Tony Beckwith
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Collarbone Blues

6/5/2019

 
 
Tripped and stumbled
Landed on my head
Broke my favorite collarbone
so here I am in bed
                                               
Time drifts along
in a blur of days
Pain meds keep me
in a permanent haze
What am I doing here?
What was your name?
Tuesdays and Saturdays
all look the same
Take another x-ray
Pop another pill
Thank God for Medicare
Send them the bill
                                               
Hope it doesn’t take too long
to mend my wounded wing
Everything’s a challenge
with my good arm in a sling

High School Reunion Trilogy

6/5/2019

 
OMG!!
 
Oh my God!!
Can this be true??
After all these years
is it really you??
You’re looking great, I must admit,
I swear you haven’t changed a bit!!
 
Get together?  
I’d love to, very much!
Yes, yes, let’s do that,
we must stay in touch!
 
It’s so good to see you!
We go back so far!
(If only I could remember who you are!)
 
 
 
Confession
 
We call it a crush
but I loved you deeply then
in the only way I knew how:
Shyly
From a distance
In my mind
 
You were neither cruel nor kind
but you looked right through me in the hall
You didn’t really see me at all
While I had eyes for you alone
 
If only you’d known!
 
 
Why?
 
If you and I
are grapes from the very same vine,
why are some of your memories
of the times we shared
so different from mine?

What Would I Do?

1/19/2019

 

What would I do
if I weren't doing
what I do
when I'm doing what I do?

If I weren't doing
what I do
when I'm doing it
I guess I'd be doing something new

Maybe I could learn
how to do something different
I could do 
without further ado

But what I could do
instead of doing what I'm doing
I confess I haven't a clue

So I think I'll keep doing
what I've always been doing
which is doing
what I'm doing
when I do


New Year's Eve 2018

12/31/2018

 


Out with the old
In with the new
Surely some purging
is long overdue

Habits and attitudes
up for review
Some of them ripe
for a final adieu

So much to question
but one thing is true
No matter what happens
I'll hang on to you

tony beckwith 2018

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
<<Previous
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    Index

    All
    007
    2017
    A Birthday
    A Brick In The Wall
    Absent Friends
    A Change Of Plans
    A Hundred Years Of Fulvio
    A Moment In Time
    A Moment Of Silence
    An Admiral's Fleet
    An Election Reflection
    A New Way Of Giving
    An Ordinary Man
    A Nursery Rhyme For Naia
    A PC Christmas
    A Question Of Age
    Ask Me Why
    At Last!
    At The Beach
    At The Museum
    Autobio-poema
    A Windy Day
    Be Kind
    Bird In A Cage
    Birthday Review
    Breathing Out And In
    Brigitte Bardot
    Cause And Effect
    Chau Donald
    Chicago
    Christmas Poem
    Civil Discourse
    CollarBone Blues
    Common Sense
    Cousins
    Dear Elaine
    Dear Father Christmas
    December In San Miguel
    Donald
    Do Not Disturb
    Edwin's Santa Hat
    Elaine
    Email Attachments
    Empires
    Exit Strategy
    Fall/winter
    Family
    Fare Thee Well
    For A Sad Friend
    For Jack
    Fulvio!
    Generation Gap
    Geoffrey Edbrooke RIP
    Going With The Flow
    Happy Birthday
    Happy Gruyere
    Happy New Year 2015
    Happy New Year 2019
    Happy Valentine's Day
    Hard Choices
    Hawaiian Rain
    High School Reunion Trilogy
    Hold On Snoopy
    Home
    Honestly Who Knows
    I Couldn't Get By Without You
    If This Were A Movie
    In A Raindrop
    In Memory Of John Haack
    In The Limbo Zone
    In Your Shoes
    I Reach Into The Pool
    It All Starts With Letters
    I Think Of You
    Kids
    La Tristeza De Naia
    Light And Shadows
    Like A Foreign Film
    Looking At Older Relatives
    Lullaby
    Mad Broccoli Disease
    Make Soup
    Mardie's Farewell
    María!
    Mary Hobart
    Me Acuerdo
    Mendoza
    Midsummer Dream
    Morning Noon And Night
    Mozart
    Multitasking
    Mums The Word
    Music
    My Candle
    My Day Is Done
    My Email Address Book
    My Fallen Heroes
    My Family Tree
    My Favorites
    My School Reunion
    My Train Of Thought
    My Wildest Dreams
    Nameless Dread
    New Orleans
    New Year 2020
    New Year's Eve
    New Years Eve 2013
    New Year's Eve 2018
    New Year's Resolution
    Next Time
    Northern Winter
    No Strings Attached
    No Time
    Obama And The Queen
    Ode To The Road
    Old Friends
    On A Pendulum
    On A Sidewalk Jostling
    Once Upon A Time
    One Thing Leads To Another
    Only Just Begun
    Our New President
    Panama Hat
    Partly Cloudy Skies
    Pink Flamingos
    Please And Thank You
    Pockets / Bolsillos
    Poverty
    Rich
    Road Trip To Mexico
    Ros Campbell
    Rosendo
    Santa Claus
    Seasons Come And Seasons Go
    Silver Linings
    Some Like To Complain
    Something On Your Mind
    Song Of Santa's Reindeer
    Sorry
    Sports Day
    Sunflowers In My Room
    Teachers
    Tell Me A Story
    Thanksgiving 2006
    Thanksgiving 2009
    Thanksgiving 2014
    Thanksgiving 2015
    Thanksgiving 2016
    Thanksgiving 2017
    Thanksgiving 2018
    Thanksgiving 2019
    Thanksgiving In The Time Of Covid
    The Age Of Communication
    The Alley
    The All-You-Can-Stomach Buffet
    The Andes
    The Annual Checkup
    The Crack Of Dawn
    The Dance
    The Earth Is Round
    The Fourth Of July
    The Glacier And The Shooting Star
    The Good Green Earth
    The Immigration Issue
    The Lottery Ticket
    The Manger
    The Meltdown
    The Morning Paper
    The Newly Enlightened
    The Ocean Never Sleeps
    The Perks Of The Office
    The Rain
    The Sands Of Time
    The Spark Of Happiness
    The Squirrel
    The Sugar Plum Fairy
    The War On Poverty
    The Wedding Of Garrett And Laura
    Tonio
    Tony's Law Of Levity
    Too Much Stuff
    Torch Lake
    Turn Back The Clock
    Twenty-Two Valentines
    Un Alfajor Argentino
    Unplugged
    Un Yo-yo Uruguayo
    Up There
    Valentine's Day
    Valentine Video
    Viral Videos
    Weh-Weh And The Children
    What Am I Missing?
    What Are You Doing?
    What Fruit Can Grow?
    What If ?
    What Is Love?
    What's The Hurry?
    What Will I Have Planted?
    When You And I Were Young
    Whimsy
    Who Is Truly Spared
    World Cup 2010
    You Never
    You Never Can Tell
    Young And Pretty

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