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Dave’s Christmas Ode to Wheat Bread

Dave — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:19:44 +0000

December 2002 – Attached to some loaves of homemade wheat bread we gave as post-Christmas presents.

The presents all opened.
The wrapping discarded.
Uncle George and Aunt Mabel
have long since departed.

The house is a mess.
Your memory a blur.
You can’t quite recall
just what has occurred.

But one thing is certain
as you look at your waist.
You didn’t hold back
from feeding your face.

You ate all the pies,
the cookies, the cakes.
‘Til your belly was full,
your appetite slaked.

Now your mind has been turned
to a brand new New Year.
And the promises you’ll make
once January is here.

Let this bread be a start.
A nice cleansing treat.
A delicious delight
of fresh whole ground wheat.

Poem – Stockings

Dave — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:18:25 +0000

Poem by Catherine Nielsen – December 11, 2003

Four neat stockings
all in a row
each bright and merry
with their own unique glow

On the first one, “Catherine”
stitched in loving hand,
sits above Santa
and his toys; a merry band.

“Wesley” is inscribed
on the second one with care
romping on his stocking,
a band of polar bears.

However, on the third one,
a more tender scene,
Santa feeding birds
under “Matthew” etched in green.

On the last one, “Jack”,
a pattern rather plain,
no tender hands have touched this yet
imagination still to claim.

Four neat stockings,
all in a row,
each bright and merry
with their own unique glow

Four neat stockings
have seen Christmas come very slow
they will stay until we break,
our own directions go.

Poem – The Beauty of a Rose

Dave — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:16:33 +0000

Poem by Catherine Nielsen – February 28, 2004

How can I compare
With the beauty of a rose?
Graceful young and bright
Striking a seductive pose

How can I compare
With the beauty of the sky?
Shooting stars and clouds
So beautiful they make me cry

How can I compare
With the beauty of a dove?
White, cooing, sweet
Singing of true love

How can I compare
With the beauty of Godâ€™s creations?
The answer is: I am one
Soaring with the constellations.

Parallels – A Poem for Grandma Bernice

Dave — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:11:56 +0000

Parallels – A poem written for Grandma Bernice by Catherine (Mother’s Day 2007)

I see you in nature

In the wisdom of the trees
In the vastness of the snow
Equaling your love and charity
The song of every bird
Is the music that you make,
The needles on every pine

Symbolize the care that you take.

I see you in rosy flowers
In the tender touch of their blooms

In the softness of their petals
Your voice never could fill a room.
The nectar of each flower
Is your honeyed love of life
The heady fragrance emanating from them
Is your passion as a sister, daughter and wife.

I see you in the ocean
In the subdued greatness of the sand
From the eternity of the waves
To the most fallible shell you hold in your hand.

The brightness of the sun
Is your intelligence and spark
The welcome of your arms
Is a lighthouse beacon that shines through the dark.

I see you in me
In the crookedness of our smile
In our love for the written word
Although we haven’t seen each other for a while.
Our flame for discovering
the unknown

Is the thread that binds us forever
Grandmother and granddaughter, more similar than we know
But we’ll keep learning as long as we’re together.