A birthday wish to Natasha (sister, 05 September)   May the Lord protect and guide you Grant you happiness from within May all your frets be triflings That only scrape the skin   May all the gifts that you receive Be of the lasting kind That warms you to the very soul And grow a gentle mind   May all the friends who come your way Be sent from up above May spring reside inside your heart And seal upon it, Love.                            by Dalene West (amendment to original by DJWest)

Velvet Vice   I've heard some say that in this life Nothing is guaranteed Except for death and taxes we, Cannot of those be freed.   And yet in retrospective pause I marvel as I muse A force floods in I cannot shake Nor can I it refuse   It speaks in tongues all humankind Can understand at ease Its voice resounds through walls of ice Yet whispers on a breeze   It's might can sway a mighty vice Or still the cries of war It whips you with a velvet whip And titillates the core   Its LOVE that rocks the Milky Way It WAS and IS, will BE Forever it dwells on our way And lives for you and me.                                    by Dalene West.

Petal on the wind (A poem for Gerhardt Oct '69 - July 05)      10/08/2006 D.J.W   And then, just as sudden as it came I felt the breeze upon your name And quiet, softly, gently still A field of blossoms bloomed at will, The sky, a coloured canvas gleamed As time stood still, or so it seemed. The day, the wind blew you, my way Ironing the creases of my day. Without the needs for words at all Life's walls of ice had melted, small And in the beauty of your hands We shared a space of times on sands When just as quick as life can be The wind enticed you - gone, from me.   (A poem for Gerhardt, whose friendship and love God has graced me with until your earthly time was spent.)