Port’s Prayer

 Muse, I have done as you asked, I have tried hard to serve. 

Dazzled I was, by the sound of the spoken word,

Spoken with aural charms but not yet sung,

Spoken with nothing but tones from my native tongue,

Entrancing so strangely, spelled out, as they were, in plain sight,

But casting a spell nonetheless and I eagerly sought

To learn the devices, the rhythms, the echoes of sounds,

And the art of compressing the meaning to something intense,

With figures of speech, and allusions, and quick turns of sense. 

Long have I labored through love at this troublesome task. 

Muse, I have struggled to serve. I have done what you asked. 

It was all I could do, and I hope that it pleased you at times,

As I poured out my thoughts in this tumbling cascade of rhymes.

Exercise

 If Pharma sold us Exercise 

Embedded in a pill

With all the same Health Benefits,

Without the need for Will,

Then everyone would swallow it. 

I must say, so would I. 

But all our current scientists,

Declare “Not yet!” - and sigh.

For A Dance

John the Baptist spoke unpleasantly 

About higher ups, and presently 

His head was brought forth on a platter. 

It seems that surely this would end the matter? 

Not quite. His sightless eyes 

Bored into their souls, and to their surprise, 

They found they still had consciences to drown, 

And felt their dreams of triumph spiraling down.

The Bent Stick Illusion

 The stick looks straight underwater. 

The stick looks straight aboveground. 

The stick looks bent when halfway in,

But at least it doesn’t look round. 

Some say our eyes deceive us. 

But they’re doing the best that they can!

You have other ways to test if it’s bent,

Like grabbing the stick with your hand!

And after sufficient testing 

And vigorous interaction 

You may begin to understand 

Something about refraction.

Movie Star

 I think it’s hard to be a movie star. 

You do not have much job security -

You know how fickle audiences are. 

So when you stare off at futurity,

You’re filled with doubt.  You’re not sure why they love you,

You’re worried your next film may be a bomb,

You do not trust executives above you-

I’d say it’s none too good for inner calm!

Time

 Some people try to make the case

That time is an illusion,

But having run a lengthy race,

This seems like more confusion. 

Memories come from a distant shore,

Which happens to be the past. 

And some are sad, and some are sore,

But others are a blast.

Rubber Band

Sometimes I find, when I am procrastinating, 

It helps to visualize a rubber band 

That's pulling me to the task that I am hating, 

And, feeling that pull, it somehow comes to hand. 

Procrastination is a kind of tension 

Between a thing you'd really like to do 

And possibly a fear you'd rather not mention 

That maybe this problem is just too much for you. 

Once knee-deep in whatever swamp is calling, 

The alligators don't seem quite so furious. 

Viewed from afar, the challenges are sprawling. 

Viewed from up close, they're smaller and more curious. 

Is this guaranteed? Nope. That I cannot say. 

But often enough for me it works this way.