I’m Tired

I’m tired of baiting

  and tired of hating

 

I’m tired of winning

  in a rained out inning

 

I’m tired of loving

  when love’s not returned

 

I’m tired of crying

  tears poisoned and spurned

 

I’m tired of reasons

  excuses for treason

 

I’m tired of answers

  to questions now censored

 

I’m tired of forgiving

  the past repeating again

 

But I’m most tired of wishing

  —as hope turns to pain

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

To My Grandmother (1900-1999)

I store you inside me

  under a blanket of pearls

 

They lie strung together

 as my history unfurls

 

Each one to unstring

 when I need it the most

 

Your wisdom translucent

 your memory my host

 

You loved me before

 I ever knew who I was

 

My freedom you shepherd

 reaching down from above

 

Though years have grown distant

 they forever remind

 

Of your goodness and blessings

 —Oh Catherine of mine

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Divided And Split

Do you have to do something

  you loathe or then hate

 

To finance the thing

  that you love

 

Do you plod to a tune

  out of step and off key

 

To dance freely with what

  comes from above

 

Do the moments you steal

  and those stolen from you

 

Stand opposed or conjoined

  at the hip

 

Are those times rare and precious

  to freely aspire

 

Worth a life lived divided

   —and split

 

(Train from White River Junction: March, 2016)

Last Word To Begin

My constant companions…

 words reel and recast

 

Like a lady in waiting,

 they clear every path

 

Extending forever,

 to store what I feel

 

My thoughts they intrude,

 my meanings revealed

 

My past they’ve forgiven,

 my future ignored

 

They rest in my prayers,

 hopes and wishes restored

 

I know at the end,

 but one thing will remain

 

A last word to take with me

  —to begin once again

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)