tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-126067102024-03-15T20:12:22.089-05:00Rhyme Of The DayVarious meanderings with a rhyme in there somewhere.John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.comBlogger6311125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-24840064259330078312024-02-29T19:06:00.004-06:002024-02-29T19:06:56.134-06:00Dostoyevsky <p> Dostoyevsky was an addicted gambler,</p><p>Whose best characters are loquacious ramblers</p><p>Who frequently verge into the absurd. </p><p>But since he was getting paid by the word</p><p>And was on a personal moral mission,</p><p>He brought great novels to fruition.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-69130103845500622722024-02-17T10:37:00.003-06:002024-02-17T10:37:43.787-06:00Consolatio <p> Boethius called the Muses of Poetry names:</p><p>“Whorish stage girls”. In this way he defames</p><p>An art that he himself had long pursued </p><p>In terms offensive and incredibly rude.</p><p>On the other hand, if we want to be perfectly fair,</p><p>He was being held in some kind of confinement where</p><p>He awaited a sentence of torture and brutal death. </p><p>His book “Consolation” is sort of his final breath,</p><p>In which he tried to set his learned mind</p><p>On cosmic truths, hoping there to find </p><p>Relief from anguish. And oddly enough this book</p><p>Is studded with poems. It’s certainly worth a look.</p><p>It bridges the ancient world and medieval times,</p><p>Profoundly affecting both Dante’s and Chaucer’s rhymes.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-54993299310691717622024-02-12T11:42:00.003-06:002024-02-12T11:42:51.388-06:00It Is<p> Some say that existence exists,</p><p>And I’m not here to tell you they lie. </p><p>The universe surely persists -</p><p>Without sign of soon saying goodbye. </p><p>Parmenides said Being Is,</p><p>Albeit, he said it in Greek. </p><p>All agree he was a whiz,</p><p>But did he provide what we seek?</p><p>It is what it is, we now say,</p><p>When urging recognition </p><p>Of facts in the present day</p><p>Which present in a sorry condition. </p><p>Existence Exists, I admit</p><p>Has a tautological sound,</p><p>But still we keep using it</p><p>As an evidentiary ground.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-53672314831354425912024-01-07T11:06:00.005-06:002024-01-07T11:08:00.573-06:00Seneca<p> As a philosopher, Seneca promoted</p><p>Maintaining tranquility in the face of trauma,</p><p>However as a playwright he emoted</p><p>All over the stage with tragic bloody drama. </p><p>Scholars question which is the truer side,</p><p>But I imagine equal parts of a whole:</p><p>The stoic Jekyll and the dramatic Hyde</p><p>Springing together from one tormented soul.</p>John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-14632056134365298852024-01-04T21:00:00.003-06:002024-01-04T21:02:22.660-06:00Stopping by the Library on a Frantic EveningWhose words these are, I think I know, <div>Some author who died years ago! </div><div>He will not see me cut and paste </div><div>His paragraphs in horrid haste. </div><div>My paper’s due in twenty hours, </div><div>And it’s beyond my paltry powers </div><div>To write the whole darn thing myself. </div><div>But here are books upon the shelf - </div><div>Upon the topics I’m supposed </div><div>To explicate in lucid prose… </div><div>And I prefer to see quotations, </div><div>Without the clutter of citations! </div><div>For I have many pages due, </div><div>And hours to go before I’m through.</div>John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-83192183517622485442023-12-30T10:51:00.005-06:002023-12-30T10:53:08.397-06:00Ceres Above Lasalle Street<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54dgv8MzDHwJfNAHqrq-hp4kUT7sloxWZbWNxKBT74_EoxSy3pwSaXVSeuWzN_4aRapzm8sAqNVwkCN9zWKX_TyjiPNSZuoQpfOgZVqhzmY1oxhLzGrGML5pTyRg4_Z1PfjcGI6hM5LDpqrUEVpy3oDev6NzMCpEb4PkZLQ0YD369eybIxmpx/s553/ceres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="553" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54dgv8MzDHwJfNAHqrq-hp4kUT7sloxWZbWNxKBT74_EoxSy3pwSaXVSeuWzN_4aRapzm8sAqNVwkCN9zWKX_TyjiPNSZuoQpfOgZVqhzmY1oxhLzGrGML5pTyRg4_Z1PfjcGI6hM5LDpqrUEVpy3oDev6NzMCpEb4PkZLQ0YD369eybIxmpx/w118-h109/ceres.jpg" width="118" /></a></div><br />Goddess of Grain, standing among the clouds, <div>Atop the tower called the Board of Trade, </div><div>One hundred years, almost, you’ve watched the crowds </div><div>That fill the streets below, like a parade </div><div>Of hungry life, the market-makers hustling, </div><div>The lawyers squabbling as the deals get made, </div><div>And back behind the scene, the bankers bustling </div><div>To pile the money up, and then to lend it </div><div>All out again in hopes of getting more. </div><div>Life must go on - unless you want to end it - </div><div>It must keep cycling through a central core: </div><div>Production and exchange keep people fed, </div><div>The bounty of the harvest widely spread.</div>John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-43251135483997237912023-12-30T08:04:00.004-06:002023-12-30T08:04:30.074-06:00Ask Your Doctor <p> Ask your doctor if X is right for you!</p><p>That’s what they say - and so that’s what I do. </p><p>I call my doctor every week, you see,</p><p>To find out if each med is right for me,</p><p>Especially when I cannot figure out </p><p>What X is for - I give my doc a shout. </p><p>And here’s his oddest recommendation yet:</p><p>He said I should get off the internet</p><p>And skip through all commercials on TV</p><p>That show a happy person running free</p><p>Through open fields with some mysterious glee</p><p>While droning voices list the side effects</p><p>That fall upon poor patients like a hex.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-60479694529822833282023-10-22T16:51:00.000-05:002023-10-22T16:51:00.662-05:00Said the Maple to the Oak<p>Said the maple to the oak,</p><p>Fall is here and that’s no joke. </p><p>I’ve put on my scarlet cloak. </p><p><br /></p><p>Said the oak tree to the maple,</p><p>There’s a shade of copper cable…</p><p>That’s the brightest I am able. </p><p><br /></p><p>Said the trees then to each other,</p><p>Soon we’ll face the winter weather,</p><p>Standing proudly, bare together.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-10364401294667782382023-10-16T20:47:00.008-05:002023-10-16T20:50:12.350-05:00UnclearMy speech was rather unclear. <div> Somehow I didn’t hear </div><div>The shimmering sounds of words </div><div>Quite like others heard. </div><div> This struggle went on for years, </div><div>Let’s say till I was eight. </div><div> And so I grew to hate </div><div>Not being understood - </div><div>Which lived on, as an inmost fear, </div><div>Long, long afterward.
</div>John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-18222181012867620862023-10-16T20:42:00.002-05:002023-10-17T09:03:07.335-05:00People of the BookThey had a book that other people loved,</br>
A book that showed a way to walk in glory</br>
By following a law. A book of stories</br>
Succinctly told, that seemed to rise above</br>
The moral tone of all those pagan tales</br>
Of gods whose virtue mostly seems to fail.</br>
The other people loved the book so much,</br>
They took it on, but with some alterations,</br>
Taking the form of yet more revelations,</br>
Which somehow made it easier to clutch</br>
Close to the heart, and less a thorny thing</br>
To argue over endlessly - as if</br>
Anything less would give the text short shrift.</br>
At least that's how it seemed to them, the tribe</br>
That owned the book - that testament of passion.</br>
They could not go along with this new fashion</br>
Of modifying what they had imbibed</br>
As mother's milk. And so they stood alone,</br>
And tried to keep the law that was their own.</br>John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-25227977999144178812023-09-14T18:03:00.002-05:002023-09-14T18:03:25.752-05:00The Beckoning Bayou<p> They say that people who routinely put things off</p><p>Are mostly perfectionists (cough, cough)</p><p>Who are afraid</p><p>Of committing to wade</p><p>Into that big swamp</p><p>Where the frisky gators chomp,</p><p>Where uncertain wrestling</p><p>Presents the distressing</p><p>Prospect of possible flopping. </p><p>How pleasant, then to be stopping</p><p>And waiting </p><p>And contemplating </p><p>Despite the fact that what is needed</p><p>Is something more like rushing unheeded </p><p>Into the murky slime</p><p>Tackling, perhaps, one gator at a time,</p><p>Probably starting first</p><p>With the one who looks like the worst.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-56803969537747245002023-09-14T00:22:00.001-05:002023-09-14T00:22:09.309-05:00Anniversary <p>It is hard to maintain perspective </p><p>When a person holds your heart for decades</p><p>And perhaps there’s no point in trying. </p><p>Entangled love, undying,</p><p>Yields a close up view,</p><p>Unique for you. </p><p>And stepping back to be more objective </p><p>Is an exercise defying</p><p>Common sense,</p><p>Especially since</p><p>It’s big inside another human being. </p><p>There’s always something more to be seeing. </p><p>For better or worse</p><p>It’s like another universe,</p><p>Which somehow bends</p><p>A gravitational lens </p><p>Into your own,</p><p>So that a similar dizzying close up view</p><p>Of you</p><p>Is shown</p><p>To your partner alone. </p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-85236818391204890192023-09-06T07:57:00.007-05:002023-09-06T07:58:41.393-05:00Grandchildren Grandchildren, I love you dearly, <div>But let me tell you sincerely </div><div> I’m seriously glad </div><div>You’ve got a mom and dad </div><div>To take the lead on your care. </div><div> Since I would spoil you and make you bad, </div><div>Which would be extremely unfair. </div><div> So let them lay down their rules, </div><div>And pay for your room and board, </div><div>While we play together like fools, </div><div>Which sometimes is the subtlest form of school.</div>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-10069735982477853722023-08-22T23:27:00.005-05:002023-08-22T23:43:06.872-05:00No Fear Shakespeare <p>There is a set of books called No Fear Shakespeare </p><p>Which translate Shakespeare into modern prose -</p><p>On facing pages. Meaning is made clear!</p><p>But does it mean the same? Well, it seems close. </p><p>Elizabethan grammar could be strange,</p><p>His mythical allusions are obscure,</p><p>His vocab runs outside the normal range,</p><p>Perhaps it’s more than most folks can endure. </p><p>Even the English majors glance at notes</p><p>While reading Henry, Hamlet, and King Lear. </p><p>Sometimes the experts rip each other’s throats </p><p>In thickets where the text is far from clear. </p><p>But if, perchance, you start to catch the drift,</p><p>Abundant are the treasures there to sift.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-91345731102497474872023-08-22T23:25:00.003-05:002023-08-22T23:26:11.739-05:00Not For The Faint Of Heart <p>Translation is an art</p><p>That’s not for the faint of heart. </p><p>And it turns extra scary,</p><p>When the text is literary,</p><p>And when it’s (shudder) poetic,</p><p>The peril is pathetic. </p><p>The problem is the words</p><p>Were pointedly picked to be heard,</p><p>To be savored, almost sung. </p><p>But the sounds vary crazily</p><p>From tongue to tongue. </p><p>As a first shot you can lazily </p><p>Give AI a try,</p><p>But somehow it never quite</p><p>Gets texture or flavor right.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-67860608673536548552023-08-21T18:09:00.013-05:002023-08-22T07:52:44.135-05:00Translator Accused Translator, traitor!<br/>
They say. <br/>
And some will add <br/>
That even though the English isn’t bad,<br/>
The original Italian blows it away. <br/>
“Traduttore, traditore.”<br/>
Which does little for me,<br/>
But then again I’m not from Italy,<br/>
So I’m in a poor position to disagree. <br/>
English is the language that’s truly mine,<br/>
So translator/traitor will have to do just fine!John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-4534224859151947682023-08-19T11:30:00.004-05:002023-08-19T11:36:20.048-05:00Inheritance I hear my father’s and my mother’s voices <br />
Inside my head. And when I face hard choices <br />
I do not find they give the same advice. <br />
My mother sweetly leaned toward the nice,<br />
My father strongly leaned toward the tough. <br />
Yes, underneath his trial lawyer’s gruff<br />
Exterior he had a softer side. <br />
And behind my mother’s sweetness could be spied<br />
A steely resolution. But it’s plain<br />
That these two voices never will attain <br />
Agreement as to what would be the best<br />
Course of action. Beating in my chest,<br />
My mother’s heart inclines in one direction,<br />
While in my brain’s more analytical section,<br />
My father’s eyes chart out alternative ways<br />
To navigate what may be a hazardous maze. <br />
How these two ever made a life together <br />
Puzzles me at times. Regardless, whether<br />
Or not they always saw things eye to eye,<br />
They worked things out, and somehow they got by,<br />
And left me here to try to work things out<br />
Between their dueling legacies, which shout<br />
Incompatible notions to my ear. <br />
Of course, I’m old, and I have gotten clear<br />
On most of this, but still, sometimes I hear<br />
The two of them, and when I must decide,<br />
I hope my judgment has been fortified<br />
By the debate that’s going on inside.
John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-34811129988826233782023-08-14T20:04:00.003-05:002023-08-14T20:04:42.817-05:00The Book of JobThe Book of Job opens up with the Devil<br/>
Making a bet with God, <br/>
Which is odd,<br/>
But sort of explains the presence of evil.<br/>
Job complains<br/>
Of his boils and pains<br/>
And his life getting generally worse,<br/>
Being careful <br/>
While giving God this earful<br/>
Not to break out in a curse,<br/>
Always ready to praise<br/>
His mysterious ways<br/>
But just asking why -<br/>
Just wanting a cause -<br/>
That an upright man who followed the laws<br/>
Should be so beset.<br/>
And what does Job get?<br/>
An explanation? <br/>
Not so much.<br/>
He does get chided for being so out of touch<br/>
As to demand to understand<br/>
When he doesn’t know<br/>
What makes the universe go -<br/>
Wasn’t there for the creation.<br/>
But because he keeps a civil tongue in his head,<br/>
He eventually gets new children instead<br/>
To replace the ones that are dead,<br/>
And prospers again.<br/>
He never does get told about Satan’s bet.<br/>
My mind rebels against this tale, and yet…<br/>
And yet I come back to it when<br/>
I see someone good, to whom<br/>
There has been a visitation of doom,<br/>
And I think to myself it’s a myth<br/>
But there’s something herewith,<br/>
Something true<br/>
About what to do,<br/>
Namely to stand upright, <br/>
When forced to suffer through,<br/>
And not take random blame<br/>
And not grab at straws to explain<br/>
And not curse the universe<br/>
With a prayer for flame.John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-30824054410192063842023-08-03T00:06:00.000-05:002023-08-03T00:06:01.168-05:00ChildrenI certainly have heard it argued sincerely </br>
That having children is not itself rewarding. </br>
I must admit I find this argument frightful,</br>
Believing as I do that they’re delightful. </br>
Tastes vary of course. You may find children merely </br>
Annoying tenants that you’re stuck with boarding. </br></br>
I’ve heard it argued that their earliest years</br>
Are times to be endured, not much enjoyed. </br>
I scratch my head. What infants have they known?</br>
Our hearts may quiver when we see their tears,</br>
But that’s a sign our hearts are well employed</br>
At vital work. We feel it. It is shown. </br></br>
I’ve heard it argued all the fun comes after</br>
A child is grown, but have you heard their laughter?</br>
Their little voices ringing out like bells,</br>
Dispelling gloom, bestowing benediction,</br>
Becoming over time a glad addiction,</br>
Rejuvenating spirits like nothing else.</br>John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-63035443444327268762023-08-03T00:04:00.000-05:002023-08-03T00:04:05.099-05:00Trials of SkillTrials of skill are never truly easy,</br>
But that’s the way the gifted make them seem. </br>
I watch a tightrope walker, I get queasy,</br>
While he does flips and splits I wouldn’t dream</br>
Of doing - even on a cushioned floor. </br>
Of course the key is practice, practice, practice,</br>
And then perhaps a little practice more. </br>
The skater, showing off her triple axels,
Fell many times while mastering that landing.</br>
It doesn’t mean just anyone can do it -</br>
When contemplating talent that’s outstanding,</br>
It often seems there’s something inborn to it.</br>
But all the powers you receive at birth,</br>
Will prove at last to be of paltry worth</br>
Unless you find a purpose to pursue. </br>
Gifts blossom best when love of task is true.</br>John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-83818886784879851492023-07-18T18:57:00.000-05:002023-07-18T18:57:01.195-05:00Charmin The Musical Lyrics Video<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/Ccge3385GTQ" frameborder="0"></iframe>John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-22758307207517803362023-06-27T08:46:00.003-05:002023-06-27T08:46:48.331-05:00Love<p> It is a form of madness, so some say,</p><p>That overtakes calm reason’s gentle way,</p><p>And sweeps aside most practical objections </p><p>In favor of primordial predilections. </p><p>The heart has reasons, reason knows not of,</p><p>Declared one thinker. Did he think of love?</p><p>Perhaps then love is not a form of treason</p><p>But rather greater fealty to reason. </p><p>Logic can puzzle out the hidden drives</p><p>That populate the passions of our lives,</p><p>But mostly that’s in hindsight’s golden glow. </p><p>In the moment it’s often hard to know</p><p>Just how the heart is choosing when it’s choosing,</p><p>Resulting in a gladness that’s confusing.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-45496023431208412152023-06-11T10:46:00.001-05:002023-06-11T10:46:11.788-05:00Ted K. <p> The Unabomber was brilliant at math,</p><p>But went off the rails with enviro-wrath. </p><p>If he’d majored in English he might have known,</p><p>That he could be caught by prose style alone.</p>John Enrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128784556482929672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-19192910244949904852023-06-03T11:08:00.006-05:002023-06-03T11:08:32.950-05:00Forty CopiesI received a gift from a friend,<br>
A book of his poems - which I would recommend,<br>
But he published a limited run,<br>
Just forty copies and then he was done,<br>
No print-on-demand, no e-book. <br>
So drop by my house. I’ll give you a look. <br>
Due to the author’s carefully considered refusal,<br>
It’s only available in my library <br>
For solitary perusal.John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12606710.post-38184766850184440972023-06-03T11:07:00.002-05:002023-06-03T11:07:10.580-05:00Diplomatic LanguageMany a signed-and-sealed treaty <br>
Is vague about things that are meaty.<br>
They load lots of nuance up front,<br>
And into the future they punt,<br>
Hoping the next generation <br>
Finds a peaceful interpretation.
John E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03058673463634677649noreply@blogger.com0