The Song of the Rotor-Tiller
Today we harvest broken bits of glass
Fragments of old toys, bit of aluminum
A Sylvania flash cube still intact
From a picture taken decades ago
Tag: Mack in Texas
Paying the Electric Bill to a Tattooed Arm
Through the glass one can see a slender arm
And a shift in the light shows it to be
All splotchy in decaying reds, greens, and blues
Seemingly covered in a tropical blight
The window slides open to a beautiful smile…
When the Ambulance Arrived
So there you were with a tube in your arm
And a crossword puzzle and pen in your hands
And a lovely view of a sunlit roof
With windblown debris whipping between the vents
The BeeGees, Duck Dynasty, and Jesus
Garage-sale-blocked again, the one-lane road Hosts cars on both sides, and oxygened-men Defiantly aluminum-caning the middle In their Quixotic quest for eternal youth
Read MoreAssorted Broken Saints
After doing some time in this fallen world
We all are broken, and missing a few of our parts
Having lost some hopes and strengths along the way
But we keep chooglin’ along, making it work
Palm Sunday without Air-Raid Warnings
Palm Sunday is easy for the rest of us
A procession with palms from the parking lot
Praising God through an asphalt Jerusalem
A Subaru on His right hand, a Dodge on His left
To Ask to be Exempt Would be Unreasonable
We all have lists of absent friends Who were with us one week and Covid the next With unfinished stories and little jokes We meant to tell each other the next time we met
Read MoreWe All Dream of Our Own Library Someday
We all dream of our own library someday
Shelf after shelf of finely bound editions
An oak-paneled room with a stone fireplace
And French windows that open to the sea
Select All Images with Traffic Lights
When the ink on his Gospel had barely dried
Saint Matthew was interrupted by angelic sights
And then to him a Voice from Heaven cried:
“Select all images with traffic lights!”
Shifting the Clockfoolery Forward
This is the day we search out all the clocks:
Two in the den (in which no animals live)
One in the kitchen above the dishy sink…
Covid Memory Gaps
A child in the second grade might be missing this part of his development: he doesn’t remember a time when there weren’t face masks and nervous and sometimes angry discussions about Covid, immunizations, symptoms, isolation, and what’s not available at the grocery store this week.
Read MoreI Grew Up In Mayberry
I passed two men who were building a fence
With hands and tools and strength and uncommon sense…
Geographically Speaking
Sweet little bunnies browse and squirrels climb
And tiny mice and fairies give delight
To all the little ones of Newfoundland
Who visit Peter Pan in Bowring Park
A Question I Must Ask of Myself
The question is asked: What good shall I do today?
It is a fair question. I don’t know who asked it first
But this morning the only importance
Is that I ask this question of myself
TAB Cola
This week we read that TAB Cola will no longer be manufactured. This comes as a surprise to most of us, who didn’t know it still existed. TAB Cola, a product of the Coca-Cola company, dates back to ye olden days of the IBM Selectric Typewriter and Sears…
Read MoreWorship at the Super Bowl
There are few crimes more likely to drive a man
A man, a sensitive man, a thinking man
To existential despair
On the Unlocking of Words
The art of oratory is little studied now, and so speeches are seldom about stating the facts and coming to a conclusion, but rather a matter of posturing and yelling and chanting. The ultimate failure to persuade is in the use of a bullhorn.
Read MoreBut is it True? Modern Mayhem & More
Let’s unpack the cliches and hyperbole
The nuclear option and we’ve got this
What we know now we have our options frontline
Off the table Armageddon option
Snow Clouds for Children on a January Dawn
There could be snow later, and that would be nice
Children can grow up here and never see snow
Today they might go out and play in it
While we old folks tut-tut, “You’ll catch your death…”
First Responders: Gifts of Service
Many of our first responders are volunteers, and so in addition to their support-the-family jobs they also serve the community on their own time and often at their own expense. We need them.
Read More
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