Memory Photos – A Poem

* For Patti on your Birthday

The wheel of the year

has made another complete cycle.

You sit, looking at everything you have done,

going within to look at memories,

flipping through them like photos,

snapshots of moments that made up this year.

These memory photos show the love

that you gave to others you didn’t even know,

wanting to make the world a better place.

The snapshots show moments of joy,

your mouth caught in the curve of laughter,

the sound that you made still audible

when you hold the photo.

The pictures show moments of perseverance,

as you overcame that which you thought impossible,

but conquered the obstacles with strength,

your visage a mask of determination.

All together, these pieces of memory

show a woman who possesses

so much more than all these photos.

You are a woman who brings joy

to so many others with little thought of yourself

and you make the world shine.

You fill the world with kindness

that can only be repaid with the stars themselves.

When I look through my own memory photos of you,

I see a woman who has changed the lives

of so many others, including myself.

Today, as your wheel of the year

makes another turn and the cycle is ready

to begin once more,

I wanted you to know that you are loved

and if I could, I would give you the stars,

but they would pale in comparison

to your brilliance.