I just need a break
A long break from everything
I am going through

I just want to breathe
and forget all my worries
and feel the fresh air

I just want to spend
Some time watching the blue sky
Some time with myself.

To him, it was a clear blue day;
His father came in the kitchen
Wearing a brown fedora;
He walked out of the morning chill;
Long puff of cotton strand pulled across the sky;
As the teacher sat in the classroom talking to his class,
this was his memory for Thanksgiving Day.
He never said where the father had been.
Was he a visitor-- did he go for milk.
The crisp morning air meant more than
the father's purpose.
Yet in the story, you knew the English teacher
longed for his father.
He drifted from the class to that time.
Poetry in his heart wasted on a rainy day in high school.

Never stumble down that path;
Whom shall I gather;
Whom shall I tease;
Tempt you with my thought;
Turn it in a phrase;
It is not for public consumption;
It is for personal pleasure;
Self absorption is all it really is;
Down the rabbit hole without a pole.
Time lost with reckless surrender.

Sunshine in the fall.
Happy fall orange and bright,
Leaves tumbling over playing kids.
Soft golds lighten the moods
With hope of gathering families.
Expectant mothers awaiting arrivals
in the spring with protective thoughts
of what will be.
Cool nights with warm cuddles.
Fall's happy gate of family time.

Waiting for the time.
Sitting in solitude.
Deciding what to do.
Never been so alone as now.
Sound the alarms.
Man the posts.
I need someone.
Could take the way out.
Asked if it should be hidden.
Nah, don't hide the exit.
Tomorrow will be a time to heal.
Do I want to last forever.
No, I want to rest alone.

Morning preparation for the big together;
Wonderful smells throughout the house;
Some remember that they did it all;
(But, they never really did);
Other's remember the warmth;
Grandma's house with all her love;
Captain Kangaroo before the start;
Mickey Mouse Club while we wait;
Children with hungry stomachs;
Waiting for the fathers to return
from hunting in the woods;
Mothers gossip in the kitchen;
The big together commenced with prayer;
Kids at the children's table;
Even kids with babies in high chairs
at the children's table as time went by;
Kids table became the envied table;
Chocolate cake for grandpa's birthday
celebrated at the big together
no matter the date, always last Thursday.
Men gathered with little care
As woman cleaned the mess clear.
The big together for another year.
Now, I have the big together.
Missing the kids table, I take a big sip of wine.

He kissed her cheek first
Because he thought the other
Would not notice.
She gave her the better gift
Because she thought the other
Would not notice.
The other would not notice
Because the other granted love
Without condition.
The other did not notice.
But after the other was gone,
the hearts of the children hurt
Because they remembered
Their choices and wished that
Once they had kissed the other first
and given the other a gift of equal value.
The other had no memory
Yet a memory lingered.