Blog Posts

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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