Collage #7

How do I love you

Let me count the way

One when you’re happy

Two when you have a pumpkin

Three when you’re scared

Four when you’re on the floor

Five when you cry

Six when you smile

Seven when you’re in orange

Eight when you play

Nine when you’re a-swinging

Ten when I hold you in my arms

…

Oh my goodness

This will take me all night

And all of the next day

And all of the next month

And the month after that

Until your first birthday

And I will not yet be done

Do you realize

It will take me a very long time

So let me just say

I love you ‘til all the numbers run out

Friendship

Looking in my friend’s eyes, what do I see?

Her passion never wavers, her strength never fades.

Her love’s always full, her life’s a great journey,

Her feet go where her heart leads the way.

Her heart touches so many others,

Her love fills so many empty holes.

Joy and laughter amid sorrow and pain,

We are the web that she cast, the strength that she built.

The Star of My Show

You’re the magnet I can’t escape

With the impish grin I can’t resist

My heart lurches, my head spins

You are the star of my show.

I turn around and see your face

I need your every angle, mood, and frame

Camera ready I take aim

You are the star of my show

On October 2013 Visit

Collage #6

Your sweetness permeates my being

Your smiles calm my troubles

You are a gift wrapped in love

Growing up in a sea of kisses

Happy 90th Birthday to Dad/Bill/Grandpa/Great-grandpa

It is a merry time, we

Don our festive clothes.

Joyfully we gather to

Sing a happy birthday song to you.

You have been a steady rock

On which people had leaned.

Today you’re to relax and

Let the fun begin.

So kick off your shoes and

Sit back on a chair.

Close your eyes if you dare,

But stay alert for a new fanfare.

Nine decades have gone by –

Your life enriched – love or travail.

As you listen to the music, let

It gently take you back in time.

Time goes fast and time goes slow –

Time twirls around in a beautiful snow –

Time brings storms that after passing through,

Leaves rainbows of different hues.

Time changes and time is the same –

Time is lovely as you gaze at her name –

Time is harsh when life is rough, but

Time always brings you love, hope, and dreams.

Time lets the children learn and grow –

Time mellows the hardships you go through –

Time multiplies the blessings you receive –

Time brings us together now and again.

So make sure you wear a big smile, for

Everyone is feeling fine, and

Everything is going to be alright,

The moment though will pass will stay a while.

Enjoy the tasty feast,

You deserve a lovely treat.

Far and near we come to wish you,

A happiest ninetieth birthday there has ever been.

Collage 5

I want time to slow

And summer not to end

So nothing’s growing fast

And the innocence remains

I put away the old collage

But not the images

Of winter, spring, and summer

The seasons when joy prevailed

I know when fall does come

Something will surely change

My love will stay the same

And the collaging will not end

Journey With You

Journey With You

For thầy T.H.C. and all my friends, especially those battling life-threatening illnesses

July 2013

You say life is like a train trip

It is hard to say goodbye

At each station of your life

When someone has to get off

If that someone is a friend

You watch people come and go

You meet people as you dine

You sit across a stranger

Who becomes a friend

Holding a place in your heart

You want to hold on so dearly

Everything love has to give

You want to touch so closely

The people who are so near

The people who share your journey

It is strength that you are after

It is love that you’re yearning for

It’s a miracle that you dare hope for

To keep everything the same

To make everything better

I give you everything I could do

I wish you everything I care for

I’ll miss you if you ever leave

And my love does not stop then

And my love will never cease

My train trip will not be the same

If you are no longer on it

I will treasure every moment

When we laugh and cry together

For who knows what tomorrow will bring us

I pray that we are granted

With much time on earth to share

Time to give and time to heal

Time to live and time to spend

Time to feel the wonder of love life offers

For you are the person I met

In the good fortune of my life

Who became a dear friend of mine  

Who gives me so much I feel blessed

You will forever be in my heart