Magazine Posts

Sunny Day
Daffodils are gone
Tulips aren't

Curiosity, can be your friend.
Ask the questions; again and again,
Until the truth comes to the fore,
Then ask again, for answers more.

Once again, I am in a rut.
Can't get passed, the and but.
I may be trying too hard this time.
To make the end of the sentence rhyme.
Not wishing to bore you with this mélange,
I hope that soon you will read the prose,
That I try to bring to a close,
As you, of all readers, might have chose.

Patience, you are my friend.
Without patience, I would amend
My ability to stay in control
And not respond, at least not to all.
For trying my patience; what I see,
You know not what you do to me.

I feel myself, hurrying all about,
Wanting to talk, yell or shout,
About how unfair life can be.
Then I look and I see you.
My role is to make your life better.
That is what I try to do, for you.

He stands with hand to his chest.
At one time, he was this Nation's best.
There, with his clothes all a tatter,
People drive by and it doesn't matter.
He will ask for money for financial aid,
While embarrassed, but he is unafraid.
He served his country, far across the sea,
Now he is here with a diagnosis of PTSD.

We lived in Moscow, Idaho, for a short while
And I liked to go fishing, when I had time.
Not too far East, was a stream, just for me.
On this particular day, I did go,
To wet my line and catch some fish.
I'd fished for awhile, was up on a log,
With my fishing pole, in my hand, when
I spied a movement, a little down stream.
A Black Bear, Mother, with her cub
Was approaching my perch.
The moment was quiet, and very serene.
She hadn't noticed me as I was upwind.
I'm not sure, what went through my head,
But without thinking, I made a "Woof" sound.
The Bear stood up looking around for the noise
And my reaction was to look like a tree.
I didn't move or make a sound,
For a long while and the Bear and cub
Disappeared into the thicket.
I finally realized, what a fool I had been.
I moved slowly. Made my way to
The car and thanked God
That I had dodged trouble that I had created.

The Moon is full. The sky is alive,
With that bluish tint, that tries to strive,
To fill our craziest dreams. What is there
About a beautiful view, in the night air,
That brings joy to the children everywhere?
I wish I knew and someday we might,
Bring happiness and joy to all that night.

One again I am in the trees,
The snow here is up to my knees.
Our Jeep is high centered, you see
And our answer is to use a "Come along"
Winch, that requires a tree or a stump.
Slowly we move, one click at a time,
Pulling the Jeep over the snow hump.
Next stop, is a lineman's shack,
Which will provide shelter and warmth.
In the morning we rise early,
As we must find those elusive Elk,
Out in the woods we do ramble.
Quickly we are in this very big thicket
Of small trunked trees,
When I hear the noise, like that of a train.
A herd of Elk have decided to move,
Through these same trees.
Did we see them? No but hear them we did.
Another failed hunt, on this Winter day,
No meat tonight, as they got away.

In this hate filled World,
That we live in.
Is offset with a kindness,
That comes from within.
The act of caring for
A stray dog or cat,
Tells me of the love
For animals,
Is where it's at.

South Pacific, aboard ship, underway, at Twilight.
Our ship knifes through the choppy Sea.
An iridescent glow appears now along the Hull
As it slices through the water.
Flying Fish, appear alongside the ship.
On a good trip, Bottle Nose Dolphins, appear,
Racing with our Destroyer Escort.
It's hot and muggy. Staying topside,
Is cooler than being below, in our quarters.
I have Evening Watch, 2100 hours to Mid.
We are dressed in dungarees, rolled to our knees,
With a faded, Chambray shirts.
Up the ladder to C.I.C, (combat information center),
To sit in front of a RADAR scope
On the look out for other ships.
If we see a contact, we take a reading and range,
And another member, will plot the time and bearing,
On white paper that is atop of a DRT (dead reckoning tracer).
The DRT moves on the course direction of our ship.
We report course, bearing and time every 5 or 10 minutes,
Depending on the distance from our ship.
We have been trained that if the bearing of the contact,
Remains constant, then we are on a collision course,
At some future time. We alert the bridge,
Who will make a minor course correct to avoid a collision.
The next watch has now arrived, we enter information
In our Log.
Leaving. It's down the ladder to the Boat Deck; Down another ladder
To the main deck, then down another ladder to our quarters
Which is located next to the laundry. Thankfully they're not working.
Up on my hammock I go to try to sleep as Revellie is early
And roll call is at 0800 hours.

Dociwallips, is a very nice place,
We would visit every year, on the first of May.
Staying at the campgrounds or in Brinnon.
Party at night, the next day Oysters and Clams.
Gather the Oysters, shuck and leave the shells, please.
Go down in the morning, to get a limit
Of Oysters and then look for Gooey Duck.
If you got one, proud you would be.
Once time I saw the right "sign"
And then with a planned design,
I started to dig, as casual as I could,
For I didn't want the "Duck" think he should,
Dig deeper, or pull in its neck.
As I dug closer, down on my knees,
I grabbed the shell, if you please.
Holding and wiggling, my grip kind of thin,
When I realized that the tide was coming in.
I grasped tighter and then came a fear,
The water was now up to my ear.
I wriggled some more, my wife said, "Let go".
And I told her that, I won't. NO!
Finally the big clam broke free.
I could now say, look at me.