Magazine Posts

What is this Din of noise, of late,
Filled with the rhetoric of racial hate?
Who are you to cast aspersions,
to cloud the news, is that your diversion?

I'm telling you the truth.
To you I won't lie,
but this journey here
brings forth a deep sigh.
A sigh of relief,
a sigh of joy,
a time when I said "Ahoy."
Anchors aweigh, don't you see,
when I joined the US Navy
and then went to sea,
on board an Destroyer Escort,
life was never harsh,
for I was a crewman
on the USS Marsh.
Over the water, Pearl Harbor we went,
free of charge, cost not a cent.
Many a Port visit we did,
of that news I would not kid.
One year the trip far away
to Truk Island, Bikini and Ponape.
The tropics were nice not the least icky
so long as you like your skin sticky.

"Sleeping at noon
the body of the Blue Heron
poised in nobility"

Earl Mines, Professor of Japanese at Princeton
University. Japan linked poetry
Princeton University Press, 1979

Hey, my friend, all kidding aside,
Life has been a bumpy ride.
Sometimes so smooth, it's scary,
That's the time to begin to worry.

What must I do
to keep you
lying safe, beside me?

It matters not, the things you've bought
When your memory goes, they're all forgot.

You might think I am bold,
but on this day, my Soul is cold.
The coldest of air, with icy grip,
my feet are numb, I best not trip.

Coldness of days
frigid nights of snow
warmest of heart

Across the meadow; a meadow so keen,
a beautiful setting if you know what I mean.
Follow the trail, don't cut through the weed,
and you'll be rewarded, oh yes indeed.
A little sound, could be heard, perhaps a bee,
flying from flower to flower, with great speed.
The Glen was as pristine as you could see,
as I waited patiently; waiting for thee.
A romantic setting, is what I recall,
a precious spot for one and all.

There I was with the light getting dim.
I could barely see the back of the rim.
The rim on a basketball hoop
was my target.
My coach instructed me in this way,
the back of the hoop is your target.
It was getting late in the day, but
I wanted to shoot more and play.
So dribble I would, with either hand
for "playing ball, what I lived for,
unfortunately at that age,
I was only 5 foot four.

A place that I worked
was a large room full
of cubicles.
I managed a Customer
Service function,
in a Manufacturing Company.
I would keep a large jar,
of plain M & M's, it had
a glass lid.
Many times when I left my cube
I would hear the glass lid rattle.
Looking back, I would see
a co-worker looking back at me.

I think of you, my young friend,
wondering if we might have been,
star crossed lovers, in another life,
or if we married and you were my wife?
You left me so sudden, saying
if you need help, just let me know.
It's been two months, plus a few days
and my mind is now in a haze.
Contact me please, I say to you
for at this time I worry about you.