They broke the news to me like it was smart –
no bunk beds would be purchased for the room
the kids will share. They thought they’d done their part
by research on the Web. They both assume
the stats are worthy guides, but honestly?
the interviewed are likely not as bright
as they, with children trained improperly.
They purchased caution – now their space is tight.
Six weeks ago I caught a wicked cold.
Its tenure was severe but it was brief.
It sapped my stamina and made me old,
but three days past I welcomed some relief.
It lingered then with symptoms almost gone,
and left me to myself within a week.
Accustomed to a fortnight cold, I’m drawn
to think its variation was unique.
And then it struck my brother, with the same
fast-moving siege as mine. He swabbed the test
and saw it had no Covid in its name,
and he too rallied after three days’ rest.
We see each other daily – it must be
my bout left me with some immunity.
You wear a Trump hat, but you look like us.
I have one question. From your point of view
(without attempting to create a fuss),
do you think Trump is brainier than you?
Admitting that I’m cocky, well assured.
and fairly able to self-comprehend,
I’d have to be affected and absurd
to take offense at rudeness, or defend
my any quality from careless word
or stupid gesture, even from a friend.
It’s egotistical to take, in fact,
an asshole comment as an aimed attack.
(Huitain)
I used to reminisce about the way
my father taught me car mechanics – gears,
controlling skids and double-clutching, play
with points, Bernoulli’s work. First born, three years
before the son, I stopped those tales today.
From talking with my brother, it appears
he treasures memories of father-son
at work on cars. I’ll let him have this one.
(Ottava Rima)
You’ve been the target of offensive speech,
or someone criticized you without cause,
or yelled from where your volley cannot reach
and made you sore, but broke no stated laws.
You crafted a reply, but not in time
to let it fly. You had to tote it home
in mind. But you can breathe it into rhyme –
just make it inspiration for a poem.
Her friend took half a year to die, but first
together they watched soaps on her TV.
And after, she continued watching, versed
in plot and from a solidarity
of sorts. She taped and screened them after she
returned from work. Her sister mocked her taste
for gossip, scandal, budget paucity,
though screening during evening’s no time waste…
(Huitain)
I bought her bad PR myself. I deemed
I was the oddity in family.
Though she rebutted “weird,” I flounced and screamed
my attitudes of nonconformity.
Original but fit, I never dreamed
it was herself who differed. Only she
disfavored jokes and exercise and song.
I wasn’t cuckoo-dropped. I had that wrong.
(Ottava Rima)
So finally I got my girl to read
the first and perfect novel in our tongue.
She’s still enough to get it now – her need
for flash and shock-and-awe has sunk among
the care for kids and health and age’s bleed.
Appreciating wit and words well-strung,
she’s now exposed to how good work can be,
and (dare I think?) she’s understanding me.
(Ottava Rima)
There is no common enemy between
a grandparent and children of a child.
The middle generation isn’t mean,
and Grandma may show other moods than mild.
It’s more that old and young are not beguiled
by job demands, by income’s heavy ask.
We both know how to nap. We’re reconciled
in finding, and we neither multi-task.
(Huitain)
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