PROMPT #13 - MAGIC

YOUR MAGIC

While you’re not a Harry Potter,
you have powers, nonetheless.
You beguile and you bewitch me
like a well-trained sorceress.
I’m held captive by your magic.
I am spellbound in your arms.
And this ordinary mortal
is a hostage to your charms.

PROMPT #12 - LACK

THE LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

Sometimes, I lack the ability
to show patience when patience is due.
I want others to cut me some slack
when I’m not living up to my full potential,
but it’s hard for me to return the favor.
People can be so frustrating
when they want everything handed to them,
without making any effort to work for it.
Is my age catching up to me?
Today, I look at life much differently
than I did in my youth.
Maybe what I need isn’t patience at all.
Maybe what I lack is the ability to understand
that no two people are the same
and that reckless judgment serves no purpose.

PROMPT #11 - KIND

ONE OF A KIND

In the hand I’ve been dealt,
you’re the high card I’m holding.
You’re my flush filled with hearts
to keep me from folding.
We’re more than a pair.
We’re a full house combined.
You’re aces in my book
and you’re one of a kind.

PROMPT #10 - JOURNEY

OUR JOURNEY

What roads you and I have traveled!
What things we have learned,
and what magical things we’ve seen!
The places don’t matter.
The journey takes place within us,
as we continue our lives together.
Every day, we learn more about each other
and see the enchantment of our love
grow richer, deeper, more meaningful.
And the beauty is,
this trip has hardly begun.
Our journey together continues.

PROMPT #09 - IMAGINE

HARD TO IMAGINE

A weary world seeks euphoria
in any way possible.
Some turn to God, some to drugs.
Some turn their frustrations inward,
while others show outward resentments
through senseless acts of violence.
What would it be like
to never know fear, never feel ill,
never worry about your next meal?
But that’s hard to imagine
in a world of constant upheaval,
when those who choose the course
don’t live in the day-to-day.

PROMPT #08 - HOME

THE NEED FOR HOME

Our lives take us in many directions
far from the center of ourselves.
Demands are high,
expectations higher.
We meet the tasks of each passing day
as we find our way through the maze of life.
What we do sustains our needs.
What we need is the place we return to
night after night.
It is there our spirits are refreshed.
Our batteries recharge in this special place,
where we find peace, comfort and renewal
from the simple act of being at home.

PROMPT #07 - GARDEN

REVIVED GARDEN

For the longest time,
this garden showed no signs of life.
The crumbling dirt of neglect
blew away on an uncaring wind.
And so it would have remained,
had fate not intervened.
You tilled the soil,
enriched the dry earth,
and turned the barren wasteland
into a magical oasis.
This once, empty garden flourishes
through the vibrant colors of you.

PROMPT #06 - FREEDOM

FREEDOM FROM PERFECTION

Every day,
I fight the forces of nature.
I watch my hair turn grayer,
see my waistline disappear,
notice my height diminish, ever so slightly.
I try to fight the signs of aging,
with hair dye, vitamins and diets.
And then I remember a simple truth.
You took me as I was and take me as I am.
You never signed on for perfection.
You give me the freedom to be me.

PROMPT #05 - ENOUGH

MORE THAN ENOUGH

How do you measure
what’s enough?
Do you add up material possessions,
money, power, fame?
Do those things alone bring fulfillment?
My meter for those things
barely rises above zero.
But I have you.
I have the family we share
and the home we’ve built together.
How could I want for more
when what I have is more than enough?

PROMPT #04 - DREAM (or DREAMS, if you prefer)

Finally feeling a bit more human after a very long battle with the flu. For this week's journey through the alphabet, your can choose either "dream" or "dreams" for your title and poetry theme.

DREAM UNREALIZED

They dream of stardom,
live but for fame and fortune,
drown in despair’s pool.