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Robert
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Not
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Bob
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Nothin' Better
                    
To
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Billy
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Harry
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Shirley Allard
                    
 
                    
 
                    
 
                    
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From the Attic

            Random Ramblings

            by T. Owen Stark


            




            On This Day


            
 


            
My
            three kids are getting older faster. Actually, two are not even
            kids any longer. They are 22 and 18. Holy Christmas! Where did
            the years go!? Thank goodness I still have a pre-teen, (11) to
            keep me thinking young. As each year passes it seems I see them
            less and less. Tommy and Anna are in college and Jenna has so
            many interests for such a young one, that there is not much time
            left for a boring old man. But December 24th is our day. Each
            year I have all three of them for our day. They come over to
            my place on the 23rd, in the evening. We open 1 gift each and
            have goodies and watch a movie that I just gave one of them.
            This year it was 'The Simpson's'. Then we proceed to figuring
            out who is sleeping where. Usually around 2 am or so, we finally
            succumb to the effects that the laughter and general rambunctiousness
            have had on us.

            
This year when it was over I was sorry,
            as always, to see them go. I know my years with them grow fewer
            as time passes but they will always be my most cherished gifts
            and my proudest accomplishments in life.

            
To my wonderful threesome…I love you!
            I wrote this poem one year ago to the day and I missed you even
            more this year! - Dad

            
On This Day…Christmas

            
Only the echoes of their laughter 

            Remain

            Only the fading light of their smiles

            And the afterglow of their shining souls

            Linger

            These few hours on this joyous day

            Is the lifeblood that sustains me

            The fountain from which I drink

            They have come to be the only light I seek

            The only hope I maintain

            Yet it is enough

            For they truly love me

            This I know

            Dark hollow rooms

            I have come to call home

            But on this day I allow the light

            On this day 

            I am alive

            
 

            
This next poem is one of my personal favorites.
            I think it may be due to the way it just came to me. More than
            any other piece, this one felt as if it were being whispered
            in my ear from some other, unknown entity. I've received so many
            various interpretations on this one though I had a clear and
            distinct vision of what it meant. I hope you like it.

            
The Second Sun

            
Worm twists on a shimmering hook

            And streaks towards its final splash

            Backyard wedding

            Laughter echoes

            On the wings of a camera flash

            Starlings find a telephone line

            To rest

            Review the day

            Stars prepare to greet the night

            Born milleniums away

            Traveling whisper

            Undisturbed

            A million years in flight

            Catch the eye of desperate souls

            Spark in them a light

            Infants final cry is heard

            Above the halted wind

            Stevie Nicks sends Frozen Love

            To caress the somber din

            In a million years 

            On a distant land

            Our final light is done

            As the worm evades 

            Its watery grave

            At the edge

            Of the second Sun

            
 

            
I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

            
Tom Owens was born in Washington
            DC. After living in Maryland for many years, he became a single
            parent and now resides in Virginia with his children who are
            the first 3 loves of his life. The other three are music, movies
            and The Washington Redskins. Tom also dabbles in poetry. You
            can read more of his poetry at http://starkimages.blogspot.com/

            
For more from Tom visit December,
            then, and before.