In a finite world where I’m here but for a moment,
I savor the first bite of toast with homemade blueberry jam
and the spicy warmth of my morning chai
as I break the fast of sleep.
I savor my family, those who are still with me,
and those who I carry in my heart and memories.
I savor my friends, who walk with me through all
of the seasons of life.
Their friendship is the balm for my soul,
A place where I can be my genuine self, sharing laughter,
tears and deep conversations.
I savor the warmth of arms that envelope me in a hug,
reminding me that I am loved.
I savor nature’s beauty: the hummingbird, the bee,
and the butterfly as they alight from flower to flower,
refreshed by its nectar.
I savor breathing in the air as I amble along
the garden path or among the tall pines,
a place where deep serenity abides.
I savor the beauty of the sky as it shakes off the blue of the day,
and dresses in its pastel finery
before slipping away below the horizon.
I savor the quiet moments tucked up with a book,
as I’m spirited away to another time and place,
freed from the worries of the world.
At the end of the day, when my body and mind are weary,
I savor slipping into the comfort of my bed,
pulling the covers tightly around me,
slipping away to the nighttime cinema.
Tag: Poetry
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Because Everything Falls Away
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The Seed
An Ode to My Parents
The seed was planted, watered, and tended with love.
With the warmth of the sun, it was allowed to grow.
The sower’s voice spoke gently, encouraging it to blossom
With petals full of love, stretching out to the world.
It watched the gardeners’ example of gentle compassion
As they walked along the flowerbeds,
Treating each flower, whether thriving or dying,
With dignity and grace.
For they knew that the flowers’ beauty must grow from within
If it was to brighten creation once it left the safety of the bed.
The sower released the flower to humanity once
All the wisdom had been bestowed upon it,
Allowing it to spread its seeds to all it touched. -
This Fragile Life
I thought the earth was solid,
That even the craziness of life had meaning
Until the day I sat next to your lifeless body,
My heart shattered, tears streaming down my face.No longer could I take a step without
The ground shaking under my feet,
Wondering if I would be able to navigate
this foreign landscape that made no sense.Time, as I knew it, no longer existed
As I watched people rush by like
They hadn’t felt the tectonic plates shift
Knowing that they could drop into the abyss at any moment.The fog washed over me as I tended to death’s chores.
The worst were the calls to say that you were dead.
No one wants to hear those sorrowful words
That were screaming in my soul.I wasn’t prepared to pick out funeral homes,
Or how many people I would have to speak with
To arrange my life without you.
The never-ending paperwork that said you no longer existed.Your death changed me,
Splitting my world into before and after.
Thirteen years ago, can seem like yesterday
When I’m hit by a trigger that reminds me
that you’re never coming back. -
Living With Your Memories
In my mind, I travel to a place where
My passport is no longer valid,
And will not provide me with admittance.
I look through the window that contains
Only memories of the place that
Once was my safe harbor called home.
Of the arms and hearts of my parents who loved me,
But are no longer alive.I see the home decorated for birthday parties,
My dad making sure his girls had pretty party dresses
Where even our dog was dressed up for the festivities.
The yard full of neighborhood kids and cousins,
A swing set where ghost stories were told,
A rabbit hutch that was transformed into a clubhouse,
and summer carnivals with games and the best homemade fudge.I see the joy of trips to Piseco Lake,
And the cabin that would be home for a week.
Canoe rides to the island in the middle of the lake,
And nights at the dump nearby,
With the hopes of spotting bears
From the shelter of our station wagon.The annual trip to Cayuga Lake with my mom and siblings,
and my maternal aunt with her two youngest children.
We stayed in cabin 8, the biggest cabin with two bedrooms,
Though the bathrooms and showers were down the road.The sadness of my father leaving Sunday night to return to work in Syracuse
Would soon be filled with days when other relatives would visit,
And we would be free range children,
swimming in the lake and fishing from the pier,
catching sunfish and throwing them back into the lake
for someone else’s hook to snare them.
Buying candy at the little shop down the road,
And exploring places that we weren’t supposed to go.The longing for my parents and the grounding that they provided
Is something that I’m still learning to grasp.
When I return to the city of my birth,
With a hole in my heart that cannot be fixed.
The house that held these memories
Means nothing without the souls
Who once dwelled there. -
Astrophilia
(n.) rare love and obsession with planets, stars, and outer space
Transport me to the cosmos,
Past the moon and the known planets
To the wonder of the galaxies that lay
Beyond our Milky Way.
Oh, to be free of the bonds of gravity,
The smallness of life that boxes me in
And the harsh realities that wound my soul.
The images of space call to me,
With their majesty and glory.
Who, in their infinite wisdom, could create
A paradise of newly forming stars,
Emitting bright red gases 1,300 light years from earth.
These offspring are only 100,000 years old,
Mere youths in the universe that sprang to life 13.8 million years ago.
As I gaze upon these photographs sent back from deep space,
I’m filled with hope and wonder.
That I’ve been placed on this planet, to shine brightly,
To feel the pain when my worlds collide, morphing me
Into a unique being, with remnants of the star I was.
Ever changing, growing, searching for
My new dwelling place in the world.
Beautiful Bittersweet Life Poems 