Sunburst

Back when I worked at Deck-it, Dad and I were able to spend a lot of our days together. That time was what I call the beginning of building our "real" relationship. It's hard for me not to have remorse and regrets for how I treated him at times when I was younger. I don't believe he deserved it. But, I am so grateful for my change of heart over the years and that is what I try to hold on to. All I have now and have had for a long time, is love.

I remember one day at Deck-It, Dad told me about a dream that he had about him and I. He said that there was a brick wall between us and that I purposefully knocked it down while driving full speed backwards. I wish I could give him a hug and tell him that we did it together.

Do you remember that big, beautiful Sunburst Locust tree he planted in front of the cabin at the old house? That tree has always reminded me of him.
I wrote this for you Dad...

Long ago you had a dream.

There was a wall between us,

I broke it down.

But, it wasn't me alone,

We broke it down together.

***

A golden sunburst bloomed,

And now a giant Locust tree breathes in its place.

Splashes of yellow gold and green sway back and forth like glitter above me,

And warm my broken heart.

Only sweetness,

Only love is left to feel.

Dad, did you know,

Did you know you are my sunburst?

Did you know that you were always enough? 

I love you Dad, and miss you already.

Love, Annie

MORNING

Good morning, now it is day.

Now we can play!

Hear birds chirping,

Hear bowls clinking.

You're with your family.

by Deacon

Hello sunshine.

It is good to see you.

You bring smiles,

To peoples faces,

Because they are seeing the ones they love once again.

by Kandus

Bowls clinking,

The click clack of Jack's nails,

Birds singing,

Lawn mowers mowing,

Today is a new day.

by Lucy

A Brown Eyed Susan Daisy

To my mother: who loves brown eyed susan daisies.

I am running on tiptoes through fields of brown eyed susan daisies; laughing, twirling, and dancing.

With my arms outstretched, I easily brush each one with my fingertips and feel the softness of their petals.

Reaching up to my waist, they are strong and tall;
warm golden yellow like the glowing sun, they remind me.

With a center, round and dark, brown like the color of your eyes.

Suddenly I STOP.

All is completely still, but the whispering of the grass and the flowers in the wind.

I turn my head and happily gaze at what is all around me...

All I can see is you,
and ten thousand of your beautiful brown eyes, smiling back at me. 

Love,
your Anna Panda Pooper

Drawing by Little Lady

Carl's Words of Wisdom

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides. – Carl Sagan

A Witchy Poem

In the dim of the night,

And in the brightness of the moon.

On the 31st of October,

At the foggy lagoon.

Lurked a craggy old creature,

Looked dead, but was not.

Eyes a red inferno,

Skin pasty, flecked with spots.

Her hair long in dreadlocks,

Ebony black, down to her toes.

A considerable hairy wart,

Placed on the end of her nose.

In one hand she packed,

A frisky old cat.

In the other, a broomstick,

Which now they both sat.

The witch, devilishly chuckled,

Puckered her lips as she blew.

Kicked her pointy black shoes,

And up, up, they both flew!
By: Annie

LULLABY

Have you ever heard the song of a whale? Sometimes the sounds can be haunting, hypnotic, or even eerie; I believe only because they are foreign to us. Most times though, I get chills all up and down my spine and I experience the most serene calmness; it almost brings me to tears. I wonder what they know, that we as humans don't?
***
Another life form.
Innocent, pure, exalted.

Strange unfamiliar sounds, never before comprehended.

Smooth audible vibrations lull me to another place where the world is different.

I step out of my realm and enter theirs.
Steady tranquility...

I feel light.

Floating...gazing upward.

Glimmering sunshine breaks through the crystal blue like splashes of yellow fire.

Sunlight penetrates my eyes, comforting my existence beyond anything I've known.
I dive deeper and deeper toward the dimness and the sound that draws me in.
Towards a language only my subconscious understands.

Soft echoes pass through my body, reaching to the end of time and space as I know it.

Like an ethereal lullaby.
Then I see them.
Immense figures in perfect calmness...

Poem by Annie, picture by Deacon.

Reality

The end...

How can I find peace with that dispute?
Finding certainty in faith, I disbelieve; 
Inevitability and ignorance, misguided.

With this human intellect, I am aware.
Feelings overrule my carefree mind; 
Love carries me away.

Abandon all logic or surrender to reasoning?

With facts, I embrace this life; 
In consciousness, cradle our love.
You are my reason; 
My reality. 

Seeing

Again I am falling.

Just like yesterday.

And everyday.

Bound inside the chaos of my own mind.

A mind broken into believing.

A future poisoned by greed and fear.

Can't you see what I see?....

It's not for me, I don't choose this.

I'm so afraid....

In the darkness I am alone.

****

Colors brush past my face like a whisper.

Then came the warmth and the light.

It's you...I can see you now.

I know you brought the colors.

What do they mean?

Have you been afraid like me?

You're smiling now...

Wait, I just saw you SEE me.

You said, "Can you see what I see?"

........THE COLORS......

How did I not realize?

I can see.

I am flying.

I am free.

by Annie

(Deac's eye)

Sip It Slowly

Fading.

The door opens,

I cross over.

At first nothing,

Then everything.

The warm humidity of life smells like...

Dirt and flowers,

Fruit and fire.

Beating down deaths door.

Sip it slowly,

Deeply.

Awaken,

To clarity.

Live...AGAIN!

by Damon

Drawings from top to bottom and left to right, by Lucy, Kandus, Annie.
***
We(Annie and I) have a new idea. We each write something and draw or take a picture of something and give it to the other. We match the picture with some literature and the literature with a picture. Then bring them together to see what we created together. We are hoping the kids will be interested in participating as well. It will be a fun family experiment.

Winter Rhyme and A Christmas Card

Winter

White, frosty, twirling, whirling,

All around me in the sky, I see a flurry.

I catch a snowflake in my hand,

And then another and another, they softly land.

In my eyelashes, on my nose,

From the tip of my hat down to my toes.

Together we make a man made of snow,

Complete with rocks for eyes and a carrot for a nose. 

Laughing together, what a day it has been,

Until tomorrow, when we do it all over again.

by Annie