After a much-needed long weekend break to recharge and rest I began tinkering with this poem last night. It pokes a bit of fun at someone who often takes himself way too seriously, but I am hoping that maybe you can identify with him just a little!

While I was reading in the Bible 
I laughed about some fools 
Who made long lists of do’s and don’ts 
And for every twitch had rules! 

Over washing hands they worried 
And tithing Brussel Sprouts 
But on loving and forgiving 
They left those precepts out 

But as I snickered I recalled 
The many rules I kept 
From the early morning hours 
Till the evening shadows crept 

How at ten o’clock on Sundays
Off to meeting we must go 
And how I'd fussed about the kids 
When they were moving slow 

And our prayers in the restaurant 
Were always said before we ate 
Yet I griped about the waitress 
When she brought our food out late 

Then I hung my head in shame to think 
Of all the loving we’d been missing 
While dotting I’s and crossing t’s 
I'd forgot the hugs and kissing!

I'd Forgot the Hugs and Kissing 
By Peter Caligiuri
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