Retirement is a time in life
When one should experience ease.
There should not be the constant strife
Of having to everyone please.

Maybe it is time to write a book,
Or travel to a distant land.
Perhaps one’s desire is to learn to cook
That dish that’s wonderfully grand.

If one’s wish is a new hobby to start
That brings him much delight,
Begin this dream and don’t hastily depart.
Keep the desired goal in sight.

When one reminds you that it can’t be done,
That you have been too long in the race,
Show them anew how you can run.
Do not let them your joy erase.

Oh, there will be obstacles that is for sure.
These simply make victory more sweet.
So hang in there and long endure.
Remove from your mind defeat.

And then when the race has been run,
And the finish line finally crossed,
No more criticism will you have to shun,
Satisfaction will not have been lost.

I goes to work each mornin’
I comes home every night.
I gets out pen and paper
And tries to sit and write.

The words they sometimes comes,
Sometimes they stays away.
I finds it quite annoying
I knows not what to say.

And then to my surprise,
A brilliant thought appears.
I tries to writes it down
Before it disappears.

I fergits with ease these daze,
It’s really not a chore.
The older that I grows,
I fergits more and more.


My spellin’s now improvin’
I guess it’s plane to see.
I finally learned to spell
The word “kertastrofee.”

So as I close this works of art
I hopes it’s brung you joys.
Pleeze don’t throw away!
Pleeze share with others this noise.

Life is what you make it,
Or so the saying goes.
Does it, however, matter
What the enemy throws?

Surely one should be on guard
And great attention pay.
Many things are coming
Down the pike each day.

How one will respond
To an unforeseen event
Is totally dependent
Upon his mental bent.
  
If he is determined
To see good in everything,
Then he will be satisfied
In whatever life does bring.

If, however, he’s negative,
And sees in all a curse,
Then he’ll be singing
A totally opposite verse.

So what then is the point?
It’s really plain to see.
Look always on the positive
And then contented be.

In olden days folks seemed to care
About friends and strangers everywhere
Though things were often in short supply  
There seemed enough to “make it by.”

An attitude of community seemed to prevail
Especially in times of great travail.
Being neighborly was common then
It reached beyond next of kin.

In this day of constant haste,
There is never a moment most have to “waste.”
Is “waste” really the appropriate word?
Does helping a neighbor seem so absurd?
  
It seems we have lost a needed trait.
We seem to have not a moment to wait.
If we, however, are ever despaired
Would we then wish that someone cared?

It is odd, somehow, that when the tables are turned,
We find ourselves wishing more compassion was learned.
That “learning” which then is so desired
Is often by many not acquired.

The day seems long,
There is no end in sight.
Gone is my song
So, hasten the night.

Troubles are many
There seems no relief.
Friends – there aren’t any,
That is my belief.

Is my thinking wrong?
Have I been deceived?
Did I really lose the song?
Or have I foolishly believed??

We fought in the jungles of Viet Nam,
We sailed the South China Sea.
We stormed the beaches of Normandy,
We served that men may be free.

We persevered through trying times,
Endured the scorn of some.
We watched our buddies lose their limbs,
Many never made it home.

In Iraqi Freedom and Desert Storm
We again answered the call.
Many sleepless nights in the heat,
And again, many gave their all.

We are American Veterans, and proudly so.
We care not for glory or fame.
We simply desire common respect,
There’s surely, in this, no shame.

In future days more wars will be fought,
Young folks will be challenged still.
The American Veteran will again stand tall
And conquer through determined will.

I once was young and knew it all.
For advice on no one would I call.
There was little in life that I feared,
In fact, the authorities were often, by me, jeered.

As teen years approached this attitude prevailed.
It mattered not to have tried and failed.
Challenges were met with little concern.
I, obviously, had very much to learn.

As a young adult to a crossroad I came.
I could no longer pursue fortune or fame.
Life was not always going to be
Only that which I had chosen to see.

In turning from my youthful, pride-filled way
I heard one smarter than I say,
“There is always someone smarter than you,
His advice, therefore, you should eagerly pursue.”