DEO GRATIAS

When time has stamped his claw-like feet,and further wrinkled brow I heed a most compelling urge,and say my thankyou's now. Thanks for the Suns of warmth and light that gave my youth such joy Thanks for the love of mother love that blessed me as a boy thanks for the bond of comradeship 'twixt men'-none better known thanks for nature's communion and to muse alone. Thanks for the fields that knew my feet,and trees that gave me shade Thanks for spring-time's blossom sweet and memories that never fade= Thanks for the blessings of the sight,from god on me bestowe for approval of his wonders in nature,s sweet abode. Thanks for the lilac, and the privet blossom,blest harbingers of spring for choping and his nocurnes,and well loved songs to sing. thanks for the cool kissof a breeze,on a sweltering summers day the comforts of the body-ease,and the smell of new mown hey. Thanks for all the flowers thay dance to summer's laughter and for their scented fragrance that lingers ever after Thanks for all the beauty that was the soul's delight and for little rays of hope that lit the darkest night. thanks for the joy of parenthood,-the caress of tiny fingers a specialcorner of the mind ensures the memory lingers Thanks for all the worth of friends,of loyalties never in doubt And for a confident faith in god,dimineshed,but never without. Thanks for a calm maturity that age so oft begets And for a degree of wisdom that strifles vain regrets Thanks for a reached contentment attained by troubled stride With drems of a special heaven for solace by my side. For little things that blessed the day and filled the full lived hour For the loftierdreams that gained no sway,-untroubled memory's power Thanks for the many flavored foods that streathened and sustained Thanks for the fun and laughter moods that family life contained. And for the vioce that'other me'which urges loud and long In the denial of the weaker when the need is for the strong. Thanks for the little pitfalls that taught the mind to be alert to greater,later ones and ssome we never see. Thanks for teenage 'crushes'and loves by different names And for all the sparkels of loves by different names And for all the 'sparks' of love,and for those greater'flames'. Thanks for the pride of the person that nourished self respect Thanks for the faith and prayer that spared the souls neglect. Thanks for all and everthing,and all that yet may be For benisons of the mind and heart that God accured tome Left,am I with fervent hope, that when the 'book' is closed I'll be thanking Him from heaven on which my hopes reposed. this is another of my great uncles poems a little bit long but that just goes to show how thankfull he was any spelling mistakes or bad punctuation is mine not his, as i took a long time copying this down