Work and Play

* * *

100803

CAST

Some of us get the glory.
Some of us do not.
A starring role,
for some of us,
is to advance the plot.


100802

BRAINPOWERLESS

My brain froze up,
and I would not wait
till it thawed out;
so my brain burned up
and I have to wait—
‘cause it’s thought-out.


100801

BACKLOG
UNCLOGGED

Tackled chores
sun to sun.
Tired and proud.
Taxes done.


100731

OPTICAL
DELUSION

I bought a book
on mandalas
and now I sit and stare
with empty mind
at images
I’m not quite sure
are there.


100730

SOMETHING
TO BE DONE

Does something
need a headline or a title?
Here I am. I can! I can!

Does someone
need a slogan or a logo?
Here I be. Let me! Let me!


100729

REPURPOSING

Life and death. Night and day.
Beauty when not seen that way.
Sad-faced clowns and those that smile.
My life’s purpose: reconcile.

(Good grief, good gall, good glory!
My checkbook, if you took a look,
would tell another story.)


100728

PREMONITION

If I should die before I wake
or before I see you again,
I love and loved you, each and all—
my neighbors, friends, and kin.


MORTAL

…because
nothing good
lasts forever.


100727

PEARLS BE FOR SWINE

1
When writers whine,
“me, my, mine,” I scoff.
These gems, so fine,
on which we dine, all come
from the same trough.

2
Are pigs greedy?
No, indeedy!
Pigs would plead
they’re merely needy.

3
Here’s a thought and it’s a dilly—
if a hog became a lily,
that would be so not-so-silly!
(Lily-of-the-field-type lily:
that’s the one I meant. Yes, really.)


WHY WORK?

Work can be an ogre.
Work can be a friend.
I most like the friendly part:
when it meets its end.


EEEEEE!

EOD
EOM
EOY
EOL


FLIP SIDE

Everything ends.
Everyone dies.
Thinking on this,
I’ve become wise.

Death is just life
in other guise.
Nothing can end.
Nobody dies.

How do I know?
I have my spies.


100726

STRAY THOUGHT

Why is it called
mind
when it doesn’t?


100725

POSITIVELY NOT

I kept saying yes
‘cause I wanted to learn.
“Yes, oh yes!”

But what do you think
I eventually learned?
Come on, guess!

I learned how to yearn
to learn to say yes
far, far less!


WORK CAPACITY

For those with experience,
I have a query.
How far does “I love it!”
(applied to work) carry?

Please hurry an answer;
I need to know—
to schedule a time
to “unstring the bow.”


100724

PITHY UNDER PRESSURE

Some write who know. Others, for show.
Some merely bluster and blow.
All may, or may not, have deadlines.

My heroes, though?
Anonymous souls
who flow with the “Go!”
writing subtly ingenious headlines.


100723

YO, YOU!

Ya, you’re the one
I’m talkin’ to.
Who d’ya think—
a kangaroo?


100722

SPEAKING FOR MYSELF

There’s a certain truth
only experience brings:
that inception of fear
is conception of things.


100721

CHALLENGE

It will be hard.
It can be fun.
Best of all,
It will be done.


100720

CONTEMPLATIVE

My ideal, my sublime—
and, yes, I would tend
to my duties and oughts—
is a simple life
with plenty of time
to think my own thoughts.


100719

ROUENS FOR A PEKIN

From home to Gentry to Elkins to home:
one and a fifth hundred miles.
The Rouens are young but large
and don’t yet have the plumage that
will distinguish them as male or female.
Unlike Boodie, they are not pond-bound
and have already made an expedition
up the road, over the hill,
to and around the people house.
Plans are underway for a duck house.


100718

TAKING MULTI-TASKING TO TASK

“Heightened freneticism,”
an author wrote, to say e-communication
doesn’t float his boat—or get his vote—
when mis-prioritized or mis-paced.

I quote:
“Try kissing more and tweeting less.”
More thinking. And more quietness.


100717

WINGING IT

Chores get done, deflected,
or rejected.
Chores get done
and more gets done,
but not what was expected.


100716

SELF-STYMIED

No matter how massive,
longstanding or dense,
there’s always a way
to breach your own fence.


100715

THINGDOM

Is ego the thing
that pines to excel
and weeps
when it doesn’t
measure up?

Is ego the thing
that panics and sulks
after inventing
its own exclusion?

Well, thing, I embrace you.
Let me offer comfort and
help you work this out;
this thing.


100714

ENTRUSTED

Why now?
Because there is
no other when.

Why me?
Because there is
no other who.


* * *