Category Archives: Poem

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.
This morning pink is ominous.
Pink sky at night/Sailors delight
Am I old? Your question
Calling for reassurance
Or perhaps reevaluation.
All in due time, I say, for
This is a question of time.
A question posed in time
About time. I am old is my
Time-line. My time makes
Me old. It sets my age as I
Progress in time, one step
At a time, years passing in
Time. Time is aging me and
Yes, aging you as well. I am
Old, let me reassure you now
In time. You too are old as
I am. Time has passed since
Our youth, enough time to
Make us old. Old enough in
Time, my love, to be older 
Than we were yesterday and
Yes, let me reassure you, this
Time, you are old as I  am old