PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Here’s a basic truth…I wish everyone was blessed to know:

We are all unique and beautiful flowers…

and we all need love to grow

Sometimes when the news is too depressing…I like to find a space devoid of sound

Where I can visit an old memory and be reminded how love IS all around:

An older couple seated at the table next to us is where this story begins…

With all the laughter and the joy they were sharing we couldn’t help but listen in.

They were sitting at their table smiling at each other…holding hands

when the man said, “We are here today to celebrate the day our happiness began.”

The woman looked over and winked at us. 

“It’s not what you’re thinking.” She said. 

“This is not the anniversary of the day when we were wed.”

“No, we have chosen every year to remember a different date.

The day we first said I Love You to one another is the day we celebrate.”

“Oh, I was already happy before I met this woman.” Her husband joked.

“And I was perfectly happy before I met this man.

“But the day we said I love you to each other,” she said.“is the day our happiness began.”

“That is the day we came together…the day our love combined.

The day I put my happiness in her hands and she put hers in mine.”

We toasted to their happiness…shared a moment in their reverie…

wished them many more years of happiness…and then we let them be.

They stopped to say goodbye before they left the restaurant…together hand-in-hand.

And once again we thought how some of the most beautiful moments in life

are the ones we do not plan.

I love remembering that night in the restaurant with that old woman and old man…

and celebrating with them…the day their love began.

Remembering that old couple seated at the table next to us…

who for one night became our friends…

and with us wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness…

is where this story ends.

Today I’m grateful for universal love…

It’s something I think a lot of…

And I pray for the day we realize

We are all just different expressions

of that one universal love.

The more hate I hear and see…

the more I want to write about love, my friends and family…

about nature the stars, the moon…about compassion and music and art.

This helps the hate that enters through my eyes and ears from ever reaching my heart.

So today I reach into my memory to a love poem I wrote back in the day

It’s the only way my heart knows how to keep this hatred away:

A LOVE SONG

He wanted to write her a love song that would sound as sweet as the birds.

He wanted to write her a love song…with elegant and beautiful words.

But he was not a songwriter…he could never find the words…

and though his heart was more than willing he couldn’t create music like the birds.

Instead he wrote her a simple card which said:

I wanted to write you a love song

I wanted it to be as sweet and as beautiful as the birds…

I wanted to write you a love song…but, as you know, I’m not very good with words.

I wanted to write you a love song…to celebrate our anniversary…

but this is the best I could come up with…

and he signed the card….Love Me.

She smiled as she closed the card…then held it to her chest.

A tear dropped to her cheek as she realized she’s been blessed.

“Oh but you have written me a love song.” She said “every moment of every day…

with everything you do…and everything you say.”

“It’s a daily chorus with music and words I cherish and adore

and every day you add another verse more beautiful than before.”

Their eyes met in a smile…then they hugged…and he never felt more glad…

than the day he wanted to write her a love song…

then realized…he already had.

Today I’ grateful for understanding

how love, the greatest gift in life,

is also a gift we have to earn….

For when we do 

it allows us to love another person…

and

to be loved in return.

Today begins with this Swedish proverb…

which I am happy this morning to post:

May we be blessed to love one another 

even when we least deserve it

because that is when we need it most.

We asked a couple who’ve been married forever…

What makes your love so strong?

What has kept you together all these years?

What has made your marriage last so long?

They smiled and immediately began describing moments….

 Their conversation went something like this:

The way she tenderly wipes a tear from my cheek.

When she sneaks up behind me and steals a kiss.

When she hugs me for no reason.

When she silently holds my hand.

How her scent upon me lingers.

When we walk together in the sand. 

The gentleness of her touch.

The loving way she says my name.

I love the smile on her face when our eyes meet…

(Sigh) How her smile is the same.

They never specifically mentioned what made their marriage last so long

from it’s beginning to its continuing eternity

but as we listened to them talk…it was easy for us to see.

From the day they wed…until today…and to a future unforeseen…

what has made their marriage last so long…

are all those beautiful moments in between.

I like to solve word ladders…as a puzzle I think they’re great!

Did you know Lewis Carroll invented word ladders back in 1878?

Yes, the same Lewis Carroll who in 1865 I understand…

wrote a story about Alice…who followed a rabbit running late

into a wonderland.

In a word ladder you start with a word…

The object is for that word to be reversed…

by changing one letter at a time you make a chain of words…

and when you're finished there is a link between the last word and the first.

For instance let’s take the word love… 

change the ‘l’ to a ‘d’ and you have dove.

Change the ‘v’ to ‘t’ and you have dote.

Then change the ‘o’ to an ‘a’ and you have date…

Change the ‘d’ to an ‘h’ and voila…

you have quickly changed love into hate.

A word ladder works in both directions…

in case that’s something you were thinking of

We can start with the word hate and using the same process

change hate back into love.

But life is not a word game is it…played with paper, pencil or pen…

and love which can quickly change to hate…

Does not change so quickly back again.

Perhaps Lewis Carroll provided a solution…

reminding us if we want to find our Wonderland…it’s is not too late…

When he wrote, ‘Oh, ’tis love ’tis love that makes the world go round…

and no where did he mention hate.

So here’s a little something inspired by Lewis and his Alice

that I’ve been thinking of…

What if the word ladder we’re creating in life

begins and ends with love.

They learned long ago that a life filled with perfection…

has less to do with life itself…and more with their perception:

Every night before they fall asleep…as in their bed they lay…

she gives him a kiss good night and says, “Thank you for a perfect day.”

And every night as they lay in bed…the moment she is through…

“For such a perfect day”, he says, “I’d like to thank you too.”

This has been their habit throughout their life…they always find a way

as they kiss goodnight to thank each other for another perfect day.

What makes each day seem perfect to them…is easy to understand

It’s spending time together…enjoying life…side-by-side and hand-in-hand. 

If they’re together in the evening…happy, healthy and smiling…

to each other it’s easy for them to say, 

No matter what bumps along the way they faced,

“Thank you for a perfect day.”

And they’ve discovered as they’ve grown old together…

all these years as husband and wife…

When you string so many perfect days together…

you end up with a perfect life.

Yes, they are living proof the perfect life is out there…

the key is finding a way..

to understand the perfect life…

begins with a perfect day.