IBM Selectric

Another day I thought I would write something completely different.

We are continually
Examined
Up one side
Down another.
I sit and write
On the computer,
Remember I took
Ordination exams
On the IBM Selectric
A top of the line
Instrument.
Top of the line
Changes daily.
Most people these days
Do not even understand
The expression
Top of the line
And
IBM Selectric
Even less.
They are in handbooks
Of archaic machines
Archaic expressions.

One at a time

Grateful for a faucet that can drip. Warming buses. One person warmed, at a time. It matters to this one.

The faucet drips.
We will make it through
This cold snap.
Warming buses
Drive the streets
Of Chicago.
They find the people
Left behind
Always
Left behind.
Always
Always
Left behind.
It matters
To this one
It matters
To at least
This one.

Mouse breath

Red tennis shoes.

I think of
Kliban's cats
In red tennis shoes
Love to eat them mousies
They are cute
Those mice
Even when they have
No footwear
They are proud
Those cats
When they have
Something to show
For their efforts.

Haven

Can we keep them, Mom, can we keep them??

Our home
Is a haven
For mice
Until spring comes.
Spring will not arrive
For a couple months yet.
Meanwhile
Our home
Is a haven.
The turtle tank,
Empty of turtle,
Still sits
In the playroom.
It awaits
New purpose.
Soon
It will be
A mouse house.

No quitters

We can wait forever

She stalks the mouse
Now under the dresser.
She knows it will emerge
Soon
Until then
She waits.
No quitter
She.
Meanwhile
I wait
Downstairs.
No quitter
I.

Wrestling

With thanks to Dylan Thomas.

Do not go lightly
Into the night
When you are meant
To throw it down
On the mat
Wrestle it
Like Jacob wrestled
That angel
At the Jabbok.
Got his blessing.
Praise God
For blessings
However
They come
Whatever mark
They leave
Wherever
We may go.

I will be able to leave

Because I can not shovel snow does not mean I am home bound. 

Today
I will be able
To leave.
I hired some people
Who sought
To be hired
To clear the snow.
Today
I will be able
To move
Out the front door,
Be driven
To work.

Ode to blue chair

Here's to you, Callie Swanlund...for asking the question.

Where would I create
Without you?
Popcorn kernels
Coffee stains
The week's favorite puppet
The occasional cat
And all.
My soft blue blanket
When a chill
Overtakes me
Or when comfort
Is needed.
Oh Blue Chair
I have pictures
Of your childhood
On the wall.

Two penguins + baby makes three

And who cares? Couples have raised children all over the world.

They made the headlines
Named gay
Because they are males
Raising a baby
Together
How can we tell
Homosexual orientation
In penguins?

It will never be soon enough

It's dark.

It's midwinter
I already wait
For the daylight
To be saved
It will come back
Tomorrow
It will never be
Soon enough.
I wait
It seems I always
Wait
Like the child
In that proverbial
Back seat.
Are we there yet?
How about now?
What about now?

Emergency kits

It's more than 911

It's more than 911
It also ABC
Bleeding
Breathing
Poisoning
The Heimlich Maneuver
When steak gets stuck
It's also
Nalaxone
CPR
So many ways
To save
Our neighbor
So
So
So many ways
Yes
Call 911
Too.

Couplets

Sherman Hershfield stroke poetry...from Atlantic Monthly.

He spoke
In rhyming couplets
The brain
Does amazing things
Offers ways
To relate
To others
In rap
Or couplets
Even drive
Somewhere
And arrive
Unscathed
While the brain
Speaks
Out loud
In rap.

Company

All of us need company

We sit with those
Who live
And die
And in-between.
We stand with those
Who likewise
Figure which one
They will claim.
All of us
Are somewhere
In-between.
All of us
Need company.

Perspective

And this one may never be posted...anywhere.

What I see as gift
Another may see
As a scum-sucking creature
Who lives
Off the beauty
In the world.
So much beauty
To be shared
In so many
Different ways.
No need
For name-calling
Ever.

Consider the lilies

Jesus said Consider the lilies, they neither toil nor spin..."

Consider the lilies
Some grow
In gardens
Yet unseen.
Consider the lilies
Some have roots
That grow
Down deep.
Consider the lilies
That's all
Consider them.
They have
So much to offer
Yet
In our haste
To consider
Larger things
We miss them
Entirely.
Consider them
Just
Consider them
They often grow
By the side
Of the road.
Some
May call them
Weeds.

Even the full moon is not full

Our imaginations can limit us.

Even the full moon
Is not full.
There is always
A dark side,
A half we never see.
The Chinese have sent
A vessel
To explore
The oceans
On the dark side
Of the moon.
Is there a Sea of Tranquility
There?
What will they find?
We imagine
The dark side
Will look exactly
Like the side we see
On a full moon
Night.

National Bird Day

I'm not sure I want to know

In honor
Of National Bird Day
We see what
We can see.
A this
And a that
Soaring turkey vultures
A flash of red
Cranes overhead
We thought
They had
Moved on.
Where did you hide?
You should be
In New Mexico
In Texas
Perhaps even Mexico
By now
Oh no
Winter
Has yet
To arrive.
Where is it
Hiding?

Links

A new land.

I may never speak
Computerese
But some do.
I am hired
To do
Other things.
Now I wait
To be approved
By ten links
And then there's Google.
Another thing
Entirely.
I have entered
A different land
I may meet
Strange beasts
And have
Unique
Adventures.
Come with me.

In the name

Yesterday was not just New Year's Day but also Holy Name Day. Today we remember The Slaughter of the Holy Innocents.

In the Name
Of all that's Holy
Of everything
Holy
Can we please
Circle everyone
With halos
Of light
With rings
Of safety.
In That Name
Can we please
Hold off
The slaughter
Of the innocents
Which is everyone.