Five brighter than average grand children
for the weekend.
I should not brag,

but they seem brighter and less selfish than most
other people's
grandchildren. It is not genetic,
it's something in the wind.
Saturday begins at dawn.
Ranged four to eleven, waking youngest to eldest,
there begins a session of
Grandpa did you know?
Which I find great fun.

The narwhal's horn is its tooth, says Gabe, middle child.
I did not know that.
Grandma says she did.
All the children laugh.
I am a blessed man.

A verse to reverse your attention, attendere, wait and see,
bring up a child
in the way he should go,
be he wombed one or un,
and when he is old,
he'll not depart from it.

Scrapbooking

My favorite hobby has always been scrapbooking
It's such a creative activity to do
For pictures and poems, I'm always looking
Forever scanning magazines through and through

I look for pictures of people and places
Some happy, some excited, some tired, some sad
I try to find real emotional traces
And whatever I like, to my scrapbooks I add

Over the years many books I have made
Scrapbooks of poetry old and new
Old web sites and online pictures I raid
Some of my scrapbooks are happy, some blue

Certainly, on this hobby you can say I'm hooked
There's nothing like it to keep me involved
No one would believe how hard I have looked
For rhymes and riddles that will never be resolved

I started this past time at our church
Each Wednesday all the ladies would look
Each one in her chair quietly perched
Consumed with finding the perfect hook

Everyone knows that you  must create ideas
Inspiring and intriguing to reel in a person
Someone who will cast off all their fears
And stop to read your poem for a life lesson

I love scrapbooking, it's so rewarding
It brings childhood memories back to me
School days when with friends consorting
Times that were so happy and carefree

Often I reread through my many books
Books I've created  by myself
Sometimes I find things that I've overlooked
Words that reveal how I once felt

Poems about family and friends so dear
Poems about God's creatures so lovely
Poems about Nature, Seasons, and Fears
Poems about things you can't buy with money

I'm planning on leaving my scrapbooks all
To my kids and grandkids after I'm done
When this life with its troubles are just a sad pall
And all they have left is the legacy I've begun

I never had many pictures or prose
Left me by parents or other relations
That's why I suppose I strive to compose
Scrapbooks to leave to younger generations

I want them to always remember me as
The Grandma that loved them so
I hope they realize that I had pizzazz
Even though I can't leave them much dough

The things that are important in life
Aren't always the things that are seen
When you live through all the sorrow and strife
You'll understand just what I mean

A love of poetry is what I will leave
For my children and grandchildren too
For what is a life and to what will you cleave
If great poetry is missing from you

By Julia Shaw
May 2020

Daisies a flash of white in a field of green
One of the most beautiful sights you ever will see
The daisy spreads itself far and wide
Fastly covering the countryside
Butterflies and Bees hover by
You even attract the common fly
Strength in numbers, you grow and give;
Your nectar for other insects to live
The Daisies wanting nothing in return
They just ask you show some discern
As your child runs through the fields; making daisy chains
Ensure when they leave, some daisies remain

I like what I see
In my kids;
Others may say, They're like her's or his;
That's okay, but they don't see
The subtleties revealed to me.

They were listening when I spoke,
And now they hear other folks;
They were watching when I'd act
In sync with our social contracts.
Please and Thanks was our mantra,
Repeated now as personal dogma.

I didn't see they were watching,
Watch they did, and they were copying.
Believe me, I'm not being boastful,
If that's the case, I too am blameful
For anything that causes pain,
Though unintended, it's the same.

I'm so pleased with my kids,
And they aren't just like
Her's or his;
They're mine.
And I like what I see in their kids.

Do you like what you see
In mine?

listening to the not so enticing news
that basically tells us that authoritarian idiots
are on the rise  
     globally

that neither the US nor Europe
are able to handle refugee flows
the proper legal and humanitarian way

that global warming is actually happening
and not just an invention of the Chinese etc.
    in order to misle U.S. American billionaires

that in the future
thanks to advances in technology
only experts in very sophisticated laboratories
will be able to  recognize the difference
between fake news and real news

I DO worry about the world
my grandchildren grow up into

A daughter is yours for life.
A son is yours till he gets married.
Dear daughter-in-law,
I very well know,
You are my son's cherished wife,
The LOVE of his life.
You have borne him two beautiful children,
A daughter and son.
You behave dicey,
With his family pricey.
My son,to you I have given away,
That is your right anyway.
In your lives I never want to interfere,
Have not an inch of fear,
With you he is happy,
You,also are a part of the family.
Then why be vindictive,
Jealous and negative?
In my son's presence act the victim,
Pick up a fight at your whim.
Just because for me he cares,
Calling me with affection he dares,
Something cooked by me he expects,
Treats me with love and respect.
Remember, I am his mother,
Not his bother,
Daughter-in-law, let's live amicably on this planet,
Love draw us closer like a magnet.
I want you to be my daughter,
To me relationships matter.

Drove to London in a downpour.
My daughter's family lives there.
I had a picnic in the bathroom,
With Aine pouring tea.
She held out a sponge plate,
Offering watermelon soap,
And facecloth chicken salad sandwiches.
Though long lost,
I dialed in her perspective;
Her bubbles never burst.
I'll recall that wet picnic,
On sunny summer days,
As a favored meal.

Death,
So cruel,
So kind,
Has taken my worries away;
The ones I wished would stay;
Worries, just memories.
I was left with my three,
So they obliged,
Now worries number five.
We know how worries grow,
They start so small, no worry at all,
Then they start to crawl.
We beget,
From their outset,
Worry.