Mon, 06 Jul 2026 01:41:16 -0700WeeblySun, 21 Jun 2026 15:27:26 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/my-early-eighties
I'm in my early eighties now 
Not trying to scale new heights 
I'm taking smaller steps these days 
I'm taking smaller bites 

I take a nap right after lunch 
It splits my day in two 
I'm not as busy as I was 
But still have things to do 

I'm comfortable with how I move 
My body sets the pace 
No longer in a hurry now 
No longer in the race 

My time is mine and all my days 
Begin and end with kisses 
This life has taught me many things 
And now I know what bliss is 


]]>Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:45:05 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/spring-rain
A spring rain is falling 
in the morning when I rise 
Drumming on the awning 
under melancholy skies 

Spattering the patio 
with a pitter-patter sound 
Life-restoring waters 
seeping deeply underground 

The green grass is gleaming 
in the soft grey light 
The flora adores it 
when it rains all night 

Wafting through the flowerbeds 
from a teeming rivulet 
Comes the aromatic fragrance  
of a garden soaking wet 


]]>Sun, 15 Mar 2026 21:24:15 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/pool-party
Once upon a warm winter's morning 
A party at the bird bath ensued 
When a flurry of birdies, some still yawning 
Arrived in a rambunctious mood 

Splashing, chirping, pluming, and preening 
In no time my heart they purloined 
Fluttering, flitting, trilling, and cleaning 
What I would give to have joined! 


]]>Sat, 17 Jan 2026 23:01:52 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/winter-night
The trees are bare, their boughs like bones 
Their leaves are at my feet 
The bleak midwinter's mournful moans 
Pervade the empty street 

The air is cold, the sky is clear 
The moon is going down 
The stars hang like a chandelier 
Above the sleeping town 

I am the only one around 
There's no one else in sight 
Just me, the neighbor on the ground 
The guardian of the night 


]]>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:26:42 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/2026
Another year's behind us 
Old twenty-twenty-five 
A new one now will find us 
Determined to survive 

Awash in retrospections 
Forgotten all too fast 
We face in two directions 
Till January has passed 

We've dealt with joy and sorrow 
With pleasure and with pain 
But history says tomorrow 
We'll meet them once again 

For life's an education 
That helps us realize 
It's not the destination 
The journey is the prize 


]]>Sun, 30 Nov 2025 16:05:40 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/thanksgiving-2025Poets tell us that life is a treasure 
If we're lucky it might be sublime 
I am grateful for love beyond measure 
And my place in the passage of time 

I am thankful for kindness and caring 
Simple gestures can make life worth living 
I am moved by the custom of sharing 
And the habit of generous giving 

I rejoice when the strongest are gentle 
And when wisdom is given its due 
Never mind if I sound sentimental 
I revere all that's noble and true 

I give thanks for the next generation 
Boys and girls who'll be here when I'm gone 
Though the future may cause trepidation 
They're the promise that life will go on ]]>Sat, 18 Oct 2025 22:26:06 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/blissful-silence
Blissful silence, you alone 
create my perfect comfort zone 
A refuge from the constant chatter 
of the world and all its clatter 

Give me the silence of the tombs 
before the din of crowded rooms 
I envy monks their quiet cells 
away from all those decibels 

Modern living's noisy ways 
are ubiquitous these days 
TV screens on every wall: 
Do we really need them all? 

There is no more soothing diet 
Than hours on end of peace and quiet 


]]>Sun, 14 Sep 2025 15:00:09 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/my-elders
One by one they slipped away 
Whittling down the generations 
After years of holding sway 
at our family celebrations 

Always there at every turn 
Nudging when I'd misbehave. 
Sadly, I would never learn 
the tales they carried to the grave 

Now those family tales are gone 
Vanished like a shooting star 
Whittling down the lexicon 
we use to picture who we are 

I wish I'd asked them, one by one, 
to tell me everything they'd done

]]>Thu, 21 Aug 2025 19:27:46 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/pocitos-beach-in-winterThe low grey sky cast a cold grey light 
on the coast where I lived in my teens 
The air in July had a wintry bite 
that froze my legs in my jeans 

The lonely beach was a perfect place 
to puff on a damp cigarette 
Where the onshore wind would sting my face 
and my shoes would be soaking wet 

The stormy sea was a fearsome force 
The shoreline flecked with foam 
I watched as the tempest ran its course 
then finished my smoke and went home  

]]>Sun, 15 Jun 2025 18:33:14 GMThttps://www.tonybeckwith.com/poet/please-and-thank-you

Please and Thank You, in my estimation 
Are essential pillars of civilization 

When I ask for something and I say please 
Metaphorically speaking I'm on bended knees 

When my wish is granted, it's my contention 
That a word of thanks is the right convention 

Not everyone, I suspect 
Sees this ritual as a mark of respect 

So if you have lemons you'd like me to squeeze 
I'll do it with pleasure if you'll only say please 

But if, when I do, you forget to say thank you 
I'll put you over my knee and spank you 


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