Send me on my way

I 

If the Irish soda bread comes with caraway, buy two, one without

For you, and one with seeds, for me; once fortified, send me on my way

Juggling the email thread, should we gather or not, too many choices

That day, but others had options, that made the case to send me on my way

Trying to read while the rain pelted the house, relishing the sound 

of the heat rising thru the baseboards, the story sends me on my way

His voice is changing, not seeming to fully enunciate his words

But his blues beat is steady, ready to send me on my way

Good fitness is work, learning techniques for lifting, doing this

Or that exercise, getting me stronger to send me on my way

A subscriber wants less of the national issues, and it is not clear

Which of the issues caused the message to send me on my way

  II

March 14, or pi day, gets me to the kitchen for my annual baking 

exercise; 2 French meat pies & 2 pumpkin pies, sends me on my way

We had Shepherd Pie earlier in the week but for me, without a crust

that doesn't really count as pie, it's goodness did send me on my way

Audio, video, digital text, the information streams surround us, can

Overwhelm us, what do we pay attention to, to send me on my way

Coming to the intersection, watching the lights change, each direction has a

Turn, some use a different path to cross, then the light sends me on my way

A secret to life is keeping moving, with youth like energy, exploring

With eyes wide opening, rising each day with joy sends me on my way

Travel time is coming, an opportunity to see another area of our world

Other ways of living, anxious for the day to send me on my way 

So Sherlock what will happen with those left behind, will they realize 

there is a gap to be filled when the day comes to send me on my way

The First of Many

 I

The flakes of the first 2026 storm sugar coated the tree branches

The snow of the second storm, came by inches, the first of many

On the way to Boston to incorporate as a Town, Essex was 

changed to Franklin, after Benjamin, becoming the first of many

The kissing number of 1 dimension is 2, of two dimensions is 6

Of three dimensions is 12, the relationship is only the first of many

The Town’s letter to Benjamin requesting a bell to ring in his name

Became a gift of books to the library, lending the first of many

“All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust”

The relationship between dust and imagination is the first of many

Horace Mann voraciously read those library books to start his 

journey, creating a free public school education, the first of many

  II

In the days before social media apps took over, email and

Personal conversations were how information was passed, the first of many

James Nason developed a better coffee percolator capturing

The aroma before it escaped, obtaining a patent, the first of many

The idea to capture that aroma was born during the Civil War

Exactly how that invention came about is unknown, the first of many

Franklin did bring several dimensions together once, in 2007, to pass

The first operational override, which could have been the first of many

Alas, neither the stars, nor the sides, have come together since then

Hence with each failure, the resulting budget cuts are the first of many

Could the Mass 250, or the World Cup, or Franklin's own 250 celebration

serve as the impetus for creating civil unity worthy of the first of many

So Sherlock, be ready with note taking, reporting, recording, and sharing

To help keep the community informed on this journey, the first of many

Thoughts of it

  I

The sound of one hand clapping, 

Or a tree falling in the wood

Where no one is near to hear it

The sound of a flower opening 

Or footsteps crunching snow

Shovels scrapping ground below it

The sound of a page turning

Thoughts, images, leaping and

Hopping, racing all around it

The sound of a body wiggling

Softly stretching, or dancing

To the music as she feels it

The wolf moon rises shining

Shudder to imagine the howls

That echo when he realizes it

Art is creating and making

Something new or repurposed

There is a reason to be it

  II

The handy spatula scrapping

Along the inside of the glass jar

To get the last, and all of it

Post deluge, raindrops dripping

Through the downspout

Persistent rhythm of it

Success results from planning

Sweat as much as luck makes

What is adjacent possible for it

The single act of creating

Making anything substantial, or not,

focuses your attention on it

The sound of humanity making

A ruckus, or exchanging something

Wet and wonderful, tops all of it

Artificial stuff can be revolting

but we can return humanity

Back to be at the center of it

So Sherlock, we can't go scrolling

Trolling, lost among the detritus; 

Reach out, hands together, we'll live it

The living room

I

The balsam pine visited the corner of our living room

Bringing colorful lights and ornaments to the living room

Colorful lights helped to counter the period of darkness

As days grew shorter, casting less light into the living room

Various ornaments shared bits of memories, places visited,

Times of life, milestones, all within reach in the living room

The irony of the evergreen tree once outside in fullness of life

Cut and carried in to stand in the corner of the living room

The evergreen drank heartily for several days, then stopped

There was still water in the tree well in the living room

The pine needles once flexible became pointy hard

And started to fall covering the tree apron in the living room

  II

The annual ritual to undo the decorations, place the ornaments

Safely away until they'll be brought next year to the living room

The angel on the top of the balsam is the first one on but the last 

One off as the lights are unbound from the tree in the living room

The strings of light are coiled and returned to their containers

For storage until next year when they come to light the living room 

The balsam is removed from the stand, carried back outdoor

To await the curbside pickup, leaving empty space in the living room

Vacuum and other cleaning elements are found to clean up

The trail of the tree out the door from the living room

When the cleaning is complete, furniture can be rearranged 

To fill in the empty space where the tree visited in the living room

So Sherlock, will you ever get an artificial tree to make all this

Easier? No, there must be room for life in the living room