“I was lucky!”

In my younger years that was my response

when anything good happened for me.

What a crock!

Most good fortune that has come my way

has been the result of faith and fucking hard work.

I had been living my determined dream 16 years before

The Secret was published.

That book claimed that positive thoughts alone

can influence outcomes. Bullshit!

For decades I’ve been thinking, I’ll be the lottery winner.

No secret here, no big winnings.

I’ve got a one in three million chance of that happening

no matter how hard I manifest the thought.

Most instances of my luck did not include a

four-leaf clover,

an up-turned horseshoe,

a rainbow,

a shooting star,

a rabbit’s foot

or Leprechauns, who are mischievous, tiny- bearded

men known for trickery.

You’ll need more than luck to find their secret stash of gold.

They are basically pigmy shoemakers.

I’ve been told I’m half Irish, which I believe but

of some sketchy, differing stories about relatives.

I think at times I look and act like an Irish lass.

Fair skin, curly auburn-reddish hair,

a resilient, never surrender stubborn attitude,

and my swearing vocabulary is quite colorful.

Having Irish genetics hasn’t brought me any

guarantees of luck but I am aware that adversity

has never stopped me from looking for

my pot-of-gold.

There are many things in my life that

I thank my lucky stars for:

*My sweet, beautiful mother, Patricia Anne.

She dutifully peeled potatoes each and every dinner.

*All the pets I’ve had the privilege to love and be loved by.

Glick, Mittens, Caler, Sir Benson,

you have been my wisest teachers.

*All the Loves, the short, long, messy,

heart-stirring and heart-breaking.

*Surviving through dozens of drunken St. Patty’s parties.

Oh, I am a very lucky girl there!

*Friends

*Family

*Opportunities

*A future winning lottery ticket when in all truth,

I will be saying, "I WAS LUCKY!"

May you have all the happiness and luck that life can hold

And at the end of your rainbow may you find a pot-of-gold.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!