Your love is unconditional
You love me just because
There is no price to pay

Your love is unconditional
As you cuddle up to me
Because you want to

Your love is  unconditional
As you wrap your arms around me
And hug me tight
  
Our love is unconditional
For one another
Only love and joy

Be of good spirit, child, and carry light
upon this wondrous, worn and weary world.
Seek wisdom, search for what is true and right.

For those around you may not have the sight
to see this precious gift of life unfurled;
be of good spirit, child, and carry light.

You will encounter thoughts divine and trite;
philosophies to set your mind a-whirl.
Seek wisdom; search for what is true and right.

The days will come that seem like endless night
with sharpened consequence unfairly hurled.
Be of good spirit, child, and carry light.

A man who lived in darkness, fear and fright
in foetal crouch took ages to uncurl,
seek wisdom, search for what is true and right.

I may not be around to see the height
you'll reach as you climb past me, darling girl.
Be of good spirit, child, and carry light;
seek wisdom, search for what is true and right.

Natural decline, bringing about an age of being fallible,
The subtle shift from youth to middle age to being an elder,
Now using motion in economy, to prevent instability.
The vagaries of age, reducing confidence to hesitance,
as a step forward is an accomplishment once beneath notice.
Many rarely notice the shift in abilities of those close to them,
until sudden traumas occur, bringing them harshly to light.
But those living them daily, have learned to compensate as they can.
Either abhorring the day before them or embracing it as a challenge.
I pray as I move close to this eventuallity, that I see the challenge,
the possibilities for growth and learning in the subtleties of aging.

My sock
caught a snag
and a single thread
unraveled.

Without a thought,
I pulled the strand

And now,
I am left
with nothing
but a pile of cotton

I have a terrible habit
of dragging my feet.

A bit of joy has come to me.
Some happy in a small disguise.
These students with their hopeful eyes
And brush and palette ...
I'll seize the day and let them play
With colors wet and rules begone!
We'll paint and splash on papered lawn!
A bit of Joy has come to me.
I am better for it.

I run this muddy track on these big old shaky wheels
With numbers on my back and a helmet on my head.
I drive around in circles and they call me "Crazy Ed".
I drive. That's how I stay alive.  I just like how it feels.

I've got a batch of children and a drop-dead gorgeous wife.
She puts up with me when I leave to tinker on that wreck.
And all week long I'm trucking, gone, to earn an honest check.
And still she cheers for me each Sunday while I risk my life.

Someday I'll hang that helmet on the hook there by the door,
And toss away this mud-caked suit with "92" on back.
I'll give that gorgeous wife of mine a kiss, and *****-whack,
Then play around (in circles!) with my Kids there on the floor.

Around the corner,
a blast of blue
comes screaming
just outside the coffee house.

A small boy,
no more than five,
is a beaming
chocolate goatee
from the local ice-cream parlor.

A woman chases him
with the exasperated look
of a mother on a date
with her son
.

Her eyes still red
from her four hours
of sleep,
but her smile:
as big as her son’s.

She catches him as he stops
at the smell
of fresh chocolate chip cookies
emanating from the coffee house.

Her motion is quick
and calculated
as she turns him around,
zips his jacket,
& kisses his forehead.

She takes his hand
and they are off.

I assume they live happily
ever after.

Sitting there yesterday at the football game,
Watching my son tackling the quarterback,
Feeling the warm sun and watching him earn respect,
From his teammates, made my heart proud.

Looking around, I saw the cheerleaders, 11 yrs old, too.
Yelling and flipping and shouting.
Then from nowhere, "My glitter is sweating off!"
Makes me laugh outloud.  

Little kids running everywhere,
Parents watching their kids, visiting,
It was a great scene!

Until I looked down in this sneezing little boys face,
And watched him scoop up some boogers
and have a snack.

Looking back I suppose it is only to be expected
as part of the scenery, and I can laugh now.
Just as watching the cheerleaders commenting,
And the poor kid who pulled a groin muscle,
Hobble off the field, is part of the scene.

All in all, a beautiful day, fun, family, and reality all at once.