Ugly Ovals

She looked up in the night sky

And said mom look at that star                                              winter snow

It has the shape of a star

When it’s really a circle

A ball of fire spinning

Way out there in outer space

Most nights they look like circles

But tonight looking from here

That one there looks like a star

Why are all shape names not things

A circle is a circle

Just like a square is a square

So why do they name a shape

After a thing, like a star

When the shape doesn’t really

Look like the real thing at all

Like a heart for example

It doesn’t look like the shape

It’s just an ugly oval

Response from Uncle Dennis...

O yes, Lillie.  The heart is an oval and the stars aren't really star shaped. 

But, that's only through the mind's eye.

When you look at it through the heart's eye, it can really be much more. 

And yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! 

So squint when you look at stars,

imagine the heart as two ovals in love making a valentine

and look at your parents as they age.

Don't they look a little more like Santa?

Uncle Dennis

Memaw's Hot Cocoa

Memaw made some hot cocoa                   peace

In a big pot on the stove

Just the cocoa, and sugar

Boiled with milk and vanilla

We would sit in her rockers

Next to the kitchen wood stove

And with her biggest needles

We would string the cranberries

Alternating with popcorn

To decorate the old tree

That I would make her drag out

At the start of December

And I would gather gumballs

That fell from the backyard tree

Painting them gold and silver

As ornaments for the tree...

Today as November ends

I’m decorating my house

But I stopped for just a bit

To stir up some hot cocoa

And remember her

Memaw Made Pies

Memaw would make pies                   restless

Through all the seasons

Her specialty was apple

Using the small, tart green ones

That fell from the tree

Beside of the fence

We’d gather them together

In big white buckets

Peeling them on the back porch

With the rusty butcher knife

As we spoke of family

Of life…and of dreams

As the apples boiled

Into a buttery sauce

She would flour the counter

And roll out the dough

As the red of the kitchen

Was dusted in a light snow

Then her daughters would gather

Around the kitchen table

Sharing their worries

And a piece of pie

venture

much farther                               Scarborough Fair

than the eyes see

thoughts travel

with the breeze

over the ocean

to a time

and a place

where no compass

can guide others

to venture

old sleds

Days on the farm                sweet bells

Were always cherished

Nana’s kitchen

And Granddaddy’s lap

But a measure of snow

Added to a winter’s day

Awakened the childhood

Making it truly

Magical

music fades

her words

and her songs                   music fades

change

with the seasons

so I struggle

to capture

the melodies

of her laughter

so the memory

will remain

when her youth

and the music

fade

homecoming

His son carved

The turkey this year 

Bringing it up the stairs            a place called home

For his inspection

Before placing it

On the table

Where the whole family

Gathered to celebrate

The holiday season

And his homecoming

grey

today

the ocean                           fare thee well

wears the color

of the sky

which reflects

into the eyes

of the wanderer

mirroring the mood

as the wind

whispers for the

blue to fade

pale grey

captured

she captures            beautiful things

the world

in her lens

images in

stopped motion

continuance stilled

in the frame

of the moment

when caught

by her eyes

Arrival (The Aeries)

He stepped off                    Moon Night

of the train

As he had done

so many times before

The Aeries welcomed

From high on the hill

So close now that he

Could smell his supper

Carried by the October breeze

Mixing with the dust

From the tracks

And the coal

of the train

With a sudden fragrance

Of hot gunpowder

And he would not

come home again

snow days

The  forecast                     Amid the Falling Snow

calls for cookies

and hot chocolate

blankets and movies

sledding -- sleepovers

and laughter