Major Event, PAD 8-2

 Three Days After Christmas and Easter

 

We celebrate the birth of Christ

in 19881, and three days later

our daughter Lori was born.

We took her home in a Christmas stocking

that the hospital ladies had made.

A tiny baby in a big, red stocking.

 

We celebrated the resurrection of Christ

in 1985, and three days later

our son Eli was born, though we didn’t

take him home in an Easter basket.

That would have been a big basket,

since he weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

 

major event PAD 8-1

 A Piece of Gum

Over fifty years ago,

my best friend’s worst enemy

offered her a piece of gum.

 

Of course, we were curious.

She attended a Bible Study.

So my friend and I went.

 

The pastor explained

the difference between religion

and a relationship with God.

 

We invited Jesus in

and our lives changed course.

Just an act of kindness.

Luck PAD 7-3, Poetic Bloomings The Best Life

 The Best Life

 

The best life is not

When things always go right

Not just being

healthy, wealthy and wise.

 

Or creating, learning

And having fun each day

When all is hunky-dory

Everything our way  

 

It’s a matter of love

Loving God above all else

And loving others

As we love ourselves

 

And receiving their love in return

Though it’s not something we can earn

luck PAD 7-2

 The Superstitions

Mountains in Arizona

Stories by Akimel O'odham people

Mysterious sounds,

Disappearances and deaths

 

Now a treasured attraction

Hiking, biking, horseback riding, water sports

 160,000 acres to have a little fun

Unless you disappear or die

 

I drive by it every time

I visit my daughter and son.

I would stop, if I didn’t have

a proclivity for getting lost.   

luck PAD 7-1

 Highway 666

 

Highway 666 ran through my town.

Delinquents kept taking the signs down.

The governor thought 666 bad luck.

But in our minds that number stuck.

 

They changed the highway to 491.

And I tell you that it is no fun.

That number is bad luck to me.

Because it doesn’t stay in my memory.

 

In order for me to write this poem.

I had to google the highway that goes by my home.

minimum PAD 6-3

 Minimum Sleep

 

I refuse to get out of bed

before five.

I need enough sleep

to stay alive.

 

So when I’m wide awake

at three or four,

I’ll stay and pray

and rest some more.

Minimum PAD 6-2

 Minimum Speed

 

I’m glad

there’s no minimum speed

on mountain roads.

When my big, old Caprice

chugged up Wolf Creek Pass,

like The Little Engine that Could,

I’d tell the kids,

“Going forward is all that matters!”