I walked through surf,
heart pounding,
blood rushing,
and I thought of you.
The sun warmed me,
cheered me,
and sparkled on the water,
and I saw your smile.
The sea held me,
rocked me, and
gently stroked my face,
and I felt your touch.
The breeze and
the seabirds and
the little waves spoke to me,
and I heard your name.
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
For several hours that morning, in blazing sun,
our group waded in the knee-deep muck
of Lemon Bay, netting sea creatures
and collecting them in pails. Then we gathered
on shore with the naturalist to observe and
discuss the animals we had found:
juvenile flounder, shrimp, tiny crabs…
I left a bit early because I had a lunch date
with a man who lived nearby.
We had been communicating on Plenty of Fish
and were meeting for the first time.
Woops! There were no showers at the park!
I cleaned up the best I could with a wet towel.
Still sweaty on top and muddy on the bottom,
I went to meet my date at Chili’s.
We met in the parking lot with a hug
and a kiss on the cheek, not my usual handshake.
We talked for two hours over chicken fajitas.
Time flew by! I felt I had known him forever!
…That’s how I met my soul mate!
Reprinted from Life in Inspiring Places
Copyright© 2019 by Cheryl Batavia
Robert and I have been together for six very happy years since that meeting at Chili’s. I was sixty-five, and he was sixty-six when we met. My husband had been dead for over twelve years before I started dating, and I had nearly given up on ever finding a soul mate… someone with whom I have so much in common!
Dawn, rain on the roof,
magnificent thunder storm.
Cuddling with you.
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
Consumed by the heat of your body,
like the firebird,
I rise from the ashes.
Seduced by the powers of your mind,
I recreate myself
and fly away with you.
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
Dew, wet and cool beneath bare feet
Bunny munching technicolor grass.
Black racer crossing–elegance in motion.
Green bee sipping breakfast
from an orange flower.
Mockingbird incessantly repeating
his neighbors’ songs.
Clouds assemble, palms flutter,
sky darkens, thunder, lightning, shower.
From every tree, birds singing in the rain.
Incandescent sunset.
Stars twinkling in the pine trees.
Water dripping from the leaves,
Frogs singing love songs in the ditches
as we walk hand in hand.
Grass never grew so green.
Stars never shone so bright.
Nature’s music–never sweeter!
Wonders of the universe,
shared with the one I love.
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
“Wonders” is one of my favorite poems from my very first book, Wonders: Poems about Love and Relationships. It is posted on the website under “Excerpts, Wonders.” If you have read it there, I apologize, and I promise I won’t make it a habit to duplicate poems.
There is a story behind this poem. One night I was afraid that I was going to die, and Robert comforted me as I cried. (I almost never cry!) It turned out to be a false alarm. The next morning, I woke up, and everything looked incredibly bright and beautiful. This is a poem about that day.
Evolved in thought.
Not easily deluded.
Never self-deluded.
Laser-sharp focus on truth.
Divides the goats of reason
from the sheeep of folly.
Evolved in intellect,
educated, informed.
Repository of knowledge__
both factual and conceptual,
both trivial and profound.
Grounded, self-deprecating, wise.
Evolved in human interactions.
Eludes the treachery of villans,
never villanous.
Extends himself in acts of kindness,
expecting nothing in return.
Open, vulnerable, self-assured.
Evolved in his passions,
disciplined, moderate, civilized,
slow to anger.
Only in his libido,
primitive man survives evolution!
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
I like a man with warm, strong hands,
and I like the way my hand fits yours.
I like a man who thinks deep thoughts,
who talks abstractions
in the middle of the night
in a soothing Southern drawl.
I like to ride around with a man
who drives like he is seventeen,
but has the wisdom of a sage.
I like a man who is a truth-teller,
a man with honor in his eyes.
I like a man who makes me laugh,
who is silly and witty and wicked.
I like a man with warm, strong arms,
and I like the way I feel in yours.
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
Thoughts turning homeward,
World streaming by,
Blue sky, blue water.
Soaring in the blue,
Like soaring birds,
My thoughts fly to you.
Over the Skyway,
Head in the clouds,
Blue sky, blue water.
Reprinted from Wonders
Copyright© 2018 by Cheryl Batavia
Helios, in his fiery chariot,
crosses the sky each day.
His sister Selene,
in her chariot of silver,
travels the night sky.
We mark our days.
The moon waxes and wanes.
The seaons change.
Our birthdays mark the years
since the planets aligned…
and we were born.
Robert, my sun rises
and sets in you.
I will love you all my days.
I thank my lucky stars
for the day we met.
Copyright 2019© by Cheryl Batavia
Drew, I held your hand
as you left the world behind,
and I made promises to you.
I never cry…I stopped crying long ago,
but I am crying now as I remember.
Some promises I have kept
better than others.
I like to think you would be happy
with the way your autobiography turned out.
Your brother Mitch finished your book.
Your mother and I supported his efforts
for more than a year.
The Don Quixote in a wheelchair
that Mitch drew for you in high school
is on the cover.
I know you would approve.
I promised to raise our children
as you would have wanted
them to be raised, and I did my best.
Our children are grown up now,
and the struggles of life continue.
We have cherished our memories of you.
Our children remember your wise advice
and try to follow your example…
You left some pretty big shoes for us to fill!
I have made a new promise
for our grown-up children:
I will be their mother till the day I die
and always love them as I always loved you.
I know that you would be happy
that I have found someone to grow old with,
as you wished me to do.
He is someone I know you would like.
Drew, I wish I could have done more
to keep my promises to you.
I hope you would approve
of the things I have done.
Copyright© 2020 by Cheryl Batavia
Drew’s autobiography, Wisdom from a Chair: Thirty Years of Quadriplegia, by Andrew Batavia and Mitchell Batavia is available on Amazon.
Gulf Coast Poet 