Write On!

Mother

God has given everyone

Such a precious gift

Sometimes so blinded

We cannot see

The one who gave birth

to your life of

The family tree

of eternity

It's when we are older

and out of her care

Did anyone notice

mother is not there?

When gifts are gone forever

our title called mother

couldn't imagine then

Why she lived

why she died

would you weep

would you cry

or even bother

to say good bye

Violet Marie Caswell,

Dundee

FEAR

I walk the edge along my swimming pool

From the shallows right to the very deep;

And every step with grace I take, so cool

And calm am I, a steady pace I keep.

But were I to walk by a canyon rim

Or on a skyscraper's beam way up high,

I know that all my confidence would dim

And far away would all my graces fly.

That all we have to fear is fear itself

Can't be said without qualification.

Proper caution is part of mental health;

But, sometimes, fear is just limitation.

The skills we use flawlessly day to day

Vanish when their price seems too high to pay!

Robert P. Tucker

[ Ledger readers are invited to send original poems to Write On!, The Ledger, P.O. Box 408, Lakeland 33802. Poems may be e-mailed to trent.rowe@theledger.com. Put poem in the subject line. No more than one a month should be submitted. Handwritten poems must be legible. Poems must be submitted and signed by the author. Write On can be read on www.TheLedger.com. ]