Poems by Steven C. Brandt: December 2016

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

AMORÉ: SPIRIT OF JUDY B SAILS

Judith Woolverton Brandt

May 25, 1938—December 24, 2016

SPIRIT OF JUDY B SAILS

Christmas Eve 2016

SPIRIT OF JUDY B set sail today, left our port, rode the tide down to the sea

Judy was asleep when it left...so as to awaken early, her new port to see.

We here on shore caught a glance of SPIRIT as it entered the ocean deep

behind she leaves a legacy of love and happiness each of us will keep.

Pure white sails blossomed to capture the wind and carry Judy on her way

tomorrow she’ll share her infectious smile with those waiting day after day.

We whose lives she graced know already, the always-warm light we have lost

she was our wife, mother, friend, our quiet leader...never once our boss.

Over her 79 years Judy enhanced each port in which she stopped

all who got to know her knew, she always gave more than she got.

Judy used an endless supply of talents but to her what, in life, mattered most

was love from those she loved back; to her we raise our glasses, in a toast:

“Here’s to you our Queen, for you have helped us become who today we are

we pledge to love you forever and reunite, somewhere on your twinkling star.

“Soon you’ll be singing and weaving again, creating sunsets for endless years

you’ll help God, an artist too, with designs that sweep aside all our fears.”

Sons Eric & Peter; grandkids Miles, Cole, Ella & their Mom, Caprice; Steve,

husband for 58 years...we’ll all carry on even though for now, we do grieve...

Ever so slowly, your SPIRIT grows smaller...and soon it will pass from our sight,

we’ll know you’re not gone but simply over there, and still with us day and night.

-scb

No flowers please. Support dollars will be appreciated for the: Lewy Body Dementia Association, Inc., League to Save Lake Tahoe, or Friends of the San Juans.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

: NATURE: SOLSTICE—DECEMBER 21

Solstice—December 21

-Our hours of daylight change each day of the year

hours of darkness, too

Seasons change every ninety days or so and vary life

for me and you

Long ago people thought the Sun circled our Earth

once every night and day

If one watches it rise each morning, and later set,

it certainly seems that way

So for most, Earth was the center of the universe

but to some astronomers of old

The facts left a lot in the sky at night unexplained

and nudged the boys to be bold

In 1543 Copernicus published a book; it turned

the world upside down

He believed our Sun was the center of things…

many thought him a clown

But over time his thesis prevailed, and space travel

has made it quite clear

Earth along with other planets do orbit a stationary Sun

once each planet’s own “year”

Now this, our Earth, has three features that affect us

the duration of our lives:

One daily rotation ‘round our N-S axis that gives us daylight

plus the dark of night;

One trip around our Sun—as we rotate daily—that takes

365 days plus a tad more it seems;

Through four different seasons during that trip…because

Earth’s N-S axis leans

Our axis leans away from the Sun’s N-S axis six months

‘tween September and March each year

It then tilts back to the Sun’s axis to complete the journey

home again in September and glad to be here

In the center of each six months sits a Solstice signaling

a zenith and a nadir

The zenith in sunny June marks the middle of our summer,

the nadir December 21, our winter

Those in Australia on December 21 can surf and play

throughout the longest day

For folks in America or Russia—in the Northern Hemisphere

N. 00130.