To Elizabeth Joy White - 7 pounds, 3 ounces, Dec 26, 2009

Elizabeth Joy, a beautiful name

E.J. White, an author? a poet on her way to fame?

Consecrated by God, a comfort in pain

Bringer of sunshine to a world of rain.

Born early this morning to Heidi and Joe. Mother, Daughter and Dad doing fine. Grandparents ecstatic.

Flight North

Its warmer above the blanket,

That cottony cover that shrouds the

Still sleepy coastline, over which I fly.

Below it, dawn’s breaking remains unknown,

It’s signal flare not seen.

But we have sliced a tear,

Shown it to be nothing as we rise toward the

Automatic cheer of the day’s beginning.

And now, as we leapfrog the blue-haired chain of

Seven Sisters, who stretch and reach for the

Reality above, I watch their timeless peaks pierce the shade,

Their craters catching the first amber rays,

Surrounding cinder cones appear as

Innocent dimples on the smiling face of a

Rested Earth.

Leaving hurts, but

This helps.

RWW 2009

When I am Gone

When I am gone

It is as if drought has struck

The creamy Buttercups that once blanketed the

Rolling contours of a

Softened soul

Give way to endless prairie

With only sage to pluck

A sad bouquet

Un-given

Each journey exacts a

Nameless toll

There’s life in the thirsty plain

Its true

But coming home to you

Is the hope of rain