GRADUATION

                GRADUATION

 

Watching a small lad of five

Graduate from pre-school

So proud and so excited

Now he's no-body's fool.

 

I watched as his mom & dad

Smiled from ear to ear

Cameras in hand with kleenex

To wipe away their tears.

 

It took me back to yesterday

When, I, too came alive

In our school's closing concert

Back when I was five.

 

We didn't receive diplomas

Nor wear a cap and gown

No h'orderves to choose from

No-one then wore a frown.

 

No-body took our picture

We walked home together

The end of June, under the moon

With our father and mother.

 

Today I saw step-parents

Half sisters and half brothers

Children seemed so confused

Too many dads and mothers.

 

I'm glad for a simpler time

I was just 5 years old

And had the world around me

With daddy's hand to hold.

 

Now I'm near 3 score and 10

And my time is nearly o're

How I long for yesterday

To be five just once more.

 

In Memory Of.......

I heard myself whining again today
Not enough weight loss or money
My hair too thin, my cheeks too fat
I wished I had less of a tummy.

I looked at my calendar and grimaced
Recalling how I sat by the sea and cried
When two years ago I answered the phone
"I'm sorry to inform you your sister has died."

She used to complain of her weight too
And her hair just never looked "right"
She dreaded company most of the time
Wished aloud she could just take flight.

But I never had my home burn down
And I never lost a baby
I never had an abusive husband
Who treated me less than a lady.

And I never had a daughter who passed away
Nor a boyfriend who died much too soon
And I didn't suffer effects of polio
Living as if I was in a cocoon.

My sister lived three score and ten
God gave her two more long years
My heart used to break wide open for her
As she confided in me thru her tears.

Her courage, tenacity and humour
Kept me loved and feeling needed
Since her death I have learned
My whining is silly; it goes unheeded.

We walk thru life, one step at a time
Put one foot in front of the other
Jean did just that, all of her life
She's a Hero to her sisters and brothers.

We miss & love you, Hed