"Simply Life"

Prologue- It is the beginning of October 2006, and much like each year’s past, my thoughts start to flow with the hints of fall verses.
I wonder how to speak of my life,  for my family and friends as it nears the time to deliver my Poem of November.

I scribble and scratch to the sounds of perfection,
for this year is different,
it’s my own revolution.

So I twiddle my pencil and gnaw on the eraser, then I tap on the keys and feel their excitement.

I’ll start off like so…

I think of my upbringing
And all thanks in my life
How the Pilgrims came to America
With John Smith and his wife
Stop there.

With a squint of two eyes and the wrinkle of two brows,
I grow anxious for a worthy beginning.
I try to picture everyone, like mom always said,
in their underwear, and I laugh instead.
Now I speak in rhymes,
and she brings me back to the barn
on old "Woodlane Farm"...

Who planted the apples?
And who named it that?
The horse in the stall
And all that crap!

No, it’s not really crap so I shouldn’t say that.
It has a deeper meaning, and it’s more than you’re getting.
It’s simply life,
and it continues in Heaven.
Be still, If your heart can listen...
It’s our mother’s voice in a far off distance
As I think and I catch
This tear from my eye,
I then hold my hands to my face and cry
Our family is close,
yet so far away
from memories she made and back in the day...
Simply, I feel a need here to ask a why?
Can her life go on living after she died?
She gave us her life when she gave us her love
just like Jesus did, like God from above
I could go on and on
with mom on my mind
I could even look in the mirror and see her sometimes

The point that I’m really trying to make
from our family traditions and our ways of life,
for thankfulness, for God,
for my Mother’s happiness and strife,
is that Family is forever and ever is mine
Throughout all seasons and days in time
generations back, of those long ago
probably thought of us without even knowing so
But, God thought of us when He gave us our mom
He thought of her mom, and her mom, and back as it goes
He thought of us like nobody knows!
It seems, like they say, when you go back in your life
we are looking for peace
no cross, or a knife
Once upon a times and the stories they told
days gone by, before we are old

The following lines, keep my family in mind...

So, This is my prayer, my Happy Thanksgiving Day rhyme.

“Simply Life”

Keep it simple, not far from reach
tickle a bear with a fuzzy peach
smile a smile, or give a hug,
drink a cup of coffee from a Gevalia mug
Simply, Stick a pinwheel on the end of your nose
Catch a lightening bug and watch how it glows
Put some baseball cards in the spokes of your wheels
Remember your promises then click your heels
Go to a cook-out or a BBQ
Eat steamed clams walking barefoot in the dew
Try picking some apples, or play "pinch your foot"
Take a sleigh ride with soft snow in your boots
Walk tall on stilts, be over joyous
Build a fort in a pine tree forest
Jump in the hay, all the long days
Ride a horse on the bridal path way
Have you ever seen a caterpillar cocoon?
Or watch the sun block out the moon?

Simply, Hide in the high tall stalks of corn
Hear a morning dove in the early morn
Have you ever looked down a groundhog hole?
one potato, two potato three potato four...
Swing in a blanket on the cellar floor
Pick a daisy,... he loves me, he loves me not
Kick the Can,  then run and hide.
Hold a buttercup to your throat
Ride a Ferris wheel or on a merry-go-round
Make funny noises or little animal sounds
Make an igloo, or paddle a boat
Skip a few stones, jump over a moat
Bake a cake in a Easy-Bake oven
or just ask someone for a little lovin’
Play in the rain, jump in a puddle
watch the squirrels eat, or ducks form a huddle

Simply, Life goes on and as it must
Hope and Faith, In God we Trust
Choose the brightest Popsicle and give it a lick
Chew the other end of a lollipop stick
Get in the middle of a snowball fight
Sneak out a window in the middle of the night
Go to a dance, or eat at Carvel’s
Pick a petunia from Uncle Abel and Aunt Jo’s

Simply, Take the rim of your crystal glass, then rub
Play this tune at a county club
Recite tongue twisters or tell a stupid joke
Try eating an egg without breaking its yoke
Indian wrestle on a table top
Dive in a pool or do a belly-flop
Slide down a banister right to the newel
Find a big shade tree just to stay cool
Bounce a ball to Oliver Twist
Jump with ropes or on pogo sticks
Read a comic from Betty Boop
Swing in a circle with a hula-hoop

Simply, Why not try smokin’ a punk
or try making a go-cart from lots of junk
Lie in the grass watching clouds go by
Discover a grasshopper or a butterfly
Chew on a Tootsie Roll or a Mary Jane
Ride a tandem down a country lane
Maybe pop some tar bubbles in the middle of the street
Hop across stones along a creek
Ride in a bomb, an old car, at full throttle
Put on some wax lips or suck down a soda bottle

Simply Life, Come as it may
From in the beginning and all through , to the end
God is with us at every bend
Be thankful, be humble No filial strife
Enjoy what’s offered!
Simply life!

For in order to enter heaven we must become like a child "Happy Thanksgiving" Simple Style

Copyright October 2006 Kimmy Van Kooten