Mother of A Son

I’m telling your Mother

That she should not feel less than full delight

The pouring out of her heart, the raising up of her prayers

Reward

Now comes you, feet firm, breaking rules and records ‘neath the firmament

With kindness and heart-strength -look at how you look at us

We, treasure to you and reasons to hope, so you come close to learn

Simple and virtuous, your needs

Unafraid to speak from love, write of love, to be and die for love

Lovely Mother, you’ve lived Right, you have not squandered Light

See here, your beacon, your boy

Blink

Looking up from the down
My eyes
Having been temporarily imprisoned
I matter-of-factly acknowledged The Light
It had been there all the while
And I knew It

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(Sunrise Over Lake Michigan, Milwaukee)

The Consequences of Smiling

The Consequences of Smiling
by Lisa

You’ll always look four and twelve
Eighty even, but not forty at all
Kids will look at you funny for a minute
Then run to you
They’ll want to stay
Real adults won’t take you seriously
So beware

The eyes begin to go
Wrinkles at the corners
Nearsightedness -the good kind of myopia
You’ll see the treasure too
The up-close
The forest for the trees
Your own awe-struck stare at dawn

Your face will stay that way
Muscle memory (Mom was right)
You’ll be the light
In someone’s lousy day
On your own hard days
You’ll see your smile too
Its asymmetry…its perseverance

Smiles are feathers
Warmth for mind, body and soul
Insulation from frowns
Lift for the wings
Yours and theirs
Rainbow-colored plumage for this place
Smiles, like feathers that tickle

Inland

This skin likes the morning light
The way the Sun sounds
When all’s alright
I wonder what hour the tides tend to turn
When adrenaline’s glow
Becomes exhaustion’s yearn

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Jack


Should the sunrise be at your back
Today, or for a spell
Won't you carry on?

Let those on the shoreline
Seeing their truth for the first time
Have their realizations

Know
If you're facing darkest unknowns
Light can only follow you

Ne’er

It's late afternoon
So the clowns have come out
The clowns and their clouds have come out

Juggling the truth
Denying the light
Sure that they'll not lose the fight

I own afternoon
And ev'ning and morn'
In armor, I'm clad to the bone

It's late now, for you
So clowns take your clouds
Back to your faint-hearted home