Seasons and Thoughts

The Colors of Summer

The colors of summer are blue and white,

with a yellow sun shining bright.

The colors of summer are aqua and tan,

with tiny footprints where the children ran.

Summer colors are sparkling high,

America’s colors when the fireworks fly.

Summer colors are green and red,

on a gingham blanket the family’s fed.

Summer colors fill my soul,

and warm me with a gentle glow.

For it was in summer that my heart flew,

on the July day I married you.

*****

A Step out of Summer, an Autumnal Equinox Poem

The summer winds down and the equinox approaches.

The time of play is at an end.

The summer sun weakens and a cooler breeze encroaches.

The school bells ring and the children attend.

Up north the leaves are turning,

and their crisp scent fills the air.

In fireplaces logs are burning,

and on the gridiron the players prepare.

At the Autumnal Equinox we step out of summer,

and into a colorful fall.

For a summer guy like me it is really a bummer,

but the world is made for us all.

*****

Mother Nature’s Cycle of Life

I’ve been watching the miracle of spring;

I’ve been watching the world come alive.

From the blossom’s bright colors that seem to sing,

to the bees working busily around their hive.

The dead gray of winter always feels like a tomb;

it is as dark as its short days.

Now life bursts from Mother Nature’s womb,

brightening the world is so many ways.

The rain comes down in a steady April shower;

as Mother Nature prepares the world to grow.

Heaven’s water strengthens every beautiful flower,

and nurtures all living things below.

The cycle of life begins anew,

as we think of the chick, the bunny, and the fawn.

It is a rebirth, and we feel it too;

like the breaking of an all new dawn.

Mother Nature has brought forth this season

since before there was human life.

But now humans without reason

are cutting the cycle with pollution’s knife.

Each year we increase the load

that Mother Nature has to bare.

Soon our dear mother’s back won’t hold,

and then it will be misery that we will share.

Please help Mother Nature before it’s too late,

before she lies down to sleep.

For if she closes her eyes it will seal our fate,

and then we will lay down and weep.

*****

America Grew and I did Too

I saw Sputnik in a starry sky when I was only seven.

I saw Camelot start with JFK before I turned eleven.

Missiles in Cuba when I was thirteen, was World War III finally here?

Then Camelot was gone when I was fourteen and the nation shed a tear.

In my latter teens the streets will filled with marchers taking a stand;

civil rights and woman’s rights and the war in Vietnam.

Our country was transformed when the oppressed began to stand tall,

and we came closer to the ultimate goal of equal justice for all.

In the seventies I saw the drama of a president succumbing to fate,

as the evidence was presented on the issue of Watergate.

We watched the President give up his power without the need of force,

despite his wrong doing he loved his country and would take no other course.

Our nation took another step and endured a trial by fire,

with the Constitution’s promise kept we could hold our heads up higher.

I had changed a lot from the time that I first watched Sputnik in the sky,

And America changed to and we both grew as all the years went by.

*****

Life is a Winding Road

Life is a winding road;

we build it as we go.

The journey can be warm or cold,

and our actions run the show.

When we’re young we try to race

to see the next event along the way.

As hard try we can’t change the pace

that time passes in a day.

When we’re old the days rush by

as we desperately try to hold on

to each passing minute as they fly

knowing they soon will be gone.

We have our up hills

when it seems so hard to get through each day.

We have our down hills

when carefree happiness washes our troubles away.

There are gorges and pitfalls along the way

that we must make every effort to bridge.

Failure will mark our last day,

and we’ll topple off that ridge.

Should we avoid the falls and the break,

our road will wind as we choose.

In the end it is the steps that we take,

and not the price of our shoes.

*****

Mohawks by Name

The world was new

back in 62,

when we first walked those long winding halls.

Our rooms still held the toys

of good girls and boys,

and super heroes hung on our walls.

Those six years did fly,

like a wink of an eye,

at least it seems so some how.

In those years we grew,

and bore witness to,

the formation of who we are now.

We came from close by,

or down the hill we did fly,

or bused in from Warrior Run.

From wherever we came;

we were Mohawks by name,

and will be till the death of the sun.

We united a again,

Saying, “Remember when”,

telling stories from beginning to end.

I have one regret,

that I let shyness prevent,

me from calling more of you friend.

*****

This is dedicated to our wonderful friends that we met every morning and the Upper Marlboro Community Center

The Morning Crew

Every weekday morning just after eight,

We will arrive and our day has begun.

At the Upper Marlboro Community Center where we participate,

in a little exercise and a lot of fun.

Tim has a talking talent that's beyond measure,

and kidding the ladies is his greatest pleasure.

Joyce will take attendance and keep us all straight.

She will know if you're too early and she'll know if you're too late.

The ellipticals, bikes, and treadmills in a row

make a bit of noise but we know.

That no machine old or new

could drowned out the chatter of the morning crew.

Darrell burns up the elliptical like no one else can.

He is the morning crew's very own iron man.

Shirley hands out compliments and we know what it’s meant

to have such a wonderful source of encouragement.

To Vivian, Emma, Bob, Ray, and Brian,

and the ladies and gents there is no denying.

That exercise would be dull to get through

without our friends in the morning crew.