We have been here before

At a funeral home on a cold week day night

Yes, yes he’s a good friend of ours, so is his wife

But at 66 it had to be

He is not with us anymore

The end for so long seemed so far away

No thought was given to it

The whole scene

Distraught family and friends

Seeking answers when there are none

Our understanding of death still cloaked

In the mystery of life itself

Not much more to say

FXC 2/24/18

Skittering
Across my shoes
As I walk
Wrinkled and crinkled
Weightless brown leaves
Seemingly so full of life
Blowing so quickly
As to be out of view
Wisked by the wind
Makes me happy to walk
Greeting the deepest part of fall
The leaves define this moment
But what of the spring of their life
Waving valiantly in the sky
Hanging out of reach so high
Like a child’s crayon box
The seasons are etched
In your ever changing colors
Like a kite in spring
To a hang glider
Destined to land
Your life, you share
And then die
To dance in the street
Thank you
My ever humble friend

FXC

12/19/17

Didn’t wear my hearing aid
Nor my glasses
To attend a 50 year high school reunion
Not really too bright
As I tightly squeezed my eyes
To read the scribbled name tag
On the fellow accross from me
Now practiccally boring into his chest
Quite sure his wife standing nearby
Was hoping this was not one of her husbabds friends
Not once once, twice but at leasr three times
I pushed my face forward to read the name
No longer did I care
How obviuous my ignorance was
I needed to know this man’s name
And then finallh I had it, BRIAN POWERS
Yeah, yeah, Brian Powers
Why didnt the bells go off
The lights turn on
In a very old mind
That has been slipping into disaray
Stepping back, trying to test
Decrepit memory banks
Cobwebs covering
The faces of classmates
Hmm Brian Powers
Slowly a very faint light
Shown on another classmate
Previously met
Ah, oh so slowly
The two fellows agakn were
Linked in my mond
Ah yes Brian Powers as if
Feom behind the green foor appeared
50 years, Brian Powers again
But oh what a night then
Storytelling and sweet, such sweet
Rememberences
As I again relived our childhood and
Learned a bit of the past years
Oh Dear Lord thank you
For this night
In which Brian Powers and I
Again shared our lives

FXC 10/23/2017

Golly,
What happened
It seems as if we were minding our own business
Trying to help others when we could
Enjoying our children and grandchildren
Like most, we had up and down times
Never really thought about US
How we would fare with Father time
But here we are now
Sometimes showing up in hospital garb
Other times a visiting nurse arrives
Maybe more of a limp or a new wrinkle
Slower yes we are much slower
But it seems as if your face is just the same
So soft and inviting
Can’t stop wanting to just hold you
Father Time might be counting the sand crystals
But our time will always be now
I love you.

fxc 10/8/17

There you go down the hall on your knees
Following baby face’
Today it is ‘baby face’
Yesterday it was ‘little girl’
Long time ago it was ‘big boy’
You might need the other knee
Replaced at the rate you are going
You have never really been
Able to sit down
Reflect, meditate
Seemingly watching a good TV show
Or sewing or working in the garden
Provide your solace
While teaching you were gone 9-4
So limiting
Now your mind searches for the next
Creative endeavor
Holding a baby,
Sewing for a baby,
Introducing baby to their new world
But all of this at a price
3 PM finally arrives
Baby goes home
Grandma sitting, staring
Hair mussed, eyes glazed
Her life poured
Shared with the
New Life
Truly so giving

FXC 4/29/17

What do you mean
I’m lying
I’m telling you the truth!
What? Just because I say it doesn’t make it
The Truth
What?
You think there are two truths about the same thing
Is that even possible?
I wouldn’t lie.
Mom said never tell a lie
A world with two truths
Would be a parallel universe
So what?
One of the truths are ‘alternate facts?
Truths can be perceived
Differently by a different set of eyes
Or ears
I’m afraid this dichotomy
You refer to
Will not work
If there is no agreed upon truth
We become aliens to each other
So sad that our world
Might well be a hologram
But the TRUTH be told
You are part of the Dark Side
As truth, Universal Truth
Is anathema to the Dark Side.

FXC 4/29/17

Hmmm, Hmm slowly, very slowly examining
The different rooms
In my house
For their content and organization
There seems to be a priority
To the organization
Certainly in some of the rooms
Towels in a closet
Lots and lots of towels
Some for beaches, some for baths
Various, many various colors
Stacked high with out regard to their safety
Occasionally toppling on to the floor
Near a door that now will not close
Mental note
Rip every towel out of that closet
And out the door
But hey, hey what makes you think
This is an opportunity
For you to ‘clean house’
Now, hmm, hmm
The Lady of the house
In a moment of poor judgement
Or not understanding
That she has put her
Accumulation
In harms way
Has gone to visit her Mother
It is really just too much for me
Temptations come and go all the time
But not the type that you walk by
EVERYDAY
Now though discretion is mandated
Reorganization incognito!

FXC 4/13/17

So much purpose and drive
Fueling youth
Goals to be accomplished
Joys to be held high
Sorrows borne
Never really looking up
Never thought eternity
Had an end
Or at least mine didn’t seem to
Ah and it has been good, sweet
But sad and hard
Somedays barely able to understand
Why?
Other days
It didn’t matter
But today the mirror won’t
Let me look away
The price of life
Has taken its toll
The Grim Reaper marches
Ever closer
No longer my choice
As if it had ever been
To embrace the end
As I did the beginning.

FXC. 4/12/17

Hmmm! So confused, I am so confused
56 years! I have known you for fifty six years
But I have not seen you for fifty years
Surely you have been close enough to touch
In that time
A phone call, surely a phone call
Would have reached you
Sometimes I would see your name
On Facebook
Or another friend would mention your name
And yet I did not reach out
Hard to explain then
This need I have to learn about you
To make sure you are okay
To hear about your life
During the last 50 years
Too difficult
To recapture 50 years
So sad I have not reached out
But you did
And I love you so much more
That you have brought be back
Another unfinished chapter
In my life
Can continue to be written
Regrets of course
But regrets have no value
So I timidly begin
The journey of
Rediscovering you
Oh Lord, I am so grateful
For this chance.

FXC 3/4/17

To my dismay
I forgot I
Might not always be
Your cup of tea
That what started
In a frenzy
Might now be a fizzle
My role as the male
Has been a little simpler
And more selfish
Women so often
Do more, love more, give more
The fire from their soul
Moulds the truth of a
Relationship
In time I would be caught
For who I was
An interloper
Wanting to give my all
But oh so inadequate to do so
The fire that was needed
To raise children, provide income
Is now embers
The sparks I thought would
Warm our later years
Are just a glowing memory
Regrets lay heavily on me now
Once more I beg you
Blow the fire anew
I love you.

FXC 11/11/16