Sunday, October 28, 2007
Halloween
Trick or treat:
it gets dark early
and the evening is cold.
Gangs of kids move down the street
with a parent often in tow.
It is a fashion show
of sorts, of the latest
monster costumes,
with the oddball kid in each gang,
either too lazy or too poor
for a costume of her own.
Trick or treat, they say,
as the door is opened, and
ah, shucks, we don't want apples,
a moment later.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Autumn Poem Activity
Autumn is such an overused
subject for a poem.
Who wants to hear
once again about
leaves that change colors
and whither and die
or how the weather
alternates between cold and rainy?
Next election, I'm
voting for the candidate
who proposes making
autumn poems a crime.
That will
surely regenerate quite a flurry
of autumn poem activity.
Friday, October 26, 2007
1000 Miles Per Hour
No wonder we need to sleep at night.
Each day we breathe 20000+ breaths
and then we are expected
to remain upright
on this vast planet that spins
on its axis
at 1000 miles per hour.
Each day we see changes from darkness
to light and back again to darkness.
We are but on a rocket
exploding into an expanding space
and then we wonder why
sanity is
something we need to work at
breath after breath.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Dogs
I often wonder what
a dog thinks about
when she sees humans
get into an iron horse
and turn a key and zoom
off into the distance.
Or when she sees
mom and dad kissing
each other.
I wonder what the various
barks and growls say,
but most of all,
what that thought is
when she comes to me
to be petted.
COMMENT: ABOUT WHAT DO DOGS THINK? A PRIZE FOR THE BEST ANSWER! CLICK ON COMMENT BELOW TO LEAVE YOUR ANSWER.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Stop and Look
We rush around,
looking for peace.
The faster we go,
the greater the distance
between us and stillness.
Our MP4 earphones
take a break from our cellphone
and our cellphone
takes a break for an old friend
coming down the platform.
The train comes, but from the other direction.
We sit down to wait.
Our batteries die from overuse.
We notice the clouds
gently nudging one another.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
How Much are Kids Worth?
I'm reading a book
that says it is stupid
that plumbers get paid more
than childcare workers
because kids are worth
more than pipes.
My wife thinks
it is good that plumbers
are well-paid
because they have lots of kids.
If childcare workers had
as many kids as plumbers
they'd have to stay at home
and wouldn't be able
to work. This would,
of course, decrease
the supply of the childcare
workers, so the facilities
would have to pay
them more, which probably
means that people wouldn't
use paid childcare,
or wouldn't have children,
or wouldn't buy big screen TVs.
The big question,
as I see it,
is not what is unfair,
but rather what measures
should be taken
to correct
all the world's injustices,
and what the costs are
of these measures?
Next time you pay a
child care worker,
please add a substantial tip,
and next time you pay
a plumber, ask her if
she'll take less.
Just tell the plumber
it is all
in the name of fairness,
and watch the steam
erupt
from her pipe!
Monday, October 22, 2007
The 5 am Alarm Clock
When you visit
loved ones, there
is always the last
day of a visit,
when you make sure
you've said what
you have to say,
and you try to remember
to pack all the little things
you had brought
with the intention
of not leaving behind.
Being there
becomes so habitual
you believe
you'll be wakened
each morning of your life
with the pidder patter
of a toddler's feet above you,
and then
"it's time to leave"
and you hop on
some mode of transportation
and arrive home
and wake up
the next morning
to realize what had become
a 5 am alarm clock
has been turned off
until the next visit.
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