Love Is proof 6

Know My Feelings

Let me be clumsy
Let me say the wrong thing
Once in a while
Let me make mistakes
In this imperfect world.
Let me be moody
Now and then
Let me be by myself
And squander a day away.
Let me dress casually
Without a tie
Don’t be concerned
About what others think.
Let me be argumentative
At a gathering
When I disagree with
The politics being spoken.
Don’t try to change me
I am who I am
Shaped with rough edges
Making the best of things
In a world of illusions.
I need to be loved
As much as the flowers
Need the rain.
I am who I am
And not always the best
But just know my feelings
And that I love you.

x 39



The Mystery of Love x 41

There is
an endless number
of women
in the world,
each beautiful
in all respects,
but different
in many ways,
in mannerisms,
in attitudes,
in make-up,
in dress,
in levels of thought,
in cultural differences,
so many differences,
yet all beautiful
in their own way.
How does one choose
to say
“I love you”
to one
and hold her above
all others?
What is
this mystery
of selection
and commitment?
How does it happen?
That desire
to be together
to hold each other
to experience
that sense
of comfort
that we call “love”?



The Gift of Sunshine

In its kindness
nature offered me this day
the gift of sunshine
of warmth
a chance to brave
the outdoors
the paths of life
to walk
in silence
to smell the breeze of spring
to dwell
upon the hopes of summer
to dream
of a new love awakening
for someone
unknown to me
sheltered from the storms of winter
but now in sunshine
elsewhere
alone
in silence
to smell the breeze of spring
to dwell
upon the hopes of summer
to dream
of a new love awakening
perhaps
on a path
where lovers chance to meet.

x 43

A Second Love

A second love is not second-rate.
It’s a love that is independent of a love that’s first
A first love that was meaningful
A first love that expired
And ended - peacefully and complete.
A second love is free from comparison;
It has different roots
Perhaps as beautiful as the first love
But totally independent.
A second love is often found among people of a later age
Perhaps an age of retirement
When life has been satisfied
And no longer yearns for the passion of love.
A second love is not sought;
Yet, it can surface
In an unsuspected moment
More different than in early years.
Things that have supported a first love
Have changed
And no longer serve the joy by which second love is found.
A second love can begin by a simple touch of a hand
A glance of an eye
An unexpected smile in a restaurant
Or on a cruise ship in the Caribbean
A moment to suggest that there is more to life
Beyond a first love.
A second love abounds in freedom
Because the kids are grown and the tuition paid
And when that moment happens
When that unexpected smile of another comforts you
You are on the border of a second love

44 x

And you suddenly feel vulnerable
Like you can really fall in love again
And you realize that you can be alive again
Can share your feelings with another -
That unexpected someone
That appears when you least expect
(And perhaps against all odds)
And you are ready to once again
Be fulfilled with life
In this second love
That joyfully awaits you.

x 45



The Gift of Nature

I am lonely.
Surrounded by silence
But its raining outside
And I can smell the air
And I can see the raindrops
Falling from the leaves of trees
Into pools of water
Gathered on my driveway.
The world is being washed today;
Nature is alive
And close by
I can smell the air
I can see the raindrops
And I can feel life
Once again
As nature absorbs
My loneliness
And the joy of silence
Makes me happy
Once again.

x 47



Love and Medicine

Love,
like medicine,
comes with side effects,
prescription warnings,
so to speak,
yet,
is readily embraced
hoping, as with medicine,
that it will
be good
for one’s health
and state of mind.

x 49



Love Plain and Simple

I saw two lovers
Resting in their embrace
On a bench
Along the Champs-Elysees in Paris
On a busy work day.
They were oblivious
Of the passersby that stared at them,
Of the sounds of horns
From cars that circled the Etoile;
And from moment to moment
They would kiss
As though there was no world around them
Except for the bench
As they looked longingly at each other.
It was a scene I would always remember.
Love without words
Love without adornment
Love lost in time
Love undemanding
Love plain and simple
On a bench
In Paris.

x 51



Love Without Barriers

Love is without barriers;
it is a thought
that must be expressed
a touch
that must be felt
a pain
that must be shared
a kiss
that must be sought.
Love is a question
that must be answered
a promise
that must be kept
a glance
that must be met
a dream
that must be realized.
Love can be everything
a warm embrace, a summer breeze
an evening glow, a sound of music
a moonlit night
or a ride on a roller coaster.
Love is without barriers.

x 53



Confusion

your phone doesn’t answer
my mail is returned
are you away?
will I see you again?
what was it all?
was it only a fling?
a moment of bliss?
no heart beating firmly?
I wanted much more
it was more than a game
at least on my end
perhaps with you also
at least that’s what I thought
but no message was left
it’s been more than a month
you’re phone doesn’t answer
my mail is returned
where are you now?
were you ever here?

x 55



Love’s Lifetime

Does love last like the bloom of its beginning
When the flower of life blossoms brightly
When the warmth of our kisses embraces us
Like a magnet drawing us always closer together
Never to say goodbye!
Or does love wither like the leaves of trees
In autumn when the storms hide the sun?
Is it because we know each other all too well
And we wither as the rain pounds the rooftops
And we rarely kiss in the morning.
Time discovers all the fractions of love
Its strengths and its weaknesses and its tiredness
And there’s no need to hug like days before
And the absence of intimacy is unnoticed
Like the morning dew upon the lawn.

x 57



Time

Time does not lift the pain from love
that goes astray.

Love is too deep to be erased by time
or by an apology.

Love is etched on one’s heart like a
tattoo on an arm

Except that love travels beyond an arm
throughout one’s self.

The remains of love constantly remind
one of those days

When love and life and laughter seemed
endless - seemed forever.

And so be careful when you say “I love
you forever and ever”

For the pain from love that goes astray
is not erased by time.

x 59



An Unexpected Loss

After you were gone,
An unexpected loss,
Friends approached me
To console me
To offer assistance
To assure me
That life will adjust
As time goes by.
My house became
A place without echoes
No one to listen
Just the walls
As friends came by
To assure me
That life will adjust
As time goes by.
The comfort of my bed
With you beside me
Has disappeared
As thoughts of you
Keep me awake
Throughout the night
And thoughts of friends
As time goes by.
Now time has passed
And thoughts of you
Continue to prevail
Of things you’ve said
And places we have been
The touch of your hand
Beside me as I think
When will life adjust
As time goes by?

x 61



One Moment

Yesterday,
Unexpectedly,
I saw you from a distance.
Suddenly
There you were
From out of the past,
The you of years ago
who said goodbye
that summer season
in Vermont,
Those years when we
were young
and let each day
surround us
for what it was.
Yesterday,
The love for you
I thought was gone
or safely put aside
Abruptly returned
And the unanswered
questions
of our lives
Burst forth from
hidden places
in my being
And in just one moment
I realized
that you are
still
a part of me.

x 63



Wandering

There are those
who
like to wander,
who enjoy
being alone,
whether
along a boulevard
lined
with tall buildings,
or by
an ocean shore
listening
to the waves,
or in
a vast meadow
cooled
by a summer breeze -
just wandering,
anywhere,
observing,
thinking,
collecting thoughts
along the way,
that bring meaning
as to
who we are,
or should be.

x 65



Good Morning

I’m waiting for the sun to rise
I don’t like darkness
I don’t like the silence of the night
I don’t like to dream.
I like brightness
The dew upon the grass
The birds singing their songs
As they circle above me.
I like to watch people driving

by to work
To move the business of the world

along its way.
I like to read the morning paper
I like a breakfast of warm oatmeal

with raisins
I like the telephone to ring -
A friend who says good morning

and then chats a bit.
I like to write
whatever comes to mind -
a letter, an email, a letter
to an editor.
I like the morning brightness
I like to think of you
Someone I care for far away.
I don’t like darkness
I don’t like the silence of the night

x 67

What Would I Say?

I have loved you always
We shared a million moments
Something to say
Always
About the children
A house repair
College tuition
Health care
Our daughter’s boyfriends
who came to call
She was always beautiful
and smart
as were her brothers
competing for attention
The Christmas gifts
Who got what and why
Vacations
Like Germany’s Black Forest
or a cruise to Alaska
Always
Things to do
Things to say
A never ending list
of thoughts
The sharing of emotions
Goals to achieve

68 x

We were never
without words
without thoughts
without solutions
without
without
without
Until you passed away
Ten years ago
Followed by mourning
by silence
by wonder
by why, why, why?
If you were to reappear
What would I say?
So much silence has intervened
So many thoughts
you were not a part of
I am older
I have had ten years
of different conversations
with other people
What would I say?
What would I say?

x 69



How Is She?

How is she?
Is she well?
Is she happy?
Could you tell?
Is it all working out
the way she wanted it to?
Did her expression change
When you mentioned my name?
No, don’t answer that
Just tell me
How is she?
I guess the less I know of her
The better off I’m bound to be
I don’t really want to hear
She’s happy without me
But how is she?
I just gotta know
I still miss her so
You’ve seen her I know
So tell me
How is she?

x 71



The Woman On The Bus

She was on the bus I rode
As beautiful a woman as I had ever seen.
I never spoke to her but only wondered
Was she an actress or a nurse
Or a waitress at a local restaurant?
My mind captured all there was to see.
I abandoned all I had to do that day
And quickly rushed to my gallery of art
And mixed the paints I needed for
The painting of “The Woman on the Bus.”

x 73



The Loneliness of Love

When you are away
without me
for good reason
on business
a sick aunt
a school reunion
I long for your return
and until then
my heart experiences
the loneliness of love.

x 75



Scrapbooks

Poetry
reveals
one’s
emotions
joys
loves
wonders.
Poems
are scrapbooks
where
reflections
of ourselves
can
be found.

x 77



How Stupid of Me!

I started reading Hemingway at the early age of three
And at nine explained to Einstein - - - relativity!
Why Pisa leans is all too simple for my mentality.
And what’s more . . .
I speak seven languages - all proficiently,
Hamlet’s “To be or not to be ...” - I know from memory.
The VIPs in the USA take their orders from me.
And furthermore . . .
I’ve written poems that exceed the works of Robert Frost,
And my speeches would make Demosthenes be at a loss;
I could invent a super “Z” bomb - and make Russia cross!
And sure . . .
The Mona Lisa in the Louvre to me is just a sketch,
And I could race Bannister and beat him in the stretch!
But this is all “de minimis non curat lex” *
Because . . .
Despite all the achievements my record proclaims,
My ability and deeds fall short of fame,
“Cause I’m incompetent when asked to explain
The whys and wherefores of - a Brooklyn dame!
* “The law does not bother with trifles.”

x 79



Only The Loneliness

There is a loneliness
that is a part of me
that seems to come and go
by its own discretion
And I can’t plan
one day to another
It’s like it used to be
when you were here
Except
without the longing
without the love
without the laughter
Only the loneliness remains.

x 81



Love Is...

Love is a telephone call in the middle of the day
Just to say you’re doing fine and that you thought of me.
Love is when you send me an email each morning
Just to ask me about the many things I have scheduled.
Love is a telephone call to tell me how your day went
And what you’re fixing for dinner and wish it were for two.
Love is fixing your schedule so we can be together
On a day when we can bridge the miles between us.
Love is not complex, it need not speak, it is just there;
It is close, it is trusting, it desires to please.
Love is knowing you exist, knowing that you care;
It cannot be substituted by anything, for it is unique.
For love is the essence of joy, of life, of happiness;
It is you, wherever you are, for you are always with me.

x 83



Love and Those Busy Days

Love waits for no one, so they say
As there is more to life than love.
Love is just a meaningful part of life
But often in the background because ...
Yes, because ...
The rent has to be paid
The sidewalks must be swept
The shopping must be done
The garden must be watered
The clothes must be washed
The grass must be mowed
The mail must be answered
The meals must be prepared
The car must be gassed
And then and then and then - - -
And yes,
The kids must be fed and then

put to bed
And more than likely
You will be tired from a day’s work
And will need your rest,
And, understandably,
Love may have to wait
For a tomorrow
That’s not a busy day.

x 85



A Birthday Card From Utica x 87

I received a birthday card
today
from you
a surprise
another year gone by
among the many
years of silence
the post mark was from Utica
I’ve never been there
I hope you’re well
I think of you from time to time
memories of love
never fully disappear
there’s always time that passes
and I remember the days gone by
when we were young
when we drove around the world
and never thought
about tomorrow
as we learned to embrace the moments
until that moment
when you said
goodbye
for all the days yet to come
thoughts I would never realize
or understand
your saying of goodbye
as I remained alone
each year and years to come
with fragments of love
embracing my heart
of love gone
not knowing where you were
or why
until today
from Utica.

A Bus Tour of France

I met her on a summer
bus tour of France.
We got to know each other
as we walked arm in arm together
on the Champs Elysee
in Paris,
a night time of beauty
among the shiny lights
of the Arc de Triumph.
The tour lasted ten days.
We saw the battlefields of Verdun
The city of Nancy
The Cathedral of Strasbourg
And many other places
As we talked
and got to know each other.
She was someone
whom I could easily love
and perhaps I did.
We carried our friendship beyond
the tour of France
to our homes in America
as we separated
returning to places where we lived
many miles apart.
At times we spoke of marriage
but there were differences
beyond our boundaries
and the homes where we lived.
For she was an atheist

88 x