Monday, May 28, 2007

Learning

Don't spend your money carelessly,
Or teach your children how to hate.
Don't leave that spinach on your plate,
Because, across the briny sea,
Poor hungry boys and girls would be
Delighted to appreciate
Your leftovers. It's not too late
To learn the cost of being free.

You'll fall in love and swoon about
The eyes of your intended one,
Blue as the sky, bright as the sun,
And when you shame yourself and shout
Your love will learn to do without
Someone who's done as you have done.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Strike Boldly

I would march, any time, down the street,
Making fresh history from the sound;
Every step makes a new battleground,
Underneath these size eight marching feet.
Sounding off, never twice, don't repeat
Anything ever. Veal, gently browned,
Crowds my plate with some spuds, gravy-crowned,
Brussels sprouts, corn, and slaw. . . . I won't eat.

I will march. You can try teaching me
Lessons: how people play cards — Old Maid,
Poker, Gin Rummy, Spit — then persuade
Friends that sin took me up bodily
So the fools must attack. One, two, three!
Starve me; strike boldly; then be afraid.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

An Act

I'm managing, but only barely. Tact
Is not my strong suit, but I'm trying hard.
I said Giraffe; you said Camelopard,
And everybody thought it was an act.
The light was slowly starting to refract
After the longest night. I was on guard
Against the elements; you were a card.
I challenged you, and you were inexact.

Does that make me the poet? Or were you?
Since neither of us was an engineer,
And both of us heard music in the beer,
And neither of us said a word that's true,
I think we'll call it even. That's my cue
To walk away from you. Don't stand so near.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Divisive

Divisive though a thing like that may be,
I had to choose between my sons today.
They balked, yes, but I did it anyway;
I don't want people influencing me,
And life's great battle starts in infancy
With parents telling you you have no say
And harping at you that all work no play
Makes Jack a good boy. Die unceasingly.

So when I chose the middle one, suffice
To say Esau and Jake felt perfect fools.
They've both spent far too many hours in schools
And working on their tans, I told them, twice,
So when I made my will, they paid the price.
There are no rules, baby. There are no rules.

Monday, May 07, 2007

A Graver Menace

A graver menace than you think exists,
Between the tropics and the midnight sun,
Above the moon, behind a loaded gun,
In facets of Brazilian amethysts,
With lovers, thrilling at their endless trysts,
On sneakers with the laces come undone
So you fall down when you attempt to run,
Among the knights who figure on the lists.

Somewhere on earth, somewhere in time and space,
One threat is made, a heaven's grace is lost,
A woollen blanket, left where it was tossed,
Begins to weather, and the human race
Begins to lose its grip. Cut to the chase:
Forget the poetry now. Count the cost.