Beloved melodies and lyrics which touch this heart of mine

Range from poignant to perky, yet quite often seem to align

With life’s pattern which causes despair and despicable grief —

“Waiting” hammered home – lingering — with no promise of relief.

Critiquing Carly Simon who laments “Anticipation”

Or ignoring “September Song” — a tune of antiquation —

“One hasn’t got time for the waiting game…as days dwindle down…

To a precious few”, a once eager smile turns into a frown.

M. LeGrand wrote, “If it takes forever, I will wait for you…”  (from THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG)

An Irish “Frenchman” contributed “Waiting for Godot”, too.

Paris, city of wine, lights and romance, INVENTING champagne–

“There we met and there we parted by the lovely river Seine.”

Valentine’s Day suffocates through promoted candies, flowers

Tossed one’s way as if holding mystical persuasive powers.

Each dark, wintry, frigid February, I typically vow

To live each moment, as if my last, in the grand here and now.

“No more waiting around, and no more browsing through TRUE ROMANCE…” (from the musical FIORELLO!)

Time to compliment more, to laugh, to love, to be kind, to dance!

Living for baby’s first steps or anniversary parties,

Paychecks, weekly meetings impresses no supreme deities.

Life’s a gift– the Present too precious to waste on yesterday!

Tomorrow matters not, when today’s all we’ve got while we pray.

Soothe a soul, share a joke, smile at strangers, sing inclusive songs.

Honor all who live. Learn to care. Begin to right some sad wrongs.

Cupid’s Day evokes perfume, chocolate, one very old saint;

Quaint FUNNY VALENTINE tunes request that we be what we ain’t!

This holiday should celebrate Love’s universality —

Lighting hearts afire for each other every second with glee.

No postponement…do not defer…for the perfect time and place.

Heavenly opportunities stare each of us in the face!

Adopt a dog from “death row”.  Feed that frightened, cold, stray kitten.

Lend a hand.  Pat a back.  Why pause?  Where on earth is it written?

“We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is disappearing. “ ~ R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (1927-1989)

(From Wikipedia)  “(Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). In Dahl’s story, Everlasting Gobstoppers were designed by Willy Wonka, the owner of a massive chocolate factory, for children with “very little pocket-money,” and were purported to last forever, as the name suggests. If someone were to bite into an Everlasting Gobstopper, the person would break their teeth. It’s also mentioned in the book that it is like a gum in that it never loses its flavor or texture.

In the original novel, the Everlasting Gobstopper looked like a normal round jawbreaker which flashed with a variety of colors. In the 1971 film, it had a defined core with small colored bursts traversing the outside of the core, similar to kompeito or a bumble ball. The 2005 film showed Everlasting Gobstoppers as they were in the novel, as round jawbreaker-like candies. The gobstopper was used as a device to determine which of the children had integrity and were not prepared to betray Willy Wonka.”