Best Nesters Poems
Couples coming into prime
exhibit an exact prognosis;
passions working overtime
while seeking love in heavy doses.
Never being quite enough
to satisfy their youthful yearning;
time spent lying in the buff
so sensitive to needs discerning.
Couples in their middle age
display a diff’rent kind of story;
passions lack that same old rage
as they once did when in their glory.
Obligations, no time free,
and children clinging to the tether;
“scheduled moments” seem to be
the only way to come together.
Empty nesters think at last
that time again is their possession;
love will be as in the past
when passions flowed without discretion.
Yet they’re finding other ways
to fill the moments of their leisure
browsing Facebook in a daze
without a thought of passion’s pleasure.
Couples in their golden years
just holding hands and reminiscing
‘bout old times, as sunset nears,
recalling flames that now are missing.
Passions that were once the scorch
when ‘tween the sheets were interlocking;
wooden chairs out on the porch
the only things that now are rocking.
May 8, 2021
Categories:
nesters, age, love, passion,
Form:
Rhyme
Finding You
( to my wife Barbara, just because)
by Franklin Price
6/8/2018
Finding you has been the best thing
That ever happened in my life
Beginning when I met you
Better since you've been my wife
We both were less than happy
Was not hard to understand
Marriage was a disappointment
Before my ring was on your hand
Won't say it's all been easy
Life's just not to be that way
I've never had one real regret
Since you said yes that day
We've worked through every obstacle
Together we would persevere
Raised a daughter to be proud of
She turns fifty this fine year
She has born two fine daughters
We know both of them are grand
They're thriving in this world of ours
That's not too hard to understand
We have been empty nesters
For more than just awhile
Every day when I awake with you
I look and have to smile
I pray its far from over
Many years before the end
No man could have a better wife
Or any better friend
No it's not our anniversary
Or any other special day
Just woke up there beside you
And thought there's something I should say
Finding you is still the best thing
That's ever happened in my life
Every day I thank the good Lord
For the years you've been my wife
Categories:
nesters, friendship, love, marriage,
Form:
Rhyme
Perched on a smooth river rock
studying her reflection in the flow
A timeline of changing faces
slowly drifts by...
Carefree happy child
running, playing among trees.
Rebellious miserable teen
banging her head against authority.
Disillusioned, deeply depressed
escaping with her spirit broken.
New mother ecstatic in California
memorizing his growing up slide show.
Lonely, desolate woman with wrong partners
until near death does she part.
Empty-nesters' angst ridden face
hidden, lost in darkness.
Unstoppable learner/teacher
finding her pieces in lifes' school.
Evolving computer addict, isolator
searching on-line for love.
Mostly content, peaceful now
her heart found God and "true blue."
Freedom lover flying, watching from above
Her lifes' puzzle face more balanced
yet incomplete.
Categories:
nesters, angst, depression, introspection, life,
Form:
Free verse
I never thought that I would be a mom,
you were an unexpected surprise.
I fell in love with you instantly my child,
My nurturing womb was your first home.
You alone were my absolute everything,
I enjoyed watching you grow up.
But the years seemed to go by super-fast,
and I am extremely sad you have gone away.
I love your dad, but I miss you so very much,
he gets on my nerves and makes me so mad.
Your father is loving and so supportive and all
but nothing seems to work, I think I need help.
Maybe I need to go see a psychiatrist.
Without you my darling I don't seem to exist.
I stay in my bedroom for hours at a time.
I used to be active in the house and chores,
but my to-do list is blank, nothing is on it.
Things around the house are in disarray.
I prepared you very well to go off to college,
But I didn’t prepare myself for when you did.
Your dad tries to cheer me up constantly,
but his efforts are useless and I am in a dark pit.
I have an appointment to see a shrink next week,
Maybe then I'll find ways to cope without you.
I heard about empty nesters, but I never thought
in my wildest dreams that would be me.
Categories:
nesters, child, i miss you,
Form:
Free verse
like vinegar and baking soda combined
daily hustle bustle and grind — in caustic silence —
erodes...
precious time eroded in the rush to clear agendas
rushing to the rhythm of the— tick— tockin’ of time...
engulfed with the toils and responsibilities of life
it all seemingly moving in slow motion...
'til suddenly it becomes sublime
to realize just how much time— has passed
now seemingly moving much too fast...
like motion picture film spinning on a reel
as this arduous journey reaches a place of still...
still quiet —volume so loud —you can hear it scream
with flashes of the past rewinding inside your mind...
revealing —in that slippage of time— often
it was thou— you left behind...
quiet screams —
time to exhale....accept or receive
what has been lost or achieved...
shhhh — listen!— the time is now yours
time to lay to rest — hustle bustle and grind—
time — to relax your mind....
and enjoy —your way—what’s yours...
God’s greatest gift—
time......
***Inspired by the feelings many retirees and empty
nesters experience...
Categories:
nesters, encouraging, life, retirement,
Form:
Free verse
Hard working empty nesters in search of a romantic getaway.
Early Autumn, no fires, no smoke; great time for a breakaway.
We escaped to the north shore of the California coast.
We drove through the gates and said hello to the host.
My honey and I slept by the sea and reclined in it's embrace.
We inhaled overwhelming enchanting breezes in our secret place.
My bride and I viewed the ocean's expanse and heard the mighty roar.
What a beauty it was for us to behold the vast waves come ashore!
How marvelous to watch the tides splashing the rocks!
We heard flowing peaceful sounds as the ocean spoke!
The darkness came, and nature's music continued to play.
Then the moon appeared, and stars sneaked from their hiding.
Engulfed by the sounds while inhaling the Pacific's cool breezes,
my sweet beloved and I held hands and kissed as we sat by the fire.
100421PSCtest, "R" Poetry, Constance La France. 2P
Written 2006; 1st posted 2015; Title changed for contest.
Categories:
nesters, romance, romantic,
Form:
Couplet
~~~~~~~~
climate change... killing
spring bees... spiders many flies
early nesters starve
once joy the seasons...
the charm of springs overture...
winter defies it...
today... house sparrows
seen nesting... nature wishes...
hopeful they succeed...
grass... verdant... growing...
hedgerows holding back... afraid...
full spring biding time
jet stream...rioting
lost its way... meandering
disturbing nature
the hill piste lingered
children smiled... sledging... what fun
comes the rain... flooding
hot then cold weather
flu viruses all favor...
hope you had your jab...
don't stop feeding birds...
wild mammals too... squirrels nuts...
rats... mice... wildfowl grain
wintertime walking...
shush... have your camera ready
seen... a snowy owl
lincolnshire
just in case one thinks i've jumped
the north atlantic
~~~~~~~~~
Categories:
nesters, nature, spring, weather, winter,
Form:
Haiku
At first, there I was in the mind of God as He made preparations for me
As I would learn later, time was sailing, but I was not yet placed in its sphere.
Then the time for my formation arrived, and I stepped into that entity called time. I tell you, it was exciting! And as I felt the smooth watery vibrations, I came alive!
I was conceived and began to grow as time moved forward moment by moment. The moments turned into days and months; and by the 9th month, I was ready to exit. My mother nourished me from within her being until the time came for my birth. The time zone inside my mom was the same time that welcomed me on the outside.
In different segments or periods, time continued to fly from that point, waiting on no one. I was held and cared for so gently the first several periods of time until I began to crawl. I stumbled and fell many times and got up, but I could never catch up with the flight of time. Time was a real though invisible entity, never changing , and my little body was never constant.
As I grew from a little boy to a teenager, it seemed at times that time stood still.
The years seemed to crawl at the pace of snails, and I couldn’t wait to be 18.
Well, 18 finally came, and then the pain, and I wondered when things would change.
Well, romance came and then marriage; and kids followed soon after the wedding bells.
The career and the money came along with bills and never enough time for the thrills.
The kids turned from boys and girls into men and women, and we became empty nesters. It seems that’s when time began to take on supersonic wings and flew with the winds. At times I wanted to turn back the hands of time, but it was simply an impossibility. The next thing I knew, I was growing old and found myself signing up for social security.
O I know that the speed of time has remained the same since I hitched a ride 67 years ago. Nevertheless, sometimes I wish it would slow down and not come with the aches and pains. But still, I understand that God’s in charge, and though many things change, he’s always the same. So let time fly; and I’ll not be left behind, because I’m hitched to the wings God assigned for me.
10042016 cj PS
Categories:
nesters, creation, god, imagination, inspiration,
Form:
Prose Poetry
SILENTLY AWAY (LORRIE)
AS I LIE HERE IN THE DARKNESS IN MY YEARS THEY CALL DECEMBER,
I SEE HER FACE BEFORE ME, HEAR THE LAUGHTER I REMEMBER.
FEEL THE PAIN DEEP IN MY HEART THAT NEVER GOES AWAY.
TASTE THE TEARS UPON MY FACE, DREAD THE COMING OF EACH DAY.
SHE WAS LORRAINE WHEN I MET HER, SOON BEGAN TO CALL HER LORRIE,
AND WE BEGAN TO TURN EACH PAGE, CREATING OUR LOVE STORY.
ENERGY AND LAUGHTER FILLING EACH SUCCEEDING DAY,
NOT NOTICING THE DAYS OF YOUTH SLIP SILENTLY AWAY.
MIDDLE YEARS GONE QUICKLY, THE YEARS THEY CALL JULY.
HOMES AND JOBS AND CHILDREN, EMPTY NESTERS BY AND BY.
TIME AND TREASURE THEN TO SPEND, GOOD HEALTH, DREAMS COMING TRUE,
FORGETTING LIFE IS FRAGILE, DAYS MAY BE MANY OR BE FEW.
THEN LATER YEARS LIKE GLOW OF YOUTH SLIP SILENTLY AWAY.
MORNING RUNS BECOME JUST WALKS, HAIR SLOWLY TURNS TO GREY.
ENERGY TO LETHARGY, GOOD LOOKS TO SLOW DECAY.
THE WATERFALL AROUND THE BEND, CLOSER EVERY DAY.
EACH DAY A TIME TO CHERISH, TO ENJOY THE NOW NOT NEVER,
BELIEVING THAT OUR EBBING TIME COULD SOMEHOW LAST FOREVER.
EACH PASSING YEAR ANOTHER YEAR TO ADD TO THOSE REMEMBERED,
BUT FOR HER THEY STOPPED FOREVER IN HER YEARS THEY CALL NOVEMBER .
FOR THEN CAME THAT DREADFUL MORNING, I FOUND LORRIE COLD BESIDE ME,
HELD HER HEAD BETWEEN MY FINGERS, HELD OUR MEMORIES INSIDE ME,
AND THEN I KNEW FOR CERTAIN, CLOSING OF THAT AWFUL DAY,
MY REASON TO KEEP LIVING HAD SLIPPED SILENTLY AWAY.
AND ONCE A YEAR THEY TAKE ME TO THE PLACE WHERE LORRIE'S LYING.
MY HANDS WARM THE STONE ABOVE HER, FEEL SHE KNOWS I’M CRYING.
HOPE MY TEARS WILL TRICKLE DOWN AND IN THE EARTH THEY'LL FIND HER,
PRAY THAT SOON THEY'LL BRING ME TO FOREVER LIE BESIDE HER.
SO I LIE HERE IN THE DARKNESS IN MY YEARS THEY CALL DECEMBER.
I SEE LORRIE'S FACE BEFORE ME, HEAR THE LAUGHTER I REMEMBER.
FEEL THE PAIN DEEP IN MY HEART THAT NEVER GOES AWAY.
TASTE THE TEARS UPON MY FACE, DREAD THE COMING OF EACH DAY.
BUT THE DARKNESS THAT I LIE IN WILL BECOME ETERNAL DAY,
AND THE GULF THAT NOW DIVIDES US WILL MELT SILENTLY AWAY.
SOON THE DARKNESS THAT I LIE IN WILL BECOME ETERNAL DAY,
AND THE GULF THAT NOW DIVIDES US WILL MELT SILENTLY AWAY.
ELLIS CRAIG, DECEMBER 2022.
Categories:
nesters, bereavement, death, depression, grief,
Form:
Rhyme
Zero to five. Can't say that I remember anything.
Five to seventeen. School, work, play; see you later.
Seventeen to twenty-two. Working and going to college.
Twenty-two to forty-four found me getting married, raising
children, and working 'way above' and 'far beyond' nine to five.
Forty-four to fifty-nine took me into a time when we became empty
nesters, and I began to feel as if I were emotionally in decline; and
I worked and worked all the time like I was out of my mind. At the age of fifty-nine, I started coasting into early retirement at sixty-two. And now, I'm having fun writing mini stories and poems at sixty-nine.
09242018PoSoup
Categories:
nesters, age, life, retirement,
Form:
Prose Poetry
Thirty years ago, multi-floral rose and
fruit laden wild berry bushes could be
found in abundance everywhere around here.
Native grasses provided shelter
to the ground nesters and the
warm summer nights were filled
with the call of whippoorwills
and of nightingale songs.
Mature walnut trees shared
space with the oaks and hickories-
wildlife had their own place
and pretty much stayed put.
Now, the well-oiled machines of
development have bulldozed most
of the trees and shredded them into
mulch to landscape neatly manicured
lawns that now flourish in place of the
multi-floral rose, wild berries and
native grasses- considered noxious
interlopers-
they have been exterminated,
and collaterally, so too the ground nesters-
the whippoorwill’s call and the nightingale’s
song are silenced.
Remaining wildlife have adapted
by foraging back yards-
turning over garbage pails, raiding bird
feeders, preying on household pets and
grazing those prized manicured lawns,
ironically, causing the real interlopers
much inconvenience, distress
and collateral habitat destruction.
Categories:
nesters, anger, how i feel,
Form:
Prose
969 A Thousand Years of Ticking Time
David J Walker
Mr. Methuselah
A word please
It’s about time
To reveal what you know and
When you knew that you knew it
What you remember and
When to remember to remember it
Were you a slow learner
Did you live longer at home
Was there a word for teenager
Did you get along with your father
Did your mother nag you about grad school
Did you save enough for retirement
Did Lamech get a tatu with his girl-friends name
Was Naamah bad about Honey-Do’s when
You became empty nesters
What festers in your mind about
Things you never got around to
Did you play catch with
The sons of your grandsons
In the afternoons
Did you ever take Noah to a ballgame and
Buy popcorn and have a beer
And talk about things to come between innings
Did you ever forget an anniversary or
Which one it was
Do you remember all your grandchildren’s names
Someone did and wrote them down and
I bet it was Naamah right
I bet it was Naamah that kept things going
I bet it was Naamah who held court like
Queen Victoria
Gathering her many grandsons to her knee
Mr. Methuselah
What
If anything
Can you tell me to make me want to
Live long than you
Categories:
nesters, allegory, allusion, father son,
Form:
Free verse
empty nesters watch
leaves skating on frozen ponds…
a soft sun beckons
©12/15/2019
Writing Challenge, December – Winter Haiku or Senryu
Sponsor, Dear Heart – Wiishkobi Ode
Categories:
nesters, seasons, winter,
Form:
Haiku
“In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, when birds do sing . . . sweet lovers love the spring.” -William Shakespeare
In early spring they reappear -
the shorebirds and the swallow.
Ducks, geese, red-winged blackbirds,
owls and eagles follow.
April brings more of the same
with woodpeckers and warblers too.
Early nesters of the spring -
instinct tells them what to do!
The cuckoo and the mourning dove,
but the biggest boon
for the end of April is
The nesting of the loon!
By May the spring time is ablaze
with hues of birds galore.
The cardinal and bluebird -
harbingers we can’t ignore!
Dear robin, I shall see you soon,
for on the way is spring.
With eagerness I wait to know
which bird I’ll first hear sing.
Feb. 22, 2021 for the Spring Birds Contest of Constance La France
Categories:
nesters, bird,
Form:
Rhyme
empty nests aside
sparrows are happier now
fledglings flew away
May 29, 2021
Categories:
nesters, bird, nature,
Form:
Haiku