Jack's Suit

         Jack’s Suit

Do you see him there? He’s the little guy in the dark blue suit

Carried into church for his Auntie Karen’s wedding

Fall breezes quietly tickling his cheek

With those big speckled blue eyes, he doesn’t miss a thing.

Katie’s got him right there in her lap of dreams

Her little boy, full of wonder, in love with his daddy

Sitting close, so sharp once again in that cute little suit

Here in the winter cold, at his Great-Grandma Pat’s funeral mass.

She’s gone too soon, our Katie, much too soon

With her smile that brought the sun up in the morning

And her laughter that rippled the waters

Always leaving a corner of our own smile wide open.

Jordan’s little Cracker-Jack is firmly in his arms now

Sitting still and quiet in the old church pew

Sad eyes wearing a cleaned and pressed suit

Searching the sunbeams for his Mommy.

Katie’s off onto a new journey now

Taking with her the love of a million memories

And leaving behind a world of hurt full of love
Sprinkled with shattered pieces of hearts.

Pocket Love

                       

Darkness tugging her heart, in her two feet

Love burning through the wind,

Settling in his pocket.

She in her corner of the woods,

He in his.

Lights coloring a dark sky

Thunder pounding the tree trunks

Until they all go home to drink

Telling tall tales of heroes in a day gone by

Do you remember?

Star Light, Star Bright

.
Heavy warm air surrounds the bed
Pulls the sheet away from her tired body
Feet slide over to the cool tile floor
and out to the cool night garden.

She climbs up into the hammock freshly
packed in return from the hot Caribbean mountains
Scans the skies, bright with a half moon
a thousand stars vying for attention.

Heavy eyes resting on that one, right there
The one just sitting and blinking at her
She wonders if it's still really there, or is
it just the light of a star long gone?

Wonders if it was the light that burned out
of her lost love
Or was it her own light
that fizzled into darkness?

An Afterthought

Memorial Day.
Opening up coins of time
Spending them in the gardens - weeding, watering, sowing
Soaking up the warm sunshine before the real heat of the day
I wanted to be inside writing
Saved for later
For Now, now I write.

Showered and dressed in my finest swimsuit and summer sundress
Silk blouse over my shoulders
Eye lashes in mascara, eye lids a hint of green
Shades blending with strings of silk
Cover my skin with cream
Pick out a pair of black summer strap wedge sandals.

2 aspirin with a glass of water soothe the aches, the pain.
Radio on to keep the new budgies company
Fan on, shades drawn.  Keep it Cool, Birds.

Choose a purse, the London bag
Pick through what to take, what not to take.
Flast, Jack Daniels, yes
One-hitter, yes
Book, yes
Pens, pencils, notepad, yes

Grab one of my copies of The Sun
Show the family
What I wrote
What someone else thinks is important
Enough to publish in their magazine

Over 70,000 subscribers.

Home again.  No one in my family picked up The Sun.
No one in the family read the story at the pool's edge.
I held it aloft.  Words of praise I got.

Is that good enough?  No.

Read it, for Pete's Sake, then tell me what you think.  Damn it.

About Face

Worn out love songs.

Radio waves ignorant of the coming storm.

Hopeful meditations on the wet air.

The brush is clasped through strings of pain.

 As the hushed wet palette bursts into song

A cuppa tea beckons

And the dusk in the wind harmonizes with a million clowns.

Wine Tasting, My Way

Wine Tasting

Napa Valley, late spring, mid 80’s, sun hot and bright over my left shoulder.  Riding this new bike was like a breath of fresh air after the weight of my previous cycle.

Who would have known just a few short years ago that I’d be living in the land of wine, Napa Valley, USA in just a few short years??  The city in which my mother grew up, the town I’m learning to love.

I’m riding up Silverado Trail from my home in the south side of town.  By south side of town, I mean beyond Maxwell Bridge, which crosses over the Napa River.  I started my ride around 11 am, a bit late, I’m thinking now, but nonetheless, a great time to get going.  My goal is to ride to Mumm’s, have a wine tasting to refresh my self, and then get on back home.  I can take my will-call wine club delivery in my backpack.  The extra weight doesn’t bother me at all.

Anyway, as I’m riding up valley, listening to tunes on my Ipod, I begin thinking of the time it was taking me to do the trip today.  The ride up AND the 22-mile trip back home.  As I contemplated, it dawned on me that I could ride across valley just north of Mumms, put my bike on the bus that cruises up and down Hiway 29, and then ride back to town.  Yes!  That was the new plan.  I never said my goal was 40 miles!  It was 20.

After a 2-3 easy hours, a few water and snack pit stops, I pulled over to the left and sailed down that right slope of a driveway into the parking lot.  Locked my bike up, hung my helmet on the handle bars, stopped into the ladies room, washed up a little and went out to the patio for my reward.

I was soon chatting with a young Chicago IL couple on their honeymoon, toasted to their happiness, drank up, collected my shipment and headed north and west for a brief 3.7 mile ride over to Rutherford.  I knew there a bus stop over on 29 somewhere close-by.

It was a shady ride over Hiway 128, heading off of Silverado Trail, narrow road, covered in ancient oaks, riding over bit of a slip of the Napa River.  I approached Rutherford, Hiway 29, glanced across the road and right there in front of me was the bus stop!  I crossed the road, turned around and there was my bus, the #10 headed south.

Quickly I jumped off, slipped my bike onto the front rack, paid the fare, walked back a few rows and slid into a window seat.  Time to sit and relax.  I nodded across the aisle to a couple kids, leaned back, easing into the ride, thinking about this ride, and the next.    Maybe over to Domaine.  A mere 11 or twelve miles, one way.  I could easily do that one back AND forth.