Lesley Osborn

Plantation, Florida, USA

Lesley was born on April 26, 1951 to Dr. and Mrs. George M. Rosen. She grew up in Commack, Long Island where she was a member of the National Honor Society in high school. She has one brother. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Skidmore College in 1973. Lesley now resides in Plantation, Florida. In addition to her two teenage sons and her mother, Lesley shares her heart with her four dachshunds. "When I look into those eight loving eyes, that is what keeps me going. People comment on my wonderful sense of humor, which is ironic because it is in sharp contrast to the sadness in my poetry."

For Harris

You stand before my very eyes
This must be someone in your disguise
The hurtful things you often say
Go on hurting long after today
What is it you really see
When you are looking right at me?
A failure? No life?
Nobody's wife?
What is it I really see
When you are looking right at me?
Drugs so handy
You mistake them for candy
Someone in pain
Surely insane
Freedom, you think, means anarchy
As long as I'm your Mom that will never be
Take another look son and you shall see
That I am not the enemy

Who Am I

If I can pick the perfect gift
And wrap it up just right
If I can put the words on paper
And make them sound all right
If I can take an ordinary shoe box
And turn it into a home
If I can pick the perfect card
And make it better with words of my own
If I can pick the loneliest of flowers
And make a lovely bouquet
Then why is it I need to ask
"Who am I, anyway?"

Dear Daddy

You're in my thoughts a lot these days
Missing you in so many ways
Many troubles on my mind
Afraid to look at what I might find
If you could see your grandsons
For they are now grown
Their futures are uncertain
Their paths are still unknown
When do I stand back daddy?
When is a boy a man?
What words of wisdom would you give to me
To help them assume that stand?
There's an ember from within you
That somehow never died
It burns brightly within me
And it helps to keep me alive
You're in my thoughts alot these days
Can you give me a sign?
When are they old enough
To finally say it's time?