I bade sunlight to linger on,
her hot sweet kiss upon my skin,
For every time I find her gone
I doubt I'll see her back again

Here in the winter of my heart
The ice crawls deep across my flesh
And sunlight, love, had to depart
To leave me blue, my torment fresh

How I long to hear the sound
Of icy crackling window panes
And feel her warmth, though past the clouds
Turn sleet and snow to soothing rain.

I bade sunlight to come again
Renew my soul and thaw my heart
But darkness seems my lot in life
I've felt her light and warmth depart.

I am Ma’am.
Ma’am I am.
And if I order
green eggs and ham
at the café,
you can say,
“We don’t serve that here,
Ma’am.”

Miss, I’m not.
I am not Miss.
That appellation
is a dis.
Take a look,
and you’ll see this:
I’m 53, not 18.
I may be older than I seem,
but my days of girlhood are long gone.
And to call me “Miss” would just be wrong.
So call me “Ma’am;” it’s what I am.
You might think “Miss” is hip or flip,
but if you call me that there’ll be no tip.

I lost my Left leg at Bull Run and came home from the war.
With a peg I managed farm work; unfit for battle; not for chores.
My neighbor, Reid, did also bleed in that War Between the States.
His right leg was mangled below the knee- they had to amputate.
Now, each year, we go into town and buy one pair of shoes.
My neighbor, Reid, wears the same size and likes the boots I choose.
We’ve become fast friends, the two of us; our children something more.
My son has bought a ring to give to the girl who lives next door.
In wartime we were enemies; fighting for the Blue and Gray.
Now our womenfolk make plans for our children’s wedding day.
Here, in the autumn of our lives, all enmity is defused.
Each has learned to know and love his foe- by walking in his shoe.

You’re so polite
and always on time.
Your smile is bright
and lunch is on your dime.
You’re thoughtful and smart--
so intellectually inclined.
I’m rough-edged,
and sometimes offend.
I’m moody and fiery;
I don’t like to pretend.
I might jump to conclusions;
I’d rather break than bend.
But if you were in trouble,
I’d be there on the double.
If trouble fell on me,
you’d tell me plainly
that you’ve got other obligations
to your job and your relations.
So this message I will send:
This friendship must end.
I’ve got no use
for a fair weather friend.

Be thankful for such things you have-
if those things do not have you.
(They will be inherited, discarded or donated
Come the day your life is through.)
Be thankful for what you don’t know
But still have time to learn.
Be thankful for the health you have
and the wage your labor earns.
Be thankful for the eyes that see
the beauty of Creation.
Be thankful as a citizen-
work to preserve our nation.
Give thanks to God if you have faith;
with song if you are able.
Most of all give thanks today
for the family at your table.

We thank you for your thoughts and prayers;
your inspiring moments of silence.
Yet these do not one blessed thing
to protect us from gun violence.

The constitution guarantees
the right to lethal Weapons?
Are Life and Liberty not worthy, then,
of sensible protections?

Those diagnosed with PTSD;
The schizophrenic and Bi Polar
Should not be given lethal means
to wipe out holy rollers.

We thank you for your thoughts and prayers
We’re sure they’re well intended.
Just the same we’d like to see
These brutal massacres ended!