Kissing Time

         photo credit

Every Monday, I try to offer an upbeat post that makes you smile and helps take the edge off of it being the beginning of the workweek for most of us. This week, I was at a loss for what to post, which is kind of unusual--I usually have plenty to draw from in my post "hopper." Coincidentally, though, on Saturday evening, I opened an email from Disqus and now I have the perfect offering.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, "Frank," who left this comment on my The Origins of My Blog's Title post (which I've reposted a few times at More About Mom page:

My father said that line often. He loved poetry and could quote many poems from memory. One that he quoted sometimes was Kissing Time:


Kissing Time, by Elaine Stevenson

She stood knee-deep in meadow flowers,
His grandchild of four years old,
With eyes of periwinkle blue
And hair like harvest gold
“Teach me, Grandpa, tell me
Just how to tell the time.”
And she handed him an angel flower,
A dandelion in prime
Gently the old man held the stalk,
And filling his wrinkled face,
He blew on the dainty once-gold flower
Now turned to fairy lace
“One o’clock tells you’re beautiful,
Two o’clock tells me you’re kind,
Three o’clock hopes you’ll be happy,
Four o’clock means a sharp mind.
“Five o’clock prays you’ll be healthy,
Six o’clock brings gifts you can’t buy
Like dewdrops and bird song and rainbows,
White clouds in a blue summer sky.
The child watched wide-eyed in wonder
As the gossamer seeds drifted past.
“But, Grandpa, what will the time be
When our fairies have flown off at last?”
“Why bless you, my child,” he answered
“The meaning is surely quite plain:
It will just be half past kissing time,
And time to kiss again!”

Frank, I appreciate this very, very much and wish I could thank your father, too. What a beautiful gift! Mom loved it, too, and I've printed a copy for her. Thank you, again.

Have a Happy Monday!