Siblings

"For there is no friend like a sister in calm or storm weather; to cheer one on the tedious way...to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen while one stands."

Christina Rossetti British Poet 1839-1894

SIBLINGS

Little children seeing red

Pull the hair of sister's head

Paper dolls scattered on the floor

Arguments and spats galore

Growing siblings busy living

Sporatic contact with them uplifting

Animosity becomes what's past

Futures built to finally last

Sibling rivalry now obscure

Loving relationships now secure

Lifelines formed with ties that bind

Reliving great memories we left behind

The chain now linked in common strength

There for one another in decisions we make

A loving shoulder on which to cry

Celebrated events to memorialize

We'll mourn together those now deceased

Together we cry then find our peace

Knowing forever that our one true bond

Are of siblings then into life beyond

Your Journey

"ALWAYS START FROM HOPE."

Carol Wolper

YOUR JOURNEY

When you put your right foot forward

On the proverbial yellow brick road

With the burdens you've accepted

That you carry as your load

Each step becomes a bit lighter

With the hope you carry, too

The future becomes much brighter

Under your faith in skies of blue

Then as you finally see the promised land

In the form of the eternal light

You'll be relieved it was your faith and hope

That got you through the night

DroneFingers

Inherit

"The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves its children." Eric Bonehoffer

INHERIT

Born within chaos

Without any order

The children are sent north

To seek refuge at our border

It makes a person wonder

That when our time has come and gone

What chaos will our own children suffer

When all is said and done

Where will our own children go

When the mess we left them puts them out?

Perhaps it is time before we go

To leave them a cleaner house

DroneFingers

Calm Seas

"We don’t know our weakness until we are in the storm." Eric Bonehoffer

CALM SEAS

Perpetual calm, only ripples in the sea

Where I seem to find my tranquility

Is it for me that I know best?

Do I often wonder if I can stand with the best?

I have learned to seek the harbor

When clouds began to form

I am used to having order

Finding refuge from a storm

But will I ever discover

The true strength within myself?

How will I know that I'd recover

If I can't play the cards I'm dealt?

Next time the storm clouds gather

I'll turn about and face the wind

Then I will finally know I'd rather

Stay in the boat I'm in

DroneFingers

Detours

"There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveller." Eric Bonheoffer

DETOURS

You've mapped your destination

You've planned your stops and turns

Yet you have no inclination

What adventures your heart yearns

There are detours with no intentions

Places to linger for awhile

Stays of some extension

Where people make you smile

If you decide to ride your spirit

And wander instead of run

You'll have crossed a thousand bridges

And not regret a single one

DroneFingers

Checking Out

Eleanora Juse....

"If I had my will I would live on a ship on the sea and never come nearer to humanity than that."

CHECKING OUT

They bump me they glare

They grumble and swear

Crowds are a nuisance here and there

They are rude and absurd

Too loud so they're heard

One glance askance they will flip you the bird

Give me a mountain top where no one can reach me

Put me out to sea let only nature come teach me

Humanity has become such a pain in the ass

It's only alone with myself I can last

If this life is my hotel than I'm checking out

A sea bag for luggage as I move about

Away from the crowds of the people who stare

I will only check in with my loved one's who care

DroneFingers

Alive!

quotes from an Italian actress, Eleanora Juse. (1858-1924)

"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you can understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive."

ALIVE!

Spring has come to life when the birds begin to sing

Faith is in the air as the distant church bells ring

Joyous times approach with the jingling of sleigh bells

And the sounds of silence had soothed me when the autumn leaves fell

A picturesque horizon in the sunrise glows

Colors scatter forth when the fall wind blows

Sailboats silently glide by in the distant through the sea

Sea gulls swoop into the waves wherever fish may be

Whatever nature shows me and allows me to hear

A refreshing little rain or a storm that I might I fear

Things for my eyes and ears, the feelings that they drive

Are the senses that will prove to me that it's good to be alive

~~

Time

American Poet, Henry Van Dyke. (1852-1933)

"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity."

TIME

Wait, and it seems forever

Fear and the time flies by

We tend to grieve forever

And it's too often that we cry

It seems there is not much time to rejoice

With our emotions in the way

Because I yearn to hear your voice

Each and every day

My love sometimes seems a burden

I so want to try moving on

But it's that love that ties us together

And shall continue now you're gone

DroneFingers

Some Time Alone

Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little.

~Tori Amos

SOME TIME ALONE

Never alone, sometimes it seems so

But I need to be by myself at times

Just understand, as my nose I blow

I need these tears to clear my mind

So don't think I am a avoiding you

Or don't want your caring affection

There is just this place I'm going to

To gather some introspection

It is just one form of grieving

I am apt to try them all

And I thank you for believing me

I'm ok if I don't call

DroneFingers

What Drives the Warriors?

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."

~C.S. Lewis

WHAT DRIVES THE WARRIORS?

As the rockets fly overhead

And they sense death at their destination

How many soldiers will be tested to the point

Of courage and determination?

So many warriors have risen to charge

In spite of the fear from head to toe

It is the courage inside now looming large

That the best of the best will know

What drives the warriors, courage alone?

A sudden patriotic arrival?

It is more than just an instinct, I know

That spurs the actions for their own survival

DroneFingers

When?

"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage."

~Seneca

WHEN?

A simple drive through the country

I see something that triggers the tears

It takes all I can muster to hold them back

I have got to get away from Here!

A familiar tune, lyrics that moved us

Forever etched in my mind

And they seem now to play nearly every day

My only hope these things are just signs

Will I have the courage once time has passed

To understand it wasn't your choice?

Will I ever not cry instant tears

At the memory of you laughter and voice?

Be brave, they tell me, but it is not that easy

Have you ever felt lonely in a crowd?

I keep wondering if it is normal

That each day I cry out loud

DroneFingers

My Love Is Forever

"I dropped a tear in the ocean. The day you find it is the day I stop missing you."

MY LOVE IS FOREVER

I will put you to task my beloved

Because at your bedside you told me to move on

I cannot be only half of me

Now that you are gone

So I tossed a seed on the amber waves of grain

And dropped a pebble in the sea

And if in all the years I will remain

Find them and my heart shall then be free

DroneFingers

The Hypnotist at the Podium

"If people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists....to protect them and to promote their common welfare, then all else is loss."

Barack Obama

THE HYPNOTIST AT THE PODIUM

Look into my eyes you despicable peons

Uh, excuse me, I mean my fellow Americans

Drop your hoes, your rakes, your coveted arms

I will keep you fed and from harm

No need for you to do anything all all

The one percent is at your beacon call

Taxed through the gills they will supply what's ample

To get by in life, perhaps just a sample

No need for wealth in your neighborhood

I will care for you, it's the greater good

As long as I control you, all is free

Oh, but say goodbye to your liberty.

DroneFingers

Who to Trust

"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."

Thomas Jefferson

WHO TO TRUST

Faith in a system is based on faith in man

Are we to trust our only being with one someone in command?

Will camaraderie and patriotism prevail?

Maybe dishonesty and greed will cause us to fail

Should we honor our faith in but one?

The man in the mirror, when all is said and done?

Will our leaders be put in the position to fail

And those who lie the most the best prevail?

DroneFingers

Being Pushed Around

The quote is from SENECA who was a Roman Statesman. He goes way back 5 BC- 65 AD.

"Shall I tell you who real evil is? To cringe to the things that are called evils, to surrender to them our freedoms in defiance of which we ought to face any sufferings."

And I shall add...

"As more if us succumb to the fear of those pushing us to the edge, we will let our balance be compromised and over the cliff we will be in a freefall."

DroneFingers

Minding the Store

And WINSTON CHURCHILL had this to say about the future and the mind...

"The empires of the future are the empires of the mind."

And I say...

"Little minds dream of little things and foresee a future of tiny gains

Ample minds dream of having enough fuel to remain in a just adequate holding pattern

Fertile minds dream of innovation and propel our bodies to advance, make the dreams come true

Cunning minds dream of circumventing the obstacles that impede our progress

And I believe it takes a combination of all these minds to sustain a great society."

DroneFingers

Did We Surrender

"The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission."

John Kennedy 1917-1963

DID WE SURRENDER?

Once we traveled in a Cadillac named liberty

On the free way of life

We now are creeping steadily

On the overgrown path of strife

It comes down to the actions

Of  the subversive progressive cause

We are divided in our factions

And inundated with oppressive laws

Can we fight our way back to liberty

With the boot of government on our chests?

While we are labeled falsely with bigotry

Which leads to civil unrest

Have the many sleeping Americans

Began to awaken from their slumber?

Or will we remain the picked clean skeleton

Just succumbing to our hunger?

Will our appetite for freedom

Renew our interest to the cause?

Will we continue in the doldrums

Of the regime's stifling progressive laws?

Did we surrender because we are tired

And feel our country is broken?

Are we forever to be mired

Beneath the lies that have been spoken?

Stabbed in the Back

"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." JFK

STABBED IN THE BACK

As bombs are wrecking the scenery

And gunfire brings soldiers to the ground

Does our president react immediately

Or golf another round?

As children are being exploited

In their desperate northern trek

Does our leader, The Anointed One

Show the situation any respect?

Is he still dodging all the questions?

About Benghazi and the IRS

Does he pooh pooh our perception

That we are on a downward quest?

Do we fear to address our problems?

Are we bending to his regs and laws?

Are we hanging on ambivalence

Surrendering to his cause?

Is it apathy or fear?

Perhaps a bit of each?

Who will dry a patriot's tear

Once our liberty is out of reach?

Engineered Chaos

"Change is brought about through relentless agitation and trouble making of a kind that radically disrupts society as it is."

"Obama does not want unity. He wants the country as polarized and disoriented as possible."

Both quotes are from DAVID HOROWITZ’S book “BARACK OBAMA’S RULES for REVOLUTION.”

ENGINEERED CHAOS

An atmosphere of turmoil has our country infested

A country of liberty is seriously tested

Gallons of koolaide are eagerly injested

Trillions are wasted, our country detested

Scandals galore and who is to blame?

Fingers are pointed and who is to name?

It's not nearly over there's more of the same

No one steps up, no one explains

Perhaps the turmoil is only a mask

Hiding more sinister things, veiled laws to be passed

And now we are racist if questions are asked

It's We the People who are coming in last

Amid the chaos so many can't see

Scary things are happening in the land of the free

It's part of the plan that we all disagree

When the smoke finally settles just who will we be?

Engineered chaos and forced agitation

Are the tools they need to destroy this nation

Can we sit here in apathy with all our frustration

As the leader plays golf and enjoys his vacations

SIMPLY LIFE

Abe Lincoln said:

"Whatever you are be a good one."

SIMPLY LIFE

If I'm to be a hero, I'll garner the awards

If a benefactor, gratitude my rewards

If I'm just to be me I'll be the one

Who each day, with purpose, reaches for the sun

Snatching My Purpose

"Purpose...it's all about purpose because without it we vegetate and essentially atrophy into less than a footnote in history." JTD

SNATCHING MY PURPOSE

I could just be, merely exist

Or I could do and forcefully resist

I could live my life on a ferris wheel

Only occasionally at the top of all that's real

I might snatch my chances, I think I should

And rethink my purpose, I think I could

Then as my destination grows near

I will look it in the eye with faith, not fear

Little Old Me

"I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy."

Og Mandino American Author 1923-1996

LITTLE OLD ME

One small speck on the Great Wall

One lost fragment in a universe of stars that shine

That may be me to one and all

But it's not me in my own mind

Only if I let it be

Will I remain insignificant and small

In my bold heart I dare to see

Far beyond where fate must fall

So I will begin as a grain of sand

And my effort will grow me in leaps and bounds, then

With faith I will reach for God's helping hand

And I will become a mountain

Independence

Tens of thousands of brave Americans died to break the chains of British tyranny so that the principals of our Declaration of Independence could take hold and flourish in the birth of a new nation.

Jim Gerlach American Politician/born 1955

INDEPENDENCE

Astride war horses and on foot they tried

To secure the freedom earned

So many wounded, too many died

In the midst of battle they weren't concerned

They had the hearts to prevail

They had the will to see it through

From the time their fathers set sail

They knew deep inside what they must do

Redcoats sent by the imposing king

From the motherland to seize the dream

The pilgrims knew the only thing

Was to fight, although upstream

With self imposed honor and bravery

The settlers won this war

They earned the new found liberty

That they had been fighting for

And so a country was conceived and born

With a people driven by their desire

To pry themselves from England's scorn

With this conquest they were inspired

Who would think that farmers, merchants, and sailors

Could overthrow a king

But they had to risk the failure

The organized army was apt to bring

When you salute the flag, July the Fourth

Remember those who died

And imagine where we would be today

Had the settlers never tried

LISING HOPE

quote from DWIGHT EISENHOWER.

This world of ours...must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

LOSING HOPE

I feel the division

I sense the hate

I turn away from the vision

Of our future state

I see the fear

In the eyes of the poor

It is perfectly clear

They've become obscure

I hear politicians

Make absurd promises

About their noble mission

To grant our wishes

I lament the ignorant

Though highly educated youth

They've become indifferent

And deny the truth

I fly my flag

High, as usual

But cannot brag

We're no longer exceptional

I mourn the generations

Of true patriots with pride

Who in exasperation

Are hurting inside

I see our constitution burning

And our future up in smoke

The tide is turning

I'm losing hope

Are we afraid to trust?

Have we no respect?

Will will self combust

Or become circumspect?

The Lonesome Willow

THE LONESOME WILLOW

There stands a weeping willow

Why does she cry

It is such a prime place

She stands by

Her attire is full and beautiful

Such a classic gown

Plus she is firmly planted

In the finest place in town

Folks pay dearly for this river view

So willow why should you weep?

Did you say it's because you're lonely

And your roots are planted deep?

You tell me bunnies hop away

And the birds are free to fly

And you are here to live alone

Until the day you die

But so many people gather here

Your shade is so inviting

And you're the subject of a thousand poems

Just like the one I'm writing

So weep no more my lady

Please know how you're so grand

The one thing on this river's edge

Where boaters wish to land

Let the wind blow through your hair

And sing quietly nature's song

Weep no more my willow

Be single and be strong

The Angel

THE ANGEL

He was a hard working farm kid

Calluses on his hands

Smoked at twelve, he did

The strongest Camel brand

He was a hard fighting kid

With his brother by his side

There wasn't any alcohol

Those two hadn't tried

He was a swaggering sailor

Who fought the Japanese

From the turret of an Avenger

Bringing the enemy to its knees

He was a brave firefighter

Not afraid of smoke and flames

He loved playing poker

Five card draw, his game

He was a devoted father

His children were his life

I am proud to love him

And forever be his wife

He never was the epitome of an angel

No way, no how

But for all the good he was in life

He is an angel now

Angels

The following poem is what Sharon wrote when she heard about the statue.

ANGELS?

Was that not an angel there

Who saw your sorrow?

Placed the ring on Grandfather’s arm with care

Was that not an angel there?

The messenger sent through friends

Kind words, deeds, and love that has no end

Was that not an angel there?

When you heard Imagines' tune

And that storybook message, “Rescue Me”

Brought comfort to your gloom?

The Weeping Willow’s branches

Fall peacefully to the ground

Angels abide there, too,

There’s angels all around

And what about that little bird

Outside the window pane

He seemed to sing a special song

To say, “you’ll smile again.”

Did an angel paint that rainbow

From all the tears you cried?

Brought peace to your soul

Look around and you will know

Angels everywhere ~~

New Life

Sharon wrote this down when hearing about BOB’s passing:

NEW LIFE

Take me to the River of Life Where I am whole again

To breathe and walk and laugh and joke

Just like in younger days I am

No more pain or breathless days I am in eternal peace

Resting now forevermore My journey is complete

Alone Now, Naturally

ALONE NOW, NATURALLY

Grief comes in degrees

Passing phases, or prolonged pain

The tears of loss dare to run free

Will the images of he who passed remain?

As I pray for my soul mate, a peaceful journey

And wish him well, though he broke my heart

I know we will meet again in some eternity

It won't be easy to live this time apart

So many stories so many share

So many memories of lives he touched

I'll listen intently, I think that's fair

As I recount the hours that meant so much

Against the Wind and Stealaway

Songs that we cherished forever

We would quietly listen to the the words they'd say

They were catalysts in our endeavors

For a time his leaving will torture me

Though I understand it's life's progression

But he has left his legacy for all to see

And for me love's true impression

Misshapen Words

The quote is from JOHN ADAMS, 2nd US President, born 1735 died 1826.

Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry (misleading) and chicanery (using trickery) of party, faction and the division of society.

MISSHAPEN WORDS

I can hear the words you say

That you thought were so tightly veiled

Your hidden implications

Defy the true details

Words twisted into meanings

Meant to sell your devious schemes

And only we who know the truth

Understand your carefully hidden dreams

Too many politicians

Who once had good intentions

Are spoiled by the lure of ill gotten gains

And are spoiled beyond redemption

Then in a country filled with trusting apathetics

Well painted lies become the chosen decor

And the lawmaker's seats remain taken

By all those sitting there before

Misshapen words are meant to lure us

Into a socialistic web of deceit

Until our own factions are divided

Ripe for our defeat

No idealistic new blood

No patriots with a righteous cause

Can overtake the established lion

And his greedy, deadly claws

The Golden Ring

QUOTE

Angels means messengers and ministers. Their function is to execute the plan of divine providence, even in earthly things.

Thomas Aquinas

1225-1274

THE GOLDEN RING

What would an angel do

If that angel was you?

An angel who could not hug me

Now a divine entity above me

Would he search deeply in my memories

Like with only an angel's expertise

To find that little something I lost

Which over sleepless nights I turned and tossed

Perhaps a little band of gold

Lost so many years ago

Now placed lovingly on a statue's arm

I'd find it and first be alarmed

Then I'd say thank you now for being here

To prove you'd be forever near

You are the angel assigned to guide me through

The sadness from the loss of you

As I replace my long lost wedding band

I feel you steady my nervous hand

I almost think I hear you say

After all these years it is here to stay

Sincere Condolences

I'm speechless.

SINCERE CONDOLENCES

Such fantastic words put together perfectly

To sooth an aching heart

It is comforting that you understand

My new life is about to start

With smiles and hugs from those I love

It will get me through these days

That loneliness has overtaken

And the gloom of loss still stays

Your kind words are loving arms

Wrapped tightly around my soul

Just reading them again and again

Can make this half a person whole