^^^^^

It's amazing how a child obeys
his, or her heart...finding  cheerful ways
...never tiring...holding excitement at bay
keeping busy, while counting days
'til Christmas is a few blinks away...
^^
i guess, i'll just age in numbers,
believing in magic....forever...
combining magic with the real world...whenever...
^^
time flies so fast when Christmas is over,
the hours suddenly seem untethered
time gives way to new diaries...new calendars
the old year never lingers...
except in the mind...playing back events of triumphs and flops,
those times of healing  brokenness with fresh hopes
adding more faith  and patience.... to cope,
and when the waiting is taking
too long.....and life seems to be too dragging,
because moons have dimmed...lost their glow,
and balloons slipped off our grips...although
feet are walking on, steps have become weary...
it's time to find new courses.......maybe,
consider new options...a set of changes,
new roads.........new bridges
open eyes and heart......lend our ears
to the ones we have refused to hear,
hear their thoughts, not just the ones we like
.....find time, notice their smiles,
turn our faces to the other side for a while
listen to other people's song
sing a new song!
at this point, what else could go wrong?
^^
and for those that have caused us pain,
our dance with them is done
...the party's over...
^^
it's time to take action,
let us dream on...let's dance on,
because, we can....because, life goes on
the true lights of Christmas must sparkle on,
.....even when december has gone...
^^^

Sally

Copyright December 23,  2017
rrab

(Morning Poetry with Lola)

Wednesday started with a cold, cold morning.
i wrapped myself with a thick blanket,
hid my "popsicle toes,".....seeking warmth
from recollections that played in my mind
like pleasant, joyful summer, music.

when my kids were toddlers,
i started them off with, "all things bright and
beautiful, all creatures great and small..."
but, as they grew a little older, my mother,
she woke them up each morning with,
"o captain, my captain,
our fearful trip is done..."
and then, tomorrow, we would hear,
" i shot an arrow into the air
it fell to earth...i knew not where,"
the next morning, my mother's feature could be,
"of course, i love my country,
the land in which i live,"
some days we would hear reruns....but,
the week would never be complete, without
her most favored one....which, she delivered
with a valiant voice, while pounding her chest:
"...i am  the  master  of  my  fate;
  i am  the  captain  of  my  soul!"

my kids rubbed-open their eyes in awe,
as they listened to their lola..'til they were done
with their morning rituals.

their lola kept a copy of longfellow's evangeline
but she didn't live long enough
to share it with her five great-granddaughters.
God knows...my late mother knows, i did my part,
to open the eyes...and minds of these girls,
to waken THAT awareness in them, that would
make them see, and feel...the beauty of poetry.
not everyone realizes the importance,
the necessity.....of poetry,
that life itself...........is poetry,
that, when you're a poet,
and when you're deep into it,
........you cannot just let go
for, it clings to your heart and soul,
it is like,
your second skin
...................
it's a hard habit
to break.
..................
............
the older girls read poetry...and mythology, as well,
a mix of classic and contemporary,
......but they and i, have added thoreau,
dylan thomas, teasedale, and many more
names to their lola's most favored
longfellow, henney, and whitman.
.................
.......
Sally

Copyright December 7, 2017
rrab