First-ever ride on a bus,
on the way home from getting
my first pair of glasses, at five.
Grownup things.
But wait.  Panic!
Turning away from the window,
but where’s Mom?
Almost off the bus!

Six months, a brief time,
but a good chunk of a lifetime
at thirteen,
and no need for glasses,
as my eyes transition.
Good timing for confidence
and a dose of vanity.

Graduation, with no plans.
(Except, maybe Canada, if necessary.)
High school sweetheart gone.
Short-lived college stint,
but graced with a high draft number.
Embracing a blue-collar life
with uncertainty.

Love.  Marriage.
Continued uncertainty.
Circumstances.  Self.
Happiness as compensation.
Challenges faced, not avoided.
Job stability becoming more certain.

Exhilaration on a motorcycle.
Choosing the pavement,
over impact with a car.
Back on a bigger bike
with renewed confidence.
But the thrill is gone,
and, as the years pass,
enthusiasm wanes.

Joy and trepidation intertwined
as parenthood becomes a priority.
Marveling at the grasp of a three year-old.
Wondering at an intuitive insight
that had evaded me.

Into my thirties,
exhilaration now found underwater,
along a coral reef or riverbed.
Another son, his open smile
an invitation into his open heart.

Forty, and the loss of a parent
too soon, an invisible weight
discovered and shed
too many years later.
Poetry becoming an outlet.

A daughter, shy at first,
coming out of her shell
just in time to face a lifetime of
finger sticks and meters,
determination her strength.

Retirement, early.
(Are the fifties really too early?)
A mother with memory lapses taken in,
her stay shortened by poor health.
Questions of life’s uncertainties.

After too many years,
marriage left behind,
but love still alive in my children.
Pride in their accomplishments a tonic.
Travel.  New friends,
like learning to walk again.

New life.
New home.
A paddle on the water
traded for fins and mask.
Love of poetry
bringing love back into my life.