Tony Beckwith
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Two Tribes

2/11/2022

 

Some people gave a party
on a balmy summer night
Their neighbors were invited
and their friends from left and right

A sign was on a fence post
at the entrance to the drive:
"Keep your social distance
if you want to stay alive"

A good man took this sage advice
and posted it in braille
The band set up on stage and played
A Whiter Shade of Pale

The guests all started dancing
A heart on every sleeve
But some refused to wear a mask
and they were asked to leave

And so two tribes were born that night
where there'd been only one
And neither has forgotten
what the other tribe has done



The So-Called News

1/14/2022

 

I watched the news today, oh boy!
But what they're calling 'news' these days
is like a modern horse of Troy:
seductive in its stealthy ways

It's gloom and doom or trivial junk
that titillates us to the core
So sad to see how low we've sunk
when we keep coming back for more

The media promised us the news
We trusted them but we were wrong
The advertising revenues
are what they wanted all along

We've brought this on ourselves of course
by meekly watching what we're shown
By never challenging the source
and now we're reaping what we've sown

If we're not well informed, we're lost
And there is such a lot to lose
Fed up with feeling double-crossed,
I'm boycotting the so-called news

Thanksgiving 2021

11/25/2021

 

We took a rain check last November
and we're cashing that check today
We've all been waiting patiently
as a whole year slipped away

Our lives were upset by a monstrous plague
such as we'd never seen
So we're all very thankful to be here today
Reassured by the old routine

We stand in the circle once again
Stronger when side by side
To thank the breezes that carried us back
and the flow of the generous tide

All we have is a life to live
Some time to share, some love to give
Some seeds to sow, some bliss to reap
Some time to laugh, some time to weep

Life is precious, life is sweet
Play it safe till next we meet

Be Kind

10/19/2021

 

When I was just a kid I thought
that I could do no wrong
Believed that I knew how to be
compassionate and strong
But I was young and foolish then
as deaf as I was blind
I hadn't learned the golden rule:
be kind, be kind, be kind

I thought that I could prove my strength
by bullying the weak
Believed that it was fair to take
advantage of the meek
I'd pull the wings off butterflies
if I felt so inclined
And saw no reason why I should
be kind, be kind, be kind

But then one day I realized
how cruel I had been
And saw that I could choose between
being gentle and being mean
I cannot change what I have done
but I can change my mind
And do as I should always do:
be kind, be kind, be kind

A Box of Photographs

9/17/2021

 

A shoebox full of photographs
becomes a time machine
That takes me back to here and there
and places in between

Some were taken with my next of kin
on family vacations
At birthdays, weddings, new year's eves 
and sundry celebrations

There are images of summer days
I thought would never end
And reminders of a fence or two
I never got to mend

There are boys and girls at beach hotels
and carnivals and bars
And in a red convertible
under a canopy of stars

Some faded snaps of childhood friends
whose faces bring to mind
The ones who stood the test of time
and those who fell behind

A box of precious memories:
far more harmony than strife
The moments that give meaning
to this thing I call my life

Like a Wolf on the Fold

8/3/2021

 

Covid came down like a wolf on the fold
Mimicking cruel epidemics of old
Ravaging nations in merciless waves
Sending our loved ones to premature graves

Everyone’s feeling bewildered and scared
Who will be taken and who will be spared?
Ready and willing to do what we must
Looking for guidance on who we can trust

Vaccines protect anybody who’ll use them
Progress is hampered when skeptics refuse them
Disinformation presented as news
Keeps us in limbo with so much to lose

People are wondering, down on their knees
Where are the wise men at moments like these?


With thanks to the poet Lord Byron

I Fell For You

6/21/2021

 

I've fallen for all kinds of crazy stuff
Fallen on hard times when there wasn't enough
Fallen in line with a goal in sight
Fallen downstairs in the middle of the night
And then one Sunday, out of the blue:
I fell for you

I've fallen about in fits of laughter
Fallen on my knees the morning after
Fallen apart and lost my way
Fallen into bed at the end of the day
Then just like that, without further ado:
I fell for you

I've fallen by the wayside now and then
Fallen out with my fellow men
Fallen behind in critical races
Fallen from grace in hallowed places
Then something happened that was long overdue:
I fell for you

Some Like to Complain

5/16/2021

 


Some clear the fields
till the soil
sow the seed
wait for rain
Some just like to complain

Some tend the sick
guide the blind
feed the famished
ease the pain
Some just like to complain

Some choose to work
with their back
with their hands
with their brain
Some just like to complain

We could talk to them
plead with them
try to explain
but I think it would all be in vain
Because some just like to complain




No Strings Attached

4/17/2021

 

My favorite gifts
come with no strings attached
No favors expected
No backs to be scratched
And this, I believe, is what love is

For otherwise
what have we done
but substituted one for one?
And there is little room to grow
when bound by rules
of quid pro quo

One day perhaps I'll live to see
mysterious doors at last unlatched
And I will learn to give myself
without a single string attached
For that, I believe, is what love is


The Simple Things

3/15/2021

 

I came to pick you up one day
in a long black limousine
Thinking you'd be flattered
to be treated like a queen
But you told me that was not your style,
the simple things would do
And you'd rather ride a bicycle
if it was made for two

I said "Let's travel round the world
and stay at grand hotels!"
Thinking that a plan like that
would cast all kinds of spells
But you were frankly unimpressed
and gently told me why
You'd rather stay at home with me
and watch the world go by

So then I brought a diamond ring
and a double strand of pearls
Thinking they would woo you
as they do so many girls
But you told me what you really liked
was how I made you laugh
And both of us are smiling
in our wedding photograph


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    Index

    All
    007
    2017
    A Birthday
    A Box Of Photographs
    A Brick In The Wall
    Absent Friends
    A Change Of Plans
    A Hundred Years Of Fulvio
    A Moment In Time
    A Moment Of Silence
    An Admiral's Fleet
    An Election Reflection
    A New Way Of Giving
    An Ordinary Man
    A Nursery Rhyme For Naia
    A PC Christmas
    A Question Of Age
    Ask Me Why
    At Last!
    At The Beach
    At The Museum
    Autobio-poema
    A Windy Day
    Be Kind
    Bird In A Cage
    Birthday Review
    Breathing Out And In
    Brigitte Bardot
    Cause And Effect
    Chau Donald
    Chicago
    Christmas Poem
    Civil Discourse
    CollarBone Blues
    Common Sense
    Cousins
    Dear Elaine
    Dear Father Christmas
    December In San Miguel
    Donald
    Do Not Disturb
    Edwin's Santa Hat
    Eight Billion
    Elaine
    Email Attachments
    Empires
    Exit Strategy
    Fall/winter
    Family
    Fare Thee Well
    For A Sad Friend
    For Jack
    Fulvio!
    Generation Gap
    Geoffrey Edbrooke RIP
    Going With The Flow
    Happy Birthday
    Happy Gruyere
    Happy New Year 2015
    Happy New Year 2019
    Happy Valentine's Day
    Hard Choices
    Hawaiian Rain
    High School Reunion Trilogy
    Hold On Snoopy
    Home
    Honestly Who Knows
    I Couldn't Get By Without You
    I Fell For You
    If This Were A Movie
    In A Raindrop
    In Memory Of John Haack
    In The Limbo Zone
    In Your Shoes
    I Reach Into The Pool
    It All Starts With Letters
    I Think Of You
    Kids
    La Tristeza De Naia
    Light And Shadows
    Lights Out!
    Like A Foreign Film
    Like A Wolf On The Fold
    Looking At Older Relatives
    Lullaby
    Mad Broccoli Disease
    Make Soup
    Mardie's Farewell
    María!
    Mary Hobart
    Me Acuerdo
    Mendoza
    Midsummer Dream
    Morning Noon And Night
    Mozart
    Multitasking
    Mums The Word
    Music
    My Candle
    My Day Is Done
    My Email Address Book
    My Fallen Heroes
    My Family Tree
    My Favorites
    My School Reunion
    My Train Of Thought
    My Wildest Dreams
    Nameless Dread
    New Orleans
    New Year 2020
    New Year's Eve
    New Years Eve 2013
    New Year's Eve 2018
    New Year's Resolution
    Next Time
    Northern Winter
    No Strings Attached
    No Time
    Obama And The Queen
    Ode To The Road
    Old Friends
    On A Pendulum
    On A Sidewalk Jostling
    Once Upon A Time
    One Thing Leads To Another
    Only Just Begun
    Our New President
    Panama Hat
    Partly Cloudy Skies
    Pink Flamingos
    Please And Thank You
    Pockets / Bolsillos
    Poverty
    Rich
    Road Trip To Mexico
    Ros Campbell
    Rosendo
    Santa Claus
    Seasons Come And Seasons Go
    Silver Linings
    Some Just Like To Complain
    Some Like To Complain
    Something On Your Mind
    Song Of Santa's Reindeer
    Sorry
    Sports Day
    Sunflowers In My Room
    Teachers
    Tell Me A Story
    Thanksgiving 2006
    Thanksgiving 2009
    Thanksgiving 2014
    Thanksgiving 2015
    Thanksgiving 2016
    Thanksgiving 2017
    Thanksgiving 2018
    Thanksgiving 2019
    Thanksgiving 2021
    Thanksgiving 2022
    Thanksgiving In The Time Of Covid
    The Age Of Communication
    The Alley
    The All-You-Can-Stomach Buffet
    The Andes
    The Annual Checkup
    The Crack Of Dawn
    The Dance
    The Earth Is Round
    The Fourth Of July
    The Glacier And The Shooting Star
    The Good Green Earth
    The Immigration Issue
    The Lockdown Got Me Down
    The Lottery Ticket
    The Manger
    The Meltdown
    The Morning Paper
    The Newly Enlightened
    The Ocean Never Sleeps
    The Perks Of The Office
    The Rain
    The Sands Of Time
    These Wings We Have To Earn
    The Simple Things
    The So-Called News
    The Spark Of Happiness
    The Squirrel
    The Sugar Plum Fairy
    The War On Poverty
    The Wedding Of Garrett And Laura
    The World I Knew
    Tonio
    Tony's Law Of Levity
    Too Much Stuff
    Torch Lake
    Turn Back The Clock
    Twenty-Two Valentines
    Un Alfajor Argentino
    Unplugged
    Un Yo-yo Uruguayo
    Up There
    Valentine's Day
    Valentine Video
    Viral Videos
    Weh-Weh And The Children
    What Am I Missing?
    What Are You Doing?
    What Fruit Can Grow?
    What If ?
    What Is Love?
    What's The Hurry?
    What Will I Have Planted?
    When You And I Were Young
    Whimsy
    Who Is Truly Spared
    Words On A Page
    World Cup 2010
    You Never
    You Never Can Tell
    Young And Pretty

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