Elaine Cunningham-Dirks

Hi folks. I have some real bad news. Three months ago my wife Elaine was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She passed away peacefully in her sleep with me by her side early in the morning 12-30-2013. In her last few weeks alive she was able to spend much time with our family which was very important to her because for Laino, family was everything.

Laino was a very loving mate, mother, and friend. No one could ever ask for a finer partner in life. She was the kindest person I have ever known and one of the most capable people I've ever met, bar none. It has been an honor to be her mate. We were together for twenty-two years and I've known her for over half my lifetime. We all miss her so much.

Laino was one of those people who was always moving in four directions at once and so was able to fit a very great deal into her life. She was a jack of all trades and was very accomplished. In life she had been a bartender, waitress, process server, business owner, loan officer, appraiser, paralegal, caregiver, and patient advocate. Many times over the years she worked three jobs at once. Through it all she managed to fit time in for our kids and myself every day.

She is survived by myself, three sisters, two brothers, her son, her step-daughter, two nieces, two nephews, a grand niece and a grand nephew. In life we considered her nieces and nephews as though they were our own children.

Elaine Cunningham-Dirks

1960-2013

Deep

Deep

When you loose your mate,

your souls match,

the pain you feel

runs so very deep

like a ragged gorge cut

into your heart

with a dull, salt covered spoon.

But I promise you this;

The love and peace and beauty

gathered carefully, gently

by two pairs of hands

bit by bit, piece by piece

from a grand lifetime

of love between two

who know what it is

to live a charmed romance,

runs even deeper far, far into

the brilliant white light

of your soul

and deeper yet, far into

the star filled night sky

that surrounds us all.

Look inward my friend

and look outward

deep into the night sky

it's there for you to feel,

there for you to touch,

there for you to taste,

there for you to see.

Dewey Dirks

The End of Your Days

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Winter Poetry

I'm pleased and honored to let everyone know one of my poems has been published in Brian Wrixon Books new anthology “Winter Poetry.” Here is the link: Winter Poetry

The Song

The Song

You can hear it in the morning

brewing in the coffee pot

As you sit at the kitchen table at dawn

Later in the day, when you're busy at work

You can hear it in the rustle of papers

down at the copy machine

And though you're too involved think about it

Still, you dance along

You can hear it when your wife calls at noon

You say “I was just thinking of you”

And she says “I just thought I'd call”

You can see it in a dogs eye

And in the toes of a tiny kittens paw

You can feel it in the hand of a stranger

As he helps you up from sidewalk

After an icy night fall

Just as you can feel it in the smooth wooden handles

Of old, well worn tools

You can taste it in a freshly cooked cob of corn

Or in the water from a hose

Out in the yard down at the farm

It's the nothing

That makes everything whole

And the something that fills the cool air

Of empty beaches and elementary schoolyards

That makes you want to visit

On Sunday afternoons

Everything that lives, everything that is

Dances a grand dance

And sings a grand song

Living is music

And the secret in life

Is to listen for the melody

And then sing along

If ever you wondered at the gossip

Of a bushy brown squirrel

Or sat in the car with your girlfriend

Outside the airport for two hours one afternoon

Watching 737's take off

You've noticed for awhile

A few of the notes in life's long song

And felt the gentle rhythm

That nudges and twirls us all

You'll never know where you're going

Unless you can tell where you've been

To know where you are right now

You have to learn to appreciate

The things that are right in front of you

From “The Questioning Way”

Dewey Dirks

For Giving Away

For Giving Away

He showed me two songs

Heartfelt and full of life's

Ironies and aspirations

'Said these two helped me

When I needed a hand

And I'm grateful to those

Who made them

For giving away pieces

Of their heart and glimpses

Of times in their lives

When some muse showed them

How to scribble a moment or two

Or a breath onto paper

For giving away

Then he asked what helps me

I showed him three songs

One that reminds me

We all have hoped sometime or another

For a love lasting and true

One that reminds me of

How life can seem charmed

When true love touches you

And one that reminds me

Some dreams are for living

Sometimes we dream together

Sometimes we each dream alone

Because words cannot convey

And some dreams we dream

are for giving away

Dewey Dirks

White Lines

White Lines

Even though

I've not gone

in quite awhile,

I used to love to take

drives out across

the country.

When I was young,

I'd go all alone

or with a friend

late at night

for drives

with the excuse

of getting a coke

or a vanilla shake

from obscure little

towns ninety

or a hundred miles

away from home.

Driving on summer nights

with the window down

the sound of warm evening air

rushing into the car

wipes clean your mind

and clears your inward eye.

The white lines flow

rapidly towards you

in the headlight beams

and quickly disappear

beneath your car

taking the clutter and jabber

of day-to-day thoughts

with them.

The vastness of the land

and the star filled skies

reach far, far into your soul

and draw out ideas and emotions

as deep and broad

as the skies your journey

takes you under.

Long ago, driving there

far across the Wyoming

sagebrush prairies

roving quickly through corners

thinking speed,

my life took a wide turn

and became philosophy.

Dewey Dirks

Signs and Wise Child

Signs

Animals in the white clouds

Fortuitous shapes

In a flock of sparrows

Dashing over

To your neighbors yard

Two doors down

Faces in the green branches

Of the forest across the pond

Sun dogs high

In the sky

At three in the afternoon

Fox on a boulder at the edge

Of your yard stopping

To stare at an April

Nights full moon

Signs people see

Signs people dream

Some things you see

Once or twice in a lifetime

Others you see as often

As you care to read

The palm of your hand

Or a deck of tarot

For a friend just up

On a visit

From out of town

The secret of signs

Is that they are just

Nature waving hello

To your minds eye

It is you that give them

Meaning or cast them aside

Like brown leaves raked up

On a cool October evening

The secret of signs

Is that they happen

All the time

They are some of the lullabies

Our mother planet quietly sings

To us all 

Dewey Dirks

 

Wise Child

Each day rise,

Sit at the table

For a few cups

Of good coffee

And soak up

The fine morning air

Put on your clothes

And your best

Working attitude

Astute and mature

Take care of business

As best you can

After the days business

Of paperwork,

And power bills

Is taken care of

Throw off once again

Your age and spend

As much time

As you can

Being as young

As you can

Life is too short and sweet

Not to see it through

The eyes

Of a wise child

Dewey Dirks

The Place To Be

The Place To Be

Many talk of silencing

your mind.

I speak only of becoming

accustomed to knowing

that wherever you are

in your brainbox

just now

is precisely

the place to be

just now.

Become, my friend,

comfortable with

you own

wandering and wondering

and most everything else

will follow soon enough.

Just as long

as you know how to drive,

a brilliant mind

is like a red Ferrari;

It is Gods own joy

to see elegant and at rest,

but it is happiest on a curve

at high speed.

Dewey Dirks