“Vote Trump – no one will

ever know.” That’s what I saw

on the car ahead

and I was stumped. Could this be

a concealed weapon

for those lacking the courage

to openly carry hate?

                                                                                          JDG

Their commitment to

diversity is really

strong here. Even small

rabbits graze the many fields

 of knowledge as their

  two-legged, fellow learners

struggle to make it to class.

                                                                                        JDG

Be here now, they say,

but what if where I want to 

be is back there, back

then? Anyway, I’m here now,

noticing my pursed

lips, tight shoulders, whiny mood,

just breathing in, breathing out.

                                                                                             JDG

As I sit looking

out across the pond, book closed,

tea at the ready,

my thoughts turn to you now, to

you then  – when we were

new to this pond, to this place,

and you still new to

this world. You were charmed then by

fish and dragonflies.

A young woman now, you’re off

to explore other

ponds and places while I hold

   fast to tea and memories.

                                                                                                              JDG

When disquiet comes

the mind clicks in and even

more trouble begins.

It grinds and grinds out reasons

why, going back to

infancy, rushing ahead

to what-ifs, then-whats,

  fearsome possibilities.

Best to train the mind to rest.

                                                                                                   JDG

Facing the chasm

we ourselves dug, we are brought

up short. We must choose.

Do we walk away, holding

on to grievances

or do we look within, look

across and begin.

It won’t be easy. We’ll mess

up, but together

we can begin…and we do.

With memories, song,

and laughter we start to build

a bridge for crossing

and show our children and our

children’s children who we can be

                                                                                               JDG

I catch whispers of

sound, glimpses of motion as

we linger together

in this small, in between space,

separate from the past,

not yet part of the future.

Once the door opens

I see the immensity

of what awaits and

it is to this I am drawn –

this ever-changing

uncontrollable vastness

some call life and others, God.

                                                                                   JDG

There they stood, those two

cousins, and spoke their regrets

at past harshness toward 

each other – one seventeen,

the other twelve. No

adult was there to prod or

preach. What they spoke came

from their own young hearts as they

waited for the Fourth’s

grand fireworks to begin.

Their words lit up the summer night.

                                                                                                              JDG

The odds against it

are mind boggling high, yet

here we all are – wasps

and spiders, cardinals and crows,

groundhogs and squirrels,

tiny purple violets

and large oak trees, you

and me. We’re here on

this green, life-giving planet

under sun-soaked skies.

I reach across the chasm

between us and offer my hand.

                                                                                        JDG

As you step forward

to receive your diploma

and into the next

phase of your life, I have no

words of wisdom or

sage advice. What I have is

a memory of

wisdom you imparted long

ago when you were

just in kindergarten. Your

younger sister had

made a mistake and you took

her hand and said, ” That’s

ok, Sami. You’re little

and you’re learning.” In the years 

to come, may you find comfort

and encouragement

in your own wise  words as both

your sister and I have done.

                                                                                             JDG