Happy Thanksgiving

Can't help it-I'm full of thanks this year.


Thank you, my mom friends, for keeping me sane, for bringing me back to reality when feeling like I was floating away,

Thank you to my husband, who gives me love,

Thank you, my two boys, who fill me with happiness and who help me see the world like a child again,

Thank you to my students, who make me think about the possibility of what can be,

Thank you to my father, who has been a great grandparent, and who has been a thoughtful parent,

And thank you to Astoria, for being such a wonderful place to be, to raise a family, to walk, to enjoy art and the outdoors, for the fantastic community here.....

Love Maneuver

Sharing. This exercise was originally written for the Writers Discussion Group based on Rupert Brooke's poem These I Have Loved.

These I have loved

The past and the future that run continuous, perpetual.

Sadness and joy, and the body I cannot recognize in the mirror. Broken pieces.

The rusted wheel of the toy and the garden that seats placidly in my still life memories.

Physically blind eyes for a heart that beats possibilities. Embracing the state of being different.

The days that were golden and the childhood that holds the pictures on the wall. Yellowish smiles.

Love sublime and the wedding pottery at my mother's attic. The plastic hangers where I suspend my hopes. Daily rituals.

The waiting and the green light of the train tracks of my existence. Discovering humanity.

Polite silence and the rain singing melancholy. Empty sidewalks for daydream children.

The fresh pine scent of a postcard. Leaves falling apart and stars for a velvet sky. Tender affection.

Reminiscences and recollection. Food-feeding my soul and my senses.

The new and the old faces that surrender my pace. Of what I have really loved.