Apologies Friends

Apologies friends but I really have
Been feeling quite under the weather
I shake and I quake and you should have
Seen when an actual quake shook
How I shivered.
We are still wondering what's happening to me.

And as my body has decided to do less of what it is told
It has taken some of the things away from me
And I began over these weeks to miss all that I like
Wandering in the garden
Driving into town
Coffee with friends
Walking the dogs
Reading a book
Baking a cake
Hanging out with my Tom
And so many things that I treasure each day.

But the funny thing is in the box way I'm living
I'm finding more of the things I that I love
My Tom who is tender
My family who cares
The touch of a friend
The outreach of neighbors
The thoughts of others
Time spent in prayer
And the comfort that love, friendship and God
All bring.
And I'm not missing much the things that I like
But loving more what has come with the box.

Now I'd like to get back to the things that I like
But also be better at finding the box's
That others find themselves in too.

And I hope that this
Is all okay to say
Because I am feeling rather
tired and teary this morning.

Frogs

I used to like to catch them up at Ponderosa Lodge.
Tree frogs we called them; they hung out by the pool.
I would poke holes through lids from leftover
cottage cheese or liver containers and set them in
with a bit of nature to make them feel at home.

Happy with my finds I would go to sleep at night,
but soon the little amphibians, hardly one inch long,
would start their evening croaks.  So loud,
they were, that my parents would be wakened and,
by morning, they had always been freed.
Just as well, I think since the joy was in the catching.

I had not seen one in so long, and wondered,
like the small snakes I used to pick up and let
wind around my fingers, if I could no longer see them
having grown now, long ago out of childhood
or, if perhaps, they were no longer there.

So it warms my heart to have them both here.
For I will freely admit there is something about them
that I quite like, a softness because they remind me
of youth and of nature.  So, the frogs, at least,
I gently cup in my hand from the sides of our hot tub
and send them on their way.  Fearing only of a gentle smush should I accidentally sit upon one.

Journeys

I have begun to think of other days, other journeys.
It is strange what the memory holds back
and what it brings forth.
I thought so much was gone,
melded together
like remnants from a fire.

Yet, as I sift and sort through them, more returns,
of certificates and ceremony,
of promises made and lack of belief,
of traffic, vans, dirt roads and heat,
of hot tin roofs and tiny shacks,
of friendships sad and sweet,
of making home where ever you are,
of women's work, never done,
of children, song and laughter.

Memories,
so faded,
yet brought together,
impact now my thoughts and actions.

The Pens

I am thinking that I will leave my thoughts on Liberia, until after the presidential election results are announced on October 26.


He wanted the pens
Oh so very much
I told him I would give them to him
At the end.

They were mine.
I brought them.
I chose each one like
A child in a candy store.
All sorts of flavors
All sorts of textures.
Really, now I wanted them too.

He liked to draw.
He like to write.
He watched those pens.
I began to also.
They were colorful
And there were many.

Not today, I have work to do.
Not tomorrow, there is more to do.
Yes, I will give them to you.
I will keep my word.

Please stop asking.
Please stop asking.
PLEASE STOP ASKING.

It is 5 a.m.
There is a knock at my door.
May I have the pens please?
You said I could take them today.

Yes you may.
Here they are.

A result of broken promises?
I keep my word.