Home Town

so long away

now returned

familiar ground

but so much change

older structures

since replaced

cherished sites

lost in time

nostalgia now

with sadness mixed

a sense of loss

and some regret

for more than place

a sorrow builds

of human bonds

gone as well

Hello

is it wrong

to say hello

after years 

of silent pain

would it cause

undue stress

a selfish move

for one to make

should one get

permission first

need one seek

a clearcut sign

but what if life

is getting short

a fading chance

to reconnect

best to make

a leap of faith

before you can't

just say hello 

Still Here

after so many years

the good and the bad

the joy and the pain

the highs and the lows

through youth and vigor

through illness and aging

I am still here

and so are you

The Trail

we met at a trail

on a summer day

the sky so blue

the air so clear

our path it seemed

would be the same

our mutual goal 

a distant peak

so off we trudged

our packs so light

a steady climb

through fields and wood

the peak ahead

a sunlit dome

til lost behind

the crowded trees

and then we reached

a wall of rock

with several routes

to skirt its mass

so there we split

each choosing one

thinking that

we'd meet above

but we were lost

our paths diverged

and why that choice

I'll never know