I was cleaning out a desk drawer and came across a notepad with a poem that seems to have been written while Jim was in the hospital. He was also trying to figure out some math problems, probably something to do with his deductible.
To the girl who sent the cookies while I was laid a-waste,
Cookies thick and creamy, rich in chocolate taste:
If the words that I am thinking were a picture on the wall
Monet, Van Gogh and Moses would be nothing but a scrawl.
If the picture was removed and placed in a museum grand
It would be the greatest picture ever viewed by God or man.
If my thoughts were an ancient kingdom you would be a princess grand
Ruling over all the region, ruling over all the land.
Yours would be a happy kingdom full of music and of mirth
From your land would come the saying, Good will to man and peace on earth.
If the words that I am thinking could be transferred to my tongue
To be spoken in the morning, spoken with the rising sun
You would have to hold your eardrums for the volume of the sound
Like a mighty clap of thunder would resonate the world around.
-- James Parker, May 13, 1992
