty nest blues
Paint By Heart
gratitude
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Twenty-one
a calming cycle
on a rails-to-trails flat path:
way to start the day
more history learned
at a medieval castle
built, burned, lost, rebuilt
my man boating us
back down the river, towards home
our heritage left
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Nineteen
a castle day trip
cycling on sketchy roads
yet worth the visit
hidden Irish gems:
four hundred years of earls
residing in stone
science surprises:
this telescope discovered
distant galaxies
and Bruce got to stand
in the largest redwood grove
outside the U.S.
night ends with laughter
in a 1500s pub
kindness in their blood
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Eighteen
a rough travel day
and some rough river waters
aren’t too rough for us
the sunset calms us
the river settles for bed
and we can rest now
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Seventeen
we’re the post office:
through wind, rain, sleet, clouds… weather
we weather the storm
just another day
in the life we’ve created
in sickness and health
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Sixteen
rising before dawn
to walk up stairs to a plane:
yes, in Portugal
seeing motherland
for the first time in my life?
green love connects us
it’s more than patchwork
it’s where so many of us
find our heritage
a one-day journey
to return to our homeland
of a thousand years
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Fifteen
botanic gardens
will forever be compared
to Monte’s beauty
tropical magic
trees and blooms of every shade
giving us NO shade
two thousand years old:
a tree planted by Romans
to bring us olives
on all future trips
beating Madeira? so hard
blue-green amazement
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Fourteen
1.8 million:
the years laurel has lived here
giving life to all
enchanted forest:
the only words to describe
Madeira’s true gold
traditional homes
give homage to these laurels
simple thatched roofs
a magical place
waits for you on this island
hidden in the sea
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Twelve
ten thousand stone steps
slippery at dawn, at noon
as mist never stops
ten thousand reasons
to be afraid of this hike,
yet we keep trekking
ten thousand peak views
all in different shades of light
just like our marriage
ten thousand questions
when we married at twenty
look how far we’ve come
Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Four
he finally sees
his HMS Victory
in her dry dock bed
how victorious
twenty-five years we’ve waited
to take this long trip
always toting kids
or visiting our family
never alone time
the fish and chips speak
whispers of a turquoise sea
beckoning us: more
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