"Stand"

You feel like a candle in a hurricane

Just like a picture with a broken frame

Alone and helpless

Like you've lost your fight

But you'll be alright, you'll be alright

Cause when push comes to shove

You taste what you're made of

You might bend, till you break

Cause its all you can take

On your knees you look up

Decide you've had enough

You get mad you get strong

Wipe your hands shake it off

Then you Stand, Then you stand

Life's like a novel

With the end ripped out

The edge of a canyon

With only one way down

Take what you're given before its gone

Start holding on, keep holding on

Cause when push comes to shove

You taste what you're made of

You might bend till you break

Cause it's all you can take

On your knees you look up

Decide you've had enough

You get mad, you get strong

Wipe your hands, shake it off

Then you stand, then you stand

Everytime you get up

And get back in the race

One more small piece of you

Starts to fall into place

Love for a Few Minutes Tonight

I was folding clothes and doing chores

When Pandora featured Kenny G playing “Songbird” from my computer

In the guest room.

Memories sped back to a day and time

When Mommie used to love playing her music on the stereo

In the living room

While she worked in the kitchen getting supper ready.

She loved her smooth jazz

And her blues

And her “Red Sails in the Sunset” music.

But mostly it was smooth jazz

From saxophonists or pianists and sometimes guitarists.

I stopped folding the towels

And dropped into my memory of feelings--

Splashes of light from the days

When I had her,

And I had home,

And she looked for me coming into town

Greeting me with flowers in the kitchen

And jazz softly playing from the stereo.

Back then

I felt the warmth

The security

The goodness

The togetherness of doing much of nothing.

Now it’s just me and the cat . . . and the music.

She instilled in me her love

For playing the stereo in my home

While going about cleaning or washing

Or whatever a home needs doing.

So thanks, Kenny G,

Herbie Hancock,

Chick Corea,

Dave Brubeck,

Billie Holiday,

John Coltrane, and

George Winston

to name a few.

You brought me some love

in my heart’s memory

for a few minutes tonight.