Tag Archives: mourning

OLD CLASSMATE LUNCHEON

Time used to slip away.

Now it skips.

Soon, it will run.

From first grade through high school and beyond,

the bond with old classmates remains strong.

Their faces are still young, to me.

My heart carries the fraught memory

of times spent side-by-side,

as life pushed us away on its tide.

We carry their presence within us with pride.

The me no one ever knew resides in each of us openly now.

I marvel at the person we once hid inside.

Today, we rush ahead of reunion,

meeting for lunch and soulful communion.

Our thoughts and actions have become bolder

as each of us grew older,

except for those who sped ahead.

We honor the lives of those now dead.

We celebrate with impunity

those still part of our hearts’ community.

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Filed under FAMILY STORIES, POETRY

LAST BREATH

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What is the period of mourning

when a nation dies before our eyes?

Not in sudden cardiac arrest,

not like a slow cancer.

nor a natural aging

of its body politic.

But, like a chronic illness

which has worsened over time,

sometimes in remission

allowing hope to remain alive.

But, when death’s grip pries

the life from every cell

which protected a nation from demise

and its heartbeats accelerate

at a far too barbaric rate,

what then? How can hope survive

when our national freedom dies?

The violence, the bombs, the rubbled ruin 

comes after the next election, I fear. 

The election may save us from loss

of freedom, but at a cost.

Like Ukraine, we can take a nation back

by electing constitutional, loyal leaders

and set our enemies off to the side.

Like Ukraine, our enemies will regroup

and ferociously and physically attack

what they could not seize by stealth.

They will never let go of power and wealth

which we allowed them to take during this

DOGE-dealing, Heritage Foundation steal.

Courts may save us for a time.

But, be prepared.Everything is on the line.

And the mourning is ever-ceasing

for those who see the fate

of a nation which for too-long

embraced its power and its wealth, 

and allowed itself to hate.

Slavery was our original sin and set the stage

for all the other hate and division

that has led to this time of fear and outrage.

How long is the mourning period for such a loss?

It has been my entire life; yet, my hope has endured.

But, my body senses death at my nation’s door.

And, I fear I simply cannot take it anymore.

What is the end to this period of mourning?

Every cell in the body politic is warning

that this nation, our beloved nation

may be close to its last breath.

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

For Wendy

Jewels like crystals shine

Across the frozen face of snow.

We say avoir, not good-bye.

For all we know

Light never dies

But quietly moves it’s glow

to other sights and sites

where Jewel now delights

In her new life.

And, yet, we mourn

Our grey-grief days

where Jewel once shown

in lives of our own.

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Filed under POETRY