PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

 We visited the Sugar Sand Festival on Clearwater Beach

where we saw sculptures in the sand.

Sculptures created by professional artists celebrating

a time when dinosaurs roamed the land.

As we viewed the sculptures so magnificent…so wondrous and grand

we were reminded of a time with our children and grandchildren

when we built castles in the sand.

Ours were not professional in any way…our little castles in the sand

created using little plastic shovels and pails and packed down with our hands.

But to a family on the beach who saw not with our eyes but with our hearts

they weren’t just castles in the sand…they were impressive works of art.

The more we walked through the sculptures rising majestically out of the sand

the more we drifted back and forth between a time when dinosaurs

then children, then grandchildren roamed the land.

And once again we realized as we walked together hand in hand

how life slips by so quickly just like dinosaurs…

children growing up…and castles in the sand.

We shared a bittersweet moment walking in the sand that day

On the one hand sad that so much time has so quickly slipped away.

But so thankful, happy and excited on the other hand…

for having had the chance to make so many memories in the sand.

Whenever we visit with our children or grandchildren two distinct emotions flow over me.

As I marvel at who they’ve become my mind drifts back to a time when they were three.

A time when life was a little more innocent, less troubled, more carefree.

A time when they were small enough to sit upon my knee.

Whenever we get together and moments of the present mix with moments of the past

I wonder where the years have flown…and how time has moved so fast.

Even though I’ve been lucky to be here to watch my children and grandchildren grow

Every time we get together I wonder…how can yesterday have been so long ago?  

Wasn’t it only yesterday they were crawling…

when they took their first steps toward me?

Wasn’t it only yesterday they were sitting upon my knee?

We begin this journey through life together…

and along the way a host of memories we collect.

Old memories that mix with new memories 

every time our now separate journeys intersect.

Of course that’s the way it is supposed to be…

time moves on…and children grow

As parents we’re meant to enjoy the memories we make today

As well as those made long ago.

It’s a precious gift time gives us…that lasts through our eternity…

A chance to visit our children and grandchildren as they grow 

At the same time time we visit a time when the sat upon our knee.

Do you know what I’m grateful for…

as I begin another beautiful day….

I’m grateful for all the memories

I’ve made along the way.

May we be blessed as we look back on our lives…

to be contented…happy and pleased…

for all those beautiful moments every day

we’ve turned onto memories.

May we be blessed to understand how truly blessed we are

from the moment our life starts…

that even the smallest memories

can find a place within our hearts.

He pauses two times every day around the first and the last light…

Once after his eyes open in the morning…and once before they close at night.

At night…a peaceful moment…where in his bed he lay…

to relive some of the memories he collected throughout the day.

And in the morning when he wakes up…

as his eyes becomes accustomed to the light

he pauses a moment to wonder 

what memories he will take to bed that night

The longer I live the more I am grateful for certain things 

I hear,

touch,

taste

smell

and see…

And by how just being in their presence…

they can awaken a memory.

May we be blessed to live in a house

with a loving, caring and supportive family…

A house where every room we walk into

awakens a memory..

 ONE OLD HAT AND FRYING PAN

Our life is like a book of endless short stories..

filled with a myriad of highs and lows.

Stories we will write today stretching as far back as our memory goes.

One of the wonders and beauty we possess…as every day we age

is how easily a memory can be triggered…opening our book to a certain page. 

Sometimes it a thing, a word, a photo…a melody…

and before we know it our book is opened to that page in our memory.

Today before my morning walk…two memories awoke…

both of them unplanned.

Stirred by Deborah’s dad’s old fishing hat 

and her mom’s cast iron frying pan. 

I stopped and smiled at the memories evoked

and since there were more memories I wanted to see…

I asked these two memories if they’d like to take a walk with me.

So as the three of us walked this morning 

with the stars shining and the wind whistling through the trees…

I perused through a few short stories in the book of my memories.

What a beautiful walk we had this morning…

and to think it all began…

with memories awakened by an old fishing hat

and a cast iron frying pan.