Jim Yerman Poems

Our Thanksgiving preparations were going smoothly…we had no reason to protest
until, that is, the arrival of some uninvited guests.

You see this year we decided to buy a pie…billed as world famous…best in show…
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Our Christmas plans are finalized…this year we will celebrate…
our Christmas not on Christmas…but December 28.

Our family has some Christmas traditions that when we blended together we created…
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We marched for peace again on Sunday…and from the very start….
Lup-dup…lup-dup…lup-dup
our footsteps on the ground made the sound of a beating heart.
Lup-dup…lup-dup…lup-dup
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Listening to music, like the Grammy's, I'm always amazed at the power of a melody…
how it can make you smile…cry…or fall in love…how it can create a memory.

How we silently listen to some songs as if we're in a trance…
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The inspiration for today's poem…I found beneath my feet…
as I began my walk this morning…in a guitar stain on the street.

Last night we attended a concert at a friends house…where we sat off in the wings…and listened to Walter Parks serenade us…tells us stories…and coax his guitar to sing.
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How lucky are we to live in a world with love as its foundation…
A love that's universal…but with infinite variations.

For instance…there's the love we have for our family, our friends…
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Working behind the counter of a bookstore I have a chance to look…
to browse among our shelves and find the oldest books

I love the feel of them in my hands, to gently turn their pages and what's more
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN

"Is there anyone in the back room of your bookstore? " A father asked me. "My daughter would like to know."
"Not that I'm aware of." When I answered…the father's face began to glow.
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Even when an election doesn't go my way I consider myself an optimist
when all is said and done.
I believe most people would concede…optimism makes life a lot more fun.
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I picked up my old high school yearbook from on the shelf where it has stood for many years and when I opened it I thought…it smelled like childhood.

Browsing through its pages I found, much to my delight, how my old f friends and even I looked good in black and white.
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