Storm

Clouds thick and lowering

Thunder rolling across the city

Flicker and flash of bright lightning

Trees lashed about by unruly winds

Rain bucketed straight down, 

    undeterred by wind

Drains stopped by stray leaves,

My red clogs splashed to clear them

   reached with a long poled squeegee

Tonight calm, damp and cool.

“I can hear your whisper and distant mutter. 

I can smell your damp on the breeze and

 in the sky I see the halo of your violence. 

Storm I know you are coming.”

~ Robert Fanney, 

(Author of science fiction and fantasy)

Good Morning

A good morning

That’s what I call it

The sun is up 

Even if it’s behind thunder clouds

Even if it is pouring rain

As long as I’m awake and 

putting my feet on the floor 

it is a good day 

there may be 

      tears, 

   frustrations, 

             interruptions

but they may be mixed with

  smiles, 

   sunshine, 

     contentment and 

the beauty of trees, 

  grass and flowers; 

the kindness the community 

  as I go about my day. 

If I believe 

that all of the good 

is coloured grey, 

I will miss so much!

and so I wish you 

A Good Evening!

“A day is a day. It’s just a measurement of time. Whether it’s a good day 

or a bad day is up to you. It’s all a matter of perception.”

~ Donald L. Hicks, Look into the Stillness

Things I Did Understand

Things I did understand ~

questions unanswered 

asking why of no use because 

the answer was ‘because’ 

But when those ideas floated away 

I understood crayons, 

cartoon shapes to colour, 

dresses to cut out with the little tabs

Then I could

design ball gowns

for paper dolls

colour inside the lines

just right for this little girl 

bright crayons within my reach

What I understood was that 

I didn’t need to know any more 

than what the next picture needed, 

which doll I should cut out.

But I filled expectations, 

like setting the table for a meal, 

practicing piano or 

getting cleaned up for church, 

going to school. 

I did understand that I was ‘growing up’ 

but didn’t know that meant 

more than how tall I was.

Today in retirement I am still ‘growing up.’

“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.”

~ Tom Stoppard

(English dramatist)