I'M FAT

I’m fat,
And that’s that,
It’s out there for the world to see
In fact it is very easy to see me
I stand out in a crowd
My size screams out loud
I use more of everything than you,
Half of a cow is in my belt
A tent for a family of four on my back
I never stop at one,
Heck, I don’t stop at three
That is what the problem is with me
Some may say I like it this way
That I eat my way into this rut
When you’re this big it is a pain to even wipe your..
Mouth when you drip ice cream off your big fat lower lip…..
No oh no, I never wanted to be this way
I would change it today
And maybe I will
Yes I have a new plan
I can do it I know I can
I’ll show the world how I look,
I’ll publish my picture weekly on Facebook,
I will tell the world everything I eat
Every fruit, vegetable, or chunk of meat
I will log it day to day
The exact amount that I weigh
I can’t cheat because you’ll all know
You’d think I was a lying cheating still fat so and so
So, here goes wish me luck
Being fat as really starting to suck.
And if I’m successful at this endeavor,
It just my help you lose weight, quit smoking, stop yelling at your husband..or whatever

For the Girls

A star twinkle giggle
A swirling leaf dance
A daisy flower little girl face

Demands the attention
Seasons the dead air
And brings light to even the darkest place

Innocent, I don’t care freedom
She’s the center of the universe
Spreads life to all within the room

No time for bills and issues
No attitude is allowed
No place for doom and gloom

It won’t always be just like this
It will only last a while
The years and tears will make these precious memories fade

Hold on to every moment
Don’t let them drift away
Make them yours forever, not to ever sell or trade

When ever things don’t work out
When the clouds are hanging low
You have a great gift waiting for you

It’s the memories of the girls
Dancing, giggling, and laughing
It will always help you make it through.

Do You Fit In?

Ever thought you didn’t fit
You didn’t match even a little bit

What others might want you to be

Like you just flew in from another star
You just don’t seem to be up to par

To the expectations others have set

You have dipped your toes in the other world
You’ve danced the dance; you’ve curtseyed and whirled

But when the music ends

You like that space where you reside
It seems more comfortable than the other side

This just feels like home

So love your life, make it better for you
Invite others to do what you do too.

They may be surprised.

To them your world may seem new
But you’ll help them work their way through

It just may work out after all

Face of an Angel

I wrote this poem for a dear friend who was with me when I was very ill.

In the world of black,
No definition,
No hue of hope offered.

Strange hands,
Strange sounds,
Questions unanswered

Then in the cloud was the Face of an Angel, saying “it’s going to be alright”

Then to the depths
A paralytic retreat
There’s no exit from where I’ve returned

Harsh movements
Impersonal intrusions
Am I dead or alive?

Then from the cloud came the Face of an Angel, saying “it’s going to be alright”

As the black turns to gray
I see hope
Perhaps a new day

How did I make it
Why did I try?
It would have been easy to have not

The end is not hard
It’s a soft landing
No pain

But I let the hands work on me
I had no fear
I abandoned myself
I followed the light

When the Face of an Angel said, “It would be alright”.

Poem for my family

The Holiday wave sweeps in like a tide
Bringing the new and unknown in,
And sweeping the old familiar aside.

The boys who looked forward to seeing the lights,
The girl in her velvet red dress, beret, and white tights.
Are replaced with working hours, friends, DVD's and cars
And people of interest named Chris, Luke and Lars.

Matt, our dear son, who stands out in a crowd,
Is now in the Air Force and makes us so proud,
He has many friends, who are loyal and love him,
And his family who knows there is no one like him.

Chris, as fine a man that ever existed,
Could have been bitter, felt cheated, he resisted.
He has built a life that many would envy,
All who know him, love him, for his qualities are many,

Dear Elizabeth, our Elizabeth, a gift from that first day,
Has made our lives richer, our sun shine brighter in so many ways.
Just a smile, just a word, the wisdom that you bring.
We pray that the bells of love, and happiness, in your life will ring.

My Deborah, I love you with all of my soul,
I commit to you that your happiness will be my pure goal,
Through all of these years, we're still here side by side,
Many descriptions are valid but may I say, "It was a heck of a ride".

But here we are sitting around this old table.
To remember other times as much as we're able.
Trying to see if we can not just act, but feel cheery.
But the memories of this year will leave us sad and a bit teary.

As sunshine and summer will dry out the moss,
Only time will begin to lessen the loss.
A mother, a father, a big brother are gone.
And now we are trying to make life go on.

Deb, I can't pretend to feel it.
But I know that you
Feel that smothering feeling that says sometimes, "I am just not going to make it"
We as a family will not lesson or forsake it.

When the sky seems gray, and your moods my be blue,
Chris, Matt, Libby and I will always be here for you.

I know that it doesn't compare to the value or hurt,
But in the back yard under a pile of dirt
Lies our old friend who was with us from the start,
A witness to the life of a family the good and the bad parts.

He never took sides never said "me too!"
Never asked for more than we gave him,
He always perfectly loyal and true,

Sometimes I think I see him out the corner of one eye,
Oh, how I wish it were Him,
Just one more time,
Just one more time,

So here we are back at this old dinner table,
It supports our family to this day, it is able,
To be dropped on, spilled on, nicked, kicked and abused.
It is available to see the many more ways it can be used.

Like this group of people who sit here now,
We look back at times and sometimes ask how,
We got through it all, how we've made it this far,
God's mercies have sustained us, rebuilt us, retrained us
His comforts have been many when we've asked, and when we've not,
We've all given less, by far, than we've got.

So the final words that I say here today,
Are dedicated to the One who has guided our way,
When mountains seemed uncscaleable and tunnels seemed long,
Amazing Grace became much more than a song.

Our future is Eternal, not just a five or ten year plan,
Our house is built on rock, not on blowing drifting sand,

So let us finish with a prayer that will support us,
As sure as this old strong table will stand,

Lord we commit ourselves, with abandon, into your loving compassionate hands.

The New Home

New walls, new halls
New ceilings and floors
New spaces, replaces, what was familiar before

New palette, new canvas
Your ideas enhances
The creativity with in, it's time to explore

Questions, objections
Who's vision will win?
However you change it, you'll change it again

The paint, the flooring
Will make it all shine
However you do it, you'll do it just fine

So have fun, don't sweat it
Even if others don't get it.
An orange bathroom, red bedroom will rock

Till you get up one morning
And with out warning
Your own taste you may start to mock.

No problem, rearrange it,
It's nothing, so change it
By after noon you'll forget all the old.

Try this and try that
Try semi-gloss, try flat
Do something you never would do

Just go get the ladder
What the heck, it doesn't matter
Because after all in your heart you know it's true

A home is not a color
It not a fabric or made of wood
It's the people who live in it that can make a drab room look good

A Sophie smile
An Amelia giggle
Will warm the house in such a way

A football game
A bunch of friends
Will make you thankful day to day


That you have this place to come
When the world is spinning wrong
This is home your place of comfort
This is home with familiar faces
This is home with smiles and hugs
This is home...

A Poem for my Daughter

I was thinking about Christmas
And things we used to do
We we're quite the team in those days,
Those days of me, and you,

I'd carry you on my shoulders
And swing you all around
I would pretend that I would drop you
But I never let you down.

Remember our trips to the city
Man we owned the place
The buildings, people, activity
Reflected in the smile on your face.

Fancy lunch at the Hilton
You used to hide in the clothing racks
We walked all day from store to store
The library, Dayton's, Saks

Growth is never even
It happens in stops and starts
It sometime makes life difficult
It tugs on people's hearts.

It seems like it was just a moment
Those times a decade and a half ago
The winds of change have changed us all
In ways we couldn't know

But some things never change
Will never stop or slow
Things as solid as a rock
Will never ebb or flow

It's something you can depend on
That is void less through and through
It's that never a day goes by
That I don't think of you

I'll be your dad forever
It's in the stars, it's in the moon
In the depths of the universe
In every melody, song, or tune

Unlike a face or an age
It is something you can not change
It cannot be revised
It cannot be rearranged

This doesn't mean I can't slip up
It doesn't mean I am pure
But it does indeed mean one thing
Of that you can be sure

My life is empty without you
I am not whole I'm incomplete
There is always something missing
Like a drum without a beat

I know you have things going on
I know you don't have the time
It seems your schedule doesn't always
Seem to fit with mine

But schedules and responsibilities
Can't get in the way
Of the rain when it's falling
Or the sunset at the end of the day

Like that my love is unending
It's always there for you
Use it when you need it
When acts of love are few

I'll be here when you call
I'll be here when you don't
I'll love you when you answer my calls
I'll love you when you won't

You have done such wonderful things
You never seem to falter
But please don't ever forget
I'm you Dad and you're my Daughter

Memories of Christmas

Memories of Christmas
Like eternal glue
Bind us together
Make old times seem new

It was just yesterday
On our Christmas Eve drives
We would wow at the lights
In the trees and the grounds

Of other homes which were
Eager like ours
Waiting for morning,
Counting the hours

Who would be Santa?
Hand out the gifts
Or course, new ornaments
From Deb, were the best.

They were customized, personalized
Reflecting the year
A poem learned, a movie seen
Was remembered in the ornament hanging there.

Linda's cookies oh what a treat
Buckeye balls, and Santa Clause
And everyone would cheat
Sticking their fingers under the plastic wrap and again they would repeat

Year after year saying the red icings better
Oh no I like the green,
When the reality is
A food coloring with a taste has yet to be seen.

There was a method to the presents
That Santa brought around
Clothes for Matthew
Dad's gifts usually made sound

Chris went to the movies,
That was his deal
Libby got books
And things she could feel.

Every year for Deb
I would ask her to coach
But Santa would always bring one thing
A shiny new broach.

Like seeds of a dandelion
Blown in the wind
These memories are replanted
Again and again

Each new growth is the same
In a way
But they tend to be modified
And that is OK

There are new traditions
Added to the old
But all those old stories
Will be retold and retold

The golf tee in water
Matt with his balloon
Libbys "for me, for me"
Dad playing a tune

Deb making sure the forks on the left
Or was it the right
We were all there together
Oh what a sight

But today is good
We are all OK
There is nothing to sigh about
Nothing to say

Just hold all those memories
Deep in your heart
They are there for your comfort
For you are a part

Of a great history
A part of our clan
If it gives you joy, a chuckle, a tear, a longing
It's all in the plan