The under shell of
the tortoise looked
like a sunset.
Blasts of color:
orange, maroon, burnt sienna.
I caught them in
the garden at
sunrise, eating a
tomato or chewing into
a head of lettuce.
They always looked so
serious.

I was just a
sunburnt boy, with
cutoff jeans and a
straw hat.
I caught toads too.
But when they peed on me,
I let them go.
I loved that land.
Ponds and streams,
fishing and climbing trees.
oh,
sweet, green
youth.

The soul screams
for the tongue's tightly twisted
for the body's in a place
where peace never existed

4:00am) sleep more sleep , rise and shine
One eye open, It’s breakfast time
6 :10) choose the biggest bird from the pen
plucked the feathers off the hen

12 noon) set the table; knife, fork,spoon
1:03)clean house chase A wayward mouse

2::00pm) sewing time quilting blankets,
We make our clothes,No buying of the rack
Dresses tops, skirts and slacks
All stitched from flower sacks
Crochet and macramé a fun part of the day

5 past 4) pastry flower on the floor
Baking bread, baking Apple pies
The smell puts a smile in our eyes
Canning tomatoes canning Peas
learning different techniques like these

So much life ahead, bursting at the seams
Planning future planning dreams
5:03) My intended is down on bended knee
He has chosen to spend a life with me
A wife and mother is all I wanted to be

20past 4) we struggle to make ends meet. We both wanted so much more.
My husband Drafted in The Vietnam war
College books in hand, baby  on my knee
A big world to see Who will I  be?

5 PM) Dinner on the table. It’s a struggle,
but I am willing, and able.
Baby’s bath, bed, stories, and prayers said
9:09) quiet at last it’s study time

10:00pm)Time to lay down, I need my rest
Long hours long days,  I tried my best
Sometimes In this hard life, I felt so alone
11:00pm) Husband calls on the phone
Barely alive He’s coming home.

Thanks be to the Lord
His words, my comfort,
My shield, my sword.

Together family, we strive to work survive
Our children have grow. Lives of their own
Midnight ) Empty nest just us two we atone  
Quiet is the sound when no one is around
we weathered the storms, faced our fears
Huddled together, through the tears,


4 AM ) Now in the twilight of our soul
there will come a day to pay the toll
When God will take us home
No longer to feel alone
Lives lived to the fullest were we deceived?
we believed, and blessings we received

Hopefully God’s purpose we achieved
Everything we have learned
to discern was within God’s Ken

One day for men is 1000 years for God
2Peter 3:8 KJV

He lives in fear of the cobwebs of time
wrapping themselves around his eyeballs
stopping him from seeing what others see
those who avoid dark shadows and pitfalls

For the cracks and corners of most of life
remain a mystery regarding the nuance
of how everyone else seems to exist
in various tones absent for him

Different
lines on the thermometer,
when it happens,
it moves all by itself.

Deliberately
random restless waters,
terrestrials standing on their banks,
recidivists having deposits
and withdrawals
at an inflated rate.

Dungeoneering
--the amplified gesture
means a convenience charge,
elevate me later.

Defibrillation,
I'm on the existential end
of viral paradise,
"the files you have on me"
are a trail of stolen pebbles,
sure to inoculate my final
walk into the sea.