Remaking Marriage

Is it true that marriage can be reset?
Vows reaffirmed and responsibilities met.
Injuries inflicted, can these we forget?

How many know when they are wed
The many challenges that lie ahead?
Who stands for them when their joy seems dead?

Our families seem not to care
In our commitments to do their share
When there seems no more love energy there.

Our people need to be the well
From which we draw the Spirit's spell;
Only this our trembling weakness will dispel.

Marriages don't thrive on one to another;
They take more than being lovers.
They thrive on families of sisters and brothers.

Isn't this the community to which we are called:
To form a fortress of sheltering walls
To protect our young when they threaten to fall?

Prayer without action won't calm the storm
When a baby won't quiet in her mother's arms;
Our commitments must be in active forms.

That midnight call of a man in pain
Wondering if his mate will ever hold him,
Who of us will hear his refrain?

Let us stop simply celebrating
When two sanctify their mating;
Let's commit to the family they're creating.

The rewards are many for being a part
Of helping to fill a family's hearts;
We help give our broken world a new start.

Treasure Time Together

Instead of hurrying on Christmas day,
I'm taking my children out to play.
My son and his boy met me at the mall;
Negotiations took only one phone call.
I smiled as they sparred with one another;
My son's no longer a little brother.
He's a dad, and he had the last word
On the raiment of his baby bird.
They argued and then pleaded with me:
Their arguments to oversee.
But I knew that my son would pass the test
Of wanting what, for his son, what was best.

My daughter-in-law, bless her heart,
In my Christmas shopping became a part.
She agreed to accompany my granddaughter
For what could have become a slaughter.
We began with a leisurely lunch buffet
At a coast hotel where gamblers play.
Then a drive watching whitecaps on the water
To shopping with limits we had to barter.
We succeeded in our purchasing adventure;
Now it's onto our next holiday venture.
My son had already bought himself
The gift I bought him, that unpredictable elf.

My sweetie and I will wake on the day
In a room of our own on the Biloxi Bay.
We'll spend time with only each other
Before we welcome the babies to smother,
With kisses and hugs and well wishes,
Over a table filled with holiday dishes,
Prepared by their daddy, a working man,
Who for Christmas, a day off was not the plan.
Gifts will have been given and unwrapped
The children will have, hopefully, already napped.
What a way to ease into the ending
Of a season that has been rather mind-bending.

In the new year, my daughter and her precious girls
Are going to give this gifting method a whirl.
In an Atlanta suburb, we'll have to see,
How easily we can complete a shopping spree.
The pace may be a bit more hurried,
But I promised myself I won't get worried.
It's about time spent with those I love,
And not about the push and shove
Of getting the most activity;
It's about the parts of each other we see.
This may turn out to be the best Christmas ever,
With memories of time together to treasure.

A Home for a Hummingbird

The wheels of The Spirit turn so slowly at times
That I feel like I've been left behind.
When I wait and pray with patience
I find that this desertion is all in my mind.

I've always been in a hurry to know
What, why, where, when and how.
If something is worth having,
I've always wanted it now.

While it's true that some things
Don't get better with waiting,
Some things have to mature
Before they're ripe for celebrating.

Relationships, like fine wine,
Have many nuanced flavors;
Each area must be allowed to bloom
Before the full measure can be savored.

I've spent my life like a hummingbird,
Collecting nectar from many flowers.
My desire to find a permanent home
Grows more intense by the hour.

While I know that nothing on earth
Is actually here to stay;
Until it's time for me to become soil,
I need a place for my children to play.

In watching the fruits of our labor and love
I feel a oneness with my Creator.
I'm fortunate that my mission in life
Seems to be chief celebrator.

Come one and all, I want to say,
Let us sing and dance with delight.
This is how I show gratitude
For each day's holy light.

Passion and Impermanence

I rode along the Gulf Coast just before sunset, taking photographs of the art that rises from death. What a special mind it is that can look at the remnants of destruction and see new life!

Marlin Miller must have a heart of pure light that, where we all saw our beloved old oaks as dying amputees, he saw opportunities for wildlife art. Talk about random acts of kindness! This effort seems anything but random, yet it arose out of a disaster, and is by its very nature transient. Even though most of the eagles, turtles, dolphins, fish, and other coastal creatures depicted in these rooted carvings survived the storm and will survive other weather-related changes, wood is destined to rot, especially in the punishing sun, sand, wind, and water on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One can't help but admire the man who puts such passion into something that he knows cannot be permanent.

Days of Delight

We fill our days with lots of gladness,
Which may look to others like pure madness.
First a tour of a true southern home,
Which welcomes all who into it roam.
A fireside chat with a prolific author,
While his cats beg for treats in their saucer.
His wife beaming, as well she should;
They've created a life that's very good.

Two hours of lunch with best friends,
Lots of bridges we seek to mend.
Then off to shop in a little boutique
For that "little something" so unique.
My man comes home from a day of labor;
Volunteering is what he tends to favor.
Supper and chatting with our hosts,
Before we hand our dreams over to the Holy Ghost.

A Good Sisterhood

Looking forward to today
When my oldest friends come to play
Move over Ya-Ya Sisterhood;
What we have is just as good.

We're all grannies now,
And getting up a bit in age.
Laughter is the best medicine
When one reaches this life stage.

Beside the beach, we'll ride along;
We may share in a bit of song.
Our celebration will be intense
To balance our many life's laments.

The sun will dance upon the waves
As we lift our voices in grateful praise
For the pure joy of life and love
Raining down on us from up above.

Forget the Familiar

Forget the familiar;
It will only produce pain.
Our challenge as adults
Is to begin again.
The milk we drank was poisoned
By our parents' strain.

Oh, how easy it would be
To be like dad or mom.
But we must address the wrongs paths
That our parents' lives have formed,
Before our children's children
Accept this as the norm.

We understand how they became
So very lost and confused,
But we still cannot forget
How their children were abused,
Or how it turned a child's faith
Into feelings of being used.

Am I my brother's keeper
Or my sister's saving grace?
What is expected of those
Who have looked Satan in his face?
Are we to fight, flee, or stand firmly
In our Savior's place?

How I long for the answers
To these and other quests.
Until I hear a clear voice,
I can only do my best
To hold those who are crying
And pray for our souls' rests.