* * *
110430
CHANGE OF
RESIDENT
default,
foreclosure
and eviction
portend
soon
I will leave
this home
in the interim,
it must be honored
and lovingly tended
the architect
deserves as much
he is,
even now,
preparing me to dwell
in another of his
many mansions
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: after leaving here.]
110429
ODE TO SPIRIT
inner light
guiding,
bright
words
will hardly do
I must live
my ode to you
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: ode.]
110428
WITHOUT DUE CONSIDERATION
For years we took—let's be blunt—
while other beings took the brunt.
Life used to be a treasure hunt
and we were always out in front.
We had privilege. We had clout.
Now there's come a turnabout.
Today we groan and whine and pout
because we have to do without;
we're bewildered and unsure;
we think we’re sick and seek a cure.
But mostly we are immature
and mushroom growth is our manure.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: the world without something (besides myself).]
110427
IN THE COMPANY OF POETS
In the eye of the artist,
in the eye of the wise,
it takes the merest moment
to spy and recognize—
paradise,
and all it implies.
In the eyes of the poets
(with whom I ally),
it’s done
in the wink,
in the blink,
in the twinkling of an eye.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: in the _____ of _____.]
110426
YOU FOLLOW?
Every time I drive through Oklahoma
on I-40 and go past Lake Eufala,
I think of Robert Shaw as crime boss
playing against Robert Redford as con man
in the movie, The Sting. “Ya follah?”
I also think of non-confident story tellers
repeatedly checking in with their audiences,
“You follah?”
Say, for instance, I’m not sure if you’re
acquainted with Oklahoma town names.
Instead of the classic four-town version
of names-as-sentence, I might go for five:
“Sallisaw Henryetta Waggoner Bowlegs,
Eufala?”
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: leader or follower.]
110425
A HOME REPAIR NO-BRAINER (for Mike)
It only takes a second or two
to fall from a ladder,
which allows for a surprising
amount of thinking.
My brother said his thoughts,
as he plunged toward
a rock sidewalk and curb,
included which part
of his body to sacrifice.
He saved his head.
OSHA can tell you
how often this is NOT the case
(at least in business) and how important
ladder safety training is.
Plus, using your head.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: falling.]
110424
NEEDLESS
SUFFERING
…as opposed
to needful?
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
May each person find their joy—
and find that joy to be their practice.
May each person find their practice—
and find that practice to be their service.
May each person find their service—
and find that service to be their therapy.
May each therapist
inspire others to be well and wise.
And may each poet
find their therapy to be
the joyful practice of their poetry.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: prayer.]
110423
QUITE QUIT
I was primed to go
and would have gone
(without a goad)
until I dropped.
But it's end of rhyme
and road and line;
when prompted to,
I promptly stopped.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: quit doing something.]
110422
ONE OF THOSE DAYS
As he prepares to unload his cart,
the next shopper in line notices
that it is mostly empty;
two dozen cans of catfood
and a bag of peanuts
don’t take up much space.
“You go there,” she says,
pointing to an express lane
several aisles over.
“I’m easy,” he thinks,
“I have time.”
To the express lane checker he remarks,
“Ever have one of those days?”
“Nope.”
SISTERS
It could have been a dress
or a job or a man.
Neither recalls who noticed it first,
gleaming in the grass—a ring.
Both wanted it,
but both wanted to share.
For awhile, they took turns wearing it.
When life (and a suitor) proposed
that they split apart to separate towns,
they visited the local jeweler
and told their story.
“Can you make a duplicate?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling.
“I can get a similar blue stone
and wax-cast the band and setting.
You could not tell the new ring
from the old.“
“But, no, I will not do that.
This ring was hand-made
by an exceptional craftsman.
This ring was found and shared by you.
This ring is a testament to your
sisterhood and friendship.
None of that can be duplicated.”
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: only one in the world.]
* * *
Monday, May 9, 2011
Love, Like, Life
* * *
110421
DOUBLE-TAKE
“Odd,” he said.
He was the passenger in my car,
so I wanted to know.
“Well, when I was younger,
I used to think of Death
as some entity I would occasionally
glance at in my rear-view mirror
as I zoomed down life’s highway,
so to speak.”
Okay, a little odd.
“Anyway, today it hit me:
‘Objects in mirror may be
closer than they appear.’”
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: second thoughts.]
110420
MESSAGE
IN A BOTTLE
Hello
to a fellow
castaway,
from myself
on this beach.
Today
(who knows why?)
this bottle
dropped
from a hazy
sky.
What can I say?
The gods
must be crazy.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: message in a bottle.]
110419
LOVE IS KIND
I called to love.
It didn't come.
I haven't known it yet.
Not yet.
Love
doesn't mind.
So if you come to me
for love,
here is what you'll get—
my efforts to be kind.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: love or anti-love poem.]
THIS IS LOVE?
Why can’t a spouse
be considerate?
Or at least consider it?
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: love or anti-love poem.]
110418
LIKE: A HOW-TO
like like new
under sun—
like like life
just begun—
like like coo
of turtledove—
like like you—
like like love
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: like _____.]
110417
'TIS! 'TISN'T!
nothing
is bigger
than
everything
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: big picture.]
110416
SHOCKING DEVELOPMENTS
Cameras may take snapshots,
but snapshots don’t take cameras.
Case in point:
this abruptly encountered
rural Oklahoma scene—
stoppedvehicles,blueflashinglights,
policecruiser,brokenfence,wanderingbulls,
highbluff,enormouswhitewindturbines.
The shock of any shock
is its snap back to ordinary—
in this case, Oklahoma redefined.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: snapshot.]
TWO-LANE TRIP
I didn't take a camera
to Oklahoma,
but I got a snapshot:
police car lights, broken fence,
escaped bulls, bluff just beyond
crowned by a row of white wind turbines
Not the Oklahoma I remembered.
[ASIDE: Our trip lasted from 5:30am to 11:30pm. Thankfully,
I got the poem prompt at an OKC Starbucks. The poem has already
morphed but this is the pre-midnight version.]
110415
UN PROFIL “CLASSIQUE”
Nom: Hercule-Savinien
Pseudo: Dartagnan
Date de Naissance: Mars 6
Résidence: Près de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris
Education: Collège de Beauvais
Profession:
Musicien; écrivain; scientifique; mathematician;
cavalier; et l'auteur de la littérature, la "science-
fiction," et la poésie
Favoris:
- Restaurant: Rageuneau Patisserie
- Alimentation: Raisins, macarons
- Pièces de Théâtre: La Clorise, Roméo et Juliette
- Musique: Les ballads
Je Déteste:
Les mensonges, les préjugés, la lâcheté, la bêtise,
et de compromise
J’Aime:
L'intégrité, l'esprit, l'impétuosité, le courage,
et la gloire (et, bien sûr, Roxane)
Signe Particulier:
Mon nez, ce qui est "Magnifique!"
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: a profile.]
110414
TAKE YOUR MEDICINE
Medical therapies invite controversy—
What works? What doesn’t? Who decides?
Pharmaceutical ads have taken a new tack.
It’s no longer “Take this for your malady,”
but “Take this so your malady will not
disturb others.” On the horizon is
“Have family members take this medicine
so they will not be a disturbance either.”
…Regardless of the rationale,
“Take this medicine.”
This week, a case was battled out in court,
in the press, and in opinion polls.
A financially strapped mom was found guilty
of attempted murder for withholding
chemotherapy drugs from her autistic son
who died at the age of nine of leukemia.
The therapy was too painful, she testified.
All in all, it’s a great case for speculation.
It’s enlightening to discover
how established medicine defines
successful cancer treatment:
a very short-term extension
of a sufferer’s projected demise;
Suzanne Somers mentions this in
“Knockout,” the book about her own
cancer-related tangle with chemotherapists.
It may be a case where she got it all wrong.
Medical therapies invite controversy—
What works? What doesn’t? Who decides?
SHANTYMAN
Oh, my will is weak,
but my swill is strong
and I do love
a silly-sung song.
RUNNING, OUT OF TIME
“What a fiasco!
How will I ever redeem myself
with the committee?
I must have missed something
the client said; I’ll have to
look through my notes tomorrow.
But when? When? Let’s see…
right after the staff meeting
should work, provided—
Huh? Did you say something?”
“Yes, you look a little lost.
When are you?”
WORK? NOT MY BUSINESS
"A Day's Work,"
I named my business,
but didn't work
a single one.
"Grand Poobah"
was my title.
Mission Statement:
"Just Have Fun."
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: none of my business.]
110413
FRIENDSHIP AND CHALLENGE
First, his father died.
When his mother was taken to
a permanent nursing facility,
that left him home alone.
He went through money then
(all of it) and friends.
We did what we could.
He was just enough mentally
un-challenged to hold down
a short series of janitorial jobs.
Then he fell into the safety net
of the homeless.
For him, it worked.
Once, during his home-alone days,
I went with him to visit a sick friend;
he drove.
He drove serenely through the worst parts
of town, oblivious (unlike nervous me)
to littered sidewalks, broken-out windows,
graffiti, and tough-looking residents.
I examined his face, watched his eyes,
noted his easy talking, and realized—
he was as thoroughly in his own world
as I was in mine; further, nothing
prevented me from ease like his
except my own interpretations.
Today,
as doomsday reports come in
and safety nets erode,
I deliberately adopt my friend’s ease
to reinterpret the world.
I say, this earth is my home—
and I am not home alone.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: remembering an old relationship.]
110412
BUSTED
“Withdraw? Oh, yeah? Well, draw a blank!”
My drive-by teller’s such a crank
(the muse who minds my data bank).
“You never thank! You never thank!”
“You don’t deposit the amount
to prime the pump that fills my fount.
You give me grief I can’t surmount.
You no-account! You no-account!”
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: a form or anti-form poem (this is monotetra).]
* * *
110421
DOUBLE-TAKE
“Odd,” he said.
He was the passenger in my car,
so I wanted to know.
“Well, when I was younger,
I used to think of Death
as some entity I would occasionally
glance at in my rear-view mirror
as I zoomed down life’s highway,
so to speak.”
Okay, a little odd.
“Anyway, today it hit me:
‘Objects in mirror may be
closer than they appear.’”
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: second thoughts.]
110420
MESSAGE
IN A BOTTLE
Hello
to a fellow
castaway,
from myself
on this beach.
Today
(who knows why?)
this bottle
dropped
from a hazy
sky.
What can I say?
The gods
must be crazy.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: message in a bottle.]
110419
LOVE IS KIND
I called to love.
It didn't come.
I haven't known it yet.
Not yet.
Love
doesn't mind.
So if you come to me
for love,
here is what you'll get—
my efforts to be kind.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: love or anti-love poem.]
THIS IS LOVE?
Why can’t a spouse
be considerate?
Or at least consider it?
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: love or anti-love poem.]
110418
LIKE: A HOW-TO
like like new
under sun—
like like life
just begun—
like like coo
of turtledove—
like like you—
like like love
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: like _____.]
110417
'TIS! 'TISN'T!
nothing
is bigger
than
everything
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: big picture.]
110416
SHOCKING DEVELOPMENTS
Cameras may take snapshots,
but snapshots don’t take cameras.
Case in point:
this abruptly encountered
rural Oklahoma scene—
stoppedvehicles,blueflashinglights,
policecruiser,brokenfence,wanderingbulls,
highbluff,enormouswhitewindturbines.
The shock of any shock
is its snap back to ordinary—
in this case, Oklahoma redefined.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: snapshot.]
TWO-LANE TRIP
I didn't take a camera
to Oklahoma,
but I got a snapshot:
police car lights, broken fence,
escaped bulls, bluff just beyond
crowned by a row of white wind turbines
Not the Oklahoma I remembered.
[ASIDE: Our trip lasted from 5:30am to 11:30pm. Thankfully,
I got the poem prompt at an OKC Starbucks. The poem has already
morphed but this is the pre-midnight version.]
110415
UN PROFIL “CLASSIQUE”
Nom: Hercule-Savinien
Pseudo: Dartagnan
Date de Naissance: Mars 6
Résidence: Près de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris
Education: Collège de Beauvais
Profession:
Musicien; écrivain; scientifique; mathematician;
cavalier; et l'auteur de la littérature, la "science-
fiction," et la poésie
Favoris:
- Restaurant: Rageuneau Patisserie
- Alimentation: Raisins, macarons
- Pièces de Théâtre: La Clorise, Roméo et Juliette
- Musique: Les ballads
Je Déteste:
Les mensonges, les préjugés, la lâcheté, la bêtise,
et de compromise
J’Aime:
L'intégrité, l'esprit, l'impétuosité, le courage,
et la gloire (et, bien sûr, Roxane)
Signe Particulier:
Mon nez, ce qui est "Magnifique!"
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: a profile.]
110414
TAKE YOUR MEDICINE
Medical therapies invite controversy—
What works? What doesn’t? Who decides?
Pharmaceutical ads have taken a new tack.
It’s no longer “Take this for your malady,”
but “Take this so your malady will not
disturb others.” On the horizon is
“Have family members take this medicine
so they will not be a disturbance either.”
…Regardless of the rationale,
“Take this medicine.”
This week, a case was battled out in court,
in the press, and in opinion polls.
A financially strapped mom was found guilty
of attempted murder for withholding
chemotherapy drugs from her autistic son
who died at the age of nine of leukemia.
The therapy was too painful, she testified.
All in all, it’s a great case for speculation.
It’s enlightening to discover
how established medicine defines
successful cancer treatment:
a very short-term extension
of a sufferer’s projected demise;
Suzanne Somers mentions this in
“Knockout,” the book about her own
cancer-related tangle with chemotherapists.
It may be a case where she got it all wrong.
Medical therapies invite controversy—
What works? What doesn’t? Who decides?
SHANTYMAN
Oh, my will is weak,
but my swill is strong
and I do love
a silly-sung song.
RUNNING, OUT OF TIME
“What a fiasco!
How will I ever redeem myself
with the committee?
I must have missed something
the client said; I’ll have to
look through my notes tomorrow.
But when? When? Let’s see…
right after the staff meeting
should work, provided—
Huh? Did you say something?”
“Yes, you look a little lost.
When are you?”
WORK? NOT MY BUSINESS
"A Day's Work,"
I named my business,
but didn't work
a single one.
"Grand Poobah"
was my title.
Mission Statement:
"Just Have Fun."
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: none of my business.]
110413
FRIENDSHIP AND CHALLENGE
First, his father died.
When his mother was taken to
a permanent nursing facility,
that left him home alone.
He went through money then
(all of it) and friends.
We did what we could.
He was just enough mentally
un-challenged to hold down
a short series of janitorial jobs.
Then he fell into the safety net
of the homeless.
For him, it worked.
Once, during his home-alone days,
I went with him to visit a sick friend;
he drove.
He drove serenely through the worst parts
of town, oblivious (unlike nervous me)
to littered sidewalks, broken-out windows,
graffiti, and tough-looking residents.
I examined his face, watched his eyes,
noted his easy talking, and realized—
he was as thoroughly in his own world
as I was in mine; further, nothing
prevented me from ease like his
except my own interpretations.
Today,
as doomsday reports come in
and safety nets erode,
I deliberately adopt my friend’s ease
to reinterpret the world.
I say, this earth is my home—
and I am not home alone.
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: remembering an old relationship.]
110412
BUSTED
“Withdraw? Oh, yeah? Well, draw a blank!”
My drive-by teller’s such a crank
(the muse who minds my data bank).
“You never thank! You never thank!”
“You don’t deposit the amount
to prime the pump that fills my fount.
You give me grief I can’t surmount.
You no-account! You no-account!”
[ASIDE: Submitted to Poem-A-Day challenge,
theme: a form or anti-form poem (this is monotetra).]
* * *
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