I pulled an old photograph
Out of a lonely box
Laying on the side of the road in a ditch
Half submerged with a broken lock

The first photo was of a girl
No more than the age of ten
From that moment forward
Is where the journey began

I found it strange that every shot she was in
She appeared alone
Yes, she stood in every picture by herself
As I watched her grow

I saw one in her teenage years
In a captured moment where she was deep in love
The grin she had from ear to ear
Told the story well enough

Time moves on rather quickly
And so did the photos of her life
I came next to a picture where
She became someones wife

Shortly after there was a photo
Where you could see her husband went off to war
It showed in the sadness of her eyes
That he never did return

Just by the expression on her face
I knew what she was going through
And that the love they both had shared
Is what she had most valued

From that point on there was photo after photo
Where she had never found another
It showed in the deepening lines across her face
Her husband had been her only lover

The last picture that I came to
Was of a woman on her death bed
That is when I closed the box
And never opened it again

i take pills for minor headaches
pills for major anxiety
if you've looked out at the world today
then you know i take a lot of these

i take a pill to help with hair growth
i take a pill for my allergies
with the pollutants that are floating in the air
i sometimes find it hard to breath

i take a pill when i need to sleep
another when i need to wake up
the one that i use to sleep with
i take sometimes when times get rough

i take a pill when i get angry
a special one that calms me down
it takes me to a better place
to the very center of happy town

a pill to help with motion sickness
when my world begins to sway
fish oil pills to help with blood flow
plus garlic...to keep the vampires away

i take a pill when i eat something spicy
a pill that helps with gas
a pill when i'm feeling in the mood
that helps the mood to last

i take a pill if i ever forget*
to ever take a pill
and if i forget to take the second one
i take two more to relieve my guilt

i guess you get the idea
if not this poem is nil
so i'll just put down my purple nexium pen
*and go take another pill

And now my friends a time has come, a time has come to die.
Like Summer leaves who's day must end, and fill the winter sky.
My Aunt is on her deathbed and her time is almost near,
oh Norma, my sweet Norma, let me whisper in your ear.
I remember Summer Sundays so many years ago,
my cousins Dave and Sammy with their fishin' poles in tow
we'd catch the evening dinner and a bottle fly or two.
Do you remember sweet Aunt Norma? Oh I hope you do.
And you'd toiled in the kitchen till you rang the dinner bell.
And barefoot Ginger would tell us to come in from the dell.
Hot biscuits, beans and apple sauce and catfish from the lake,
I would help crank the ice cream to go on the chocolate cake.
Only the fondest memories of you will I hold dear.
Oh Norma, my sweet Aunt Norma, your time is very near.

*For my Aunt Norma

I turned around
and the clown was gone.
The sad little man with so many funny faces.
They say he seldom knew
when he was the clown,
or himself.
The two personae melted together,
and created a gift.
And now,
that gift of laughter is gone.
But I know the clown,
he wouldn't want us to be sad.
He would pull a face out of his bag
and make us laugh,
and we would laugh
until we cried.

*for
Jonathan Harshman Winters III
Born-  November 11, 1925
Dayton, Ohio
Died- April 11, 2013 (aged 87)
Montecito, California
Comedian, actor, artist, author

Quote:  "I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it."
Jonathan Winters