Finishing Well

The warrior moves 
down the long tunnel
Nearing the light of a new life arena
 
He has come a long distance
over many years of boredom
and hanging on 
Waiting and praying for this day
with tenacity and grit
 
As he climbs up the ramp
He hears the welcoming crowd 
cheering him on and blessing him
for a job well done in his own
humble and quiet way
 
And, as he enters this 
untrodden field of opportunity,
Under the bright klieg lights
 
He knows in his gut
that he has finished well
and is now ready 
for this next life chapter
of  further adventures
 
Hip hip hooray!!!
 
–Marshal

Year of the Squirrel

In the old shack, a lean-to, really
life was a new adventure
 
We raked the packed dirt floors
to clean up what the dog or squirrels didn’t eat
And ventured out on the darkest nights
to find the outhouse built of used doors
……………………………………………………..
 
Relatively quiet, except for
the singing pines
 
UNTIL
 
The day Mom told the
watching-patiently-with-intense-desire dog
“Get him!”
 
And, thus began the frantic days
the Year of the Squirrel wars…