Listen

Listen

Listen,
I never dreamed
I would someday
be this old. I
don't think anyone
every dreams they
will be old.

Everyone thinks
they will be young
forever,that they
have unlimited time.
For some years
everyone buys into
this illusion, and
perhaps this is not
a bad thing..

Remember Me?

Remember me?

Remember me?
I am the girl
with blonde hair
and blue eyes,
the one you did
not pay much
attention to,
in fact ignored
as you fantasized
about cheerleaders
who are by now
out of shape
and I am not.
Funny how times
change, don't
you think?

I Was Kissed Once

I Was Kissed Once

I was kissed once
by a college senior
when I was a college
freshman and though
I had thought I liked
him the intensity of
his kiss scared me,
so I never went out
with him again.

They Who Feel Death

They Who Feel Death

They who feel death close as a breath
and live to talk about it later often
appreciate life in a way that many do not
and though they do not speak about it
you can tell by the look on their faces.

I Remember

I Remember

I remember
seeing
a little girl
one moment
in time
and when I
blinked
and looked
again she
was grown
and had a
little girl
of her own.

When One Has Lived a Long Time

When One Has Lived a Long Time

When one has lived a long time sometimes it is hard
to realize that to many people whose paths you cross daily
you are old, even though you feel so young inside and are
active and energetic. Your face does not lie. Appearance
does not deceive. You cannot hide the fact, even if you
might wish to, that you are old

Looking At Your Face (To Mya)

Looking at Your Face
(To Mya)

Looking at your face I try to figure out
what you are thinking but you are only
two years old, and I am not quite sure
that even you know.

If One Day It Happens

If One Day It Happens

If one day it happens that it is my last day on earth
let me savor the day fully, let me tell every person
who is important to me that I love them, let me spend
time with my dogs, let me fold my hands in prayer to
ask for forgiveness for all I did and for all I did
not know. Let me go in peace, loving and loved. Amen.

I Scream Waking from a Nightmare

I scream waking from the nightmare I
had too many times. Crushed beneath
wheels of a semi trailer truck, I
cannot escape. I kick the wheels to
stop them from rolling over me. I want
to live. God, please let me live.

In Late Winter

In Late Winter

In late winter I sometimes glimpse a bit of
grass, though brown, beneath the snow, and
I know that spring is on the horizon. Days
lengthen. I wake up when it is almost light.
I am excited once again that rebirth happens,
that everything that waits beneath the snow will
soon renew. In late winter I am optimistic again.

In Response to..Why do you Talk So Much?

In Response to Why Do You Talk So Much?

I don't know anyone who talks too much.
Mostly I wish people would talk more, as
I like to listen to others' philosophies,
experiences, and dreams. I know I don't do
well with silence though,so if there is
silence I will try to fill it; but I would
rather fill it with someone else's voice than
mine. Sometimes talking for me is hard work.

I Sit a Minute

I Sit a Minute

I sit a minute and plan to read my book
but something else calls out for attention,
something I just must do, and after about
two weeks of trying to read the book I
have only read one chapter. I will try
again tomorrow. Maybe then I will succeed.

How Many Nights?

How Many Nights?

1,

How many nights have I lain
sleepless, flipping channels,
looking for something that
hold my interest? It is only
if there is something good
on television that I can
concentrate on that knowing
I will again be able to sleep.

2.

How many nights have I gone
to bed early after awakening
early and going nonstop from
the moment my eyes opened
until I finally felt the need
to crash?. Often way too early,
but this odd pattern fits me
as I am a morning person anyway,
always have been, always will be.

3.

How many nights have I sat down
to watch something on television
only to find my eyes won't stay
open, especially if its a program
I don't want to miss.

Competitor

Competitor

You test the courage of every muscle
and the power of a focused mind.
It's your personal best magnified,
stretched to the limit even when it hurts
so bad that every tendon aches to its core.
You just want to leave the race but don't
because you know that today is your one
chance to excel and you tell yourself that
you can, and you do, every four years.

Solitude

Solitude

Though I am surrounded by others
I hardly notice them as when I'm
there I go into my own head for
solitude in my own endeavors. It
is MY time for body and mind. I
walk the treadmill, and my thoughts
travel where they will as I watch TV
of my choice to catch up on the
news of the day or enjoy 'hot topics'
discussed on The View. I feel my
body and mind relax, stresses
fade away. I know I'm doing a
good thing.This is my time, my
time of solitude, when I can do
what I want for no one but me
working out at the YMCA..

Living With Chocolate

Living with Chocolate

If someone gives me a box of fancy chocolate candy
I eat it in a very few days. It gnaws at me as I walk
by it. I'll take one piece. I'll take just one more.
If I finish the whole box then it will be gone, and I won't

have to think about it any longer. Just two more, even
if they are not my favorites, and the box will be gone.
I usually don't eat candy at all. I don't even think about
it unless I see it somewhere. My beautician usually

has little candies sitting out, and when I go there I
generally have one or perhaps two. A special treat.
And that's okay. I enjoy them. But I don't buy candy,
don't even notice it in the store. I can't remember the

last time I bought candy. I will not buy it ever.
But last night when I was at the party, there was
a dish filled with simple M & M's. I do love M & M's.
I had to put my hand into that dish two or three times

to grab some. And someone had made some little treats
with chocolates and walnuts and I had to have a number
of these too. More than a few. I savored them.
I know that within me resides the potential to eat too

much chocolate candy. I am thankful that I can
generally exercise self control to the point of not even
noticing it unless it is freely available somewhere out
in public and I can help myself to a few. I am thankful

that chocolate candy does not usually make its way
into my house where I have to eat it until it is gone.
I am thankful I've learned to live with chocolate.

For Alice Walker

For Alice Walker


When I

see the

way

you write

poetry

it does not

inspire me

at all.


Instead I

think

what a waste

of paper

for so

few words

and what

a waste

of trees!


I wonder,

dear Alice,

how

expensive

such a book?

Sweet Peace

Sweet Peace

She sits and waits for what she
doesn't have, stares at walls, peers
from behind drawn curtains, watches
life dash by outside her desolate prison.
Her life stands still.

She makes excuses, curses fate. Life
isn't fair, she reasons from within her
lethargy, then turns from the window,
turns on TV, makes the world vanish.
Alas, her mind stand still.

Time Travel

Time Travel

With no desire to go forward into the future I put my mind into
reverse and traveled back through time to try to figure
out how I happened to be in this place today. As year
after year was stripped away and secrets unraveled one by one,
I kept my mind open and clear, found myself meeting myself

younger after every turn, wrinkles diminished then gone, muscles
tighter then taut again, gray streaked hair renewed to blonde. I observed
signs missed the first time around, clues to the path I'd follow
to the person I'd become. Fifties, forties, thirties, twenties,
all faded away, as I embraced each younger self and walked on,

wiser the second time around. Alas I observed myself a teen
for a moment in time, caught between child and adult with
dreams, fears, all unknowns ahead, so many years to live. Hard
to fathom now. Then I opened the heavy gate into childhood, where
I stood face to face with the blue-eyed girl with wispy blonde hair

blowing in the wind. She put her hand in mine, urged me to continue
along the backward path and showed me the last door to open
on this journey if I dared. The child dropped my hand, looked into
my still blue eyes, then turned away as I opened the door into the
room that held a crib. A sleeping baby embraced a pink rabbit. So

new to life, innocent, unmarked, possibilities unrevealed and ahead.
I stood with tears in my eyes, realized that the baby was me. I wanted
to wake her, hold her, tell her though life would not always be easy
it would be all right. Everything would be all right. I promised her that
before I turned around, ready to walk back to the future again, carry on.