Winter Ally

Winter was a friend that year;
Held me in such deep embrace,
That slowly she started to erase,
Uneasy warmth and lurking fear.

So now I know another peace,
Brought on by efforts to survive
The cold that helped me stay alive
And fashion a more resilient fleece.

Dear Spring? I thought perhaps that she
Would grasp and salvage quietude.
Fierce Winter proved to be more shrewd
At restoring calm and certainty.

I look about as tufts of green
Begin to surge and fill the earth,
And noisily, cosmic rebirth
Attends its predictable routine.

But Winter- poised in frosted mutiny,
Rebounds quickly to declare,
She won’t abandon our affair,
Nor renounce our victory.

T.V. Fare

When all the noise and smoke are done,
It’s more hackneyed acking of some gun,
A lovely damsel set to scream,
Another villain’s eyes agleam.

Lads and lasses eating worms
Without the slightest care for germs,
And not to mention in the least,
The taunting of some savage beast.

My specs must need a new diopter,
Is the child chasing a helicopter?
And will that lady get undressed,
To tantalize her handsome guest?

Celebs- they sit, they laugh, they talk,
As I numbly sit and gawk.
I hope someday (quite secretly)
The world will make a fuss of me.

The remote control perhaps is stuck,
Perhaps I’m merely out of luck.
Can every single T.V. station
Be just some other’s imitation?

Improving By Degrees

Amigo Sammy Centipede,
Got missing several knees,
And even though it slowed his speed,
He’s improving by degrees.

Likewise my pal Pepper-
He saw a brutal fight.
I thought no cat could ever
Recover from that bite.

And then was Mr. Mario
Who slipped from his trapeze,
Well, you know, it stopped the show,
Still-he’s improving by degrees.

And also Missy Magpie,
Her mate, he disappeared.
But finally after her good cry,
I see she’s persevered

I’d heard that hearts are subject
To aching and disease,
Yet- acquaintance taught me to expect
Improvement by degrees.

Inconsequential

We talked of things inconsequential:
Café decor, the dinner special,
When weather passed a brief review,
I searched your face for the slightest clue
Of a topic that might interest you.

Of shopping I was ignorant,
Of fashion I could not present
Opinions that were really mine.
The drinks were tinged with lemon rind-
The walls awash in knotty pine.

But suddenly to my dismay,
You rambled on to Rabelais,
Da-Da, Ibsen, also Frost-
There seemed no theme you might exhaust-
It was in Freud where I got lost.

That was when they served the fruit,
My thoughts just took a different route,
Your lipstick color was intense,
You fluffed your hair with reverence,
Your fingers signaled confidence.

Now, topics offer much potential
For conversation deemed essential,
But- I think I like inconsequential.

It's Only When

It’s only when the Muse
Quits her mystic flight,
Perches on my shoulder,
And whispers what to write.

Advice

If you want to see a memory,
Here’s something you should know,
To grasp it tight or pin it down
Just won’t work, but lo!

The trick is this- just play it loose,
It magically slides into view-
And when right quick you cast a glance,
You can observe the past anew.

A memory is like a cloud
That steals across the sky.
It simply won’t stay still for long,
No matter what you try.

Blood Test

My LDL’s are high
And my HDL’s are low.
I lack the vaguest notion
Of what these numbers show.

Triglycerides are up in range,
And likewise homocysteine.
We’ve got to keep a careful eye
On C- reactive protein.

My doctor knits his brow,
And slightly shakes his head;
"You better take a statin
before you wind up dead."

But some of us have tumors,
And others, diabetics.
So if it’s not the heart or blood-
Something’s going to get us!

The Computer

The computer as an instrument,
Is thought by some as heaven sent,
But to others not inclined,
It's just a bother to the mind.

Equipped to cars and planes and houses,
(Perhaps someday to even spouses,)
Performing tasks to us unknown,
Its influence has mutely grown.

From your desk or from your lap,
You can leap the virtual gap.
Enter data, calculate,
Just be careful- concentrate!

A few keywords, and you can get
Out onto the Internet,
Jammed with sites for every taste-
Be sure you’ve ample time to waste!

I have moused and clicked and pointed
With forefinger near disjointed,
On tool and menu bars abundant,
Completing jobs and chores redundant.

And though I am computer hip,
I sometimes hate that microchip.
The more I learn, the less I know;
I’m snared in digital vertigo.