Daffodil

A daffodil in bloom

Foretells the coming spring.

It dances softly on the breeze.

I think I hear it sing—

A song of its Creator,

The Power of Life who gives

Existence to the universe

And everything that lives.

A daffodil in bloom—

Profound simplicity—

In quiet yellow elegance

Sings of God to me.

©Stan Sanford

March 4, 2004

The Memory of Your Kiss

I hit the road at five o’clock.

An early morning haze

Settles on my windshield and

Then quickly runs away;

And I recall how swiftly, too,

Time passes like the mist

And leaves behind a memory

Of things time can’t resist.

That memory, a chain of gold,

Will bind your heart to mine,

Will warm my soul, and ride with me,

And stand outside of time;

Of all the things I take with me

That I will reminisce

Nothing is more treasured than

The memory of your kiss.

Only half an hour ago

You whispered in my ear

A soft “Good-bye” and, “I love you;”

And, “I will miss you, Dear.”

That memory will leave a trace

Running through my mind

Reminding me of all I have

That I must leave behind.

More than a memory, your kiss

Somehow still lingers there.

It brightens up the dark of night

And warms the chilly air.

Nothing in this world I know

Could make me more remiss

Than if I did not take with me

The memory of your kiss.

©Stan Sanford

February 18, 2002

Boundaries

At times boundaries

Clearly defined in my mind

Hint reality

Take the old coast road

You will find a memory

Childhood created

Where different worlds meet

Perhaps you will find me there

Reconciling minds

Into the abyss

I fall in expectation

Of greater beauty

I find peace in strength

Of worlds so far beyond me

I know not their names

Mountains merge with sea

Loosing self in the abyss

There creating both

©Stan Sanford

October 25, 2011

The Maze

Through the maze of human thought,

Art and philosophy

Of science and religion,

Of prose and poetry,

He seeks an understanding

Of all reality.

Still he cannot find his way

To where he wants to be;

The real remains elusive--

Beyond all he can see

By faith, by sense, by logic—

An unsolved mystery!

Though he may not find his way out,

The maze may be what it’s about.

©Stan Sanford

October 24, 2011

The Playground

The sandpit at the playground

Dimpled with the evidence

Of the play of children

Only a short time gone

Lies silent in the night.

My life in early twilight

With many scattered footprints

Of children who walked through it

And have left the playground

Resounds with sheer delight.

©Stan Sanford

October 21, 2011

Mountain Memories

A quiet mountain morning
Brings back a memory
Of the home place in the hollow,
Where my heart will always be.
Wood smoke hanging in the air
Mixes with the other smells
Coming form the kitchen;
And the stories Grandpa tells
Make me kind of homesick
For that slower peaceful time
Back up in the mountains
And the life that once was mine.

Oh, that life up in the mountains
Gave so much to me.
It taught me about beauty,
About home and being free.
It taught me about loving, and
What matters most of all.
Now sometimes in the evening
I think I hear the call
Of an old owl in a mountain pine
Drifting down to me,
And it stirs my mind to thinking
About those mountain memories.

Life here in the city
Seems somehow out of joint.
It’s all prestige and power;
And we just don’t get the point
That life was made for living
At a somewhat slower pace
That it’s about what’s in your heart
And not some fancy place.
It’s about the love of fam’ly—
Your children and your wife—
Like we knew back in the hollow
With its quiet mountain life.

On cool summer evenings
Folks would gather ‘round;
And often I would fall asleep
Listening to the sound
Of the old folks telling stories
On the front porch in the night.
With shadows dancing on the ground
From flickering coal oil light.
And when it came to hard times
Those same old folks would be
Right there standing with you—
Just making memories

©Stan Sanford
October 14, 2002

I Choose This Day

God has given us the freedom

To choose the way we walk through life

And we chose to join in union

This day as husband and as wife

So I choose this day to tell you
Before God and all those here
That I choose you my mate for life
And pledge to hold you dear
Through every moment of my life
Through sunshine and through rain
Through all the ups and downs we face
Through life’s pleasures and its pains

I choose this day to dedicate

All that I am and have to you

To hold you foremost in my mind

In everything I say and do

I choose you for my span of life

To help you be what you can be

And I will walk along with you

Knowing that you've chosen me
I choose this day with promise
That as we join in God’s design
To merge my life fully in yours
And welcome you to join in mine

©Stan Sanford
October 20, 2011