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Thanksgiving 2018

11/22/2018

Thanksgiving 2018

Thanksgiving gets here just in time
A few more weeks and I'd be out of my mind
I couldn't wait to be with you today
Wild wild horses couldn't keep me away

Some have traveled since we last met
by road and rail and jumbo jet
Some have tasted fine cuisines
and ridden home in limousines

Some have seen the future
in the writing on the wall
Some forgot that pride
will always come before a fall

We've all done so many things
Played the piano, sprouted wings
Teased the knots in tangled strings
Gazed at Saturn's golden rings

Some were blessed with children
bringing joy beyond belief
Some saw dust return to dust
and wrapped themselves in grief

Some survived a tightrope walk
and reached the other side
Some put their faith in fairy tales
and were taken for a ride

Each of us has changed a bit
although it may not show
The bonds that bind us tightly
keep expanding as we grow

Another year has slipped away
I'm grateful to be here today
On this, my favorite holiday

tony beckwith 2018

Absent Friends

8/26/2018

The wounds are deep
and sadness lingers
When special friends
slip through our fingers
like grains of sand that time begot
They once were with us
Now they’re not

How will I fill the empty hours
that now are mine but once were ours?
And what, pray tell, am I to do
with the me that I could be with you?

Where will I find the conversation
the banter and the stimulation?
I do have other friends, it’s true
but there is no one quite like you

Now diminished, life goes on
My days no longer halcyon
You want the truth? I won’t pretend:
It’s not the same without my friend

In Memory of John Haack

8/26/2018

Buenos Aires, April 3, 1942 – Málaga, July 18, 2018

Lower the flags
in memory of John
Now that our dear old John has gone

Come, gather up memories
yours and mine
Break out the glasses
and pour us some wine

Let’s have no tears
Well, perhaps just a few
And then let’s all do
what he’d want us to do

Challenge the bullshit
Sample the gin
Play devil’s advocate
with a shit-eating grin

Live to the limit
Laugh till you cry
Argue till daybreak
And keep asking why

If you believe in it
raise up your voice
Give all you have
in the coin of your choice

The flags may be lowered
Juanín may be gone
But his singular spirit,
undaunted, lives on

Geoffrey Edbrooke RIP

8/26/2018

Something tugged at Geoffrey’s sleeve
Time had come for him to leave
Tired of lonely
Tired of pain
Longed to join his fair Elaine
Wednesday morning brought release
Gentle Geoffrey, rest in peace

Birthday Review

8/26/2018

I’m not going to dwell on the gloomy bits
or the scary ones
or the sad
I’d rather remember my sun-drenched days
and all the fun I’ve had

I traveled the world when I was young
I’ve always been lucky like that
It opened my mind to astonishing things
that I’m still keeping under my hat

I’ve seen the sun go down in the west
and rise again in the east
I married a baker who saved my life
and every meal is a feast

Today is my birthday
(I should have explained)
so I’m delving around in the past
And I’ll say it again
(with my fingers crossed)
I’ve been lucky and long may it last

Thanksgiving 2017

8/26/2018

On this day reserved for gratitude
Under late November skies
As we honor our traditions
And feast on pumpkin pies

Let us celebrate the positive
The realm of hopes and dreams
Where even dismal darkest night
Is brighter than it seems

For though our journey may be fraught
With cruel calamity
The road is strewn with miracles
For those with eyes to see

Fare Thee Well

8/26/2018

We may not meet again like this
dear friends from long ago
So give me one last farewell kiss
before it’s time to go

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
from days of auld lang syne?
My heart says absolutely not
I’m not forgetting mine

Our paths may cross again one day
but only time will tell
So rather than good-bye let’s say:
Godspeed and fare thee well

(with thanks to Robert Burns)

When You and I Were Young

8/26/2018

Remember once upon a time
when you and I were young?
The world was simple and sublime
Our song as yet unsung

Our freedom seemed to know no bounds
Our limit was the sky
An air of magic still surrounds
our youth in Uruguay

We couldn’t wait to go outside
to woods or stream or beach
The day unfolding far and wide
was all within our reach

To think we barely noticed when
our summers slipped away
We took them all for granted then
I cherish them today

For Jack

8/26/2018

If you and I take off tonight
out of the window and out of sight
over the hill and far away
off on our own for a year and a day
what should we take to eat and drink?
and what will all the neighbors think?

Never mind, we’ll just explain
whenever we make it home again
that it was time for us to go
and shuffle off to buffalo
to visit scenes we’ve never seen
outside of a glossy magazine
to find a place of our very own
where we can play the saxophone
and have no need for keys or locks
and never wear our shoes and socks

So what do you say, are you ready to go?
Shall we hit the road and go with the flow?
Just leave a note that you’ll be back
and sign it Lots of love from Jack

2017

8/26/2018

The fireworks start at midnight
but nothing else is planned
The unfamiliar road ahead
is hard to understand

We may be bound for heaven
We may be going to hell
Or maybe somewhere in between
but only time will tell

The pundits are divided
The fortune tellers too
Though some insist that all is well
Some wonder if it’s true

We’re entering the great unknown
A place we’ve never been
Welcome to the future:
this is Twenty-Seventeen

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