Tag Archives: Birthday

Birthday Crumbs

Six decades of following crumb trails
left by birthday cakes across the years.
Candles stand in the corner waiting 
to be lit and then to be blown out.
The flames of the years gather
into one light found deep in my heart.
There are memories too painful
leaving me unable to stand on my own.
There are joys so colorful leading me
to fall down upon my knees in wonder.
I have spent time praying for God's will
to be done on earth as it is in heaven
only to find myself lost not knowing
what to do when one choice matters most.
And my prayers have been answered
by some cryptic deity in the sky deigning
to have some control over the passing of time.
I have eaten more than crumbs in my life.

A Birthday Present

It's not like I need to begin again.
So many years have already passed,
full of burdens and bursts of possibilities.
I should applaud myself for no longer
falling into the trap of substituting
new illusions for the abandoned ones.
And, yes, there remains a sublime madness in the soul.
In this birthday season of ice and cold
when the wind blows with an edge,
the amaryllis blooms, sending color
to the outermost rim of consciousness.
Now, I am more and more sure of grace.
I have watched those most close to me fall
and then get up to brush off debris from their knees.
Some have chosen to sit for a while
and I often think, Should I have joined them?
Is the rim too fragile to hold both of us?
But, there I go again, something I have done
throughout my time alive, asking the questions
which envision some sort of answer that ties
a birthday present up with a bow.