… and so the days move forward and as we reminisce
We think of how things used to be before we came to this
The days of yore: More simplistic; innocence so young
Aspirations to the sky, and travels so far-flung
But Life is not yet over, many dawns are yet to be
We cannot allow ourselves to live in reverie.
Tomorrow may bring wonders imaginations can’t conceive
And they will live within us - in our lives to interweave.
So while the past was wondrous – we don’t regret a thing
The future holds more wonders within our lives to bring
Smiles and joys we’ve never met, things alive and new
So look forward to Tomorrow – there are things awaiting you.
I shoot myself into the cosmos prepared for adventure
insight I find as space travel opens me up to new possibilities
I never realized how small I was until this moment
My space suit is more than comfortable, I feel loved
Nowhere is it too tight, I am amazed by the new world I find
I travel from planet to planet on my starship, feeling joy
Other feelings I have never had before, overtake me
I am an explorer, a cosmonaut, opening up to new experiences
the planets embrace my travel, welcoming me, reassuring me
Heaven is here, I can feel her, there is much positivity
Earth words are not sufficient to describe these new feelings
You cannot explain what you have never experienced
I dart in between the stars, feeling whole for the first time
Not caring if it is my last time because now, I have truly lived my life.
New sight
New year
New hopes
New fears
New home waiting along the bend
New friendships; how soon will these end?
New promises to make and keep
New secrets to hold within me
New thoughts of a future just out of reach
New people I wish to keep with me
New loves, new losses, and everything between
New jobs to apply for; not yet eighteen
New experiences; a birthday fast approaching
New insecurities; the darkness is encroaching
New outlooks on life and who I am
Happy new year, my friends.
Grandma and Grandpa's
on the floor with model trains
friendly grey-haired people laugh
some mix of feelings!
brand new experiences -
to be...a kid...a grandpa
“A meandering river, I flow through this life, over its many plains, as well as its low valleys and high peaks, learning and loving much along the way.” - by author
Those who know me
should know exactly who I am,
for I show my flaws as well as my strengths
in things I say or do.
I’m the product of my culture and things taught me.
I’m a wife, sister, mother, teacher and true friend,
but there is more to it than that.
I’m a daughter of God; He made me who I am.
Before my birth,
God knew me, and he knows my fate.
A meandering river, I keep on
growing and changing paths.
Ever I’m learning from new experiences.
A seeker of truth and a warrior of words,
toward the inevitable
I flow (knowing both joy and pain) back to my home.
My hands are sutured
behind my head.
I lie like a fallen yield sign
on the side of the road.
My path is yellow and humble.
My hands separate. Pull.
And split open the back of my skull.
Evolution takes place in the gaps
of solitude being locked in a room,
away from all influences.
Natural and spiritual become one law.
And I yield . . .
Pried open with my crowbar
hands, the grey matter separates --
creating an entranceway
for new experiences.
Dear God,
Thank you for this day
with gratitude we pray
Let come what may
with faith our strength made.
Each morning begins bliss
a new day to start fresh
Opportunities bound
new experiences to be found.
Whether sorrow or happiness
your word guides us in progress
The inner joy beats in our heart
for your righteous never departs.
Work good for the soul
a bounty it bestows
To share with family, stranger and friend
Thy goodness never ends.
If troubles we may bare
we face them without fear
For in your Glory we share
witness of your love and care.
And when the day is done
we are thankful ones
To be given the gift of life
to dwell in the glory of your delight.
We bow our heads and pray
grateful for the day
And as we dream into the night
a new day dawns within sight.
Time clearly moves faster as we age
(as we slow down and the years accumulate),
for the simple reason that each unit becomes smaller
relative to our life.
At one year’s old that year makes up 100% of our experience,
while at four it becomes 25%,
at fifty 2%, and at one hundred just 1%...
And so life races on, an avalanche of sorts
of all we have accumulated.
It’s simple math,
but just as our situational awareness places our body in space
(and thus helps us drive, as the car becomes an extension of us)
so are we placed in time
by all the years contained in our body-mind.
And yet, inversely as we age there is less of us to go around
less of our neural net to spare for new experiences and memories,
and so those of our youth remain formative
sometimes larger-than-life
while the present as we age become ever more fleeting
insignificant even, to the point of senility.
So, life goes on, within us and without us,
and our experience of it speeds up as we slow down
(and so correlatively slows as we speed up);
Einstein had a simple theory about this
which maybe came from just observing his life.
(10/30/23)
Life's constant shift,
Through stages, I embark on a trip,
Each one, a unique chapter to live.
The shadows of yesterday,
Dissipate as dawn's light takes its place,
Today, I am renewed with each daybreak.
The promise of tomorrow,
Uncharted paths, a future to borrow,
New experiences to embrace without sorrow.
Accepting life's ebb and flow,
Development thrives where I go,
I am not stagnant, that much I know.
I must evolve with grace,
With each phase, I find my own space,
In this ever-changing life's embrace.
Walk through the door
By Michelle Morris
03/01/2021
Walk through the door...to
A new life
New opportunities, and
To embrace new experiences...
Walk through the door...and
Embrace life
Embrace love
Embrace hope...
Walk through the door... and
Don't look back;
The past is merely a stepping stone
To your future happiness...
Walk through the door...
And let the magic begin...
© Michelle Morris, 2021
Like little birds that at last leave the nest,
so too do our own little birds fly away.
When life’s lessons have barely begun to be learned,
they fly away to gain new experiences
and insights of their own.
Some will build very small nests
and remain there without partners for many years.
Most will mate and through procreation,
they will create even bigger nests.
These days, even our own birdlings may choose
to stay in our nests much longer
than we might ever have anticipated.
If our birdlings leave, we are simply living again
in nests less crowded, as we had done
when we built our nest in the beginning!
Take it as a time to rejoice
in new activities, and worry not!
Many of us will see our “empty” nests
fill up again
as children of our children
flock back to us for sweet reunions.
Nests, after all, rarely stay empty.
May 16, 2023
for Cooper Etheridge's Empty Nest Poetry Contest
Memories, so many scratching at my brain
So many to ponder, just wondering why things can't be the same
But silly of me to conjure such thoughts
Desperately grasping for the past when flux is the corridor the creator wrought
So, this path I must continue to travel
Meandering through the sweet joys and struggles as the knot of life unravels
Remember when time just seemed to stand still?
Not wanting the moment to end because everything was so surreal
Remember when everything seemed so easy even though we knew they were not?
Working, living, playing, learning, loving, and all idiosyncrasies we simply forgot
The laughter and cries; the joy and pain
We lived earnestly and courageously, never showing an inkling to complain
Sweet memories and reflections I will carve a space in my mind and heart
But the travel down this corridor must continue, where new experiences will soon become old memories and an ending a new start
I run toward the bed, wanting dreams to begin
Loving what happens night after night, as I build my empire
It’s not an egotistical world, it is a giving world
Started out with an orphanage
Where all the Little Orphan Annies have a place
Laughing and singing in comradeship,
Loving their lives in the happiest place on earth
I am the ringmaster, so the music is mine
The sets are mine, but the stage is theirs
Eagerly, I leave my “haha so-called-real-life” behind
I close my eyes, knowing I will be introduced to new colors
New shapes, new experiences, new adventures
This year
I'm looking for a dance partner
Someone who likes to swim
Someone to karaoke with
This year
I want to be someone who
Compliments you
Who cares for you
This year I wanna
Learn your name
Learn how you grow
Within all of your wonderful
Melodies
This year
Will be full of new
New experiences
New feelings
To
Take you and me
Everywhere we said we'd
Be
To
Take life on
Today
So that next year
We're proud of who
We choose to be
I'll admit I'm scared
I'm nervous as all hell
But
I'm here
Once, we had unlimited fun
Until life’s duties had us on a run
Memories consumed us old,
yet, for new experiences we jump
Please, do not cry, while I die
I rather you not lie
Time so scarce, you never said goodbye
As you reminisce great times awake
I take enjoyable moments in wake
Embrace belove new things you are yet to make
Back to Earth, my contribution to nature awakes
Helping trees grow, while purifying a lake
Turn up those popular music
Dance in celebration of memories late
Be good, for goodness’ sake
For in this moment’s time, you hold the ingredients
to the cake you most desired to bake
Mines, many unfinished tasks laid aside
Yours, life’s journey you must decide
In eternal uncertainties, I go to reside
Until we meet again on the sunny side
By: Steven E. Keller
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