I Reach Up

I Reach Up

Days go

Like leaves in autumn

Fluttering on the breeze

Floating

In near suspension

Beginning a journey

They fall

Swirling

Softly at first

Spiraling faster

Finally

They tumble

I reach up

To catch them

They blanket

My feet

Pile around

My ankles

It is late

The branches

Like pale bones

Are bare

In the glow

Of the winter

Moon

My life

Whispers

Rustles

All around

Me

Spent days

Calling out

I reach

Down

Touch

Silence each

One

Drink in

The millions

Of small moments

That make

A life

My soul

Is ready

I reach

Up

- Denise Cooper Smith

You Hold Me

I hear your heartbeat as mine begins

A warm, safe harbor my soul found in you

A new being growing

And you hold me

The lights are bright, the air is cold

They wrap me in a blanket

I open my new eyes and see your lovely face

And you hold me

Joy courses through my limbs

The world holds wonders for a little girl

In the afternoons you read me stories

And you hold me

Each morning I leave you to go to school

I am shy and unsure

Sometimes I come home with tears in my eyes

And you hold me

I question everything

I am no longer a little child

School and boys and trying to fit in…sometimes I get angry

And you hold me

I show you the ring on my finger

The smile on my face says it all

The smile on your face is an answer

And you hold me

I become a mother on a crisp November night

I am happy and tired and perplexed

In your arms you hold my baby, in your sea-blue eyes I see

That you hold me

My life is not exactly what I had planned for

My heart breaks as I confide in you

Although you are miles away, in your heart I know

That you hold me

In every season of sorrow

In every moment of joy

My loyal, constant, abiding friend and mother

You hold me

- Denise Cooper Smith -

I am Ava!

My name is Ava, but so is yours

We’re everywhere, in and out of doors

The teacher calls out, “Ava!” loudly

And five of us turn, answering proudly

“I am Ava!” but so are you

And you, and you, and she, it’s true

I’ve begun to think I’ll change my name

Because of it’s popularity and fame

I might like Tatiana a bit better

Or maybe Amelia, I’ll sign my letter

Not everyone has the name Gertrude LaRue

Maybe Ingrid or Solei or Caroline Pru

I’ve got it!  A name that’s perfect for me

I just came up with it, what luck, what glee!

Are you ready? I want to tell you soon

I know you’ll love it, you’ll gasp and swoon

The best name to come out of my brain

Is Sparkle Bunny Love Heart Rain

Why didn’t you think of that one, Mom?

It’s the greatest name from here to Guam

Starting tomorrow that’s what I’ll be called

No more Ava on the top of my homework scrawled

A beautiful name that suits me just fine

I’ll no longer stand in the long Ava line

No, Sparkle Bunny Love Heart Rain

Is unique, and special and not so plain

So I went to school and tried it out

And guess what, the kids didn’t cheer or shout

They scrunched up their noses, gave me funny looks

That’s when teacher found me behind the books

“What’s the matter, Ava S.?” She asked with care

“I don’t like my name.  It has no flare.”

She looked at me and smiled so bright

“Did you know that Ava means, like a bird in flight?”

I thought it over and then I said

“That’s beautiful, there’s no other name I’d have instead.”

My name is Ava, and so is yours

We’re like an eagle when it soars

When anybody calls out, “Ava!” loudly

I’ll always turn and answer proudly

“I am Ava!”  You may be too

But I love my name and so should you.

- Denise Cooper Smith -

Dan and his Bike

When Dan was just one of the boys
He gave away all of his toys
He had no need for blocks or trucks
No time to play rifles and bucks

The only thing that made him smile
Was riding his bike, mile after mile
He started at the crack of dawn
Before the world could even yawn

In the saddle he felt like the richest king
Over mountains and plains he'd go wheeling
And when he'd come to a body of water
He had no time for boats or other fodder

He'd bike on through the sunlit lake
The fish would scatter and some would quake
To see a boy riding through the moss
Would make the Bull Moose very cross

He'd chase young Dan up on the shore
Dan sped away like it wasn't a chore
He rode through deserts where the cactus grew
Over the steep Rockies he and his bike flew

On the plains a tornado sucked him right up
But Dan and his bike packed quite the wallop
The twister it unwound, with so much torque
That it blew Dan and his bike to New York, New York

As the sun set down on the Chelsea Pier
Dan decided he would head back to his own frontier
His legs how they peddled, so nimble and quick
That he soon left the earth, he was super sonic

Airborne, his bike how it flew through the sky
When he spied a pilot in a plane he just waved goodbye
He touched down in his driveway at a quarter to five
Into his bedding he took a nosedive

His mom came to wake him, still he slept
But by noon to the garage he had crept
Will there ever be anything else he might like?
Nobody knows, but Dan and his bike

- Denise Cooper Smith -

Sax Man

I hear you Sax Man
In the attic of the house, man
Light pours out of the window
Onto the dark city streets below
Music soars out of the window
Filling the quiet hour
With jazz power
The notes skip
Tumble and trip
Revel and blip
The hands of the clock
Tock-tick-tock
But still you blow
Your own big brass horn show
Until the cocks crow
You are the Sax Man
Keep on playing, man

- Denise Cooper Smith

When It Rains

It rained today
And I thought of you
I always think of you
When it rains
I remembered when we first met
How with little fanfare
You came into my life
Not knowing your beautiful blue eyes
Would soon peer into my soul
Piercing it with your sweet love
What I look forward to
Is all the rainy afternoons we will share
When we are both old and wrinkly
And we will open the windows
So we can smell the rain on the dry earth
And play a quiet Frank Sinatra song
And argue over card games
Sipping at our hot cocoa
Until we are groggy enough to take a nap
And we will lay our old creaky bodies
Down on our old creaky bed
And before I nod off
I will kiss your cheek
And still adore those beautiful blue eyes
That many years before
Looked into my soul
It rained today
And I thought of you
I always think of you
When it rains

- Denise Cooper Smith

Brielle

Your dark hair
Your blue eyes like gemstones
Your laugh
Your chubby little fists
They unlock my heart effortlessly
You came to us
Like a snowstorm in August
But oh how I wanted you
I've kept you within my soul
A wish, a dream
A desire that never left
In many ways your sudden existence
Lifted me
A light on the horizon
After a long dark night spent
Tossing endlessly on an unsure sea
Your daddy dreamed of you
Told me of your dark hair
Your sweet smile
My second daughter
I want to tell you
To love yourself always
Compare yourself to no one
Even your sister
Don't let doubt cloud your vision
It will be easy to do
I know
Because I am also a second daughter
I pledge to love you
For who you are
Today
Tomorrow
And Always

- Denise Cooper Smith