Reason to Smile

What made you smile today?
A joke you heard?
A ray of sun?
A hug from a friend?
Or the unexpected help of a stranger?

Did you get something you'd fixed your heart on?
Did you achieve your goal?
Get some good news?
Or overcome a hurdle?

As you cast your thoughts back through your day
Sifting through the things that bubble to the surface
Testing the popping memories to check if
They were the ones that made you smile

Just take a pause to ask yourself,
If you dare,
Will anyone else be feeling a warm smile play across their lips
As they name you as the reason for their smile?

The Box

It came out of the blue
Unexpected, unrequested

A welcome intrusion
An exciting arrival

It had my name on it - mine!

So I peeled away the layers
that hid its secrets.

And what secrets there were

Chocolate secrets, sweet secrets
Tempting treats all trying to distract
From the main event
The true treasure that lay within

The special gifts
So generously bestowed
And the beautiful card
So carefully chosen
So specifically selected
So poignantly personal
That touched my heart with its truth and beauty

And it was then, as my eyes,
eyes filled with tears,
fixed upon the empty box
That I saw inside, glowing brightly,
the true treasure that had been sent

Emptied of its trinkets
It yielded its real secret
It was a box filled with love

Some parcels are more precious than others
March 2013

Mum

A simple word, easily spoken
Three letters, one syllable
Mum.

A hard job, a lifetime's work
The truest labour of love.
No salary. No fixed hours.

Shining hair and warm brown eyes.
Soft voice and smile that lights a room
My Mum.

Bottomless heart and wise mind
Hands to hold and arms to embrace.
Unconditional and never ending love.

Always there, always constant
Standing strong in all life's storms.
True.

A refuge, a rock, a tower and fortress.
Guiding, teaching, supprting and loving.
Nudging us along life's path.

For as long as I've breathed I've known
the most amazing love.
Beacuase, for as long as I've breathed,
I've known you
My amazing mum.


for my Mum
1st May 2013