Exposed my naked body
To a mirror’s unforgiving reflection
A silent scream involuntarily
Escaped at the sight
Give me back my body
You most wicked of all history’s thieves
And unkind as well
Leaving me as a replacement
This wrinkled, age spotted exterior covering
Hard of hearing, farsighted
Hair receding, muscles weakened
Energy diminished
The weight is the same
As my real body
But in this one
Gravity has altered
How the mass is distributed
I took such good care of my previous abode
No alcohol passed its lips
No cigarettes or other smoked entities
Were utilized
Regular exercise was part of its daily regimen
Sure my diet was not exemplary
I liked my sweets
Was not keen on veggies
But plenty of fruit
And whole…

Where is my village now
When I need it more than ever?
The generation that raised me
Are all gone:
Grandparents, parents, the last of
My twenty-six aunts and uncles
I’m not ready to be an elder
Of the remaining tribe
What wisdom can I claim as my own?
What insights and advice dare
Come from my lips?
The paths forward all appear treacherous
Filled with human-made obstacles
Some of my own creation and
Some due to my complicity of silence
The previous leaders of our tribe
Had a strong faith in a benevolent deity
And trust in a country that while not always in the right
At least aimed to do good
And was…

Poetry

The merry-go-round of life
Can have a hypnotic effect
To which I’m susceptible
Lulling my senses into
A false sense of comfort and control
Not quite a Groundhog Day existence
For there are changes
Fluctuations in the patterns of my days
But forward movement is often
Hard to detect
And at times regression seems to actually prevail
Persistent troubling thoughts reverberate
Will I ever become a better me
Whatever that may mean
Is all this angst and effort
Worth the meager progress
Yes discouragement can be read in my words
And disappointment in myself
Threatens to paralyze my spirit
And make hope elusive
Perhaps it is the vantage point
That is the problem
Instead of relying on my…

Days of wonder and hope
Days of anxiety and disbelief
Is this really happening
She likes me
She actually likes ME

All those days of sneaking looks her way
In the school corridors
In the classrooms
The lunch room
Rewarded when I found her staring back in my direction
And smiling
My response was to blush and turn away
Terrible shyness and fear of disappointment holding me back
Still afraid to talk with her
Why
My mind refused to accept the fact
That she might really want to get to know me
‘What if it is all in my imagination?’ it protested
She might have just happened to be looking in my direction
And…

Love for my mother
Was there from my first moment of awareness
As natural as the sun shining
And birds singing
Love for my father
Took longer to germinate
As his love for me was different
And took longer for me to understand how it was expressed

A growing understanding and respect
For my father’s adherence to his personal code
Of what his role as father should be
Was the starting point of my awareness of how he showed his love
These principles were handed down through many generations to him
And he judged himself by them
He was to be the breadwinner and protector…

Every particle making up the universe is in motion
And all are connected by invisible threads
And comprised of a life force
Striving towards awareness
Bursting forth with unique energy designs
But blending into one voice
Emitting sound waves
That with only a little imagination
Or very sensitive human-made instruments
Can be heard as music
Both joyous and defiant
This life surrounds us
Permeates our innermost being
And frightens me
For it compels a personal response
As it brings with it an understanding
That we are thus all part of a whole
Our fates are woven into a single tapestry
How then will my unique thread
Support the overall work of art
And help to form a whole
While affirming the…

Sometimes doing a simple thing
Focused and intent solely
On that activity and the people involved
Desiring only to have fun
With no pressure to succeed
Can provide balm for your soul
While uplifting your spirit
Such is what occurred one day this past week
Participants were my wife and I and one of our grandsons
We flew paper airplanes over and over again for an hour
Nothing spectacular happened
Unless you count bonding and creating a special memory
As special and noteworthy
I do

Our seven-year-old grandson orchestrated
From where and in what direction
We would fly our planes
There were many…

Hard rain and soft rain
Both provide the opportunity for growth
The torrential downpours
When actively bombarding me
Seem overwhelming and insurmountable
Threatening to surpass all the safe limits and boundaries
I have so painstakingly established over the years
The dams and bridges behind which security was once so certain
Are in danger of being swept away
The storms appear never ending
But they slowly and mercifully subside
In their wake leaving
If not peace
At least relief from pain
And with the knowledge
That I am still whole
Though with wounds that will take some time to heal
Understanding that
I not only survived
But also did not succumb to the temptation to despair
Taking some pleasure in the…