SMILE

Whatever the reason prompt or cause
A smile in response, can offer proof
Sometimes it can be hard to convince
Especially if it is twisted into a wince
It may look strained, if one is aloof
Suggesting a need for a token pause

A smile is both a signal and reaction
Whether minimal or full toothy grin
A gesture that feels warm and sincere
Except when cold pressed lips appear
But if also seen in the eyes, it's a win
And can also signify deep satisfaction

Pale and rainy,
Crying out for relief.
The folks down here
wander, lonely and won’t speak.
In the misty air, huddled together.
In groups, in pairs.
No one seems to know,
what brought them there.
The children’s faces,
are tainted with tears.
If you’re going downtown.
You will find them here.
At the subway station
Begging for something,
a bit to eat.
When you take the last train
home.
Just pay your respects.
To the citizens of poverty.

Riding our bikes along the levy trail,
the willow tree’s branches
hang low over the path
in the early afternoon haze.

I reach up like a thief
to grab a handful of leaves,
mischievously tossing them up in the air.

As they scatter and float in the wind
behind me, riding through them,
she reaches out to capture a few.

Later, the rescued leaves
are added to her collection
placed inside a book
with a worn and dog-eared cover.

I sense a culmination
in close approximation...
It brings a shudder,
this sensation of
expected expiration.
Like embers glowing
in the campfire,
soon to burn out
like a dying note of
polished lyre.
I feel the winds have changed
carrying smoke
and fallen leaves
with the changing season.
My heart grieves
and yearns for
lost days gone by,
the ghosts that fly
in the face of
our awaited tomorrows...

uninvited GUESTS linkedin as the themes of mein kampf.

Despite countless factorial permutations
& combinations, this cyber surfer
avails left and right alm
seeking succor Out Of Human Bondage
invisibles shackles bind head,
shoulders, knees and toes
mom mee whiz sic cured courtesy grim reaper,
boot metastatic cervical/ovarian
carcinoma snatched such balm
when tethered in utero umbilical connection,
etched bromide, which hankering calm
embryonic sensation this corporeal being lacks

From the day I was born
You were always there
You're always interested
From my studies to my hair

Sixteen years of laughter
Mixed in with a fight or two
Even when you were angry
I could always count on you

During every difficult situation
That night with tears not a few
I'll never forget the words you said
"I will never let anyone hurt you."

When the doctor says it might be cancer
your world diminishes,
small things become important,
big plans swamped simply
by the need to stay alive
not swallowed up
by the ogre of the Big C.

You wait for results
despair and desperation fighting
through your feeble attempts at optimism.
'What ifs' become 'I really should haves'
and life takes on the mantle
of the missed opportunities,
of the roads never taken.

Like children I have lost,
I miss those books I gave away.
Each lonely, loose-leaf page
I long for on this dreary day.

Some other hand now holds,
some other soul they soothe and still.
(I rue those wasted years
when I had reading-time to kill!)

One author, you may know.
(I dare not spell his noble name)
When father bid me read;
I sneered, to my eternal shame!

But that was in my youth,
when blinded to the gentle gleam
of chapters’ golden glow,
I deemed those words a dead-man’s dream.

Dreams of dragons in the cliffs
caves of stone to cool their hearts
Burnished scales of copper hue
reflect light of morning's start

The smell of leather trappings
raw and bloody breakfast meat
Cries of wake up my lords and ladies
feel their warm and generous heat

Smell the musty scent of oils
feel the saddle leather
Listen for the "Riders up"
whatever is the weather

They come from every walk of life
From every town across this land,
They pledge to serve with honor
As they raise their earnest hand.

You probably seldom see them
Until you need then come your way,
Yet they are always at the ready
Be it darkened night or sunlit day.

They guide and teach in many schools
Showing our youth which way to go,
Or responding in our neighborhoods
When tense emotions overflow.