Across my universe…for Brooke

She was here

Time stamp six days gone by

Friend unknown

And she’s gone….

I listen to the music that touches my soul

And her voice is heard here,

Bringing me a senseless joy for connection,

And I don’t know why

But reasons and purposes

And she’s here still

Smiling that wicked smile I see on her page….

That I at heart wished I too could possess 

And really, I could easily say

It doesn’t matter but for so many it does,

She has a name

She had a life

And she’s gone…..

He asks me why I’m so vibrant tonight,

Listening to the lifeblood,

Music that touches me

But I know that it is what makes me feel alive

When others are gone.

And I grasp onto those pieces,

The rhythm, the words,

The beat that makes me feel alive

For she was too young

And I’m still here

Not that there’s a trade off

But I think of her

The girl I never knew,

Six days a friend and she’s still here in my mind,

Living her life that some might not understand,

And everybody loves,

And everybody cries for what would have been

And I’m just plain old sad

Trying to gain control of these feelings,

Wondering if we would have laughed together

Instead of being left tonight with what could have been and songs

That inspire sadness and tears,

Because when nut come to bolts

We all have our lives to live

To, crap, at a loss for the right words,

To live while the living is there

Because we never truly know

At the close of a perhaps perfect moment,

It’s all gone,

Over in a flash,

She was my friend for six days

A girl woman I will never truly know,

But blessed that she saw something that made her reach out to say, hey…

Want to be friends?

I want to know her more,

And it’s too late now,

But perhaps she cycled in when needed as a reminder,

That we’re all connected in more ways than we will ever know,

And I embrace the friend I wish a had known.

I’m having a good day, when I should be having a quite bad one, a girl who friended me on FB died two days ago and I feel bad for never having had the chance to get to know and appreciate the girl and woman she was. Wife, mother, and happy soul in general from what I could see….the world was a  much brighter place without her smile….listening to across the universe and wondering why things happen, people coming and going out of our lives….no rhyme or reason….”the wind just pushed me this way” as Robbie says so nicely…somewhere down the crazy River…..feeling like crying and embracing it…yeah, feels right…..peace Brooke Smith, peace….I will share a laugh someday on the other side….peace, baby, peace….

Silver dollar memories

Scent of yesterday fills my mind
sweet anticipation as the sun begins to rise,
silver dollar pancakes on a platter
built by loving hands just for me
and the bacon sits beside,
crisp, the way I like.
Fresh squeezed juice in tiny glasses
not like today’s large equivalent,
for she knew that a full belly went farther
and sugar made one wider
“but eat hearty my girl” she’d say with a smile,
“and then go outside and play awhile”
and I’d fill my plate with the golden cakes
and two pieces of bacon for protein I’d take
and lacing my sneakers I’d run through the door
for outside adventures that lasted till lunch
and then back out again
playing games until dusk.
There weren’t any phrases that are different then now,
except encouragement to be “outside playing” or go read for awhile,
for life has become boxes of sound
and gadgets that busy the mind while it dies
and silver dollar pancakes,
haven’t seen those in years
when her recipe along with her passed
and bacon these days comes sparingly
but now I can say
as I grow older and grey
how I miss those simple days and her loving smile
when we would sit and together read awhile,
and she would tuck me in as I fell gently away
into dreams of adventures of tomorrow
and today.
These days the sun beckons and I walk each morning as it wakes,
breathing in the air, the flowers that bloom
and I may not “play” like back in the day
but each night I lay down exhausted and calm
sleeping soundly and dreaming
perhaps of silver dollar memories
and long ago faces
in familiar home places
and wake with a smile in my heart.

And now for our prompt (optional, as always)! Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that incorporates “the sound of home.” Think back to your childhood, and the figures of speech and particular ways of talking that the people around you used, and which you may not hear anymore.