Do You Hear The Wind?

Do you hear the wind, Mother?

I think its calls to me

Declaring seven sailing ships ready

To sail the seven seas –

 

Do you feel the wind, Mother?

I feel it in my soul

It pulls upon my childhood heart

To soon let childhood go –

 

With wind and soul

and with heavy heart

I look into your eyes – Mother,

did you know the time would

come for bittersweet good-byes?

 

Did you know life’s sailing ships

would anchor in the night,

to carrying away a lifetime of dreams

in such a fateful flight? 

 

Do you see the sails, Mother?

I see them in the harbor

The ships are ready to pull anchor

My childhood no more can linger –

 

 

 

bkmackenzie

copyrighted 2008

 

Ilustration by: Florence Edith Storer

Nick of Time

 

It was in the nick of time

Nicholas’s mother came to say

That Little Nick was born

To observe his own Birthday

 

It was in the nick of time

That Nicholas learned to talk

So he could announce to the world

That he had just learned to walk

 

It was in the nick of time

Nicholas learned the Golden Rule

Giving the teacher no good  reason

To keep him from grammar school

 

It was in the nick of time

That Nicholas really learned to hide

Before spending the rest of his life

With Punctual Peggy as his bride

 

 

bkmackenzie

copyrighted 2008

 

 

Dear William

William, my dear William

Gather those old cows home

Jack has been gone for hours

And no sound of bells I hear

 

William, my dear William

Go gather those old cows home

With the sun now falling lower

Jack could be lost I fear

 

William, my dear William

Is it you and the cows come home

The bells I hear them ringing

I see Jack stepping quickly near

 

bkmackenzie

copyrighted 2008

 

 

Illustration: by Elizabeth Orton Jones (b. 1910)

 

Autumn’s Children

The blessings of autumn have fallen

As leaves from branches high

Three faces of three children

Came on the wind of autumn skies

 

Steven arrived in September

The year frost came to soon

Johnny came in late October

Beneath the light of Harvest Moon

 

With sweet Natalie in November

On a cold and rainy night

Just in time to claim the autumn

Before winter’s chill took first bite

  

While all seasons have their calling

Some giving, some taking away

It is autumn that holds my heart

As I watch my blessings at play

 

So shall I always cherish this season

For all the love it has shown

Knowing to soon the days pass by us

And Autumn’s Children will be grown

 

   

bkmackenzie

copyrighted 2008

 

Illustration: by Clara Burd

 

Earning My Wings

Earning my wings will not be easy

that’s what my father said -

It will require a lifetime of learning,

many books of wisdom to be read –

 

Taking notes and keeping check

on all the things I did and did not do –

If I want to become a Guardian Angel

for a  precious little child such as you –

 

 

bkmackenzie

copyrighted 2008

 

 

Illustration: by Bessie Collins Pease Gutman 1876-1960