Deserving

My birthday cake at the farewell ceilidh a week before leaving Scotland,

created my Rosie Burgess

Deserving

8/8/09

Birthday celebrations bring focus

on an individual's place

among friends, family, society,

it heralds their goodness,

the verified positive effect

from those they've touched

mostly influenced with love,

that years of experiences

discovering and knowing nuances

has seated appreciation deep

in their shared heart

colored by stories galore

often trying times dispensed

into annuals of legend,

how one faced demons

rose when thought beaten

healed from mortal blow

a phoenix from ashes,

balanced by grand events

forms of passage, initiation,

marvel participated in together

counting blessings and miracles,

ways everyone has grown

becoming more than before,

accompanied by disturbing twinge

making present moment bittersweet,

 deserving accolades, after death.