Pragmatism overtakes family tradition br Quietly, I meditate past and dear memories br Smokey Gray, along with his cousin, Charles, and I br Walked out on the front property, the cedar br br The perfect size for our cozy eight hundred square br Foot mountaintop cottage, a tall and slender tree br Soon to be adorned with a lifetime of love’s br Reminiscences, a spirit of its own, an evergreen br br Icon for eternal promises, a song for New Year br Hopes and promised new life, a communion to br Be fully lived, poignant treasure of life’s endless br Love, softly, a Mozart CD plays reverent br br Tranquility and I think of them, and mist up br Gone now, my dear grandmother, the rock of my childhood, br My dad who always lassoed his dreams, and Pete br A charming gentleman, my favorite one to beat br br At family games of Tonk, Smokey Gray’s dear old pop br Our dinner table, so empty, so big, so large br Their sweet countenances so very missed, as br I drag that dried up cedar tree to the bonfire br br Up on the hill, a peaceful place, encircled gates br At heaven’s place, I feel them all blowing soft kissesbr br Debora Shortbr br