Raymond S. Hurst

Waiting for Santa Waiting for Christmas seemed to take oh so long But it seemed so magical and the magic was strong Lights decked the houses and danced in the trees... Every colour was alive in the cool winter breeze Snow falling softly caused the bright lights to glisten Carollers on the doorstep and each leaned to listen Bells chime in the distance and sleigh bells do jingle Smiles and laughter and singing voices mingle The eve has arrived before the great Christmas day The excitement was building in a fantastical way Cookies hot chocolate fruit nuts and candy Young ones with daydreams and papa with brandy The children all waited and the excitement was high Anxious to see if Santa and reindeer could fly All tucked into bed waiting for that moment in time For a sleigh and Santa and down the chimney to climb Quietly waiting for the sound of the sleigh to bump Planning to catch a glimpse with a very quick jump Listening and listening in the quiet and of the dark Suddenly but surely it was a bump or a bark Children screeching jumping and running to see How quickly they scamper as they head for the tree But instead of Santa they found Christmas day While they listened so quietly the night slipped away There by the tree were the signs that Santa had been But because they listened so carefully they hadn’t seen If the man in the red suit and his reindeer really could fly Now is forgotten in the midst of a Christmas day high Raymond S. Hurst

November Eleven November eleven nineteen ninety-nine A moment of silence if you please incline For those who have gone to fight in a war... A moment of silence for those who went to war My Grandfather and two uncles too went off to fight in the war My uncles died in war number one but first they fought in the Boer They ran together on war's open field and there Uncle Sid was gone And a brick through the belly for poor Uncle Phil now only be strong They fought the enemy the rats and the mice The holes the trenches the mud and the lice The men and the women who went off to war To fight for the right and to even the score The "Great War" it was called but what was so great But the suffering and the crying of those who still wait And the number of crosses that stand row on row And the poppies that nod when the breezes blow It really matters not The Boer Great War two or one Vietnam Korea Japan Spain or China who won? Did we learn not to fight or a lesson of freedom and right Did we fight for democracy or is that yet in sight Where in the world is the next lesson learned What part of the earth and which people are burned The marker stands over those lost in the service In the hope that their efforts would long preserve us Regardless of who won the war remember those who die It matters not who lost the war remember those who cry And please be aware of those in whose economic favour Have taken control of that which death's victory did savour Raymond S. Hurst 11/11/99

Friendship Words alone cannot express What friendship really means Simple nor exotic words... Fairly tell what emotion gleans Love is but a simple word That just cannot explain The strange and great connection Some boast and some refrain Across the great expanse of time Something holds two people twine In the heart or in the mind Where souls are held in close align In great accord and harmony In fondness and affinity Though sometimes distant memory The kindred bonds of symmetry Blessed by time and circumstance One chance meeting to connect And fostered there in happenstance A union locked in fond reflect The only word to describe it well This union of the heart Friend the only word to tell This union to impart Across the years in resolute Friendship stands preserved The joy and tears a grand tribute A friend the soul deserved Raymond S. Hurst

Amazing Things I stopped and took some time from a busy day To think what has brightened and eased my way To think about the world’s most amazing things... And the joyous exuberance each moment brings The blossom that opens in the new day sun The miracle of fingers and feet how they run Kittens and puppies making fun from their chase The sun reaching high warms body and face A smile that explodes on the face of a friend Tears of joy flowing easy when a heart did mend The laughter of children while happy at play And a hug that tells you I want you to stay A mother giving breast to her new born child A deer walking free in the natural and wild Lovers walking together in an autumn swept park Passion that reaches its crescendo in the dark A Chick-a-Dee dancing on a cold gray branch A cowboy riding heard on an old western ranch Swimming naked at midday in a river or lake An infant just born and its first breath to take I love just knowing you are a part of my life Rainbows and moonbeams and the music of fife The wind the rain the snow and sky of blue The most wondrous of all are friends like you Raymond S. Hurst

April is Poetry Month