Happy 50th Birthday 1956-2006
from the innocent days
of hopscotch and jump rope
playing 45 records of our favorite Motown
we observed the greater world
through the vision of black and white
yet the neighborhood was our playground
From “Lassie” and “Mayberry” to
“I Dream of Jeannie”
TV was the conversation
our parents had no time for
adventures of living only just beginning
adolescent evolved to teen
those summer tans and gorgeous boys
music was now more rock n noise
and cassettes replaced our albums
we grew long hair and wore hippie clothes
of lime and tangerine
we were sure life’s answers must exist
in an ashram or a commune
then college came and jobs and cars
responsibilities for those who had chanted
burn your bras
no housewives here or mommies yet
too busy with our cigarettes
another date, a disco scene
we stood tall in glittered sequins
along came time and MTV
Diet Coke and Pepsi Free
no longer liberated and so carefree
we all had credit cards
homes would come and husbands too
somewhere we threw in small tattoos
to satisfy our rebel wild
while domestic took its due
and color now was turquoise blue
one day we became the moms and aunts
losing our parents as time advanced
pulled into another decade’s everflow
and the wide world of the internet
we survived our divorces and
change of life
moved endless times and redecorated
and olive evolved to country green
somewhere our style was home
by now we had accumulated
beyond the closets and the shelves
our bodies grew with abundance too
grey hair arrived which we quickly dyed
to extend our pride and youth
upon our head or laying close
were necessary pairs of readers
now here we are at the half century
the place we thought we’d never see
questioning our lives and spiritual beliefs
as we had always done through time
for somewhere within us we always believed
there was more to life than they ever teach
some hidden place of mystery
that had every solution and answer
so we questioned ourselves, our patterns
and motives, the how’s and whys and
whatever for’s finding comfort within our
quest for answers and the similarity of our questions
over time we had explored
tarot cards and horoscopes
and religions of the various sorts
from Jesus back to Buddha
curiosity aroused by the new age beliefs
ancient wisdoms held our interest
and noetic science and physics
suddenly seemed very in sync
we could be half way to
where we were going
or we could be half way done
that is a question we have found not the answer
so we live more moments and steps and stories
creating our pieces of time, fulfilling our dreams
in the land of illusions knowing it is all
such a grand design
and I say to you my beautiful friend
Happy Happy Birthday Again!
© Debby Weinberger 2006
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