No Longer A Boy ... (+1)

When I was a boy

this spring house was there

Open and running

with memories to share

When I was a boy

it sat in the field

Above rising water

indentured to yield

 When I was a boy

its door opened wide

To capture my fantasy

dreams there to hide

No longer a boy

now buried and hidden 

My hopes and my wishes

—forever unbidden

(Converse Estate: December, 2023)

'What A Wonderful World'

Louis Armstrong …

a class by himself

Not Dixie or Jazz

but much deeper felt

Growing better with age

his music enthralls

If fourteen or forty

his melodies call

Both Ella and Ray

are seated out front

As Satchmo delivers

when others exeunt

Timelessly treasured

he’d broken the mold

Of what sound can measure

—and a smile can hold

(Dreamsleep: December, 2023)