I carry this burden every day
A burden that never seems to go away
A burden I have locked in my heart
A burden that doesn’t want to part

I pray that it be lifted from me
But no answer is given that I can see
As the days progress I find no rest
I live every day of my life asking
I knock and there’s no answer
I seek but I can’t find anything
To lift this burden from my mind

And although this burden may never be taken away
With sufficient grace I’ll make it through each day
For it may be a burden I’m told to bear
The answer given to my lasting prayer
***************************************
“Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden
and I will give you rest,
take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, 
and you will find rest for your souls,
for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew (11-28)

Now that I’ve entered my September years
I look back on my life as memories appear
Long, long lost thoughts of my youth that
(Suddenly) reappear
Memories of my childhood dreams waiting to fulfill
Dreams that will never die bring tears to my tired misty eyes
Memories of my early loves
The friends that still remain
All these thoughts flash across
The recesses of my brain

There are things done that I cannot tell
Secrets that I’ll keep in my heart
To speak of them would be heresy
For only I can tell them apart

I remember the childhood games we played
I remember the friendships we shared
I remember the promises that we made
I remember the times that we dared

I can see the corner candy store
I can see the field of dreams
I can see the faces just as before
But nothing is today as it seems

As I travel back to the place of my youth
How strange the images I see
The ghosts of my youth come ever so near
And timeless thoughts became ever so clear
As I begin to enter my September years
*********************
“The things which I have seen
I can now see no more”

William Wordsworth

She strolls among the field of flowers
Their beauty shining through each
Explosion of color that radiate a vibrant
Display as if to say, “We are here for you.”

Each blossom turns to see her pass

Each Orange Blossom, each Red Hibiscus
Each Black Eyed Susan stares in veneration

Each Pink Carnation, each Sunflower
Each Red Clover gazes in complete adoration

Every Purple Lilac, every Magnolia
Every Blue Bonnet begins to smile

Every Butterfly Violet, every Yellow Jasmine
Every Golden Poppy beg her to stay awhile

They bow their pedals in majestic awe.
As she passes each one in a row
They watch and stare like a lover’s prayer
As she touches each flower so

And  as she leaves drops of dew gently start to fall
Every pedal closes spreading its tiny pall
And through the silence, that stillness, that quiet spot
She can hear their whispers,” Forget Me Not”
*****************************************

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you,
I could walk in my garden forever”.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
(1809-1892)

When you wish upon a star
All those stars in the heavens afar
You gaze above and find no clues
As to which star you would want to choose

So you search the sky for that special star
The one star you hope to cling on to
Too many stars in the blue, which do you pursue
Which star will make your wish come true?

You leave your window and lie in bed
Holding that wish you wished for in your head
You keep that thought. You hold that feeling.
As you ponder the stars that shine on your ceiling

Twinkle twinkle little star
I often wonder where you are
High above my ceiling bright
Will my wish come true tonight?

Starlight starbright
Will you shine for me tonight?
Will you shine an indigo hue?
Will you make my wish come true?

You get no answer. You find no peace.
You get no response. You find no release.
And although you feel that it may not seem right
Tomorrow will always bring another night
**********************************************

“Hope itself is like a star not to be seen
in the sunshine of prosperity,
and only to be discovered
in the night of adversity”
C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Look into the mirror and what do you see?
A reflection of now and what used to be
You stop and stare and reflect for a minute
Is that the real me that I see or somebody else in it?
Your mind quickly scans a life that has passed
Brought to the present where you ponder at last
The meaning that reflection has hidden inside
The things that you cherish, the thing you despise
The things you see right there before your eyes
Too many things to consider
Too many things to quibble
Too many things to reflect upon
Too many things to meditate
Too many things to ruminate
You come to a conclusion and rightly so
There are some things in life you hold on to
There are some things in life you have to let go
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Life  can only be understood backwards;
But it must be lived forward.”
Soren kierkegaard

When distress, hurting, and suffering
Arrive at your door, and enter your life
And the unbearable pain cuts like a knife
Just when it seems that life has
Nothing to remain, and the stress and
Strain are driving you insane, never
Let your life be defined by your pain

Take that drug. Take that pill
Take it as you will
A temporary relief that’s what’s in store
But it always comes back begging for more

You look around as the world spins around
Hoping for a cure, but never for sure
You ask yourself how much a body can endure
Your body filled with searing pain
You groan in anguish, but never complain

No matter what they say or do
No one experiences your pain but you
You bear it and hold it closely inside
Playing the victim is something you never decide

You hope for another future another day
For someone or something to take the pain away
But all of us have our cross to bear
No one is exempt no one is truly free
You begin to understand there is no other plea
Life has worth life has value not to disdain
So never let your life be defined by your pain

Death arrived when I was born
His umbra my blanket of darkness
A veil that can’t humanly be torn
Left me helpless, sullen, and forlorn

Death transcends all imaginations
No one knows of his location
You see him in the eyes of every mourner
You’ll find him waiting around every corner
He appears as quickly as he goes
Taking with him a life he has chose

Released from the garden easy to describe
Death is dark
Death is empty
Death is cold
Death the antonym of alive

Death has no respect of person or class
No one is ever given a pass
A one-way ticket you must save
A final journey destination the grave

They say that “the wages of sin is death”
Yet man always seems to forget
The one that death claimed, but has risen
And has released man from death’s prison
But few will escape, waiting to be saved
To be redeemed from that one-way ticket
To the grave
**************
“It is better to go to a house of mourning
Then to go to a house of feasting
Because this is the end of every man
And the living take it to heart”
Ecclesiastes (7:2)

Time won’t let us erase the scars of our youth
The ones we forever replay
The ones we carry the pains of our yesterday
Lasting scars that never go away
Scars of our disappointments, loses, defeats
Scars we never impart
Scars of the heart
Scars of our youth
The ones we need to address.The ones we need to confess.

And although they have become the fingerprints of our hearts
We can never let them destroy, tear apart, or impede,
What love has determined what love has decreed

So don’t let scars harden your heart or take
Away the joy that love can impart
Be diligent in love remaining aware
Not to bring scars into a new love affair
********************************************
“Scars have a strange power to remind us
That our past is real”
Cormac Mc Carthy
“All the Pretty Horses”

Time and change take away
The things that we love one by one
The things we so cherish under the sun
They gently replace them with things
That are new
But the new may not please us
As the old used to do
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Time changes everything except
something within us which is
always surprised by change”
Thomas Hardy

Man often thinks he can go at it alone
Living in a world unto himself
Never knowing or seeking, reaping what he has sown
Placing all emotions upon the shelf

Going thru existence, emotions in check,void of feelings, locked in a vault
Full of gentleness, kindness, love, humility, and respect
Seeking self- satisfaction, all others at fault

Friends for amusement, always for props
A vicious cycle that never stops
On a merry-go-round, but never a brass ring
Round and round it never stops for anyone or anything.

But when the merry-go-round ride has ended
And it becomes time to step down
He stands alone, No voices, No sounds
Looking around he finds a lifetime of envy
And pride, but no one to share or touch by his side
Never knowing that a man’s fulfillment in life
Doesn’t mean much without the feminine touch
************************************************
“No man is an island
Entire of itself”
John Donne