©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

Photo by Sixties Photography on Unsplash

Follow the bright lights home, my son.
When all is said, when all is done,
their glow still brings you back to me
in person and in memory.

©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

Image: Chilmark Hay 1951 by Thomas Hart Benton

From break of dawn till setting sun,
he worked until the work was done.
No perks, no flex-time, no review–
just midday sun and morning dew.

©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

Image: Yesterday’s Dreams by Jack Vetriano

Veiled in dreams that once came true,
the memories steal over you.
They cross your face, invade your space,
leave little sense of time or place.

©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

Photo by Kara Kupfer on Unsplash

Today’s too hot to bark or bite,
too warm to walk or wag.
I’m not inclined to chomp or chew.
(My jowls are on the sag.)

©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

Image: A Dinner Table at Night by John Singer Sargent

We always dressed for dinner then,
lithe hostesses of peerless men
whose dreams were second to their pride.
So much to lose; still more to hide.

©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

Image: Under Winslow Bridge by Valette

He watched, aloof, as other men built bridges…
eschewed their trust in girders, planks and beams.
Foundations always cracked for him or crumbled.
(Proof nothing strong is ever as it seems.)

©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

Image: Big Room by Andrew Wyeth

In the end, we left the room quite empty.
Cold, save for the errant ray
of day-old sun that filtered past the pane.

©2012 Susan Noyes Anderson

He said yes. She said no.
She said high. He said low.
He said dark. She said light.
She said wrong. He said right.