Now that we have time

to smell the roses, will we

complain they’re not gardenias?

                                                 JDG

Why not find one small

thing we can do each day to

make things better and do it?

                                               JDG

So many changes

in such a short time – enough

to bring us to rock and rhyme?

                                                  JDG

Those daisies defy

defeat as they survive yet

another roadside mowing.

                                        JDG

When grief comes, it seeks

shelter within our bodies

when the mind can’t take it in.

                                                JDG

Are you listening?

Do you hear the trill of birds,

the sweet whisper of your breath?

                                                       JDG

The natural world heaves

a big sigh as we humans

reluctantly stay inside.

                                           JDG

An unexpected

opening is something to

savor, not something to fill.

                                            JDG

In life’s ledger book,

what value can be placed on

an afternoon spent with friends?

                                                          JDG

At the close of day

a chorus of bare branches

sings to a tangerine sky.

                                        JDG