Blank

I've drawn a blank, but I'll go on:
The search for truth begins this way,
And while you think of things to say
That tell too little, time is gone
And you've said nothing. Your face shone
With effort, as you tried to pray,
But in the end, your cheeks were grey
And puffed out, stifling a yawn.

What was it you were telling me?
Some rigmarole concerning fear,
The unappealing atmosphere,
An overactive memory,
Or something fine about the sea?
I've drawn a blank, so I'll stop here.

Hoo Dee Hah!

I managed to put by a little cash,
Which I believed both ethical and wise,
While my successors botched the enterprise
And sailed along like imbeciles, as rash
As measles and as useful as cold ash.
They murmured foolish, useless alibis
Mixed in with sad, inane, and heedless cries
Like, "Ah, Love!", "Hoo dee hah!", and other trash.

The chairman called the meetings of the Board
Ridiculous, and who could not agree?
They tried to pin the fiscal slide on me,
But when I was heading the company
We all made money, and while profits soared
I had made certain I could still afford
Some fun — even a little irony.

If We Are Human

I'm worried — you might also say concerned,
Or one of several other words we use
To indicate the shortness of the fuse
Of our emotions — seeing what I've learned
About your past. It's not just truth you spurned,
It's sympathy, for anyone: the Jews
Exiled and shunned; the women in the news
Oppressed and scarred; the maimed, the lost, the burned.

If we are human, we're required to feel,
To know each other, like bees in their hives,
Tribes primitive and civilized, with knives
Of hacked stone, or with blades of burnished steel
As bright as sunfire. For the common weal
If we are human, we connect our lives.