Thereafter, each time we met, snarkily
They teased. “So, did you get that TV yet?
C’mon Marv, do it!” Increasingly shrill—
Then the old TV gasped itself to death.

We did it—47 inches wide!
It took three days and two apt technicians
To get it home and up—perhaps the snide
Remarks would now pause, morph to contrition

For a moment, until they came to know
It’s not a Sony, just a Vizio.
(7/30/11)

Learn! The dark side of that trim built-in world’s
A terrifying, damned Armageddon!
Appliance flags inevitably do furl,
Age intrudes, wires fry, the glitz falls dead.

That’s when you discover “DISCONTINUED.”
Gaggeneau slim ovens no longer made,
They’re seven inches wider now (you’re screwed!).
New cook tops can no longer be displayed

In that tiled island built at great expense.
Attention people! Building-in is dense!
                        (10/29/10)

Sure, nourishment from mother’s teat comes first,
Deftly replaced by school-tooled self-esteem.
Then blooming sex (exotic blossom) bursts,
Rich scents define euphoria’s extreme.

But sex, self-love, success wear thin in time,
While pyrotechnic hate enflames us all,
While holy armies—certain and sublime—
Along with greed, reduce us all to thralls.

Outside joy’s dependable: inside johns,
The fridge, faucets, switches, and snug duvets
Taken for granted! Water, light, and warmth—
Sufficient euphorical array.
                     (10/23/10)

To block its ceaseless drip. The cold water
Creeps scant drops at a time. The patio
Door clacks like a gunshot—should be tauter
In its agéd frame. Insidious flows

Mark the latest evil erosion—stains
At the ceiling’s corner signal, doubtless,
The roof’s waning life, succumbing to rain’s
Patient puddles, victim of time’s duress.

I know Kyrgyzstan’s now a deadly mess,
While arch priests piously fondle children;
Uganda’s lord’s army mangle, transgress,
India’s Maoists massacre. No Zen

Saves the saffron monks of soiled, roiled Bangkok
I know the rage-fed blasts, smoldering flame—
The sanctimonious greed (global pox);
I could, if asked, compile a list to blame.

But I, no hypocrite, meekly confess—
The murders (flesh and soul) engineered by
Rival gods and politics and bankers
And narcissistic pedophiliacs—

Beyond rhyme—press my mind, but not my heart.
Insomniac, I fidget over pipes
And toilet bowls, leaking sinks—not war’s hype.
My failed roof, not hist’ry, hurls smarting darts.
                        (4/20/10)

Brakes, tires thin, and dreaded maintenance
Shrieks its need. We could, of course, buy pristine
New cars, eschew repairs, flaunt wealth, enhance
Our stark lives. But we felt, somehow, demeaned

By such defeat—besides, could not abide
Dealing with new and strange technology.
So we spent eight grand! Sucked it in and sighed,
Resigned those wrecks to major surgery.

At vigil’s end, we welcomed home that pair—
Slick with new cartilage, veins freed of plaque
Well shod, knees firm, heart timed, bright neurons flared.
What’s more, we’re sixty thousand in the black!
                           (2/15/10)

They didn’t cost that much when new—
They’re inexpensive now.
But they’re built-in, plumbed on, you see,
Requiring know-how.

In olden times, a simple part
Would shush that oven’s growl.
A new washer would halt the drip—
A smile replace my scowl.

Technology, alas, improved—
And washers are passé—
And built-ins—ahh—must fit, just so.
Such tasks not my forté.

The hardware’s cheap, often on sale
(Technology is swank!)—
But hiring two skillful men
To set them breaks our bank!
                  (11/30/09)

     For J.J

I’m going on eighty, been through a lot—
Been called a Jew Christ-killer, lost schoolyard
Fights (won some, too). Swallowed the acrid snot
Of subordination. Reduced to shards

By slow promotion. Wept for one lost wife
(But found another). Twice lost election
To Department Chair—two vote rejection!
That stung, as well as blessed—I dodged the rife

Strife—administrator’s pain, spirit’s blight.
At the gym, I couldn’t twist a T-knob
Wound too tight; a woman—two-thirds my height,
Half my weight—freed it easily (throat sob!).

But no humiliation so stung me
As my defeat by Windows damned XP!
                                  (8/26/09)

I argued, “might not damage innocents.”
(It was a lit class after all.) “How, then,
Absent injury, can there be sin? Whence
The evil, gratifying harmless yens?”

Troubled by a brash TV ad, one day
I raged: America is doomed, consumed
By predatory marketing—folks swayed
To buy electric can-openers—ruined,

Skewered economy, sure to collapse.
Trade built of stupid stuff, frivolity—
Quicksand drowning substance, a baleful lapse
Of sense—diminishes rich industry!

Whereupon, one student, wide-eyed, observed
(With ample reason—though a bit unnerved):
“Professor K., you weave a chilling spell—
“Adultery is charming, even swell,
While powered gadgets hurl us all to Hell?”
                                     (11/23/08)

Some folks favor stability—flourish
At home, secure, with everything in place.
Others dissent, insist on nourishing
Gnawing hunger—they imbibe, seek rare grace;

Intoxicated by untrammeled space,
They cannot rest!  They travel everywhere—
Our friends among them.  Determined, they lace
The draught of life with stimulants.  They fare

Up China’s rivers, watch Northern whales, dare
The waters beyond Grecian isles, extol
Mediterranean wonders.  They spare
Nothing!  For Chrissakes—they’re at the North Pole

Right now!  What next?  Fiji for sure, to stroll
Exotic beaches.  Then, the Space Station?
The first blast off to Mars?  Can any toll
Limit their consumption of creation?

Just one!  No matter how tempting the fruit,
They won’t go where their Blackberries are mute!
(4/27/07)