Occasional Verse

     For M.F., commissioned by S.F.

In olden times, the laureate was forced
To celebrate occasions—that new birth,
A coronation, perhaps the grim course
Of recent history. To prove my worth,

(Though no laureate), I’ll accept the task
Because this event’s a true occasion—
The birthday of a neighbor, who, unmasked,
Amazing—requires no persuasion.

Her gleaming virtues are unique—she gives,
And gives, and gives without a need to take—
Love for her large family—the motives
That drive her midwife life for infants’ sake.

She’s forty-eight today—and we are blessed—
Her beauty argues for two decades less!
(10/27/12)

Posted in Aging, Beauty, Friends, Neighbors

The Ten Commandments

     A 26 line extended sonnet!

Our commandant uses the first three rules
To make it plain that it’s a unique boss.
Forget those other gods, they’re foolish ghouls;
Vainly say my name? That brings down chaos!

Omnipotence aside, god needs its rest
Six days it labored on this universe.
It huffed, it puffed—no wonder it’s obsessed—
Demanding one day’s rest, all labor cursed.

Done with itself, it turned to other things
“Honor thy father and thy mother”—fine!
But what if they abuse and rape offspring?
We honor them despite such heinous crimes?

Next comes “thou shalt not kill.” That sounds humane.
And yet, before they even knew they’d sinned
By dancing round that golden calf, insane
Punishment ensued—three thousand stabbed, killed!

Graven images—damned—but what about
Thou shalt not kill—a principle set down
In that Testament replete with wipe outs—
Fierce holocausts produced by Yahweh’s frown.

Seven, eight, and nine justly ban distress
We shouldn’t cheat on wives, or steal, or lie.
But we must covet beauty and success
Earned by neighbors—how else escape our sty?

Forbid desire—essence of life’s rhythm—
And thus destroy our capitalism?
(10/26/12)

Posted in Conformity, Death, Religion, Wisdom

Democracy’s Downside

Politics is weird.
One congressman declared
Evolution is satanic
And the earth is 9000 years old.
Another argued, without mirth,
That slavery was good—
Freed those folks
From African poverty.
(10/9/12)

Posted in Bullshit, Politics, Religion

Fervor

A courageous Muslim girl,
Malala Yousafzai, fourteen,
Was shot in the head
Because she went to school.
Her Taliban assailant,
Moved by his love of god,
Shot her—culminating
Three thousand years of moral philosophy.
(10/9/12)

Posted in Inspiration, Religion, Today's News

Nature

The squirrel’s in the fig tree,
The cats sit by, bemused.
The possums clean the food plates—
Leave perching birds confused.
The food chain’s circuits shorted—
That fruit was meant for us.
Nature’s mindless manners
Create this churning fuss.
(9/29/12)

Posted in Animals

Death And Stuff

Mainly (the old saw goes), our writers’ themes
Are love and death. And, I suppose, that’s true.
The verses of alas, alack, fill reams,
Though fewer than lamenting lovers’ blues.

Today, I’ll stick with death, because it’s near
(At eighty-two those love poems sound so frail).
That imminence creates no panicked fear
But does leave my serenity assailed.

I do not wish to be a source of grief
And death is such a troubling affair
I haven’t time, and, frankly, would be lief
To live enough to educate my heirs.

What pains is not my death—what wracks my mind?
The cars, accounts, the clutter left behind.
(9/24/12)

Posted in Aging, Death