EXPECTANCY

Have you ever watched a batter,
Poised, and with his bat all set,
Filled with eager expectation,
And in keen anticipation
For that home run he may get?

Have you ever been an angler
Casting with your newest flies?
All the art you knew in fishing
You were trying, hoping, wishing
For a speckled beauty prize.

In the spring you'll see a robin
Gleaning straws to build a nest,
She has no idea of quitting,
And in due time she'll be sitting
With her nestlings 'neath her breast.

Life is filled with expectations
At whatever stage it be,
Youth's ambitions and romances,
Planning, scheming, taking chances
In eager expectancy.

REFLECTIONS

When you look into your mirror
Every morning when you rise,
Do you see a true reflection,
Or your visage in disguise?

Do you meet a face that's smiling,
And two eyes so bright and clear,
Or a frown upon your features
As if Life was hard to bear?

When you gaze into the mirror
Of your past vocation's role,
May you find true satisfaction
In the things you there behold.

May these past reflections make you
Proud to feel you played the game,
In your daily work or pleasure
That brought credit to your name.

Looking back upon our failures,
Or on chores that were well done,
We are gazing at reflections,
And memories that linger on.

When we gaze on some old photo,
Or memento of the past,
Then again we see reflections
In our mental looking glass.

April, 1950

LIFE'S CHANGING SCENES

How changing are the scenes of life,
How variant are each day;
Success and failure, hopes and fears
We meet along life's way.
We know not what our future holds,
Nor would we wish to see
The distant scenes which lies ahead,
And moulds our destiny.

The ever shifting sands of time
Our footprints oft times hide,
And fond ambitions, cherished hopes
Are often swept aside.
Changes and chances through the years
have been since time began,
And in the scheme of things we see
The frailty of man.

On wings of flight the days rush by,
The fleeting months roll on,
And soon out o'er the crest of time
Another year has flown.
Life's changing scenes will ever be
Until life's day decline,
So through the days that lies ahead,
Let's take one at a time.

July, 1949

BLESSINGS

How sweet is mem'ries of the past
When we were young and spry,
When every day seemed just the same,
And worries passed us by.

How sweet the sunlight and the air
After the summer's rain,
Likewise ourselves finds sweet relief
In pleasure after pain.

How sweet is sleep when weary limbs,
And brain relax in rest,
Some from their daily strenuous toil,
And some from care and stress.

How sweet to have a home and hearth
'Though poor our lot may be,
And strength to do our daily task,
Dwelling in harmony.

How sweet to have a stedfast faith
In a better world to come,
And daily press towards the goal
Until our course is run.

How sweet when we are growing old,
'Though our mem'ries not the best,
To have a sane and quiet mind,
And later, peaceful rest.

MORNING

When eastern skies proclaim the dawn,
And morning stars they fade away,
With curtains of the night withdrawn
To usher in another day;
Then watchmen waiting for the morn
Proclaims "Awake, behold the dawn."

The Old Sol in full majesty
Arises mid a flaming ray,
Transforming land and all the sea
From darkened night to light of day;
Then man resumes his task once more
Where he left off the day before.

June, 1950

NIGHT

When evening comes at close of day,
The curtain of the night comes down,
Then darkness o'er the land holds sway,
And spreads its mantle all around;
Then beasts of jungle and the plain
Sets forth to stalk their prey again.

At night when all the nation sleep,
The moon and stars keep watch above,
And in the darkened forest deep,
Wild creatures through the wild wood rove;
So pass the night and day is here,
Thus flies a week, a month, a year.

June, 1950

THE SEASON'S PROBLEMS

The winter's going; let it go,
We're getting tired of frost and snow,
And longs to feel the south winds blow
In summer time.

It will b e a change from snow and sleet
The icy walks and snow blocked street,
To swelter in the sultry heat
In summer time.

And when it's ninety in the shade,
We'll pant, and quaff cold lemonade,
And think of nice cool days we had
In winter time.

We never know from day to day
What tricks the weather man will play,
He keeps us guessing all the way
In every clime.

We discuss the weather quite a lot
When it is cold, or much too hot,
But cannot alter it one jot
At any time.

In winter time we shovel snow,
In summer, weeds and grass we mow;
It really keeps us on the go
Most all the time.

March 8, 1947

LIFE'S BY-WAYS

Come with me and let us wander
In Life's Byways new and old,
There we'll meditate and ponder
As each role of life unfold'.

While the facts of life we're gleaning,
And we're learning wisdom's lore,
Life will have a fuller meaning
As it's by ways we explore.

THE PILGRIM'S JOURNEY

A Pilgrim set out on life's journey,
The road it was rugged and long,
And often despair and misgivings
Accompanied him instead of a song.
The trail it was rough
O'er moor, fen and buff,
But the bold Pilgrim kept plodding on.

He climbed the bleak hill of Misfortune,
And trod the lone vale of Despair,
On through the deep canyon of Sorrow,
And up the steep mountain of Care.
So rough was the road,
And wary the load
The Pilgrim so often would bear.

As the light of life's day was declining,
And the shadows gave warning of night,
Ahead on the green slopes of Gladness
He beheld a fair city so bright.
His goal it was nigh,
His heart sang with joy,
He had reached the blest mansions of Light.

Approaching the guard o the portal,
"Have you room for a Pilgrim" he cried;
The sentinel he softly made answer
"There is room for all pilgrims in side,
All who comes this way
At the close of life's day,
They forever and ever abide."

September, 1950

LIFE'S VOYAGE

This life is like an ocean voyage
We're sailing every day,
And stormy seas and pleasant breeze
We encounter on the way.

At times our barque seems small and frail
When buffetted about
Amid each reef of unbelief,
Uncertainty and doubt.

Some due to sad misfortune
Lies shipwrecked on life's shore;
And some so fair just disappear,
Their span of life half o'er.

While others they are wafted on
Towards their port afar,
And at the sunset of their lives
They cross the harbour bar.

There's many dangers to be met
Before we reach that shore,
But safe at last with perils past
We'll sail life's seas no more.

Photo: This wheel house, from the schooner EMA FRAMPTON, was removed from the vessel after she went ashore on the Labrador. It is located in Cartwright, Newfoundland.

LIFE

A frail old man with faltering steps and cane
Amid a jostling crowd just off a train.

A blind news vendor by his dailies stand,
A lone prospector sifts the river sand.

An angler dozing by a purling stream,
A puffing tug boat belching clouds of steam.

Young lovers strolling down through lover's lane,
A white clad nurse easing a brow in pain.

A proud father watching his son at bat,
A sewing circle where they stitch and chat.

A peanut vendor trudging 'long the street,
And farther on, a policeman on his beat.

A toddler climbing up a dangerous stair,
A jilted maiden sobbing in despair.

Two old cronies playing a game of chess,
An old lady waiting her call to rest.

Saint, sinner, parson, people, man and wife,
They all make up this world, we call it LIFE.