Betty Lou

 it was in her eyes

that she could see all the beauty

that most would overlook

and she held all that beauty

within her prairie sky blue eyes

the sparkle that shone when

she first saw a young boy climb

from his family's wagon

and knew she'd marry him someday

that sparkle grew when 

that someday had come and passed

and both her heart and arms were full

with husband and daughters

and chicken dumplings on the stove

and hot rolls she'd make famous in the oven

the sparkle in her eyes grew

through the dark nights and loss in life

when her hands that had been baptized

in prayer, hard work and doing for others

had to let go to let birds fly, even to heaven

but she was always there to take care of

not only her own but the many lives

she had touched when she took up a nurse's torch

while the sparkle in her eyes stood watch

in the dark nights of others

the joy of rat terriers, church hymns, roses

and of course grandchildren

was a well-deserved treat

for her to savor when her body grew old

she watched as her grandchildren

had their own children

and seasons turned farm houses into fields

she watched with that sparkle in her eyes

as she said goodbye to that boy from the wagon

just a little over a year and a half ago

she sat and watched nurses do

what she had been called to once

and with that sparkle in her eyes

she still saw all the beauty

that passes most others by

Fuhrer Fear

his robes move within shadows

well in fact his robes are the shadows

light doesn't last long in his presence

and he savors the smoke of an extinguished wick

one can look into a mirror in the dark

yet never see any reflection of his image

the empty unmoving void within that image

could be said to be his true portrait

but no one has ever set eyes on him to know

yet any one could identify him in a split second

most say he wears a personalized persona

for each and every living thing in the world

perhaps for every thing not living too

though Beelzebub's death mask is a favorite

he wears all the crowns of the hellish thrones

and even the feathers of certain heavenly hosts

judgement is his scepter and ignorance his song

and once the very hint of his melodic tune is heard

his stealthily planted bomb will soon explode

when his victory is gained all are found guilty

for all have responded and played into his unseen hands

and just as the first light sweeps the dark from the land

he will have vanished with his feast deep in his belly