Worrywart

Worrywart, worrywart

When will you learn?

Worry does nothing

But lead to heartburn.

Worrywart, worrywart

Will you stop, I wonder?

Perhaps someday when

I’m six feet under.

I spent quite a chunk of the past 48 hours worried that my son and daughter-in-law hadn’t made it safely home from Guatemala. They’d stayed to hike one of the volcanoes, and instead of flying home to the U.S. on Sunday with the rest of the family, they had plans to fly out on Wednesday. 

The last message received was a Facebook post saying they were enjoying a final meal in Antigua on Tuesday night. Then nothing. So last night I began texting. Nothing. This morning I began calling. Nothing.

I have a vivid imagination. Women with vivid imaginations should never be left alone for too long. Here’s one of the many scenarios I imagined:

Following that final Facebook post my son was knocked senseless in trying to thwart a kidnapping attempt on his wife. The kidnappers had my daughter-in-law and had taken my son’s phone, identification, passport, and all of his money. When he awakened he had amnesia and was wandering around Antigua begging for spare change.  

I called the airline and learned that the couple had boarded their flight. Of course then I wondered if perhaps someone had stolen their passports and flown home in their stead. 

There was no rest for me until my daughter-in-law’s sister sent a message saying the couple had returned and were thoroughly buried under piles of makeup work.

Now my imagination is working on ways to torture my son for not getting in contact with me. Let’s see, thumb screws ought to do the trick.

This was the photo I could have shared with the authorities.

 

Daughter-in-law Liz with Fuego in the background.
 
Son Jason holding up thumbs for the torture device.

Peace, People

Ode to Bed

Oh my bed, you dearest place

You cradle me with skill and grace.

How sad I am to leave your charms

When my clock sounds strident alarms.

Please let me be with you all day

For sound asleep I’ll gladly stay.

Safely within your covers wrapped

I have the perfect day all mapped.

Sleep ’til noon, and then I’ll wake

To eat a bite for my health’s sake.

Then back to you for afternoon’s rest

Snuggled deep in blanket’s nest.

Awaken to read a chapter or four

When my eyes droop I’ll sleep some more.

By evening I’ll be fresh as a daisy

Having spent my day being oh so lazy.

Oh bed how sad that we must now part

Just know you’ve a special place in my heart.

  

Peace, People.



Birds of Antigua Haiku

Is it possible

That the birds of Antigua 

Speak fluent Spanish?

Their songs hold a hint:

Trilling softly rolling rrr’s

And calling !aqui¡

One, I swear sings out

¡Buenos dias, mi hija!

Upon meeting me.  

Peace, People!

Songbird

Sleeping with wide open windows

In La Antigua de Guatemala

Night murmurs offer lullabies.

Alarm clocks are unnecessary.

Songbirds, first one, then a

Chorus begin telling the

Stories of their lives.

The shrill one is my avian

Doppelgänger, repeating

Her story ad nauseum.

Occasionally, though, she

Touches my heart, punctuating

Her song with, “please see me?”

  

Fountain of Youth

Twice have I drunk from

The fountain of youth’s waters.

How long must one wait?

 

Crow’s feet still add depth

To the corners of my eyes,

Fine lines mark my mouth.

 

Fountain of youth, oh

Where is thy miracle cure?

On sabbatical?

A Real Prince of a Guy

When I was a little girl

Many years ago

I dreamed of finding

A handsome prince 

And making him my beau.

But I grew into a plain lass

Tall with gangly limbs

And no prince deigned to

Take my hand and

Realize my whims.

So I nurtured imagination

Focused on my brain

Some considered 

Me odd as I grew,

Ever against the grain.

Then Studly came

Into my life and 

Took on the role of prince

And even through our

Ups and downs

I’ve been so happy since. 

 

I’m already missing my Studly who’s holding Doright Manor together in my absence.

Tuesday Poem

Tuesday’s child,

Full of grace

Excluded from

Beauty,

Saved from

Woe, by two

Dozen hours

Or so.

Fickle time

Declares which

Gifts might be 

Bestowed, 

Based on a stroke

Of luck or the

Hands of a

Clock.

Tick tock.

  

As a child this poem always bothered me. It seemed to put poor Wednesday at a disadvantage from birth, while Sunday got all the good stuff. Hardly fair!  Always interested in justice, that’s me. Oh, I was born on a Friday in case anyone’s keeping tabs.

Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go, Friday’s child is loving and giving, Saturday’s child works hard for a living, But the child who is born on the Sabbath day Is fair and wise and good in every way.

Peace, People!






Monday Poem

Please spare me your Monday hate

Your “weekend’s over” ire.

Approximately one-seventh of one’s

Life is spent on Mondays.

One-seventh!

Disparaging Mondays is akin to

Putting down the first (or second, or third, etc.)

Decade of one’s existence.

Let’s revisit our relationship with

Monday. Put a crown on it, 

Cloak it in ermine-trimmed velvet and

Parade it through the halls of your

Life.

Name a rum drink in Monday’s honor:

“Monchata!”  

Now let’s celebrate!

Final Four

All the hoop-la

All the noise

On an Indiana floor.

Sixty-four teams

Whittled down to four

Duke takes on Michigan State

Kentucky meets Wisconsin

Let’s see who wants it more.

   

     

As the saying goes, I really don’t have a dog in this fight, so may the weekend be filled with lots of great basketball and may the best team win.

Three Letter Word Challenge

Every story,

Every sunrise,

Every moment in time

Requires rules of some sort

Many constructed subtly,

While others seem to be

More well-defined.

This poem as example

Is written with no words 

Of just three letters as

Prescribed by Daily Prompt.

I nearly failed this 

No three rule, my hands

Trembled as I typed;

However, I saved myself

In a single move by 

Changing “the” to “a.”

Damn. Foiled again.

  

Peace, people!