The best game in town
When no one’s around
My comfort zone
Needs no sound

Win or lose
I continue to play
No other game
Makes me feel this way

After many an affair
Never lonesome
Never alone I swear
As long as I am playing
Solitaire

Take it from me my friend
You’re always a winner in the end
Do you remember when
You had all this additional money
To spend?
***************************************
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt
just how we play the hand”
Randy Pausch

Don’t talk to me
When you have nothing to say
When you don’t want to play

Don’t talk to me
When you make no sense
Or keep me in suspense

Don’t talk to me
With an alternate motive
With words imploded

Don’t talk to me
With your lies
And expect me to verify

Don’t talk to me
In a condescending voice
And give me no choice

Don’t talk to me
In jest
Just like the rest

Don’t talk to me
In a foreign tongue
Save it for the young

Don’t talk to me
With a bleeping word
There’s nothing I haven’t heard

Don’t talk to me
Like a child
In single file

Don’t talk to me
Like Mr. cupid
I’m not that stupid

The talk I wish to hear
I’ve made quite clear
Only thoughts ready to connect
Out of love and respect
*************************************
“In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression;
but he that refrained his lips doeth wisely” Proverbs 10:19

There are many moments I could share with you
but these are few I care to do:

Fallin In love early in life
Falling in love late in life
My wedding day
Holding my daughter for the first time
My son becoming a police officer
Watching my grandchildren grow up healthy strong and wise
Providing for my family
Told I had cancer
The day I became principal
Losing mom dad grandfather
My love for my dogs
Finally
Attending Johnie Mathis concerts

Add to the list
What you wish
One requirement
You must be going to heaven
**********************************
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the
kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3

“Our citizen is in heaven…” Philippians 3:20

Let’s go back to’55
R&R is coming alive
Carteret on Grove
Across from the candy store
We walked
Nobody drove
Mike the cop watched as we crossed
We all knew he was the boss!

Entered the playground
Boys on one side of the school girls on the other
Buck buck we played till the bell rang
Single file; some to the first floor some to the second
Like little soldiers I reckon

Wooden desk and chair
Ink well Fontane pen
Cloakroom
Hide in here
Teacher stare
Times we dared
Did I mention
Not paying attention

Recess and snacks(cheezits) made our day
Baseball and hopscotch all the way
Home for lunch to an empty house to an empty nest
Returning back to our friends was the best

Pray in school was the rule
We’d read the Psalms every day Ps. (1,25,100)
I still can recite them to this day
That memory never goes away

Down to the basement
Air raid alarm
Sat next to wall
Waiting for bombs to fall

Joined the glee club
For the Christmas performance
Our parents in the audience
Carols from the hymn book
All we sang
Some in Latin
I wish I could have patented
(Thanks, Mom, for helping with the makeup!)

It was here that I learned to dance
It was here that I witnessed my first romance
Her name was Gloria
Where she is today
I can’t say
She was my partner
At our 6th grade graduation dance

Memories abound:
Stickball against the wall
Football on the lawn
Running through the school basement
Friday nite boys club
Being with my mom at the card parties
I know there are many more
But this is all I can endure

This was so long ago
Little did I know
How it affected me so
********************************
“I wish my (elementary) school days could have dragged on a little longer
or that I could go back and do it later in life”
Cara Delevingne

Do you have a safe space?
Where do you go when in trouble?
Where do you hide?
How do you decide?

Where do you find peace?
Do you turn to religion?
Do you trust your horoscope?
Join a cult?
Maintain Hope?
How do you cope?

Where do you go to be alone?
Do you go to your room
For the silence?
Do you dwell in darkness?
Silently pray
To forget the day

Where is your safe place?
Is it a place where you hide your secrets?
No one allowed to enter
Worries and fears locked out
Dreams become real
Moments surreal

Everyone needs a safe place to call their own
To settle the issues that life has thrown
Your car
The library
The park bench
Movie theater
Going home
Your dreams
Your work
Read a book
Etc,Etc.Etc.

My safe place I will never tell
Reading this poem
You know it very well
************************************
“We can’t be brave in the big world without
one small safe place to work through
our fears and falls”
Brene Brown

Oh, when I was young
The sweetness on my tongue
The songs that were sung
Are no longer found among

Left bitter-sweet
That taste I would treat
Moments of cheer
Was found everywhere

Oh, when I was young
When my songs were sung
Brought music to my ears
Happiness and tears

Dreams were in reach
The future was near
Put in drive
Nothing to fear

Oh, when I was young
Wedding bells were rung
Words that we say
Never went our way

No one could stop
Rising to the top
Looking down
I saw no one around

Oh, when I was young
Those I counted among
Friends I held so dear
Seem to disappear

Now that I’m old and gray
The days just slip away
One cannot depend
Waiting for the end

Oh, when I was young
Life was short
That death would follow
Too much to swallow

Now that it’s near
It becomes very clear
Youth only”procrasted”
While youth lasted
**************************************”
“Rejoice young man during your childhood
and let your heart be pleasant during the days of your
manhood. Follow the impulses of your heart and desires of your eyes.
Knowing that God will bring judgement for all these things
Remove grief and anger from your heart
put away pain from your body
because childhood and the prime of your life
Are fleeting “
Ecclesiastes 11:9-10

.

I will:
Walk like a man
Speak up like a man
Show empathy like a man
Father like a man
Love like a man
Honest and faithful like a man
Believe like a man
And with God’s mercy and grace
I will die like a man
*************************************
Man doesn’t know whether God will show favor to him.
Everyone will die someday.
Death comes to godly and sinful people alike.
It comes to good and bad people alike
Ecclesiastes (9-2) in- context

Good times or bad
Happy or sad
Mistake or regret
I never forget
I never stopped
I kept on going

Time was free
I saw everything
I wanted to see
Held on to memories
I wanted to keep
Nothing left to reap!

I witnessed:
Hate
Anger
War
Hypocrisy
Lies
abuse
Rage
Etc.etc.etc.
Humans whose hearts were
Kept in a cage

I witnessed:
Love
Peace
Sorrow
Sadness
Happiness
Joy
empathy
Etc.etc.etc.
Everything a human heart can carry

As I neared the end of my time
I saw vanity
Touch humanity
Was it all vanity?
I asked
As I passed on through
NO! NO!
I also found wisdom
Throughout the land
For wisdom gives humans
Strength knowledge and protection

At the end 0f my life
I will return to dust
And my spirit will return to God
Who sent me on this
Life’s journey
**************************************
“The fear of the God is the beginning of wisdom (knowledge)
fools despise wisdom and instruction” Proverbs (1-7)

What do they say? What do they do?

Embellish the truth
Spread false information
Condescending responses
Trust and honor trashed aside
Mutual respect destroyed
Friendship never considered
Contact silently pushed aside
Choices to be made
Bread and butter
What have you discovered?
Only one side
Is there another?

How do you forgive someone?
Do you forgive forget?
Do you forgive not forget?
Do you not forgive not forget?
Have you come to a decision yet?

Choice met
Without regret
Peace of mind
You will find

Drop the pride
Nothing to hide
Humble yourself
Wisdom abides
*****************************************

“The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never
comes from your enemies; it comes from
those you trust the most.”
author unknown

How do you forgive someone?
Do you forgive forget?
Do you forgive not forget?
Do you not forgive not forget?
Have you come to a decision yet?