20211215.0430

Has it been so many years
You have been out in the world
Taken screaming from where I was born?
They seem to have been good to you
I will hope they will continue to

Happy birthday, brother!

20211208.0430

She goes today to try her hand
At some new task, and she will stand
For judgment in another land
Where blue topaz abounds
She goes with hope, she goes with skill
She goes away, and I will still
Sing her praises, come what will
Where blue topaz abounds

20211110.0430

A sixty-second time today
The sun will rise upon him
And our own orbits will remain in place
Held by his gravity
We speed onward even as we fall
Because he has been here to help us along
Even if the paths have sometimes been erratic
Which we have all of us taken

Happy birthday, Pop!

20211021.0430

The little thing scampers and scrambles about
Pawing at anything left laying out
Around the house by chance or design
The kitten's the girl's; it's damned well not mine
I don't have to clean where the kitten relieves
Itself or to feed it--at least I believe
It's true for the moment; I don't know how long
It'll be until to me that task will belong
But I'm the girl's father, and I know my role
And I will fulfill it; it's no heavy toll
Though if that fool kitten goes after my feet
Again, then that kitten's got something to meet!

20210919.0430

Trying once again this faith thing
Because they seem to benefit from doing so and
I support them in their endeavors
They give enough to me
As I do not for them
And that I struggle to believe is
Another way I fail them

20210828.0430

Riding along
She spoke of a squishy cranberry
And my face soon matched its hue
In part at surprise and chagrin that she
Spoke so of a bog-borne fruit
In part because I didn't think of it
Though the metaphor is sensible enough
And maybe someday I will speak of it with her
When she asks me questions she hesitates to ask her mother
Or which her mother refers to me
There are some things I know more about
Few though they are
But it is more likely she will recall
Steel trap mind not rusted shut
And kept from the rain so it will not likley be

20210801.0430

Today
Once again
They will gather
Who are separated by generations
If less now in area than before
Stand beside the first ranch road
Numbered fittingly
And communing once again in joy
Before it is too late

20210701.0430

Nine to five your work has been
Since the day that you began
And I, glad, join you for yet more
Another five and double score
Happy birthday, Sonya!

20210620.0430

As Aestas dances in today
She dances ever as she may
And I celebrate as I am celebrated
The one these many years
The other fewer now
And for long
I hope

20210619.0430

We gather soon to lay to rest
One whom many would say blessed
And I go at the behest
Of those whom I well love
But that small grief amid the day
Does not much in me belay
Knowledge of the holiday
That was too long in coming.

20210606.0430

There's really not a lot to say
About the meaning of the day
That many went into the fray
And forty years have gone away
Since my parents said "I do"
And have not said "I don't"

20210510.0430

Once again the time has come

And the old hitchhiking bum

Has wandered through with his same speech

That it's certain will soon reach

Whom he celebrates today

And I know I'll with him say

Happy birthday to my mom;

We look for another one!

20210509.0430

Not all mothers deserve praise
On this or any other days
But those I know have done quite well
And my regard for them I tell
Them often 'cross the year
And here, again; I hope they hear

20210219.0430

Seven years ago today
She had gotten on her way
From where she could no longer stay
To this world where she does play
And I pause once again to say
To Ms. 8: Happy birthday!

20210109.0430

Today marks eleven years that I have been married to my most excellent wife. They have been the best years of my life to date, and they keep getting better. Really, only one thing needs to be said at this point, since I've waxed loquacious on the topic no few times before in this webspace:

I love you, my sweet sopapilla, and I look forward to many more anniversaries with you!

20201224.0430

My daughter does delight
In the promise of this night
When many post a light
And look for gifts to come
While I may not believe
And I scruple to deceive
I'll not make her wonder leave
That time soon will come

20201215.0430

Happy birthday to you, Brother, dear,
And know that we are glad that you are here
With nimble fingers and an open ear--
If also with an open mouth! We know,
Of course, that you still sweetly sometimes blow
Your horn, and skill upon the keyboards show,
For which no few do love you yet, and we
Who've known you longest still feel our own glee
As you present those skills for all to see
And hear. But we do also know there's more
Than music's play about you yet in store,
And since we do that absence much abhor,
We're glad to've had you 'round another year
And hope for others yet; thus, you, we cheer!

20201110.0430

Once again in his prime
For the eighteenth time, in fact
Having run with us the solar circuit
He puts off Holst's Saturnian claim just a bit longer
Fitting enough for a man whose tool is not the sickle
And whose younger son regards him more kindly than that
Emulating him in ways his elder did not
He has more laps to run
And we look forward to him continuing on the track
Glad of his company still
Eager for more

20200701.0430

A number of years ago today--
And just how many, I'll not say--
She left the room where she first lay,
And I am glad she did,
For had she not come out from there,
I'd not have met her, come to care
For her as I intend to e'er--
And, no, I do not kid.

Happy birthday to my beloved wife!

20200606.0430

Floods and torrents move much earth away

Smash against buildings and ruin them

But their flows at length trickle into the earth

And build up sparkling columns

Glorious to see

And their shining structure seems to have grown stronger

These many years

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad