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 

 

Fear

nature's gift

to keep us safe

a tool of man

to shake our will

endured by some 

a badge of faith

a dark detour

from reason's path

a warning born

from deep within

a conscious choice

to take no chance

a learned excuse

to stay the course

a wayward trail

from freedom's path  

 

South Platte

born in peaks 

and fed by snow 

she carved her path 

through walls of rock 

beyond those hills 

a city sprawled 

her bounty sought 

her floods endured 

so dams and chutes 

control her flow 

and woods she spawned 

now fade to dust 

but on she rolls 

across the plains 

her power drained 

her glory lost

Note: Initially published in November, 2009

Climate Change

warmer seas

melting ice

hotter days

deeper snow

stronger storms

raging floods

longer droughts

species lost

a threat to life

unleashed by man

a selfish choice

to poison earth

and yet they say

it's but a lie

a cult of fear

by godless men 

No Escape

time offers

no benefit

and neither 

does age

cherished

memories

bestow no

solution

and reason

has no role

when love

is involved

imagination

is futile

and hope is 

but folly

so truth

endures

and there is 

no escape