When past being recluse
I catch sunsets reflected by swift-running-water Niagara
I get hynotized by an ion-charged waterfall 
I'm driven like a magnet to WNY shorelines  

ships on the lake grab me 
the sound of waves breaking shore gives me peace
I collect sea-glass in colors of yesteryear's bottles
worn smooth by rushing water, sands and time

screeches and hoots from owls intrigue me
sounds of songbirds, sounds of silence
night crickets chirping, trains on rails, train whistles
all of it--music to my ears

I shout in awe at meteors in shower
night time is my morning--in it I am more alive
3rd shift was first, second and third by choice
24-hour businesses get hands full of my dollars

vegetables-- God's great gifts send me out the door
to farmers' market--blocks away, my weekly health-haven
tho' somebody tell me please--why sugar-coat vegetables
I'll drizzle cinnamon honey over blueberries & curds 

I drink milk, lots of it
I write about milk
I want more milk
I'll use powder-milk if need be

I write now and then
I like to write, but need a push to share it
I prefer invisibility sometimes 
with little exception 

photography sends me toward serene
capturing fragments of my world in fractions of a second 
outdoors I whole-heartedly accept the challenge
blinking with every click o' the camera shutter

I have more tools than most men
but I forget and ask my younger bro' for help
he reminds me I have the specialized tools he gave me
thoughtfully, so I "can-do" despite my disabled self

I couldn't carry the tools home 
to the place where an infamous idiot lived
but now I live here, and people still talk about him
did he ever learn the golden rule--treating others...

solutions keep me challenged 
give me a minute, I'll have upbeat answers
you have my attention if you use what I teach you
to help yourself and others--I lack patience for less

there's barely a day I'm not off balance
experiencing vertigo or forgetting the day
my shoulders are shot
I have to laugh anyway to keep crazy at bay

so, fish are giving pedicures now?
something as unique can heal  any of us
I want strength like ants, able to carry many times their weight
I want the memory of elephants too, if what I hear is true

I'm a sister to two brothers, and to a Sis who's older than me
I'm a decent sis to my younger brother
I hope I'm a pretty good daughter
I'm an aunt who never sees nieces or nephews

I erroneously married myself to working
at least two jobs at a time, because I could
a genius pointed out that on a death-bed
no one says they wish they'd worked more 

the box with 50+ to represent age
that's the one I check-off
my AARP subscription ends in 2014
I don't have a tan line

my future is beginning
right now