DEAR SON by Joanne Boyle

"DEAR SON"
by Joanne Boyle

Dear Son, I tried to call your mum

in the hope that she would talk.

It's been so long since I saw you.

I bet you can now walk.

Dear Son, I tried to call your Mum

to wish you a happy second birthday.

I prayed and prayed she'd answer.

The years are slipping away.

Dear Son, I tried to call your Mum

but the phone no longer rings.

I hope Santa Claus is good to you

and I'll hold on to what he brings.

Dear Son, I tried to ring your Mum

but it was just as it was before.

I wanted to wish you a happy birthday

as now you are big boy four.

Dear Son, I tried to write a letter

as I'm now guessing you can read.

I have nowhere to post it

as I've never been given a lead.

Dear Son, I wrote another birthday card.

I have a collection in my drawer.

I hope I see you open them

when you come through my door.

Dear Son, now here you are a teenager.

I bet you are very tall.

Who do you support Son?

That's if you like football.

Dear Son, I got some bad news today.

They say that I'm not well.

I'm going nowhere till I've seen you

as there's so much I want to tell.

Dear Son, today you turn eighteen

and now you are man

I'm holding on to life and hope

and still doing the best I can.

Dear Dad, I've only just been informed

of all the years gone by.

Of every phone call that you made

and of all the times you'd try.

I am sorry for the years we lost

and all those letters in the drawer.

I am sorry I was never told

about these things before.

Dear Son, the years no longer matter

just come and sit beside my bed.

Tell me all about your hopes

and the dreams inside your head.

Tell me about your school

and all the friends you made.

Do you have a girlfriend yet?

Do you have a job were you are paid?

Treat moments like gold stars Son

each one as precious as the other.

Don't hold grudges either

especially toward your Mother.

Dear Dad, I'm so glad I got to meet you

before it was too late.

I put a note in your jacket pocket

for you to read at the pearly gate.

It said "I love you".

******

Joanne Boyle Heartfelt

art by Steffi Krenzek

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YOU'VE CHANGED by John Roedel

"YOU'VE CHANGED"
by  John Roedel

the only thing to say when

somebody tells you that

you’ve changed is:

“Thank you.”

over the past couple years

people have told me that they

miss the old me

~ the funny me

the less-serious poet me

~ the safe me

the ambitious me

~ the life-of-the-party me

the “easy to be around” me

I try to explain to them

that lately my favourite places

have become thresholds

I have about four new beginnings a week

I’ll try doing this and then

~ I’ll try being that and then

I’ll try this on and then

~ I’ll try a taste of that

I may write a poem today

I’ll take some photos tomorrow

and maybe I’ll tell some

jokes on stage next week

and a decade from

now I’ll be a painting sunflowers

and each thing will be the most

important thing I’ve ever done

I’m in perpetual state of transition

I keep leaving home

as who I was and

returning as who I

need to be next

~ it’s all such a skin-shedding

adventure of fresh starts and

unlimited resurrections

I don’t want to be the exact same

person that I was when you

last saw me yesterday

too much has happened since then;

I’ve seen too much beauty

I’ve cried too many tears

I’ve sat with too many ghosts

I’ve put my toes in too many rivers

I’ve had my heart broken too many times

I’ve felt too many kisses

I’ve heard the divine singing to me from too many treetops to not be transformed

I once met angel that was sunbathing

naked in a garden who told me that

heaven looks exactly like a thick thunderhead draping itself over a Rocky Mountain valley

heaven is always billowing

heaven is ever rolling

heaven is constantly churning

heaven is relentlessly changing forms

heaven is a endless rumble

heaven never looks the same

from one day to the next

heaven is constantly being reshaped by the hands of the great potter

because

it turns out that grace is a

whirling spectrum of colors

and heaven has to keep

changing its form in

order to keep up with it

heaven transforms

its camouflage of miracles

and magic every morning

and if that’s good

enough for heaven

then it’s good enough for me

there is so much creation

taking place around us

for us not too join in

on the fun

so many new opportunities

so many new people

so many galaxies being formed

so much ancient beauty being rediscovered

with all of that going on

how can we have a new

beginning every single

time we breathe?

I believe epiphanies aren’t

meant to randomly drip

like a broken faucet

they’re meant to flood

like a creating river

when somebody

accuses you of changing

take it as a compliment

and wonder

why they haven’t

if a nebula can be given

permission to change forms

so can you

besides ~ and

this is VERY important:

maybe we aren’t

changing anyway

maybe we are just becoming

who we were born to be

in the first place?

maybe we were born

to keep unfolding

like an endless map

and one last thing, my love,

don’t let any your seasons

become permanent

let them all pass through you

bloom red

change

bloom green

change

bloom rainbows

embrace each

one as the wonder

that they are

our souls are

made of moving

holy water

with bits of sunlight in it

we are all glowing ripples

passing through time

reflecting light off the surface

don’t fret, my love,

heaven is required to

reinvent itself daily

as are we

as are we

as are we

and I can’t wait to

see how beautiful

you look the next

time I see you

radiating like

cathedral stained glass

under the glow of your

raw ever-changing

and unashamed

authenticity *********

John Roedel https://www.facebook.com/johnbigjohn

(wondrous art by the incredible Kat Shaw Artist )

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More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

MAY by Joanne Boyle

"MAY"
by Joanne Boyle

May I share your troubles

and help to lessen your load?

May I walk beside you

when you walk a winding road?

May I call you up each day

if just to say "hello?"

May I help you with your shopping

when you don't want to go?

May I put your kettle on

and make you a hot drink?

We can sit in silence

if you need some time to think.

May I help you with your washing

as its the last thing on your mind?

May I stay in the background

but be somewhere you can find?

May I hug you when you need it

but keep my distance when you don't?

May I help you wash your face

when I know you won't?

May I bring you a meal

when you don't want to eat?

May I bring myself one too

and sit on the opposite seat?

May I do these deeds for you

until you don't need me anymore?

But when May turns into June

I'll still be at your door.

******

Joanne Boyle Heartfelt

art by Steffi Krenzek

Brought to you by https://thecorner4women.com together with our sister website http://www.nicheebookcollections.com and our growing e-book library available FREE, through our Newsletter sign up page here:-

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

SPRING HAS WELL AND TRULY SPRUNG by Becky Hemsley

"SPRING HAS WELL AND TRULY SPRUNG"
by Becky Hemsley

Wednesday’s here and May’s begun

Spring has well and truly sprung

Sun is shining, lambs are bleating

New born birds are softly tweeting

Days are longer, warmer, brighter

Nights are calmer, shorter, lighter

Flowers bud and bloom and grow

Blossom falls from trees like snow

Daisies dance amongst the grass

Dandelions line the paths

Winter seems a distant dream

Leaves have earned their greenest green

Beetles, bees and butterflies

Spread their wings and flutter by

Flowers carpet forest floors

An outside world to be explored

And maybe we should take a leaf

Out of the book that nature reads

Maybe we should dance and sing,

Shine and grow and spread our wings

And then perhaps, we will discover

All our lighter, warmer colours

And in amongst these brighter days

We’ll find our peace now - come what May

******

Becky Hemsley 2023 https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Artwork by Art Karla Kraft - Wierszobrazy

Brought to you by https://thecorner4women.com together with our sister website http://www.nicheebookcollections.com and our growing e-book library available FREE, through our Newsletter sign up page here:-

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html