Once I snorkeled reefs so grand they made me gasp in silent awe,
their brilliant world painted with the hues of the seas,
Red and violet fans waved as fishes flitted beyond my touch,
while I passed their world from overhead.

Long ago I delighted in pristine and surreal seas of life;
coral fish and anemone, the sergeant majors and angels.
Their colors still vivid in my dreams, they flash by in prison suits
only in my memories now.

Long ago I swam the seas and witnessed sights beyond my realm;
the giant clams and tiny squid, with schools of fish all hues below.
But now I see a world of grey, devoid of color I once knew,
a sad lament for the great reefs.

Long ago, but just a breath, I swam amidst beauty few will know,
but now I grieve its passing and pray that soon we’ll see,
the future of our reefs, washed gray by human negligence,
as we disregard our world.

When I was young, I had no voice,
no wings with which to find my dreams;
to soar above my shackled youth,
to find what lay beyond my chains.

Ever hungry for more, I ached to share
my art and skills, what joy I’d found,
but I perceived too few who shared
what grew within my struggling.

But through life’s growing pains and trials,
a chrysalis began to form,
and life inside transformed to bless,
and free me from my earth bound state.

Now fully formed and freed from chains,
I spread my wings and take to flight,
and soar to heights I’d never dreamed,
inside my life without my wings.

You whisper your love song tenderly
upon the early morning breeze.
You tease me awake, as the wind
plays her melody through my open window

Tiny prisms of light above my head
perform their morning ballet on the ceiling
each reflected from shards of painted glass
that harmonize on the wind.

This hymn of childhood memories;
mornings of endless possibilities;
each melody a reminder of beauty
each day sings to us on the wind.

A lone leaf floats down on the breeze beside my bench
as the wind whispers an autumn song to all who listen.
Geese overhead answer in their throated honk in flight
as they herald the coming of an early frost.

Red-orange drip from maples and all of autumn hums
as grey squirrels and chipmunks scurry away,
cheeks bulging with acorns and other treats
to bury inside their hideaways.

Fall, so vibrant and bright, with contrasting hues,
beauty embraces me in this garden of fall delight.
I pull my jacket close in its sharp crispness.
as I savor this moment of peaceful bliss.

I sit beside your beloved pond,
filled with waterlilies of magenta and white,
painted on the water’s surface,
while dragonflies flit about its glassy face.

I walk the paths you gifted us;
your voice speaks to me within the trees
as you sing your great love song,
within this painted land and garden blooms.

Amidst the midday sun, stinging hot upon my neck,
I find shade beneath your willows,
as I gaze through tears of gratefulness,
at the quiet beauty you left behind.

Upon this ship, tall, bound for life,
surrounded by the boundless sea,
its water-soaked and sun-scorched deck,
beneath my feet forever be.

I’ve set the main sail, helm I take
and with my strength of steel resolve
to let you guide me through the deep
directed on this unknown course.

You’ve guided me to sunlit shoals,
set anchor when the wild winds blew,
and steered me to a harbor calm
when all about me cyclones churned.

Although you’ve aged and changed without,
your spirit strong within has stayed,
and I will cleave to my tall ship,
as I navigate life’s setting sun.

We’ve left the safe behind us now,
and crossed the flood to evil’s shore,
building our homes within its briars
and lies that have ensnared us all.

We’ve ransomed our souls for our desires;
it’s blackness branded on our hearts,
blinding us to wisdom and agape love,
too eager, we bargain away tomorrow.

While truth and decency have been abandoned,
as we give away the ground we’ve gained,
many hide behind masks of their own making,
refusing to watch while history replays.

Faced with blackened hearts and minds,
that few can truly comprehend,
we watch its blood red currents consume,
as we stand upon Dante’s river shores.