As you can see by the dates, I wrote these many years ago, but they are some of my favorites . . .

Flights

The bird, in the hazy beauty of sunset, flies alone,
His wings moving slowly, gracefully, carrying him to new lands.
In the solitude of evening, a silhouette against the sun,
He is searching, searching for a dream, a destiny unknown.

In a sense, we all are this silent bird.
We all at some moment in our lives will say, "This isn't enough!"
And then we will go; drifting on the trade winds of our lives,
to fly the flight of the adventurer, the flight of no return.

1969

The Magic of Sound

A sound, a note, a word.
Once uttered is not again heard.
Whether or not there comes a reply,
This sound, this note, will never die.

Somewhere out in time,
Are the very first words spoken in rhyme.
Somewhere, floating 'round and 'round,
Is every word, plain or profound.

Every sound, large or small,
Floats about our spinning ball.
Into space and there to stay,
Go all the words that we might say.

1968

39 Going on 20

There are lines on my face and they've been there awhile.
A bag boy just called me Ma'am.
I know that 40's just a year away
But somehow I don't give a damn.

My back sometimes aches and I should lose some weight,
I think that my feet are going flat.
My baby girl will soon be a teen
But I couldn't care less about that.

'Cause my hair is still dark and I've still got my teeth,
(I ought to knock wood about now).
And my mind still thinks that I'm nineteen
So what's in an age anyhow?

1990

Apology

I'm sorry that I had to leave today
in a manner most abrupt.
But I was in a mega snag
and "Soup" had gone corrupt.

I cursed, I fumed, I beat my head
Upon the mouse's pad.
Okay - I only beat my hand,
but I was really mad!

And then the errands I had to run
began to call to me.
"Ahem!" they said, "You cannot leave
while still in your nightie!"

And so I sent a message out
To a friend on ICQ.
"I can't get in!" I said to her,
"Tell all I said adieu!"

1997

"Nobody ever committed suicide while reading a good book,
but many have while trying to write one."

-- Robert Byrne