On the hill I’ll fetch a pail
of yellow-tipped daisies.
And by the sea I’ll gather shells
pastel-shaded, willy-nilly.
By your leisure
By your pleasure
My aim soars and dashes
to gather, sweet coalescence,
on your trembling sleep-tugged lashes.
Like the veil of a bride
Tender falls the night
Around your sleeping head.
The moon as your attendant
Watches with shy pride
While leaves tap on the window —
Harbingers of future courtiers.
On the unbeaten path, the child treads her way
Through the stormy night and trees that sway
She knows a light shines atop the highest hill
And dreams she’ll dream, till she’s had her fill
Marbles in the palm
Under the dappled sunlight
A child smiles
Home is built on the backs of people
Each brick and mortar paid for by years
Of laboring and amassing experience and wealth
As a child I only saw a comfortable den
Not knowing all the work that came before
RED GLADIOLA 