fools, and poets

 "April, come she will"...a month that starts with fools...then baseball blooms at Citi Field...college basketball shoots its final hoops...holy days...for Jews, a celebration of freedom...and the eternal hope that future annihilation passes over...for Christians...a chance for rededication and rebirth...and chocolate bunnies...Earth Day...time to clean up...the roadways and Congress...and all of this during National Poetry Month...30 days to celebrate small works of observation...twisted phrases...pictures painted with words...metaphorically speaking...we turn down the noise...turn up the heat...hopefully, let you see things in a different way...we celebrate the unique...embrace the commonality...so for this month...read a poem...write a poem...support a poet by attending a reading...or buying a book...encourage children to try their hand...I write today because of a third grade teacher who did just that...in a public school in Canarsie, Brooklyn...she read Shakespeare sonnets...told us to try writing a poem about them...I still have mine...in my little black composition book of my first poems...I'm still learning...still listening and reading...still writing...the arts are a gift your soul never knew it needed...Happy Poetry Month...

Stop and smell the roses...

recovering after a wedding weekend...in the other promised land...Boca...my beautiful niece, Ilyssa...the warmest woman with a loving heart...a poetry buddy...because, you know...Sondheim...children and art...it is a very special thing being an aunt...loving and rooting for this little person who, with no warning, blossoms into an adult...the relationship can shift...suddenly, you are friends...and hopefully as you age...that person can, with your children, carry your memory forward...so there I was watching her radiate with joy as she married her bashert, Michael...Mikey...although my Michael is also Mikey in his family...so that would make this groom Mikey #2...they took their vows under the most exquisite chuppah...white roses...white roses everywhere...the room was fragrant and sweet...they were wrapped in the tallit of my late father-in-law, Joel...wrapped in everyone who came before hoping this moment would come...in this world which can take your soul if you let it...in this life which can put a burden on your back that can break you...you must seize these moments with both hands...and for a few hours...not let go...you must dance no matter which body part roared in agony when you got out of bed...smile and hug...laugh...and love...embrace people you wish you could see more...meet new people...snap those selfies...post with pride...and to Ilyssa and Mikey #2...this aunt wishes you a lifetime of sweetness...don't rush your journey...always take time together...to stop and smell the roses...