We gather here, on Labor Day
Each to our family, tribute pay

The Coker clan and all it's kin
To see what kind of shape we're in

Like, who's the newest baby born
And which loved ones have since passed on

A prayer is offered for the meal
While children's eyes, a peek do steal

At a feast that's spread for man and bug
Refreshing drinks in every mug

The men see more dessert and try it
While women think 'there goes my diet'.

With bellies full, we sit and hear
About what's happened, through the year

Of jobs and hobbies, grown-ups speak
As children splash in yonder creek

Old men and babies bridge the gap
That hasn't yet outgrown the lap

When day is done, we'll all depart
With greater love in every heart

May God bless each one gathered here
And bring us safely back next year

You don't forget your first true love
Or so we've all been told
In our memory they never age
Forever young and bold

As time goes by, the picture fades
When new love fills the heart
Forgetting words to favorite songs
And why we grew apart

We say that we've forgotten
It's forever in the past
But somehow, first love's memory
Just seems to last and last

It's like how you remember
The first chance you got to drive
It made you feel invincible
And glad to be alive

And so we view our first love
With all it's fatal bliss
The excitement of each stolen glance
The spark of that first kiss

Sometimes that spark ignites us
Then quickly burns and smolders
The flames are quenched by teardrops
Cried on someone else's shoulders

Then, when the tears are finally dry
And we've said and done it all
The love we swore we'd die for
Is the one that takes the fall

Though years may dull the image
We've created in our minds
Our first love always will be
Of a nature undefined

With just a bit of coaxing, she would sit up and recite
A poem she'd known since grade school, her eyes so clear and bright

Sometimes she'd need a little nudge to get her to begin.  "When mother puts her apron on", she'd say with a small grin...

...and off she'd go reciting each line flawlessly, with ease
Then when she'd end, her mind would seem to go, as if a breeze
Had ushered it away from us as quickly as it came
And then she wouldn't know the poem, nor anybody's name

But with that came a kind of blessing, at least I know of one
She may not have understood, full well, the loss of Jim, her son
But now, Miss Maudie's free from mortal flesh and bone
And those she loved, who've gone before are welcoming her home

Once more she will caress the man who held her hand in marriage
And now, again she'll hold the son she once strolled in a carriage.

They'll watch us as we travel down this wandering path of life
Rejoicing in our triumphs and supporting us through strife


And we know that they'll be there, waiting on the other side
When at last we've reached the journey's end, of this our earthly ride.

Awake. feeling chest pain. Is it my valve?  It's nearly a quarter century old.  How long do these things last? Titanium, strong, will outlive me, but what about the flesh it's anchored to? Pain is an indicator.  What's wrong?

I tick like a clock as it opens and closes, hearing  each time it skips a beat.  Doctors said it looked real good, but eight months ago, not now.

I have two diseases with the same initials.  Shouldn't there be a rule against that?  Multiple Sclerosis and Marfan Syndrome.  What an awkward pair.  

Overlapping symptoms complicating treatment.  You think they'd give me a two for one discount?

Pursuing ardent fervor
Lured toward peaceful obscurity
Beckoning.  
Outstretched.
Vulnerable
Freedom's abandon
Enticingly treacherous
Elusive assurance

Why do birds on fresh washed glass
Leave calling cards a solid mass
Of whitened waste that hardens fast
When all the world a place so vast?

Precious Pet
Dependable Dog
Compassionate Canine
Spaniel Psychologist

Famished Friend
Hungry Hoover
Loves Leftovers
Greedy Gulper

Boisterous Barker
Wonderful Watchdog
Always Alert
Champion Chaser

Every Evening
Bedside Buddy
Doggie Dreamer
Sweetly Sleeps

As a mother, I can only hope
My children will attest
That I gave them everything I had
And truly did my best

I strive to teach them how to love
And be kind to every people
That good behavior's not reserved
For buildings with a steeple

To look beyond themselves to see
That there's a bigger picture
That everyone fits in as part
Of God's great architecture

Sometimes I wonder who they are
When patience, they are trying
And other times, they make me laugh
So hard that I start crying

Holly is a shining star
She's happy when pretending
That she's a queen, or movie star
Her characters unending

Casie's like a precious jewel
A diamond in the rough
An impish minx until you've
Had enough and call her bluff

I'm not quite sure why I was blessed
To be their friend and mother
But, it's a joy like none I've known
An honor like no other.

Solitary muted songbird watching painted warblers croon.

Silenced by this empty cage cinching
vocal cords with rage  

Surgery would let you talk, but you won't run until you walk

Learn now, just to speak and breathe
And gratitude will set you free

You carry the burdens for those who are weak
There's beauty in the way you walk

You give a strong voice to the small and the meek
There's beauty in the way you talk

You show love and compassion for those that do seek
There's beauty in the way you see

You know that I'm hurting before I can speak
There's beauty in your love for me

I love you mom ❤

I was not welcome at Hostel Neonate.
Thankfully, this was not a womb with a view. The proprietor, my young, ***** mother, had attempted a swan dive from the staircase of the two story Beantown walkup.  But she failed to stick the landing and I made my debut a month later.  

August 4, 1967, a cataclysmic requiem for the Haight Ashbury dream.  My birth, like that of so many others,  would come to signify the beginning of the end of the counter culture notion of making love, not war.  Free love was no longer free for girls like my mother, and it would never be free for me.  To be continued...

unwelcome resident

   methodical thief
    
        stealing health

            leaving victims

                 silently suffering

                      I
                        N
    ­                       V
                              I
                               ­ S
                                  I
                          ­          B
                                       L
                                         E

                                          A
                  ­                        F
                                       ­   F
                                          L
                ­                          I
                                     ­     C
                                          T
              ­                            I
                                   ­      O
                                         N

                  struggling to shoulder

                     optimism's burden

                       while future taps

                       an impatient foot

Lou Tate was a man I won't soon forget
He had a wry smile and a sarcastic wit
If you told him one joke, he'd tell you two
Then he'd tell one more ripper before he was through

No one who knew him knew quite the same man
You might say that Lou didn't follow a plan
He knew how to have fun for most any reason
Then climb into the houseboat no matter the season

At work those who knew him would say without doubt
That getting things done was what Lou was about
When it seemed that a problem just couldn't be solved
It was precisely when Lou became hyper involved

Though most solutions were unorthodox
The bulk of his thinking was outside the box
Although his ideas weren't always well known
His name's on the first patented multi-line phone

Lou was once quite the loner...not easy to catch
But he knew that in Mary Ann he'd met his match
Then he suffered a stroke and it gave him a scare
It was then that he recognized how much she cared

When they both said "I do" with or without wealth
Till death they united in sickness and health
Their unbreakable bond would make others see
What steadfast devotion to one's spouse should be.

To the rhythm of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".



Shattered, splintered, fragile heart
******* tore you apart
Silence, like a cancer, grew
Hiding pain that no one knew
Time, it's said, will heal the pain
And give me strength to love again

The wise man spends his life, alas
Till sand is low in hourglass
And never finds his true desire
The one to which all hearts aspire

No measure half is mirrored there
In eyes so blue 'neath golden hair
An older love does pale to shame
Poor spark it is to brilliant flame

It fills the heart, it braids the rope
When else is gone, springs forth sweet hope
We see the world...eternal Spring
When born afresh, the angels sing