PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

There are many signs I have grown older…that make me wonder…how

in the blink of an eye…

All the time I’ve been alive…all the years that have slipped by.

When I look into a mirror…sometimes…I feel chagrin…

What hair I have left has turned to gray…and there are wrinkles on my skin.

Sometimes my body aches…from my head down to my toes…

Are my ears supposed to be this big?

And don’t get me started on my nose!

But I don’t need a mirror to see how quickly time has flown.

All I have to do is look at my children…and grandchildren  

and see how much they’ve grown.

As I see the men and women they’ve become…

and are becoming

Across my face a smile spreads…

That smooths out every wrinkle and softens every gray hair on my head.

A smile that extends out to my ears…and changes the shape of my nose…

that soothes any ache I might be feeling…from my head down to my toes.

I know I’m growing older…of this I have no doubt….

but growing older has never been something I worry too much about….

Because, no matter how many years have passed….

No matter how many swings the pendulum of time has swung….

My children and my grandchildren have always found a way

to make me feel young.

There is nothing quite as beautiful….

(If you’ve ever done it…then you know)

than planting a seed in your garden…

and being blessed to watch it grow….

And:

There is nothing quite as beautiful 

(Again…if you’ve ever done it…then you know)

than planting the seed of a family

and being blessed to watch it grow.

There’s nothing quite as beautiful 

(If you’ve ever done it…then you know)

Than lighting the first sticks of a campfire

and being blessed to watch that fire grow…

And:

And there is nothing quite as beautiful 

(Again If you’ve ever done it…then you know)

Than lighting the fire of love under your family

and being blessed to watch your family grow.

The wedding ceremony is over… 

to the world we’ve added a new husband and wife.

The cabin has returned to normal and everyone’s gone back to their life.

As I sit on the porch in the quiet..watching birds at the feeder…I’m enthralled

as the trees continue to change color and their leaves continue to fall…

I once believed when it came to humans…

across the oceans…across time…across history…

every person everywhere was part of the one and only human family tree.

A tree that’s constantly changing in its effort to grow strong and tall

Welcoming new buds in Spring…to replace the leaves they’ve lost in the fall.

But sitting here among a multitude of trees…

noticing the distinct branches, limbs and leaves…

I’m thinking of the world a little differently…altering what I once believed.

What if every human family is part of their own distinct family tree

whether they’re evergreen…or lose their leaves in the Fall….

and what if under all these different family trees…it’s the roots that connect us all.

Which means we all share what gives us life…allowing each and every family tree 

knowing we are all connected…to retain our individuality.

What if we’re meant to share between us…the sun, the rain, the drops of morning dew

our buds, our branches our leaves and our limbs as all trees were created to do.

Which brings me to the reason for this poem…to Trista…Damiens wife

Perhaps the most beautiful words you will ever hear…

or, if you’re reading this…will see

Are:

We love you…and we’re overjoyed to welcome you to our family tree.

As I sit on the porch in the quiet watching the birds feed and the colors of Autumn fall

I can already see how this new leaf makes our family tree a little brighter…

and I can’t help but be enthralled.

When I was young…the advice my parents gave me about love…

I thought was just a myth…

How I needed to find someone in life…to grow old together with.

Back then I thought the kind of love that leads to marriage 

the way all love began…

was the kind my parents had…between a woman and a man

And though, for me, this is the path…I discovered to be true…

when I grew up up I realized this path may not be the same…for you.

Since love can be elusive…this truth I’ve come to know…

If you’re lucky enough to find a partner you love… 

and who loves you back…never let them go.

I’ve learned there is nothing more precious in this world 

than to share love with another person in your life….

and it doesn’t matter if that person is your partner…

your husband…or your wife.

That a family…built on love…is a treasure to be had…

whether it starts with a father and a mother… 

with two mothers…

or two dads.

Because when it comes to who we choose as a life partner

and the family we build together…before they scatter….

The love we share with one another…

the love that holds us all together…

is all that really matters.

Because love…when freely given and received…

is a ballad to be sung

And as we grow a little older every day 

love has a way to keep us young.

So the advice I give my children now

is a little different than what…when I was younger…I was told…

I advise them to find someone whose love makes you feel young each day

as the two of you grow old.

 As I look at the latest portrait…taken yesterday of our family….

it occurs to me that we never take a picture

of our entire family tree.

How no two family portraits can ever be the same.

How we’ve all changed a little since the last photo

and how there’s always someone missing from the frame.

For instance Bryan, our son, and Bonnie, our friend, have both moved away.

and do not often show up in family portraits…

like the one we took yesterday.

Both Deborah’s and my parents have long since passed away

which means they’re also not in the family portrait we took yesterday.

With every portrait we take…it becomes clearer and clearer to me…

we are only taking close-ups of a portion of our tree.

But…rather than be sad…I find myself happy instead…

because each portrait opens the door to all the family photos

that are floating in my head.

Every photo ever taken of every branch of our family tree…

is floating in my memory…waiting there of me

to pick one or two photos and…sometimes with a tear

sometimes with a grin…

wait…as in this latest family portrait…my mind photoshops them in.

That is why when I look at this family portrait…

the message to me it sends…

Is just how far the roots of our family tree extend.

And why in every family portrait taken…

so many of my family members are easy for me to spot…

whether they are sitting there right next to me…

or floating in my thoughts.

Our children are grown with lives of their own…they no longer need us to steer.

Our youngest grandchild is a senior in high school…while our eldest is getting married this year. 

How often these day it seems life is quickly passing us by

that moments slip from the present into the past in the blinking of an eye.

It’s funny when you think about it…where the present and past meet

is a moment in our lives that is often bittersweet.

The fact a moment is over so quickly is as bitter as can be

but it’s also sweet knowing that moment has become a memory.

A memory that is oftentimes a lot closer than we think

because when we want to see a particular memory…

all we have to do is blink. 

Yes, if we want to think about a memory that’s happened over the years

all we have to do is blink…and that memory appears.

And how often have we found in life that we are also prone 

how sometimes when we blink a random memory will pop up on its own.

We should consider ourselves lucky to have lived a life 

with a host of memories large and small….

memories we make each day that become tomorrow’s memories we recall.

It’s one of the reasons for our happiness…which today has got me thinking

about all the wonderful memories still to come…

as long as my eyes keep blinking.

May we all be blessed to belong to a happy and loving family….

where…as time goes by

It becomes a joyous place where our hopes are born

and where our dreams develop the wings to fly

 I find what I think most about is family, love and home

I imagine that’s why these three gifts are infused in every poem.

Sometimes on my morning walk I find it gratifying

to extend my arms out to the sides…and pretend that I am flying.

Ever since I was a child I have found this has a certain appeal….

Even now when I see my shadow in the streetlight…that’s exactly how I feel.

There are times when I have no trouble soaring independently across the sky

and other times when I need some support, some encouragement…a little help to fly.

That’s when I look to my family…because it is their love I’ve found…

that helps me find the strength to spread my wings and lift up off the ground.

I have found days I feel weak and have a fear of falling and the pain that falling brings

when my family puts me on their shoulders and shares with me their wings.

And, likewise, if a member of my family is in fear of falling….

and the pain that falling brings…

I will put them on my shoulders and share with them my wings

Now as I walk in the morningI have this overwhelming feeling of delight

whenever I see my wings extended in the shadows of the night.

Because I know even though in the shadows it looks like Im flying on my own…

with my family in the wings…I will never fly alone.

Every day I pray that today is the day we’ll be blessed to see…

how everyone in the world is part of the same family.