1999 Nostalgia

As Poets go, my cousins prose, have left me with a smile.
They wrote a batch I'll never match, I'll never have the style.
But now and then, I think of them and wonder if they know...
this Stockton man, part of the clan, still loves them, dearly so.

It's been awhile, and many miles still keep us far apart.
The years gone by, the reasons why, still heavy on my heart.
I look again, as gray creeps in the mirror on the wall.
At photos on the internet and memories they recall.

Those days are gone, but still my mom, smiles backlit on the screen.
And through the haze, remember days, of Wes and Uncle Dean.
Every time the laughter chimes with eyes that seemed to show,
more than I could understand, more than I'll ever know.

And still I feel the love inside my sweet Aunt Helen's home.
We played in hay, pushed pigs away, and through the woods we'd roam.
With crowded beds and turtle heads and snowballs on the lawn,
I know it must seem silly now, but I'm sad those days are gone.

After Christmas, I relax, and reminisce awhile.
I look into my daughter's face and see my cousin's smile.
We went to town, the tree came down, this house is really bad!
My boys at play bring back the days we made our folks so mad.

We'll sled today, Yea, I still play, and each will stuff their face.
We'll sing the bars and race the cars and feed the fireplace.
This little poem, from Hanson's home, that barely even rhymes
Is meant to share, and show we care, in 1999!

Happy New Year

Duane Hanson, Karla Gibbs, Heather Hanson, Dean Hanson, and Dylan Hanson