Mister and Missus
munch dried fruit, seeds, nuts. They dine;
alit on their perch.
Category: Poetry
Willow
Free-flowing willow
Like violin strings to a bow
The wind yields to you
(This poem won a Judge’s Choice Award with the Ontario Poetry Society – Ultra Short Poem Competition 2021)
The Window
Your smile,
Your laughter,
Your goofiness
Memories on the wind elude my grasp
A hug,
A wink,
A hair-tousle
The promise of a life well-lived cut too short
Your strength,
Your ambition,
Your tenderness
Thoughts of you warm my heart; your father’s fills with pride
This longing for you threatens to consume me
as I stare through the window for
One more smile,
One more hug,
One more of everything
Time
It goes by really fast when you’re thinking about it,
and when you aren’t.
Takes up space
clogging up like pores in the face that shows all the years
Minutes
Seconds
Sometimes you think you’ve got lots of it,
Others it moved fast
Fast like a car
Or a train
Or a plane
Or the bus that you took to school every day for 17 years
It’s worth it though
The time
The time spent at home
School
Dance
As if time existed in counts of 8
Moving until the song ends and then you just
Start again
Except time, while it may decide the length of a song
How long you you spend on the bus
Doesn’t bend at your will the same way a pause button controls the music
Doesn’t determine the speed of the car that gets you home faster
To mom
Dad
Dog
Time
Those extra few minutes with friends that went by way too fast in a dress up clothing filled basement
The fake sick calls to grandparents so you could be warm under the blanket designated for sick days
The smell of green tea and croissants at 6:40 on a weekday morning
Time.
It’s there
To prologue and snatch up
those moments
To make them worth doing
To ensure you hold onto them
Little snapshots
Eminem in the car
Letting grandpa lead
Teaching a brother to pirouette
Time.
And yet somehow
In some way
You want it more
You want it to stand still
You can’t have both
So it’s daydreams in the front room and walks
with the dog
squeezing it all in
Time
Written by my daughter, Emily Griffiths
Bermuda
Sun kissed sand glistens,
turquoise water laps the shore,
pink. Discarded shells.
Las Vegas
Viva Las Vegas!
Play poker, roulette, or craps.
The house always wins.
Mom or Dad in Haiku
Hockey Night in Canada
It’s a one goal game,
watching with a beer and dad.
They lose. Not the point.
Fun and Games
Thursday nights with Mom,
a show, a movie, or both.
A poem? Could be worse.
Written by my daughter, Emily Griffiths
Silver Anniversary
Two, one together, laughter is spilled
Magical tether, feeling fulfilled
Rain but no blahs, rainbows from sun
Music and dance, sharing in fun
Babies are born, two lives, then four
Bought our first home, could we want more?
Babies to teens, a good tale is weaved
Weather gets cool, jump in fall leaves
Family and friends, parties were had
Warm home and hearth, good times and bad
Children all grown, guess we did well
Two became one, a story to tell.
Fall Leaves
Floating from maples
Gold, amber, rust canopy
Crunching underfoot
Going Home
I just wanted to have fun
Hang out with anyone
Twist caps in the sun
Smoke and beer
But now I’m looking around
My buds are all settled down
I order another round
Nobody’s here
Guess I should have cared
My kids needed me there
Putting it all on her
A woman beyond compare
I’ve been calling this bar home
My wife and kids are gone
Making friends with coke and crown
Last call has come around
No one’s waiting on me now
Freedom’s what I found
I’ve been sitting all alone
And now it’s time to go
It’s closing in on a year
I know that it wasn’t fair
Now I’m ready to care
Has she moved on?
Standing there at the door
Not drinking anymore
Wondering what’s in store
She let’s me in
So glad that now I care
My kids need me here
Taking the load off of her
A woman beyond compare
I’m done calling this bar home
I’ve got somewhere else to roam
Making friends with a new crowd
Of myself I’m really proud
They’re all counting on me now
Family’s what I found
No more sitting all alone
I’m glad to be back home
(Co-written by Rodney and Katharine Griffiths, Copyright 2019)
katharinegriffiths.com 