Little Boons

The top of our recycle bin was bent.
I thought we’d need replacement, and I’d call,
but then somebody fixed it – someone meant
a spot of sense and kindness after all.
And then I left a purchase at the store –
a perfect avocado missed my pack.
The clerk chased after me, and showed me more
than produce as she smiling gave it back.
And yesterday I saw two tradesmen climb
to unattach the neighbor’s ugly screens,
replacing them in 15 minutes time
with less offensive versions – all which means
that courtesy’s alive and not as stressed
as news reports and pessimists suggest.

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Tired

I rose today with nothing on my list.
There was no ask or task I had to meet.
I forced myself to move, but vigor missed
the mark – my energy was in retreat.
I’ll see a friend this afternoon – my feet
may take me to that loving rendezvous,
but that’s the most I’m likely to get through.

(Rhyme Royal)

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Gearful

It happens every time, but I’m surprised
that I can wake unmotivated, sore,
until my body has been exercised,
on stationary bike seat or the floor.
It’s how I get attention organized,
and organs worked with skeleton for sure.
I start each day in neutral atmosphere,
until I feel my will click into gear.

(Ottava Rima)

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Requiem for a Polecat

For 14 years I’ve lived in this back yard.
Accustomed to its fauna and inured
to critter evidence, still this is hard.
It’s sadder than a headless hummingbird,
and more upsetting than a ‘possum, dead
upon the deck and in the rain.
At 9 a.m. I chanced to turn my head,
and now a dying skunk has filled my brain.

Peripheral the vision was at first.
I noted at my left the black-and-white.
His ribcage moved but I assumed the worst,
and looking closer then, I got the sight
of final breath, his eye about to dim.
I said goodbye and now I’m mourning him.

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Harbinger

September 6 is
Summer still. Against my face
a breeze recalls Fall.

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It’s a Wonderful Nation

I never dreamed I’d have a thought like this.
The question never rose until this week.
A proud American, how did I miss
the cowardice, the rampant lies? We speak
of values, heroism, how to live,
but all we see’s venality and more.
I wonder as I’m trying to forgive,
without the Revolutionary War,
how would the present be? How well the earth,
if our estates had not been given birth?

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Hole in the Wall

This little cottage suits my need for space,
and privacy and pleasure for each sense.
I saw, I bought, I moved into the place,
and though I spent a little for some fence,
I haven’t added screens. When heat’s intense
I open doors – my insect issue’s small –
unscreened I get a hole in one big wall.

(Rhyme Royal)

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Marriage PR

I’m sure you’ve known some couples like his folks –
long-married, incompatible, and old,
no longer sharing attitudes or jokes,
their interactions silent, often cold.
The husband seems an easy-going guy.
The wife appears judgmental, brusque, or sad.
You wonder they’re together – how and why
does he put up with her and not go mad?

I wondered too, until I posed the thought
problem – how would my present be, if I
had stuck it out? What would those years have brought?
I gave the question time, and said “Oh my,”
for what I saw was me embittered so,
outsiders questioned why he didn’t go.

Posted in Family, Love, Personality, Poetry | Tagged | 3 Comments

Lord of the Flies

I didn’t like the book. I disagreed
with where it moved and what that pathway meant.
I never would have chosen it to read,
but that’s how then the school assignments went.
That’s roughly when my passion stirred to mark
the character of citizens around.
I aimed to catch our symptoms, light and dark,
and childish behavior’s what I found.

Exuberant and fanciful we are,
attracted to rambunctiousness and play.
We innovate, make movies, plunder far,
and shouldn’t run with scissors, night or day.
Of late we’re seeing how the future skids,
when super power’s wielded by the kids.

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Quad Pad

Quad-ruled has been my paper choice for years –
canary yellow if available.
The quarter inch of grid-marking endears
it to my eye and renders flexible
the layout of a flowchart or a list.
It’s doodle-useful and invites my pen,
but lately marketing has made a twist –
I’m having trouble finding them again.

Our recent purchase only has the grid
upon the recto side. The back is blank.
Was this mistake or thrift? Does price forbid
the ink on verso – is this goof or prank?
I always used the front and back, you see.
These newer pages tend to stymie me.

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