Poetry – Page 16 – Sunshine Lane

Front Window

(Ironically, I was distracted by the snow and forgot to post this poem earlier today when I wrote it and added the photos. It has now snowed quite a bit more!)

FRONT WINDOW

Snow storm of the season!
Six inches to eighteen inches possible!
Stay at home!
Services cancelled!

These are the sound bytes we’ve
been hearing since Thursday
here in Colorado.

Has it snowed? Sure!
Has it been the storm of the season?
Maybe? It has had its moments.
Are we staying at home?
Well, yes, today we are.

I find it amusing how “SENSATIONAL”
news has become over the years.
When I was a child, we listened
to farm weather reports on the radio
every morning because my dad
was a former farmer.

The weather report was delivered
in a monotonic voice with very basic facts,
when the next precipitation was expected,
and maybe if the
temperature was going to drop below zero
or over 107, the reporter would speak a little louder.
We got the point, nonetheless.
Imagine that!

These are things I’m thinking as I watch
it snow intermittently this morning,
first in almost microscopic fine flakes
and then in the big, gorgeous Santa Claus flakes
we see on Christmas specials in December.

My front patio has been redecorated by the
hands of old man winter, and, for once,
looks rather stylish with the added
layer of snow.

I thought I’d share it with you before
the next sensational weather event occurs
and erases it all with its carelessness.

©Elaine Wood-Lane 2/22/15

Red Tape, Red Tape

Red tape, red tape,
it’s everywhere today.

The more we try to
sort it out, the harder
it becomes to get away.

I’ve dealt with red tape
today that wasn’t even mine,
and found myself
defensive when they
seemed to think
I was lyin’.

I know that policies, procedures,
rules, and laws,
are meant to be
for our own good,
but like I told my mother once,
when she tried to give me
iron tonic to build me up
for my own good,
if this is what it takes to live
and be all safe and sound,
I think I’ll just pass on this one,
and catch the second round.

©Elaine Wood-Lane
2/18/15

Sunshine in the Snow

Tasting tangerine,
while watching snow fall slowly,
Sunshine in the snow.

©Elaine Wood-Lane
2/16/15

Sunshine Soaked Brain

High mountain sunshine,
so bright and light
this morning,
it tempted
my winter white skin.

There had been
too many clouds,
too many days,
both inside and out.

While elsewhere
others freeze and gaze
at blinding white light,
reflecting deep snow,

I walked in joy in
high mountain sunshine,
my dog at my side.

Returning home,
wondering what I was
supposed to do next,
smiling inanely,

I realized,
I had sunshine
soaked brain,
nothing going in,
nothing going out.

It was worth it…
One lovely day
of sunshine soaked brain.

©Elaine Wood-Lane
02.09.15

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

Counting Blessings….

Still in pjs and housecoat,
Sipping coffee,
Listening to iTunes shuffle,
opera to the Cranberries,
Looking at the family budget,
Dog dreaming on my lap,
Minor fibromyalgia pain so far,
Husband in the home office,
Son sleeping downstairs,
Healthy grandson, papa and mama
In Illinois.

Count your many blessings,
Name them one by one.
Life is good and
God is on His throne.

©Elaine Wood-Lane

We really are so blessed and fortunate. Even though life isn’t always easy and we all go through some very hard times, we have to remember the good times that were and that will be once again. Life isn’t static. It doesn’t stay in the valleys forever, but it doesn’t stay on the mountain tops forever either. Without the valleys, we wouldn’t appreciate the mountain tops, and without the mountain tops, we couldn’t bear the time in the valleys. Right now, I think I’m living on a mesa somewhere in the middle and I am very, very grateful for where I am right this moment. Hugs and love, Elaine

Happier Day Ever After

I awoke all
vim and vigor,
the day would
be full of fun!

I’d run
away to the mountains,
and devil may care I’d be;
heck the way I was feeling,
I could drive from
sea to sea!

Alas, a few hours in,
before I even started,
my vim
began to dim,
and my vigor was
long departed.

I then succumbed
to the sofa, with
my dog, and
waning vim;
Before long
all was silent,
but for
our symphony
of snoring hmmms.

Awake again,
I found it too late,
to run away
to the mountains,
much less from
sea to sea!

Instead I found,
a day of quiet:
sunshine on a
a simple walk,
a book of hope
and laughter,
I wrote a poem,
and gave thanks
in prayer,
for my happier
day ever after.

©D. Elaine Wood-Lane
1/28/15

MILO

I want the whole world to know I am now a Grandmama!!

Milo was born yesterday afternoon, 1/24/15, at 4:04 in the afternoon in Aurora, IL. He weighed 7 pounds and 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. Mama, Papa, and baby are all doing well, although little Milo did put his mother through a long and arduous labor.

Grandmama Lane, who had anxiously been “nesting” at home and awaiting news of progress of the labor and delivery yesterday, had this to say when she finally received the call that her grandson had been born, “Oh! It’s a boy!! Is he ok? Is Erin ok? I’m SO excited!” and then proceeded to do the happy dance right in the middle of the living room floor and in front of God and everybody. Grandpapa Lane was quoted as saying, “So it’s a boy! Are Erin and the baby both doing well? Oh, good grief, Dee, quit that!! You’re going to hurt yourself!!” Needless to say, Grandmama and Grandpapa Lane are very proud of the new addition to the family!

Of course, being the sentimental poet that I am, had to write a poem after I slept long through the night to recover from my happy dancing.

MILO

Milo,
one new little human.
Another branch on
a large family tree
that has been battered,
riven, grafted, and
survived to put on
new branches and
leaves of love.

Milo,
a four letter word
attached to a precious,
new little boy
who made me a
grandmother.

Milo,
a new sweet,
tender spot of love
that instantly grew
in my heart forever.

Milo,
a little boy who
I hope will call me,
“Grandmama,”
in that sweet little
boy way that
melts hearts.

Milo,
a new son who
gave my son a
completely new
gentle, mature, proud,
tone of voice instantly.

Milo,
I can’t wait to
meet you and
hold your little
body in the same
arms I held your
dad in when he
was brand new too.

Milo,
a name that will
always equal
LOVE to
all of us.

Milo,
we thank God
for the blessing
of you.

Sunday Sunrise

The leafless trees across the way,
are stark abstracts against the
dawn of day.

The little squirrel who slumbers
in a crook amidst the limbs,
awakes exactly when
the sun ray’s fingers
gently fall upon him.

He stretches and he runs a bit,
back and forth along the limb.
Who knew that squirrels
were joggers too,
who run each dawning
of the day?

There are few birds to herald
the rising of the sun,
the morning has a muted silence,
as Sunday is begun.

It’s the perfect time for prayer,
or meditation if you wish,
a time to thank the Father
for sunrises such as this,
a time to sip one some coffee
and enjoy the sun’s first kiss.

Fibromyalgia Jiggity Jig

I slept,
I read,
I vacuumed
the house.

Now this gal
feels as weak as a mouse!

My limbs are
all shaking.
My face is
quite pale.

It’s a little like
after,
running a
mountain side
trail.

I was always
quite strong,
though not very big.
I could work
round the clock,
I could dance,
I could JIG!

I don’t like
fibromyalgia,
oh, no I do not!
It makes me feel old
and not very “hot.”

But one thing I’ve learned,
through this thing
that I’ve got,
is strength of body
doesn’t matter,
oh no it
does not!

If you love and
are loved by God
up above,
if you have a
strong spirit,
and never give up,
you can still have
great joy,
and inside your dreams,
you can still run up
mountains and
jiggity jig!