You Know You’re Getting Older When…©

The scroll bar for an online application
takes forever to get to your year of birth

The creaks you hear are your bones
not the floor boards

Younger people take the time to hold the door
open even without asking

Taking an escalator or elevator instead of stairs
is the only option

Switching the phone from ear to ear
doesn’t make hearing any easier

Can openers and jars become the enemy

You swear your arms are getting shorter
making tying your shoe laces a challenge

“Say again” are the most commonly used
words in your vocabulary

You save money on haircuts and shampoo
as there is less to work with

Grey becomes your new favorite color

Slow now feels fast

Cat naps are mandatory

The right lane on a highway becomes your domain

You need eye glasses to find your eye glasses

The remote is an extension of your hand

“Skip to the lou my darling” are
more than words to a song

And that’s just the short list

Don’t laugh, someday you’ll be there

Andreas Simic©

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree
How I love thee

Where’s thy pine cone I want to see
That fills me with so much glee

And has me plead
Where is thy seed

That will spring forth future generations
And hence bring great tribulations

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree
How I love thee

For now and evermore
You bring happiness to my shore

They vibrant colors I behold
If the truth doth be told

Thy aroma in my nose
Brings me to a close

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree
How I love thee

Andreas Simic©

Take My Hand©

When you are
lonely
sad
unhappy

No matter
where you are
the place you’re in now
or how deep you have sunk

Know that
there is always a tomorrow
those who lead sometimes follow
success is measured by you

I will be there
to hold you up
give you strength
embrace your soul

Life is
lived one day at a time
each moment counting on its own
from blessing to blessing

Hear
my voice to guide you
through times that are tough
for you are never truly alone

Let your
thoughts be bright
even when it doesn’t seem all right
all the while remembering I am holding your hand

Andreas Simic

Zack and Camill went up the hill
Oh what a thrill

With pail in hand
The trip would be far from bland

As the class clown
He wasn’t entitled to a crown

But was prone to tumbling down
Camill was his peach with eyes a brown

Was this the day to plant that first kiss
Or another for remiss

Only time and a climb would tell
If he would finally ring her bell

He was surely under her spell
One she had cast and for which he befell

Was today finally it
His heart long ago being lit

His biggest fear of all
That he would suffer another fall

And have to race home
All alone

To his bed
Where he would tears shed

Andreas Simic

My Modern Age Reality©

The daily commute a daily grind
Bumper to bumper you will find
Asking “are you out of your mind”
Hoping to spot someone that is kind

Road rage is now the new adage
To get where you’re going at this stage
Maybe this can be forestalled with courage
Though that is wishful thinking at this age

My child in the back seat
She’s my daily joy when I do pick her up and we meet
Her arms outstretched as if to greet
Though the morning drop off isn’t so neat

A woman in a job no less
That a man used to do my guess
Why does it feel so thankless
Although that paycheck is a bliss

At the end of a long day I just want to rest
But hubby dear has announced a guest
Shopping, cooking, cleaning is now my quest
After all we want to show our best

The closing of the door and a big sigh
Tells me that bedtime is nigh
But first tidy up both low and high
Maybe it’s worth a hug from my big guy

My head comes to rest on the pillow
A last glance out the window at the willow
And a snuggle with mine bedfellow
Leads to a day’s afterglow

That’s all I have for today’s sideshow

Andreas Simic©

She is a Vulcan
Part Seductress
Part Enigma

She will lure you into her sphere
The sound of her music a trap
You’re unaware of its allure

Like a kiss that captivates your heart
Leaving you wondering is this madness
Until caught in its entanglement

You ask how did I get here
Why was I such easy prey
When will I learn

Yet again shopping around
The fractals have led you wrong
Is this self sacrifice you ponder

Led down a garden path
Betrayed by yearnings thought pure
Her crown like a shiny object reels you in

Her lipstick captivates you
Her eyes like a gravitational pull
Her horns pierce your heart

Like a cigarette burn left unattended
The wound festers like an assassin
Until it feels like a lobotomy

It is only as the poison spreads that you realize
It was all a game to bring on a revolution
Vengeance the end goal

She is an artist vying for your love
Throwing gasoline on our passion
As if struck by lightning the reverberation hits

There is a lesson to be learned
But what
And is it too late

Andreas Simic©

Eternal Fantasy©

Crossing the bridge I hear the roar
Instinctively my head turns

And there it is
A red Ferrari

The driver shifting through the gears
One day I will have a car like that

As I mesmerize myself with those thoughts
A tall blonde statuesque woman approaches

The kind of look a model in a magazine would have
One day a woman like her will be attracted to me

My mind imagines her and I in that Ferrari
Me shifting gears like a race car professional

What kind of income would I need for that car
And to attract that kind of rare beauty

Larger and larger numbers come to mind
One day I would make that kind of money

With the car, girl, and money would come prestige
People would know who I am, maybe I would be famous

We would live on a private island
Our home an estate worthy of my success

One day I could have all that
Then reality sets in

My age, wage and stage of life
Make this a fantasy

Only a lottery ticket away
Could make this real one day

Hope is eternal as is fantasy

Andreas Simic©

What is Success©

Is it being selfless
Even during moments of duress
Where I don’t try to impress

Or those times where I don’t make a mess
Which is often I confess
For wisdom I don’t profess

These thoughts coalesce
In my mind like a fortress
Sometimes seemingly useless

Difficult to access
During moments of stress
Or worry in excess

Do they reveal my lack of  classiness
Or skills at chess
Over which I obsess

Is it about the way I dress
Or a life lacking fullness
Without much to bless

Shame arrives during idleness or
After periods where I am win less
It is these I try to suppress

My parents believe I am aimless
But still show their fondness
And support with kindness

My life at times senseless
Revealing all this is just a guess
So I egress

Andreas Simic©

My One Day Bucket List©

When I was young life was tough enough
As I sat behind that old wooden school desk I would dare to dream

I had a dream that…

One day I would fly a plane and soar like the birds in the sky away from the pain

One day I would find someone to love and be loved back just because they wanted to

One day I would have friends and feel like I belonged and not be different

One day I would own a home, a house to call my own because it looked like everyone else

One day I would sail the oceans to know what it would be like to be totally surrounded by water and feel like no one could find me to hurt me anymore

One day I would make money so no one would know I was poor

One day I would move a thousand miles away to an island so
No one would know I was not okay

One day I would own a business so that I could control my destiny

One day I would travel, to see what made the Panama possible and
Learn how deep the Grand Canyon is, see why people go to Las Vegas and experience what it would be like in Alaska

One day I would return to my father’s place of birth and see where it all began on that small family farm in the middle of seemingly nowhere and how he got to be so far away to escape a war

One day I would be there when Mom and Dad were passing on
So that they would not feel alone as they made that last human transition

One day I realized how my dreams had turned into reality that
Those early beginnings became an incredible life
Filled with family and friends

One day aspiration had turned into inspiration and inspiration into reality.

One day looks like inspiring others both young and not so young to hold on during those dark moments for the light to shine through and the opportunity for dreams to come true

One day

Andreas Simic©

Wave of Emotion©

Where doth it begin, this wave that cometh over me
That leaves me at times in great overwhelm
Unable to respond
Frozen in time and space

It seems as though one day the seas of my mind are calm
All is well at the helm of life
Clear sailing as it were
But underneath...

Like an undertow or undercurrent
Swells are forming that will one day reveal themselves
Maybe it starts like a ripple on a body of water
Building up steam

Hence I do not know that which is coming
Lurking, slowly building up
Underneath the tranquility
Waiting to erupt or burst forth

If one were able to see the tides shifting
Maybe one could get a sense of the impending storm brewing
Something like a light keeper
Warning Captains of impending ill wind

But alas it is not so
The waves come rolling in
On an unsuspecting shoreline
Crashing unto its midst

Growing stronger from some unseen source
Wreaking havoc and intensifying as it goes
The storm unleashed with great impotence
Inflicting the desired impact

The groundswell of emotion now set free
Erupts in its various forms, anger and disgust
Fear and sadness arise sometimes
Disguised as surprise and happiness

This co-mingling of human outlets
Can plunge us into the depths of despair
Into the caverns of our vessel and sink us
To depths undiscovered and fraught with danger

Yet like all hurricanes above the waterline
They too shall weaken, wear themselves out
And over time they lose power
Once again we will feel like we are in control

Calmness is the order of the day; after all
We are “emotional beings” living through a human existence.
And it is so and
So it is.

Andreas Simic©