Steve Haarman

We have snowshoes

June doesn’t call for them

But then you never know

How far north you might go

We try to get closer

Than ever before to

Those that have gone on

To that distant shore

How many years older

At least fifty it seems

Back in your childhood

Now you have dreams

We could not sense their struggle

Always seemed like a holiday

Abstract existence in warped time

What words, if you could, would you say?

We could climb mountains

Or be willing to try

Just to get closer

For one more goodbye

Love cannot grasp it

That sense of belonging

No one let go

Yet there’s that longing

Magical times in young minds

Who thought it would always go on

Grandpa and grandma forever

But no it ended, they’re gone

The laughter and the nonsense

Oh!  To get it back

The power for a miracle

Is something that we lack

We wish there was a road there

All we had to do was drive

Start in reverse and travel real fast

To when they were still alive

No, the world turns

We’re left with a prayer and a hymn

And the truth is

We have become them

Stanski

May 28, 2025 ^

Hello friend

You are the most

Intriguing person

I don’t even know

You hold some power

Over me, but I would

Love to get to know you

And develop a long term

Loving relationship

With you lasting

Year after year until

Death we do part

I think of candle light

Cognac and soft jazz music

Trips to St. Simon’s Island

And Santa Fe, New Mexico

How great!

We would hike

Mountain trails and explore

I can hear the laughter

And also the tears

Sense the joy of being

Along with the fears

Until one of us is left

Looking beautiful in black

Steeped in lovely grief

With no regrets for

Having lived the dream

Stanski

May 27, 2025, ^

EARLY TRADITIONS

Clouds ahead appeared as mountains

Above them were dark ominous floaters

Looking like large chunks of coal

About twenty miles further, rain drops

They were dancing on the windshield

Giving the feeling of a drum corps

Great excitement and then lightning

Followed by a gushing downpour

I set my imaginary batons down

Slowed and pulled my car over to

The side of the lightly traveled road

Rockets and blasts continued

This was an unknown holiday

Breath taken away, replaced by memories

I thought of lost friends; times that

Will never be enjoyed again

I was sad as I waited

My throat ached and eyes watered

Then it all stopped

Sunshine appeared and with it

Were countless rainbows

Spirits were lifted

Out to the right was a county cemetery

Many once lively people buried there

Real heroes in their own silent way

They took nothing for granted and endured

Veterans of hard work; survivors of

Difficult times and their children went on

And are no doubt buried somewhere new

Where they carried on the tradition

I thought about this as I continued my journey

Stanski

May 26, 2025 ^

NATURE LAUGHS

Great Lake shores

  Quiet this night

Peaceful interlude

    Refrains

From showing its might

Waves calm

    As the wind dies down

No way to fix or know

    The time of the next show

Smiling wind assumes

  It will be busy soon

Doing the things

    You can’t do or control

No permits necessary

  That’s a laugh!

New dunes form

  Ever so slowly

The change from year to year

    Hard to even notice

“Part of my craft”

Speaks the breeze

    We remain helpless

Nature as a mother

  Has her own way of nurture

Difficult to understand

  Just don’t disturb her

Species change daily

  Under her care

We can do nothing

  Nor should we dare

By Steve Haarman aka Stanski

May 24, 2025

BOILING IT DOWN

BOILING IT DOWN

Where do we go and

who really cares?

Absence from your territory

for days or weeks

Return to find no calls

No one missed you, yet

When you say you might leave

Everyone resorts to grief

Don’t go; we need you

You are our man

Neglected or praised

You are the one who can

The one who acts

Asks no questions

Just performs

Breaks the rules

Judgement by the unicorn

My life’s a wonder now

Big stuff out of the way

Don’t know where I’m going

Will find my destination

Know when I get there

It will all be soothing

Don’t go away, but I can’t stay

Maybe we see each other

Along the way

Renew the memories

If there were any

Life can be superficial

Nothing that special

So why linger

Get me on my way

Wherever I go,

that is where I’ll be

People are the same all over

I find the joy and

Try to be a source of

comfort and support

Stanski

May 23, 2025 ^

Real life is hard

Even with good leaders

You feel an incentive

Which is more that meager

Listen my friends

I can play a few chords

Enough to lift you

Keep you from being bored

No scarlet letters

Saying you’re identified

Disregard the concept

You’ll be satisfied

No one is a victim

Unless you choose to be

Freedom is a precious gift

Like life I’m sure you’ll see

We live in a world bewildered

Power and control prevail

You must stick to your rights

When you do you will not fail

Gloom and doom exist

They are not the perimeter

Our right to stand up and fight

Precludes our right to falter

Our congress leans to the left

Help in creating the tension

The anti-Semitic leaders

Do not deserve their pension

Death and injury to the innocents

Is not something we behold

Let’s remember the origin and

Realize that we must be bold

Stanski

May 22, 2025