sherku: small things 2

It should be that

Calories count

Less the more family

And friends you eat with

sherku: small things 1

Goodness is

Wiping up

The last bit

Of soup or

Pasta sauce

With piece of bread

sherku: catching up

Air travel is

Exhausting

Maybe the

Soul's effort

Rejoining

The body

sherku: return

From short sleeves to

Long, green leaves to 

Autumn glory

Welcome home to

New England

sherku: chocolate pudding

I will vouch

For the fact

That the joy of

Chocolate pudding

Can be lifelong

St Ray's 50th High School Reunion

Time lapse, 50 years in a couple of minutes 

to answer the question: What does one say 

to someone they haven’t seen in 50 years

I am sorry? Yes, and then …

People want to know, who we are, who we are

So we tell 'em, so we tell 'em

We are the Saints, the mighty might Saints

We weren’t always, folks understood that we aspired to be

And Peter Pan is still my hero, I never wanted to grow up

Yet words like retirement, grandfather, 50 year HS reunion

Are now part of my vocabulary, and it is hard getting used to them

What of the days at McCoy playing pick up baseball, 

or Novelty Park basketball, or delivering the Times making some 

money to pay for school, books, and the occasional

Ring Ding and Yahoo at Mike’s Corner market

High School commencement was the end

Of one path, other paths opened with college

And beyond; the world of work, family,

Moving about the country before coming home

What is home? Pawtucket is where my story

Started, St Joe’s & St Ray’s were key parts of it

Even returning for a spell as an assistant coach for

track and cross country before corporate moves took over

Now up the road a piece; Franklin is my home base

From which I also found that railroad lines

Used to come down to Valley Falls and into

Pawtucket back in the day when trains were king

Can you go home again? An age old question

But yes, if you want. Aside from visiting

The cemetery and walking among the neighborhood streets

You can’t ever get fully away, the ties are binding

So I’ll quote Rumi:

Out beyond wrongdoing

And rightdoing, there is a field

I’ll meet you there

sherku: windows two

On the other

Hand frustrating

To know it won't

Last after

The rains have come

sherku: windows one

On the one hand
Washing windows
Satisfying
To enjoy the
 Clarity

sherku: hare still

The hare sits still

Continues 

To eat grass

Watching I fear not

There is plenty

sherku: summer breeze

The porch door 

not fully closed

opens with the breeze 

and then breathes 

gently closing

 

sherku: hare

The hare sits

Nibbling grass

I sit reading

Keeping an eye 

upon its meal

Diamonds in 42 lines

If she get to know you

Then they really have you

Ah, to be so exciting

It's good to need you so

Comin' up from the park

Don't it seem so far away

The smells of cookin' in the hallways

And he'd hide in a house

But it can't sing and dance

Girl, if it lasts for an hour, that's all right

And the sun gonna rise in the sky

Not a trace of doubt in my mind

And I am lost and I can't

Don't have to say it

If you want me to

Blind as a child

Why, you've become a grown-up girl

Humbled and awed by everything I'd found

Stay close to me

You are the words, I am the tune

Lord of my need, need, need

The boat that I row won't get me there soon

It used to be so natural

Good times never seemed so good

Wish I loved only one

But until I can find me

To forget the day

The blues now and then

Walk with me this day

I'll stay with you my love

Two together, forty years down

And more to go

Note: There is a writing challenge I gave myself to compose this. 42 is the answer to all things per Douglas Adams and his The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books.  Our wedding anniversary was on the horizon. Dolores has frequently talked of two key events the year we got married, one was our wedding day, the other was her going to the Neil Diamond concert and sitting in the 6th row. No, she doesn't say which is more important. That's okay. I have had more time with her. 

Coincidentally, the Neil Diamond musical "A Beautiful Noise" (https://abeautifulnoisethemusical.com/) was playing in Boston this year (July 2022) so we went and enjoyed it.  The playbill listed the 29 songs in alphabetic order (rather than in the order of the musical appearance). 29 is a good number for those who play cribbage. I took time to research the lyrics of the 29 songs. Found the fourth verse, took the second line (see 42 is the answer) and used this listing to craft the poem above. 

The last three lines are added to help make this about our anniversary.

For Dolores, my love

sherku: incredible

Struggling

With how to

Capture the

Feelings that

Rose and flowed

At "Beautiful Noise"

sherku: inspiration

life song plays

harmony in

working with

me to reveal

my body of work

sherku: self portrait

The tall man

Walks in shorts

Bag on his back

With garlic

Scapes looking

To escape