Addictive

I like pre-shriveled raisins,

Otherwise known as grapes. 

They come in various colors,

And a number of curious shapes. 

I’m not sure why I like them. 

I guess it doesn’t matter. 

I fear they’re loaded with fructose,

And might just make me fatter!

I fear, but keep on munching. 

I tell myself they’re healthy. 

Their price is shooting upward

So I may soon be less wealthy!

Other Side

The moon does not have a side that’s always dark. 

It simply has a face it does not show 

To people who are firmly planet-parked. 

When I was a child, we simply did not know 

This other side, admittedly harsh and stark, 

But part of the place providing that friendly glow.

Like Keeping Them Home For More Than A Year

People keep saying that children are very resilient. 

Are they? Were you? Or are they rather susceptible? 

I don't have an answer that's crisp or especially brilliant, 

But worry some things should not have been acceptable.

Calendar

An examination of history, 

Even one that’s fairly cursory, 

Reveals that every date

Is a major anniversary. 

The calendar is too crowded!

The solution is simple and clear:

We need to stop using the same months 

Over and over each year!

Second Opinion

If you talk to two physicians 

About the same condition 

Let's say... the chickenpox, 

But you find they disagree 

That's no big deal - you see, 

It's just a paradox.

Twelfth, Fifth or Sixth?

My friend Denise reminds me it’s the twelfth day of Christmas.
And I’m glad for the reminder because it’s so easy to miss,
Especially with the abandonment of the business
Of giving people rings and birds to match the day it is!

In Darkness

Tonight I saw a blind young woman walking 

The busy sidewalks of downtown Chicago. 

Her cane came into contact with a pile 

Of shoveled ice. I told her what it was. 

She just said yes, and stepped around the ice 

And waited at the curb while cars sped by. 

I told her when the light had changed to green 

And walked beside her while she crossed the street. 

Ahead of us a truck rushed through its turn, 

Cutting a corner right across our path, 

Impatient to be on its looming way.

I found it slightly frightening but the woman 

Seemed totally oblivious and I thought 

What bravery, what trust, coursed through her veins.

I Visited The Nearest Beach

I visited the nearest beach. 

I take some comfort in large bodies of water. 

I feel they put infinity within my reach. 

I like the way they seem to yawn on forever. 

I hear no mermaids calling each to each,

And yet I hear something magic in the drumming 

Of wave upon wave, as if they were trying to teach 

A song about days gone by and still to come.

Transvaluation

Santa declined to study 

The book, Beyond Naughty And Nice. 

"I may be a fuddy-duddy, 

But I'm putting Nietzsche on ice."

Post Solstice

 I long to be in Antarctica,

Where summer has just begun. 

Yes, I’m sure that it’s still fairly cold,

But petting penguins sounds fun!

Career

Someone told me learn to code,
And so I travelled down that road.
Code is not the road for all.
Many stumble, many fall,
And many find it boring as hell.
I understand. I wish you well.

Transatlantic

They held beliefs
Most thought unreasonable.
Defying the law,
In ways some thought treasonable.
They hopped on a boat
To escape legal limits,
And somehow made land -
So they occupied Plymouth.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone

In the bogs of Massachusetts, 

The wild cranberries grow. 

How they end up as cylindrical sauce - 

I simply do not know!

How It Starts

Not always, but often, this is how it starts.

There comes a nagging feeling at my heart,

Knocking recurringly, and in its hand 

A scrap of paper holding just once sentence, 

Whispered into my ear as a command: 

Complete this phrase, perform it as a penance 

For all your vagueness, work it out in words, 

A web of sound that somehow carries meaning, 

Not perfectly clear, perhaps, but at least leaning 

Toward clarity. And I, as by now you've inferred, 

Take up the challenge and struggle to append 

Thoughts that will bring the starting thought to an end.

Apostrophe S

Most English nouns possess

Other nouns with apostrophe S,

And when we make a contraction

With IS… we use the same action,

And say: “The dog’s collar’s wet.”

How confusing can you get?

House

 My father owned the house for fifty years,

And all those fifty years I had a key. 

New people live there now, and it appears 

They love the place. That’s gratifying to me. 

But still at times I feel the house is mine. 

The empty garbage bins - I want to haul

Them up the drive. I leave them there. It’s fine.

The chores belong to them. Not mine at all. 

Most days I walk by twice, it’s on the way

To where I catch the train. I feel its presence 

More than I see it, as my memories play

On automatic - mostly rather pleasant. 

I have an edifice complex. That’s a pun.

I carry it with me, as a dutiful son.

Politicized Biology

Biology has been complicated needlessly,

Reportedly through evolution. 

The Soviets simplified it heedlessly 

After their revolution. 

Lysenko had theories of botany

He said would grow more food.

Results? He hadn’t got any. 

The masses were thoroughly screwed.

New Rumor

As a news-addicted boomer, 

I'd like to start a new rumor, 

Something fairly frightening, 

To strike the heart like lightning, 

Along with a quicky quacky 

Cure that itself is wacky: 

I hear there's an alien plan 

To lizardize every man, 

So consume lots of catnip daily 

Or your skin will turn green and scaly!

Buggy

The silkworm and the honeybee

Make useful products for you and me. 

Not sure what the other bugs are for,

Can’t find their products at the store. 

And as for mosquitoes, well I declare,

I’d like to blast them from the air!

Plan

I have a plan to procrastinate. 

Not just yet. I’m going to wait.