Bri's 2016 Near-Year's-End Letter....[ For Friends On & Off Of Poemhunter; Long, Of Course! ] Poem by Bri Edwards

(December 11, 2016)

Hi!

My hair's still gray and mostly there, …..as is my mind.
Only RARELY, when I grab for my cellphone, I do not find.....
….it.
E.G.: This week I searched to use phone to take a photo of a bird,
only to find the phone was At My Ear! How Utterly Absurd.

I'm still married, nearly nine years! Gosh, think of that!
My ‘dear wife' often would cover my mouth with my HAT …...
....OR tape (and she has!) if it would shut me up. (It didn't)
But, HEY! , ain't that the way marriages often turn out,
with jabs back and forth, like in a champion boxing bout?

Yes, I ‘jab' at her at times, but the intent is NOT to offend.
It's best I not write more about such stuff …….to send …
to YOU!

I still help out Wednesday morns at library in X-x-a****,
starting ‘bout 10 A.M. and finally stopping around noon-a.

[[Here is where my ‘good friend', Karl M., said he stopped reading! ! ! !
He does NOT like Long Poems.]]

And I still read once-monthly at library, to some Preschoolers.
That's what I love, .....to Read to them. No work with rulers!

I still speak ‘weekly', not weakly, with Cary and with Paul.
They were my ‘volunteer' friends, till Compeer did call …….
to say my services were no longer needed. It was ok.
They now have Rochester Compeer friends, but I do stay ….
....their long distance phone friends.

I've not yet been punched this year by any drug abusers.
I wonder if the Marijuana INDUSTRY coming here will cause more users ….
....of ‘More Serious' drugs.
I've had more nice visits with neighbors, Karen & Chuck.
My biggest problem RIGHT NOW is: "Shall I ‘rhyme' Chuck ….
..…with Muck? Cluck? .................OR: Fire Truck? ? "

I find that composing this Poetically is easier and, for me, FUN,
OH! I now ‘feel' and see light.....streaming in from our Sun!
It's nearly 10 A.M. and X-X***, up till 3 A.M., is still in bed....
... I THINK.
This note is composed on HER computer, but mostly I still use INK...
.….to compose on paper.

========================================================

For 5 ½ weeks X-X*** took me, with bags, across the Atlantic.
A few times I/we got lost, but neither of us got FRANTIC!
To Germany (Berlin Wall; Jewish Museum) we first flew.
Then on a train to the Netherlands we both ………..'blew'.

In Amsterdam we strolled in a large museum (van Gogh) .
And outside the city, by bus, to a Huge Garden we did go.
[yes, there were some tulips]
Later, a BIG overnight ferry took us across Channel to the U.K.;
[And, even later, in London, my mate heard many violinists play.]

[(backtracking) : In a German hotel café I saw a couple nearby eating,
but my attention was drawn not by their dress or seating.
The woman,40ish, had two arms. They were VERY short.
I thought: Thalidomide? To question her I did NOT..resort.]

The ferry crossing I survived, thanks to drug store pills.
The water, pushed by VERY strong winds, gave us some thrills.
Well, maybe not ‘thrills'. I managed to down SOME food,
including an ice cream cone, VANILLA. Yes! I had Food-Attitude.

A first class cabin X-X*** had obtained for us; maybe for ME?
Just in case my delicate stomach did not put up with the Sea.
But, with a pill (or two) 'popped', I slept quite peacefully till morn.
And then through landfall Customs we both were borne.

My mate, the instigator/planner of this big trip, did rent …..
a car in England and Northward to Scotland we went,
with X-X*** driving on ("wrong") LEFT side of U.K. roads,
...and cars Zooming by us as if they were Cheetahs, passing Toads!

U.K. sights seen, some by car, some by bus-or-van tours,
included: Sheep in Scottish fields (I could see NO manure):
a Henry VIII country castle; Ruins of an ‘ancient' abbey;
MORE......castles, including one where 'Harry Potter' did play;
North Sea Scottish bird spot, but NO boat tour we took,
so at VERY few birds, indeed, did we have a good look;
MORE abbey ruins, where Mary Queen of Scots once hid …as a kid;
Stonehenge, AND a less-known Bunch of Rocks, AND, nearby, a "Cool" burial-
chamber/cave, by way of a country walk to the top of a hill;
The British Museum; Hyde Park; London's Buckingham Palace guards.....
(some on horses and a couple on foot with, I think, automatic 'long guns'):
and The Cotswolds; White Cliffs of Dover; Canterbury Cathedral:
Wow! .........It's HUGE!

[[I see I've lost my rhyme scheme somewhere. Oh my! ]]

We also had some good food, including some Berry Pie!
We saw some birds similar, but not quite, like in the U.S.
We returned home and I was happy we did, I DO CONFESS!

==========================================================

Trees! Yes, I've planted young trees at home, it's very true.
X-X*** grows from cuttings/seeds, then says: ‘From me to … …..U'.
"U" meaning me. Me to plant; it proves I've STILL got muscle!
BUT, if more plants are Bigger and/or I 'get OLD', it could be a tussle!

Once again we've stopped viewing evening movies from ‘libe',
but from various books** I borrow there, I've gotten a Good ‘Vibe'...
.…or two!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**A ‘memoirs of two U.S. Marines fighting on Iwo Jima'; one was local.

AND: a late 1800s quest by ship to explore the Arctic was very vocal.
Well, not quite 'vocal', as the book did NOT speak out loud, in fact.
With hopes of finding a warm Arctic sea, the ship was sorely-wracked ….
.....instead....by ice.
A year-plus, the U.S. Navy ship was adrift in an Icy Grip.
When finally free, a BIG block of Sea Ice quickly Sank the …..Ship.

But Captain De Long was prepared, and off 33 men did GO …..
rowing in small boats. Or forced, over ROUGH ice, to tow …...
sleds piled with provisions (and sometimes dogs and disabled …..men) .
They hoped to at last reach Siberia, but IF and WHEN, .........
they did not know. [there is a bittersweet ending; a 'true story']

I also read of WW1, President Wilson, and the Lusitania,
of U.S. neutrality, British spying, and German Sub-Mania,
all in one book. [also a 'true story']

Then there have been fast-paced..........Murder Mysteries,
more-lighthearted (at times) than reading World War....histories!
Yes, humor is sometimes present in a book dealing with Death!
AND I could laugh (now and then) , but not so hard as to...'kill my breath'.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Have my mate and I had aging problems? TRY to guess.
At least, not yet, has either of us become a TOTAL mess!

I sometimes walk along roadways to 'the countryside' and back, ...
three miles, a round trip, but NO luggage ….I then do pack.
There I say "hi" to some cows and, sometimes, to some birds.
I don't understand Their Speech; we use different words.

And MAYBE 'last, but not least', before I let you all go:
I keep in touch with friends on PoemHunter.com (as Bri Edwards) , and SHOW,
in my almost-monthly "Showcase(s) ", poems from some of my PH 'FRIENDS'.
Currently I have Sections A, B, and C, each with up to 15 poems; .....
my work NEVER ENDS! !

Ok. I thought of another "Last Thing" to mention to you.
It deals with Santa Claus aka Kris Kringle, & his coming down a chimney flue.
While I was gazing at neighboring roofs, I noticed NO chimneys of bricks,
......only metal pipes! Without BRICKS, can Santa do HIS Santa Claus TRICKS? !

I'M COUNTING ON IT! ! ! !

Happy Holidays …………..or otherwise, as you wish.

Briiiiiiiiiiii :) :)



*** my wife's disguised first name

**** our disguised location (city in California)

** refers to books (see text)