Is it?

Is it that time again?
Have 365 days passed?
Will this be that night,
That marks the past?
A toast is always proposed
At this time of year, so here's
To hope and kindness, to our
Finding our best and being
Our best. Anticipate. Hope.
Balls drop in anticipation 
I'll take a celebratory lap
With all you young folks
Hope is a kind of celebration
Kindness is a kind of hope
It is that time, again
365 days have passed
This is the night when
We mark the passage
Tonight we celebrate
It is that time to watch 
The world stop to cheer
365 days have passed from
One year, onto the next

I scream for…

I lament the Ben-and-Jerryification
Of the creamy flavorful cold dessert
Most all of us love for its texture and
Its taste. Ice cream should be smooth.
Ice cream should be velvety. Lumps
Of candy bars and cookies complicate
A straightforward treat. I don't want
My tongue to encounter popcorn when
I look for the excitement of a neutral
Flavor, a simple chocolate. Uninvited
Caramel candy bars or hard peppermint
Mar my experience. I turn to gelato for
What I crave. "You scream, I scream, we
All scream for ice cream." What's your
Favorite flavor? A clever pun or a single
Origin like plain old vanilla or coffee?

A deep freeze

It's not news to anyone who's been
Out today, it's cold out -profoundly
So. My skin has just begun to thaw
In the warmth of a very comfortable
Room. It tingles, itchy, smarting as
It warms up, unsure that it is OK to
Relax or ease into the temperature
In which there is no pain, sitting in
Short sleeves, happily feeling air
Not layers of clothing swaddling
Me against whipping winds and
Egregious chills. I am lighter on my
Own outside the winter jackets, the
Protections through which gales
Force themselves, against my will.

Hold on

I've got you, fight me all you can
Fight me all you want and with 
All your mighty might, and all 
The will you can muster. Yours 
Is a strong will, you show plenty 
Of determination, so do I. I am
Determined. I won't let go of you
I will not let you go. It's not yet
Our time. That is our time is not
At an end. You and I will have this
Time as our own. I've got you now.
I am not ready. We are not ready.
Not now. I've got you now. Fight 
Me all you want, but hold on tight.

What time is it?

When he stopped recognizing time
I had to know what time it was all
The time. Day and night for a while
Were his to mix and match but I had
To know what time it was all the time
Day and night. He would ask after it
Knowing that it was eluding him but
Wanting to keep track of the time all
The time. I had to know what time it
Was all the time to share the time
With him. I had to know if it was day
Or night, morning or evening for him.

Loss

When he lost the wisdom of his age
I mourned that loss for it was mine
As well as his. I lost the little pieces
Of us as he lost little bits of himself.
He was never alone in all his losses.
I stayed by his side hoping love was
Enough to lessen his burden, knowing
That losses do not relieve us. That's a
Contradiction to expectations, loss
Doesn't take away; it adds to burdens.
Nothing is lightened by our losses.
So as he loses more of who he is, I
Mourn his loss as well as my own.
I mourn my loss of him as I watch
Him count his losses, his awareness
Adding to the burdens of loss. So
Much taken away, never my love,
This always remains, steadfastly by
His side although I know I cannot
Share his burden or lift it in order
To lessen his share of it. We each
Share the loss but it isn't lessened
Or cut in half. We mourn in full our
Losses each to each, our burden
Mourned as mine, mourned as his.
When he lost the wisdom of his age
I mourned that loss for it was mine.

The heavens don’t wait

We are transported on clouds of wonder
Each wondrous day. Magical, mystical or
Just mysterious, the sky points our way;
The road leads towards it but never lays
A path that reaches high enough to take
Us on a journey across the billowy wake.
We are tempted by the heavens but don't
Want to overreach. Where we are won't
Get us to that point gleaming overhead
We remain earthbound, easy on a tread
One step closer, one step further, careful
In awe of clouds, but simply in awe of all

You’ve been warned

Pink skies, I am always quoting,
Bode well for the day ahead, the
Very next day. But that applies
Only to a night sky. A morning
Apparition of a pink sky, they say
Is a bad sign. Pink sky at morning
Oh dear, sailors take warning. A
Nice neat rhyming pattern so easy
So mnemonic. Today's sky warns.