Friend Ships

Friend ships often
Sail shifting seas
You see them
Then they sail
Out of sight
And yet those
Gossamer lines of love
Memories, linger
The way she turned
The steering wheel
Underhand,
And tossed water
Into the air to delight
In the drops
Snapshots in the mind
A reflection, a grin
But most missed
The flow of conversation
Constant, joyful laughter
And now two decades
Later
Over a cup of tea
The ships meet
Those lines of love
Link into heart moorings
Like so many years
Ago and the words
And laughter flow
Hearts set free
To sail on the
Sea of Happy

This was written for the prompt of Happiness at Poetry Jam poetryjaam.blogspot.com, and for the prompt of Changes and Turns at dversepoets.com and shared with the Poetry Pantry at Poets United poetry blogroll.blogspot.com.  It was inspired by a recent visit to CA, where I got to reconnect with on of my best friends from high school.  We'd lost touch for about 20 years and then found each other on FB.  After hello and a hug, we started talking-like no time had passed at all.  :-)   Also on this New Year's Eve I'd like to share a toast with all of you

There are good ships
And there are wood ships
And there are ships that
Sail the sea
But the best ships
Are friendships
And may they
Always be

Thank you all for your kindness, support and laughter--Happy New Year!!

Looking Up

Peach flavored translucence

With a side of light

Ethereal in its emptiness

Until

A flock of winged silhouettes

Appear

Like cut outs

From the evening sky

Puzzle pieces shifting

High on the morning breeze

A vision broken

When the sun reaches out

And reveals their true colors

This is written for the prompt from Poetry Jam poetryjaam.blogspot.com, who invites us to take a walk and write about what we see. The dogs and I saw this vision this morning. Here in Florida it always looks to me like the birds are pieces of the sky that somehow fell out of the aerial jigsaw :-) Also, shared with the wonderful Open Link Night at dversepoets.com

Super Man

Caring is a given

Not a question for this man

Mother, Father, Aunt

Cared for them all until

He did not have the strength

Then visited twice a day

Brought pastellitos for the staff

A little sweet insurance for extra care

Was the constant for his grandchildren

Because caring is a given

No question, that every day

He picked them up from school

Took care of them if they were sick

While their power career parents climbed ladders

Got raises and worked late

He made the nietos cafe con leche, and listened to their stories

And when more family came from Cuba

Everyone else put up the money, but he housed them

Because caring is a given

Even when they stayed past welcome

And their daughter left them there

He fed them, drove them, called rescue

And made the funeral plans

Now his sweetheart of sixty years

Can no longer care for herself

No break, yet no complaint

Because caring is a given

And the circle of life spins

What was given is returned

Beloved and surrounded by

All his family, every day

Full of caring,

Given with gratitude

This is written for Poetry Jam's poetryjaam.blogspot.com prompt to write about a good person; And for dverse poets-another form that took on a form of it's own—kinda a quatern; dversepoets.com; and for Poets United Poetry Pantry poetryblogroll.blogspot.com This is dedicated to my father-in-law who is one of the most genuinely good people I know. His life has been that of a caregiver, and he has shouldered it with love, and patience for the past thirty years. It amazes me. And the best part is to see how much love surrounds him. His children are always there for him, he does not want for anything, daily phone calls too, plus—every Saturday is breakfast with his daughter's family and every Sunday it's dinner with us. His grandkids call him every day, help him care for his wife, give him haircuts, and take him out to lunch every week. * pastellitos are Cuban pastries; *nietos is spanish for grandchildren :-)

I Believe

In Santa

The Easter Bunny

And Tooth Fairy

How could I not?

They all were me!

This was written for the prompt to write about make believe and fantasy, from last week at Poetry Jam poetryjaam.blogspot.com (yes, I am that behind).  And I do believe! These gift givers are traditions passed from parent to parent for years and years. Of course they exist, all you have to do is look at that wide-eyed happy expression of a small child.  Wonder is the best magic of all.  Also, sharing this with Open Link Night at dversepoets.com where everyone believes in something :-)

Mary and Me

I was prepared to love her

Better than anyone

Ever, ever, ever

Loved a sister

Never

Fight like other sisters

We

Were going to be

Perfectly happy

Except it took

A while

(Okay, an eternity)

To me

Finally

At eight years to her three

We Hoppity-hopped

And read

Shared nightmares and

A bed

Barbies, Candy Land, coloring books,

Backseat buddies, side by side

For every trip we took

Till I moved three thousand

Miles away

Now we have phone calls

Instead of Barbie play

Dealing with grown up fears

Laughing, not hiding tears

And that little girl prepared to

Love and to be sweet

Is so happy to find that sister love

Travels a two way street

This was written for the Sibling Revelry prompt at Poetic Bloomings, about my sister Mary, who is one of the best people I know and who can make me laugh, no matter what; the Preparation prompt at Dverse Poets (excellent prompt, Mary!) dversepoets.com and the Poetry Pantry and Poets United poetryblogroll.blogspot.com where I'm stopping by to share a poem and a snack. 

Reflected In You

Reflected in you
I see a lovely combination
Of parental DNA
(not that I'm partial or anything)
I see hope and fear
Mine and yours
Mistakes, too
Mine and yours
But mostly I see
Proof of heaven
Like the first time
I held you, uncovered those
Ten perfect toes
And incredibly long fingers
Long before I knew
How much you would make me
Laugh out loud, gnash my teeth
Glow with love
The minute your eyes met mine
I was a gone girl


This poem is for the prompt at Poetry Jam poetryjaam.blogspot.com  where Mary gave us the incredibly fun prompt of writing a poem using the title of one of New York Times Best Sellers; The title is from "Reflected In You" by Sylvia Day, a story of fiction; and I included two other titles, just for fun (and I couldn't pick just one) "Proof of Heaven" by Eben Alexander-nonfiction; and "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, a mystery.  This is also for the prompt at Poets United, poetryblogroll.blogspot.com where we are asked to write about a gift that gave me a happy heart, what popped into my head was when I called my mom to let her know she was going to be a grandma--all she could say was "Oh!Oh!Oh!"  My boys and my stepdaugher are the best gifts I've ever been given.  And I'm sharing this poem with Open Link Night where gifts are always welcome  dversepoets.com   :-) Happy Thanksgiving everyone--I'm thankful for all of you!! 

Bailing on Barnum

If the circus was a class field trip
Guess who lost their permission slip?
That would be me
Conveniently,
Pink crushed into a couch crevasse
Because, alas
While I loved the horses, and trapeze
Clowns did not, please
Me
Nor did tired, sad elephants
Chained and dressed
Not for success
Stuck in a single line
With whips that snapped and whined
Or tigers snarling and then sent
To stand on silly stools to repent
Plus the scent of pacyhderm poo
Ewwwww
Instead,
Let's find a mountaintop
Maybe a meadow where we'll flop
And make a circus of clouds that fly
Above our heads in the sky

This poem is for Poem a Day prompt 14 by Catherine Lee write a "stuck" poem; and for the creative folks at Poetry Jam who invite us to write about the circus at poetryjaam.blogspot.com
Sorry, I really did/do avoid the circus, it always made me sad.  But the big top of a mountain?  Happy!!