THE INVITATION, Haiku

 

May I have this dance?

A moment of decision

Happiness for two

 

 

THE BRAYING AUTOCRAT, a poem

The braying autocrat

exposed democracy

as a fragile work of art

enjoyed by connoisseurs

of self government

Threatened by the dupes,

the unappreciative,

the low-lifes, the racists

following their leader

toward the abyss of past tense

or frightenly, to dominance

  

WILLIE, Haiku

 

Willie, an Airedale

A great companion and guard

The essence of dog

FOUL WEATHER, a poem

 

 

Pounding in the night

Lightning etched black clouds

Limbs ripped from trees

Walls of racing water

 

The onslaught has passed

Lightning flashed harmlessly

Roof remained in place

Cellar stayed dry

 

Winter was the worst

Starting with a chill

Lingering bitterness

Of unhappiness

 

In June’s soft warmth

Flowers bloomed again

Harsh weather forgotten

Th home had endured

 

 

 

ICE CEAM, haiku

 

 

Dreaming of ice cream

Tongue sliding across sweetness

Temptation fulfilled

 

 

AN ONION, a poem

 

The roaring lion,

the quaking mouse

symbolize countless lives

I have chosen the onion

 

Over the course

of my many years

time has peeled away

the layers of youth,

marriage, and old age

 

All that remains

is the unused core,

the final fragment

of a waning life

 

BUTTERFLY, Haiku

 

 

Butterfly alights

The Monarch drinks the nectar

Flower flourishes

 

THE RAGE of MOTHER EARTH, a poem

 

How can we calm

Thy rage:

burning forests,

drowning rivers,

melting icebergs

Oh Gaia, oh Terra Mater,

oh Mother Earth

 

What sacrifice will sate:

us, our homes, our children,

the air, the ocean, the soil

How demanding will you be

Oh Gaia, oh Terra Mater

oh Mother Earth

 

When the ordeal ends

will the survivors

be so few

as to be barely noticeable

on the outer skin

of Mother Earth

 

 

ANGER, Haiku

 

Initial frenzy

A dreadful experience

Control is sweeter

 

PLEASURE, a poem

 

The experience of pleasure

coming at an unexpected time

can only be described as sublime,

as treasure without measure

 

The thrill of a meal

A great cable film

A chocolate-covered caramel

A stunning, red sunset

 

Pleasures anticipated

are not the same,

limited as they are

by a mental frame

 

 

BEAUTY, a poem

 

How can a woman

become more beautiful

with the passing

of the years

You did

 

Perhaps, I am seeing

what I want,

the illusion of love,

the delusion of age.

The reason doesn’t matter

 

Perhaps, I should wallow

in the pleasure

of what life

has brought me,

lovely you

 

MIKE PENCE'S MOMENT, a poem

       Can any but the servile

doubt the heroic decision

by Mike Pence

to choose the constitution

over the worship

of Donald Trump

 

In a unique moment,

to choose democracy

or dictatorship,

Mike Pence

picked America

over Donald Trump

 

The historic decision

of Mike Pence

was made possible

by the gallant police

fighting off murderous

Trumpsters

 

(At the core of this poem

is James Russell Lowell’s

1845 poem THE PRESENT CRISIS:

“Once to every man and nation

comes the moment to decide

in the strife of Truth or Falsehood,

for the good or evil side”

The choice in 1845 was between Abolition and slavery.)

 

 

 

HER FACE, a poem

 

What do her expressions

in the photographs say

In most, she is smiling

In some, she is offering

an inexplicable face

 

Her happy countenance

captured in that moment

renews my memory

of her engaging smile

every day of our lives

 

Time erases most images

Photos make them available

to revive instances of life

that bring recurring pleasure

in again remembering

 

  

THE SEA of IDEAS, a poem

 

Into the sea of ideas,

the old poet cast

his final thoughts,

hoping that a writer

in Africa or Spain

would grasp the spark

he sent forth as inspiration

for a poem or song

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FAR HORIZON, a poem

 

Unasked and unexpected,

the warning came from the seer:

“Your love ends at the horizon”

Dumfounded, we continued on

 

Married as we were,

we wondered at times

would we ever reach

that far horizon

 

The edge of the universe

remained forever distant

as we struggled through life,

luckily with lasting love

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POLLUTION of AGING, a poem

 

The pollution of old age

has melted my energy,

drained most of my strength,

muddled my memory

 

Inevitable decline

was delayed by exercise,

by using the brain

But nothing prevailed

 

The dimming of my life

means I now must exist

in a constricted world

as happily as I can

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REMNANTS, a poem

 

The remnants of ‘52

are gathering once again

Our numbers now diminished,

the far horizon looms near

 

Reunions bring us together

to faces never grown old

The essence of each prevails,

reviving joyous memories

 

Fordham Prep made us elite

Each life lived is a great story

Recall the very best moments

in every remaining day

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TRYING, a poem

 

Denied the gift of genius

by genes or just circumstance,

the ordinary poet or writer

relies upon a muse, education,

experience and extensive reading

 

Attaining rare greatness

demands skill and focus

and of course, achievement

Yet the great are shadows

of the fulfilled genius

 

Success for the majority

requires a willingness to work

without the acclaim of others,

but with the pleasure of trying

to achieve creative moments

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MY EVEREST, a poem

 

Worn by a lifetime

of use, my old knees

tend towards collapse

in climbing the stairs

 

Hillary had Norgay

to ascend his mountain,

a more mundane machine

carries my body up

 

Climbing my Everest,

a stair chair lifts me

to the paradise

of my own second floor

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FAUX GENEROSITY, a poem

 

To give without his giving,

he smugly summoned

his imagination

for an adventure

in faux generosity

 

Envisioning a valise

bursting with thick bundles

of hundred-dollar bills,

he rose into the air

to soar across the city

 

Startling the needy

at a food pantry,

he thrust his largesse

into anxious hands,

pleased with himself

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FALLING, a poem

 

Empires fall

Democracies fall

Snows fall

Rains fall

Oaks fall

Leaves fall

The young fall in love

The old fall into death

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A FAN, a poem

 

Is life worth living

as a fan

The answer is yes

if the fan

enjoys the games

 

I am a fan too

as a reader of books,

as a watcher of films,

and in the theater

enjoying those games

 

The writers, the actors,

the technicians

perform like athletes

but on film or paper

or on the stage

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DOZING, a poem

 

Leaking from my aura

energy puddles at my feet

leaving my unwieldy body

struggling to stay awake

 

Dozing marks my days,

waking marks my nights

Dozing is so pleasurable,

waking is exasperating

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ROMANCE

 

Romance is the sauce,

Love is the substance

Together they make

two lives worth living

 

Lingering like a seed,

bursting into glory

when two bodies are joined

in carnal connection

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TYRANNY

 

Doubters, Rejecters, Deniers

stumbling angrily through life,

weighed down by disbelief

What a sad, sad milieu

 

Like a malignant beacon

guiding them to tyranny,

Donald towers atop

a mountain of his lies

 

Discard the winner,

replace the elected

with the selfish loser

to rule forever

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CELEBRATION or SORROW, a poem

 

A child is born

opening the world

to possibilities

as a new spreader of joy

or a beast of anxiety

 

Each of us grows

in our own way,

starting with so much

or enduring little,

going where life carries us

 

Success comes in pieces,

perhaps even moments,

a reflection of our lives,

traveling the road we chose

to celebration or sorrow

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CUPPED HANDS, a poem

 

The cupped hands

come in the daily mail,

electronically and in snail,

asking, begging demanding

to be filled with dollars

 

Politicians, charities, colleges

and scammers too

want my wealth to be shared.

A large sum would be nice,

a few bucks at the very least

 

The mail carriers’ loads

would be light,

the recycling bins

would be near empty

without these pleas for more

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NATURE'S REVENGE

 

Nature has had enough

Using what could have been

sweet water and soft winds

to punish Humans

for their wasteful ways

 

The winds destroy

the water drowns

rain disappears

the forests burn

Nature has had enough

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