What is your favorite poem you wrote?

All my poems are my favorites; they all came from my heart. 

When I couldn’t find the words to say how I felt, I wrote a poem about it, 

and it worked for me. Every poem is a verbal picture of how I felt at that moment.

I will share a favorite that has helped me understand why I was feeling the way I did at that time.

I wrote this many years ago.

When I read it now, as I live in my 92nd year, it seems much more relevant.

(I wrote this while sitting on the beach watching the waves rolling in.)

Patience is a Virtue

Hi there, old salt.

You’re in-between, aren’t you?

Your face is smooth or nearly so,

Ah, but your edges give you away.

Your swells peak up and break gently.

Caressing my toes, disappearing around my feet.

If I were to take you at your word,

I would run and fling myself into your embrace.

I would just jostle your white caps and

Relax in your peaks and hollows.

But I know better than that.

You are losing control.

You are growing impatient.

I have noticed it sometimes.

Even like now, when you are calm.

That upheaval of emotion that comes

When you do not expect it.

That breaker that is less controlled

Then the rest shows your impatience.

It does not caress my toes and

Then depart through the sand.

Ho! It grabs at my knees and

Pulls at me with fierce enthusiasm.

No need, friend, for your impatience.

Think about it.

From you, I have learned to be strong,

Without a show of force.

From you, I have learned to be placid,

But never complacent.

In your depth, I have had great joy,

And near death.

You have taught me to trust,

But never to rely.

I have learned what I do is important,

And what I would like to do remains insignificant.

No, my friend, be not impatient.

Two billion years ago, I was created from you.

I would not deprive you if I could.

Yours is a millennium, mine but half a grain of sand.

Do not be impatient,

We will be as one in due time.

Until then, my friend,

 I will visit you as

 often as I can.

An Update 2026

I have kept my word, and I think

Due time is on the horizon.

The good thing is I still

Need binoculars

To see it.

_____________

Don’t look back; it may bring tears to your eyes.

Look ahead and fill your eyes with surprise