Two hundred years old,

that African Methodist

Episcopal church 

in South Carolina, shows

every one of us

how we can be great again.

We must embody

love, wisdom, and courage -all

three – simultaneously.

                                                                                               JDG

Every home needs a

tail-wagging early warning

system to alert

occupants to impending

doom. We’ve been shielded

from low-flying crows, jogging

neighbors, sunflowers

bending in the wind, grazing

deer, meandering

trash cans, and UPS trucks

too numerous to

mention. With routine

care and attentive maintenance,

you can be protected too.

                                                                                            JDG

An eye infection?

What is my body telling 

me? Is there something

amiss with how I’m seeing?

Could I have an “I”

infection? Or could it be

I just have an allergy?

                                                                              JDG

Take one breath and then

another. No word need be

spoken, no action

taken ’til I get this act

of conscious breathing

down…or so I thought until

the realization

came and I understood I

may not speak or act again.

                                                                                        JDG

They weren’t of my own

making, those water diamonds

shimmering on my

windshield in the morning sun,

but they made me look

at what lies ahead and ask

that I make some diamonds too. 

                                                                                             JDG

It was a struggle

to pick five from the fifty

or so poems he’d read.

At times, he said, it felt like

abandoning friends,

and he courageously offered

to go back and save some more.

                                                                                                   JDG

( I am in the initial stages of going through my poems and selecting some to include in a self-published book. The poem  above recounts an email I got from a friend who had agreed to read 50 and pick his 5 favorites. If you have some favorites, I’d love to hear from you too. )

Detained by the past,

anxious for all that is new,

I move through layer

upon layer of story

til I finally come

to a door, decide

to try it, and step outside

into a world green with choice.

                                                                                                           JDG

Rooted solidly

among family and friends, I

cherish the gift of

belonging but soon hope to

recover the gift,

temporarily misplaced,

of silence and solitude.

                                                                                         JDG

( With special thanks to my friend Tish  for the evocative phrase, “the gift of silence and solitude”.)

“Humans!” that horse seemed

to snort, gazing at the road

as we drove by. “There

they go tooting along in

their rolling boxes,

nodding wisely and speaking

knowingly of horse 

power. No wonder the world

is in such dubious shape!”

                                                                                                        JDG