Budgeting

We had to talk about the money stuff.
The simple fact is more is going out
than coming in. The revenue’s enough
to pay for most but extra costs? We doubt
the value in small luxuries. It’s tough
to cut this fun and leave those pleasures out.
The gym is worth whatever you invest.
But others? Less is more and none is best.

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Hyperhydro

I overhydrated on Tuesday last.
I had a blood draw per the doc’s demand.
Instructions said to undergo a fast
– not even tea or coffee their command.
I drank hot water as the hours passed
till I could bare my arm. That’s how I planned.
And yes, the draw was easy that I gave.
But after, I was micturition’s slave.

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Clear Coffee

I start each day with mugs of coffee still.
I’m old, but it does not upset my gut.
My hand may quiver some, but I don’t spill
the liquids I convey. I’m happy, but
three times a year or so I have to still
the caffeine habit. I don’t get the what
or why, but fasting draw’s the protocol,
and headache brews to stymie morning scrawl.

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Thievery

The neighbor hung a feeder from his eave,
two storeys up and half a yard away.
He’s thoughtful and had reason to believe
no quadrupeds would dine on the array
of seeds and millet, yet our critters thieve
gymnastically. I heard the skritch today,
and looked up from my pruning task to view
a vandal snacking upside down, mid-chew.

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Afternoon Baking

I’m not sure that they loved the end result –
my rugelach is rich instead of sweet,
appealing more to taste that’s grown adult.
But kneading dough together was a treat,
their cream cheese butter fingers almost neat,
their questions and their consciousness employed.
The parents took in more than we could eat,
but true success is process well-enjoyed.

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Bad Ending

The lunch that I looked forward to was great:
good company, cool ambiance and food
so tasty I loved every bite I ate.
I after Muni’d west in lovely mood,
and just as fun as I’d anticipate
was baking with the grandkids. Gratitude
was brimming, but at home things went askew:
a broken main – no water until 2.

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Elusion

It’s probable that I have ducked his cold.
I saw him three days after symptoms reared.
I didn’t wear a mask but didn’t hold
him in a sibling hug, and when he neared
I tried to sit at distance. I controlled
affection but concern of course appeared.
Three days have passed, he’s mending, and I’m free
of signs his bug is colonizing me.

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The Life in a Day

Awakening at dawn or just before,
I limp in hip and creak in stretching back.
No tragedy – a decade past three score,
I’m fortunate to duck a worse attack.
Two hours later, coffee-fueled and done
with daily puzzles, news, and writing time,
I bike and do some yoga, having fun
and feeling circa noon I’m in my prime.
By 3 pm, the slide to nap begins.
My stamina forsakes me, and I fade
to where I can misplace word origins
and marvel at the things I morning-made.
I don’t give up – I’ve evening yet, to choose
some cinema through which I’m bound to snooze.

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Impasse

For one who worried young on wasting time,
she seems to have too much of leisure now.
The afternoons she longed for in her prime,
available four days a week, allow
fair interlude for crafting prose and rhyme,
enrolling in a program of know-how…
But such would tap a stamina that bled
while she was made to multitask instead.

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Morass

I fell into the news morass last night.
About to stream, I network-paused and saw
the devastating fires. Then my sight
was taken by the despot twisting law
again – no taste, surprise, not wise, not right.
I flashed to Ozymandias and Musk.
I sobered and I grieved, too sad to fight,
and sat through corny films an arid husk.

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