32. Of Human Herds

It's not a proud moment
I watch and wince
A human herd
A shopping stampede
Pushing 
Shoving
Stretching 
Grasping 
Arms brimming with toys
A sea of ecstatic faces beaming with joys
It's Black Friday
And what a dark day it is
The pride of creation
Deformed by a consumer mutation
Enslaved by a shopping addiction
It's not a proud moment
But remember this
There is a Good Friday, too

31. Memory Man

At a time of desperate need
I reached out to the memory of a man
Who made me feel special
Not because of what I knew or could do
But because of who I was
His grandson
Who could be anybody and do anything
I believed him too
Until the day of losses when life said otherwise
For weeks and months the losses mounted
Then one day I found his ring
Resting on a shelf in a family memory cabinet
Waiting to remind me
I was still special
Not for what I knew or could do
But for who I was
His grandson
Now a grandfather
But not one like him
I was too busy doing
To play with my grandchildren
A grandfather who joked he was a human doing
Not a human being
It was no joke
I heeded his call from the grave
And started wearing his ring
A constant reminder
That his gift to me
Was also a gift for my grandchildren
It's been six years since the day of losses
When I started wearing his ring
I believe again I can be anybody and do anything
Most of all a loving grandfather
To each of my many grandchildren
The ring I no longer wear
I lost it the other day in a large green field
Playing and laughing with two of my youngest grandchildren
I searched to find it
But it had been reclaimed by my grandfather
His memory had finished the work he had begun
Now it was my turn
To be a grandfather to my grandchildren
Like the grandfather he was to me

30. Mysterious Maker

I didn't know what was in store
When I peeked through a crack in the poetry door
What I saw I'd only heard of before
A hiding mind grinding
Mining my experience for poetry verse
To make sense of my universe
As I watched it work
I couldn't help but wonder
Could it also be the mysterious maker
Of intuitions, dreams, hunches, gut feelings, The Gift and more
I think it's time to open the door

29. The Right Choice

I've come to believe
When faced with a choice
The right choice 
Is always to choose life
In all things big and small
If you support life
Life will support you