Bed and Breakfast invites
Weekend relaxation
Away from city lights
Delightful plantation
Pace of life taking pause
Shangri-La’s sweet bouquet
Morning’s welcoming hosts
Breakfast’s homemade entrees
Warm hospitality
Conversation and more
Informal ambience
Window view of lakeshore
Scene repeating each day
Taken from writer’s prose
Like reading Hemingway
Fragrance of blooming rose
Enchanted visit ends
More memories to write
Return engagement booked
Weekend’s welcome starlight
Looking out kitchen’s window
Hot coffee warming chilled hands
Cherishing deepest blue skies
Thankful to breathe freedom’s brand
Geese fly across nearby pond
Wishing life could be simple
Photo of children smiling
Catching each happy dimple
Sensing morning’s frosty air
Furnace cranks, erasing cold
Listening to nature’s peace
Fewer song birds to behold
Airplane flying overhead
Gliding to scheduled landing
Mankind dances with nature
Asking, without demanding
Looking toward tomorrow
Life’s cards showing all Aces
Feeling blessed beyond reason
Cherished keepsake embraces
Early morning is my preferred time to craft poetry, short stories, and other writings. Occasionally, the pre-dawn atmosphere outside of the kitchen window encourages my pen to just take off and write. There is no real plan or objective, but the words flow until a rough outline is coming together. This poem is a result of such an endeavor, and hopefully you–the reader–will find your place in the verses as well.
Remembering a former time
Coming to town’s square at daybreak
Feeding songbirds from her basket
Proud lady sits by tiny lake
Visiting every morning
Arriving on schedule each day
Feeding waiting birds with her love
Quiet lady shoos away gray
Calling out to each bird with song
Smiling and offering her joy
Feeding grateful birds, rain or shine
Blessed lady warmly enjoys
Sharing her meager resources
Delighting her feathered treasures
Feeding hungry birds until noon
Gracious lady offers pleasures
Remembering time long ago
Sitting faithfully at her post
Feeding tiny birds again
Grown-up lass takes her place as host
This poem is inspired from a memorable scene in the film “Mary Poppins,” starring Julie Andrews. Here is a video clip from the film. Perhaps you remember it as well.
Memories were the markers of the journey through life. It was necessary to know where you had come from. Only then could you know where you were going.
Success should always be just beyond your grasp.
Boyhood memories
From summers long past
Adventures waiting
Hot weather forecast
Sandlot invites fun
Baseball games on tap
No umpires needed
Wearing well-worn caps
Bike hike across town
Returning back home
Pedaling with haste
Where’s slowpoke Jerome?
Backyard sleepover
Under heavens’ stars
Awake at midnight
Sharing candy bars
Afternoon calling
Under cloudless sky
Swimming pool waiting
Diving board banzai
Waiting for darkness
Nighttime doorbell fun
Hiding in shadows
Ditch ‘em on the run
American flag
hangs mournfully
at half mast
Honoring a
courageous, fallen soldier
on a distant battlefield
Many come
to honor this
patriotic, young man
Supporting his loved ones
Family, wife, and children
Who will miss
his gentle soul
Let us
never forget
this day!
The ultimate sacrifice
paid by
one mighty soldier
So many others
may be free
U.S. Army Specialist Joseph P. Collette died on March 22, 2019 from enemy fire in Afghanistan while on a combat mission. This poem is written to honor him along with all others who have fallen.
Seasoned with many years
This ancient man delights
Very little he fears
Life tastes humble highlights
Living alone these days
Outliving many friends
Memories still ablaze
Through color-filled zoom lens
Nearly century old
Blessed career long gone
Bride’s love never grows cold
Still waking up at dawn
Sits at kitchen table
Daily Bible reading
Praying through God’s cable
Lord’s “Bread of Life” feeding
Walking at nearby park
Bench invites him to sit
Lifetime’s blossoming spark
Dreaming shall never quit
Parked at life’s interchange
Lifetime’s poetry writes
Witnessing time’s changes
Faith and love holding tight
In viewing our decorated Christmas tree, there are so many blessings to be found. It is the inspiration behind this sonnet-styled poem. The photographs found at the end of this post come from our tree, which is loaded with so many memories.
Angel overlooks wondrous scene below
Twinkling, flickering shadows spanning night
Christmas magic knocking at life’s doorstep
Brightest lights illuminate with delight
Past memories radiate all around
Precious ornaments and shapes of all kinds
Warmest smiles, children and grandchildren
Cherished, family love reveals and shines
Teddy bears proclaiming a mother’s love
Filling with peace, singing with hope and joy
Lights in the night, reverent birth of Christ
Angels celebrate, God’s grace now deploys
Sharing love of a Savior, lights the way
Father’s everlasting gift comes this day
This poem is dedicated to the many lives which have come and gone along the tracks of the Great Northern Railroad from years ago. Perhaps you can feel the living spirit still riding the Empire Builder passenger train across the Hi-Line of Montana.
Feeling a bit like heaven
Blessed Big Sky, almost home
Paradise spelled as two words
Riding free, spirit’s train roams
Scanning God’s creative touch
Mountains shaped by nature’s hand
Valleys carved out by rivers
Dreaming of this treasured land
Stirring up past memories
Iron horse roaring at top speed
Long ago, been here before
Coming home, spirits now freed
Flashing by Hi-Line’s vast farms
Cropland caresses these tracks
Golden fields of wheat ripen
Waiting for harvest’s comeback
Fading daylight turns to night
Darkness covers Montana’s peace
Town lights twinkle here and there
Thinking back to life’s past lease
Climbing through Marias Pass
Glacier Park saying good-bye
Big Sky’s wonder never fades
Ageless spirit, dropping by
Thanks for the memories
For sunrises, spectacular and refreshing
Feeling God’s creation, always fetching
Let me witness one more, very soon
Thanks for the memories
For teaching for forty years, now gone
Being retired, yet singing a new song
Each day feels precious and engaging
Thanks for the memories
For daughters special and sweet
Always making this heart tweet
You make me smile every day
Thanks for the memories
For travels across this vast land
Witnessing God’s creative hand
I look forward to seeing more
Thanks for the memories
For seeing grandchildren grow up
Their blessings overflow my cup
How truly marvelous they are
Thanks for the memories
For nights watching films from years ago
Classic stories and acting, tied in a bow
Enjoying movies and popcorn at home
Thanks for the memories
For finding love before growing old
God’s promises come true and bold
Never say never to His amazing grace
Thanks for the memories
For writing poetry and sometimes more
Allowing my new passion to fly and soar
Thankful for wonderful readers like you
This poem’s theme is inspired by Bob Hope, one of America’s greatest entertainers. He excelled in vaudeville, Broadway shows, radio, film, and television. He may be best known for the many shows he did for American troops overseas. In 1938, Hope and Shirley Ross performed the song “Thanks for the Memory” in the film “The Big Broadcast of 1938.” Adapting lyrics in future years as needed, the song became Hope’s signature song whenever he performed. Here are a few lines from “Thanks for the Memory.” Enjoy!
Thanks for the memory
Of rainy afternoons, swingy Harlem tunes
Motor trips and burning lips and burning toast and prunes
How lovely it was
Thanks for the memory
Of candlelight and wine, castles on the Rhine
The Parthenon, and moments on the Hudson River line
How lovely it was
Many’s the time that we feasted
And many’s the time that we fasted
Oh well, it was swell while it lasted
We did have fun, and no harm done
So thanks for the memory
Of crap games on the floor, nights in Singapore
You might have been a headache, but you never were a bore
I thank you so much
Big Sky Buckeye 