Delicious Aromas

The granola toasted ~ filled 

with oats, nuts and seeds ~ 

resting on the counter 

giving up the oven to 

a loaf of oat whole wheat bread. 

The aromas of spices and bread giving home the scent of other homes. This greater and short lived joy pulls all my homes out of thin air with memories from 

farm to apartments to houses

throughout the decades. 

It always surprises me when 

I can truthfully measure 

my life in decades. 

Through travels,   

  education 

     careers,

    families and friends

but aromas are home life 

inside the memories. 

No granola in the past, 

but the spices are the same as 

   the cookies, 

     apple sauce, 

       apple and pumpkin pies

from decades past. 

“Nothing awakens reminiscence like an aroma”

~ Victor Hugo, poet

(1802 ~ 1885)

Missing Something

Clothes from the dryer, 

soft and clean ~ 

missing something. 

Always missing 

the fresh scent of 

hanging on the line 

in the wind. 

The funny dents from 

wooden clothes pins. 

Automatic washers and dryers 

part of a home are invaluable, 

but always ~ missing something.

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else,

 and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist

(1803 ~ 1882)

Only a Rocking Chair

Only a rocking chair 

wood and varnish 

teeth marks on a rocker

from a puppy

to sit in it 

close my eyes 

rock gently 

memories slide 

to the old black rocking chair 

    with the wide seat 

  in our living room 

to the big solid oak 

 rocking chair with 

embroidered head rest and seat to 

 the small neat dark wood rocking chair 

of my grandparents home ~ 

gentle memories in 

only a rocking chair

wood and varnish 

teeth marks from a puppy.

“There is a peacefulness, an air of reflection, about a 

rocking chair that attaches to no other moving object.”

~ Wallis Simpson, socialite

(1896 ~ 1986)

A Patina of Richness

It took the walls away 

into nostalgia and memory 

recalling the many phases 

of our lives. 

Parents, grandparents,

 aunts and uncles 

long vanished into the ether 

came alive once more; 

school days of teachers and games 

with school yard friends and foes. 

They echo all around adding 

a light patina of richness 

to these walls and I am grateful.

“Patina is the value that age puts on an object.”

~ John Yemma, journalist and editor

Into View

Suspending time, 

memories slid into view, 

softened treasures cherished, 

blackened edges honoured

 ~ yesterday’s blossoms of

learning, knowing and feeling.

Suspending time, 

memories slid into view….

“As long as there are memories, yesterday remains.”

~ Billy Joel, pianist

Sound Strange?

Today

a day off

sound strange?

no appointments, 

shopping or gatherings. 

Attending to home.

Home

where family& friends surround me

in memory, photographs and things.

Things

paintings, china, knick-knacks

ideas, gifts, and blankets

Today

a day off

sounds just right.

Home is what you take with you, not what you leave behind.”

~ N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season

When Nostalgia Beckons

Yesterday went as all 

yesterdays go, into the 

never never land of the past

With lopsided memories of 

     good times

      unfortunate times

        impossible times 

          pleasant times 

even mundane times 

 may pop up unannounced.

All categorized and filed 

in gauzy memory banks

Taken out and savoured 

when nostalgia beckons.

“Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days.”

~ Doug Larson, American journalist

(1926 - 2017)

I Would Have

Otherwise, I would have 

let my imagination roll 

out a carpet of poetry, 

yet the day just lived 

didn’t lend itself to such 

flights of fancy. 

Otherwise, I would have 

looked at the raindrops 

on green leaves and seen 

the mysteries in each 

glistening drop of water.

Otherwise, I would have 

raised my navy umbrella 

to the misty rain that 

gently reminded me 

of Vancouver Island. 

Otherwise, I would have 

seen the blackened crust on 

my bread as a failure but 

the tender inside was delicious, 

butter and honey spread thick.

Otherwise, a day will come 

when all of these things may 

mean nothing to me. For today, 

they are the sweet stitches 

that hold memories of today. 

“I got out of bed on two strong legs. 

It might have been otherwise.”

~ Jane Kenyon, Otherwise

*Author’s note: my poetry tonight inspired by 

the poem Otherwise by Jane Kenyon

For Tomorrow and Beyond

 

Soft silence fills my home

as day becomes the night; 

afternoon laughter and caring 

with friends are sweet memories 

for tomorrow and beyond.

“As long as there is friendship, today is beautiful.”

~ Billie Joel