To My Older Brother(Dear David)

Do you remember the time
When we’d run around half crazy
With our bicycles and match box cars
When our days were never lazy?

Do you remember ninja turtles
How we’d play with each other?
Building tunnels in the snow
You were the best older brother.

Do you recall our many fights
Over stupid little things,
When we were teenagers
Spreading wider our wings?

Do you recall the years
When we didn’t like each other
And I thought I couldn’t have
A more lousy older brother?

Do you know how much I wish
I could take back hurtful words?
How easily I’d anger
I see now it was absurd.

D you know how much I care now?
How I think you’re like no other
And how I really couldn’t wish
For a better older brother?

My Heart

There’s a lot to look at
Hidden deep within my soul.
There is a lot going on
No one else will ever know.
There’s a lot of held in joy,
And a lot of hidden pain,
Because I’m not sure that by sharing it
There’s anything to gain

There may have been a time
I didn’t hold my heart so close,
Before heartache was given
To me in a healthy dose.
Before I had my heart broken
By someone I once could trust,
Before they took my feelings
And grinded them to dust

It’s said that time can heal
Any wound within your heart,
But I’m not quite sure that’s true
Because mine’s still in broken parts.
I’ve tried to patch it up
So I can take if off the shelf,
But I’ve started to fear
I can’t do this by myself.

But how am I supposed to place
My heart in someone’s hands?
I’ve kept it to myself so long,
I don’t know if I can.
I’m asking you to help me
Find a way to trust again.
I’m begging you to prove
That I can still believe in friends.

I’m showing you a window
To my broken heart and soul,
And hoping you can care enough
To help me make it whole.
And if you can I’ll trust in you
And you can count on me
Anytime you need a loyal friend,
Just look, and there I’ll be.

Ode to Sara K. G.

I love the way you put up
With my silly little quirks
Pretending that you hate them
Giving me your dirty looks
I love our endless inside jokes
And how you make me laugh
Sometimes I worry ‘bout my brain
I think you’ve stolen half
I love the way you listen
When things are going wrong
That you always have me listen
To your new favorite love song
I love how you can tell me
When I’ve really passed the limit
You point out the logical world
And help me get back in it
I love our memories
That we’ve made in the past year
That I remember I am loved
Whenever you are near
I love the fact I know
That you’ll always be my friend
Even when you say you hate me
You’ll be there till the end

Grandma B

I watch your aged movements
As you sit there in your chair
I hate to see pain and confusion
Old age has made you bare
Once you were a sign of strength
Giving so much loving care
The difference from my memories
Can hardly seem quite fair

We frequently came visiting
Perhaps at night, or day
And ran around your house and yard
You’d watch us in our play
Down your hill we’d slide in winter
In summer the stairs did okay
And we’d climb among the cherries
In the warm weather of May

As though on a safari
In your garden I’d hunt snails
And you would let me place them
In your used strawberry pails
I’d play with them until tired,
On the waterbed I fell
But first you had to read a book
I knew it’s pages well

And sometimes we would take a drive
And play at Rocket park
Later we would watch movies
As the world outside grew dark
You would have us draw from straws
And to the winner we would hark
And have to watch the movie
That their chosen vote would mark

As bedtime crept closer
We’d bathe with the soap that could float
And have just as much fun with it
As we could with a toy boat
Then maybe we’d present you
With a letter that we wrote
For we’d use grandpa’s typewriter
To write you a loving note

Perhaps we’d end the day
By eating your freezer ice
But eating food at your house
Was always something nice
For breakfast we’d have poached eggs
Or cereal of crispy rice
And at lunch perhaps Totino’s
Over our favorite plate we’d fight

I have so many memories
I’ve made as I have grown
Just like your lovely roses
And other flowers once unknown
But time goes by, the years run on
I couldn’t tell you how they’ve flown
Yet over all the passing time
My memories have shone

I spent so many days with you
When I was just a child
I’ve watched your vibrant love of life
Grow to something mild
As slowly time and age
Difficulties on you piled
My love for you has never ceased
To grow like a flower wild

So as I watch your movements aged
I look into your eyes
I understand your frustration
Revealed by hidden sighs
I thank you for the love you gave
For I’ve learned as time flies
My Grandma B was just the best
For she’s always been loving and wise

He Guards His Heart

His heart was given once before
And done so willingly
But beaten, broken, still its sore
He guards it carefully

He lends it every now and then
But never fully lets it go
To someone he has deemed a friend
For they may turn a foe

The bruises seem to linger
On his lonely half-healed heart
And he needs to find the finger
Capable of healer’s art

But so busily he tends
To his worn and tattered heart
He can't recognize the friend
That may give his life new start

So patiently she waits
Till he learns to lift his eyes
And discovers sincere love
She has no wish to disguise

I Write, To Free My Soul

Each time something significant
Takes place and changes me
My soul is placed in shackles
Or so it seems to be

It seems it cannot stand
The brightest white or darkest coal
But I have found a secret key
I write, to free my soul