Monday, March 24, 2008

Lofty and mundane


Reading science fiction, watching science fact,
Brain cells illuminated with remote possibilities;
Mind travels back and forth, across factual tracts,
Landscapes of ascendant technological probabilites.

Then one comes crashing back to Earth.
Got to get chores done, get a damn haircut;
Meet society's expectations, prove one's worth,
Clean house, clean car, pay bills, make the cut.

Forced to intermingle with judgmental beings,
Needing, requesting, paying for their services;
Fighting traffic, struggling with computers, seeing
That yesteryears' miracles are todays nervousness.
As I slog through daily trials with bitches and glitches,
Lofty predictions of futuristic ease leave me in stitches!


Another sonnet about the shitskies of daily living.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Everything is Tentative

Life is so ephemeral,
Fleeting like the wind;
One day you are a juvenile,
The next struggling to get thin.

Those long, endless days of youth,
Afternoon hours stretching sunnily,
Little thought given to status or couth,
Traversing moments, hours, days happily.

Another friend passed away the other day,
Commonality, acquaintance all too brief;
Add him to the list, those who have gone away,
Building ever larger my internal store of grief.
A seven-month battle with cancer, Randy finally lost --
I still live, older, having survived fate's coin toss.


In Memory and honor of Randy Van Hosen, who passed away recently.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Financial Gyrations


Markets swinging up and down,
Moving to latest buzz or news;
Business analysts smile or frown,
Pontificating latest Wall Street views.

Federal Reserve pumping money in,
Inflating hopes and stock prices alike;
Cutting interest rates, hoping to win
Economic battle, aiding banks plight.

Foolish lending standards started it all;
Giving money to poorly-qualified borrowers;
Bad loans led to subprime mortgage freefall,
Housing defaults burning bond insurers.

Stocks of banking institutions tumbled,
Losses and red ink multiplied;
Freezing effect left CFO's humbled,
Stock, derivative traders petrified.

When, how will this all end?
Recent Fed actions seem to help;
More positive signals to send,
To battered consumers needing help!

Those struggling with high prices,
Scrounging to pay for gas;
Giving up treats and vices,
Slogging through economic morass.

Future looking bleak for common folk,
Outsourcing, plant closings crushing blows;
Endless Iraq warfare diminishing any hope,
Sapping U.S. commodity and oil flows.

Alternative energy our only glimmer,
Single bright spot on the horizon;
Motorists forced to drive slimmer,
Give up those giant expeditions!

Trade in SUV's for compact transportation,
Cut back on usage of heat, lights,
Welcome to 21st century consumption,
Everyone affected by Fossil Fuel plight.

Possible that citizenry will come out ahead,
May well be that USA will be far better off;
Clean enviornment, energy independent,
Our hopes and dreams once again aloft!



Lets hope so anyway. (c) 2008 Mike Wilson

Monday, March 17, 2008

Lunch with friends


Ate lunch with friends today,
Managed to fire off some words,
Personal experiences, opinions --
Listened to their offerings,
Soaking in, savoring hot,
Tasty food and juicy information.

Saw an old ex-employer,
Had lost his legs, sat in a wheelchair,
Wounded in past, wasteful conflict...
Now just another burden on taxpayers.
But their table seemed happy, too.

A romantic interest was there,
Invited me out Saturday night --
Good, something else to anticipate,
Circus of life continues to revolve,
in a not-too-unpleasant fashion.


This was actually written yesterday, after a Sunday lunch with friends.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Spring


Sun escapes continual cloud cover,
Bursting forth in blinding brilliance;
Air feels balmy, like arms of a lover,
Ice cover melting, leaving wet translucence.

Birdsong begins pervading the air,
Flitting shapes colonizing awakening trees,
Blades of grass segue into green, here and there,
Bitter colds' harshness yields to warmths' ease.

There is promise of better days ahead,
Despite drumbeat of dire financial news;
Surviving hard-frozen winter dread,
Summer plans, hopes begin to fuse.
Made it through another dark, harsh Iowa winter,
Lighthearted, longing for rewards of warm Summer!



Cannot wait until summer vacation this year!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Another Beach


Another medical problem appears,
Pain, palpitations, or passing out;
Bodily health, once again in arrears,
As latest condition rears its ugly snout.

As Dad gets older, crosses boundaries,
He keeps encountering new conditions;
Sturdy body still presenting quandries,
The ex-Marine commences another mission:

Another beach to hit, positions to take,
Another objective to reach, fort to breach;
Enemy Gunners relentless, hot lead rakes,
Lobbing Anyurisms, Strokes, anything within reach!
This determined Marine, today, surely will prevail...
All the other beaches he has taken, how can he possibly fail?



For my father in Florida, now facing more health issues in the hospital.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Reading is vital


Reading is important, for the whole person,
Illuminate your mind with possibilities;
Planting multitudes of mental seeds,
Sprouting into future potentialities.

Aside from the present benefits,
Granting mental release and adventure;
Brain made fertile, nutrified with ideas,
Providing future knowledge nodules.

High school, college classes alike,
Tap into, interconnect the nodules.
Even as more reading is required,
Then writing assignments, summaries.
Early reading fully prepares mental soil,
For rich harvest of ideas, knowledge later.
Older adults, too, can keep their minds sharp,
Bathing in flow of information, soaking in ideas.


In honor of local reading programs, and for Susan.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

What the hell?


It started with persistent pain,
Down deep within my lungs...
Not a muscle pull, this was sustained.
Asbestos, Cancer fears swirled, unsung.

Then the cough, sore throat began.
Was hoping it was a minor cold;
Pain and cough meds lent helping hand,
Flu-like symptoms making me feel weak, old.

Ironically, rest of life is going well,
Finances holding steady, writings published.
If could just get through this flu hell,
Life become a banquet, to be relished...
Cruel, subminiature strands of DNA,
Robbing me of time to live, work and play.


Just when I thought I'd make it thru the winter without catching another bug, comes this....Yuk.

Monday, March 03, 2008

CanUSAda


Two monumental nations, vast resources,
Shared dedication to democracy;
Frontiers tamed with wagons and horses,
Pioneers escaping rule of aristocracy.

Two entities facing common tests,
Energy, global warming, immigration;
Terrorists, other enemies will not rest,
Keep trying to provoke conflagration.

Perhaps an all-encompassing solution,
Novel, cheeky, bold new proposal:
Merger of equals, ending any confusion,
On who is the most powerful nation on Earth.
CanUSAda, the new collossus formed,
Leads the world to a bright new morning.


We should do it, the sooner the better.
Bragging Rights


While friends struggle to get employed,
An acquaintance quit over salary dispute;
Meanwhile I'm feeling somewhat bouyed,
Although holding a position of low repute.

The economy is sinking into recession,
Unemployment rate creeping higher;
Foreclosures spiking, engenders depression,
Situation is beginning to look pretty dire.

But, I stuck it out through early years,
Now have seniority and higher wages;
Good rapport with office eases fears,
Retirement security for advanced ages.
By sticking it out with a good company,
Am safe and sound, even in a bad economy!



Was feeling pretty good (at least most of the day) after our FBG ESOP celebration last Saturday. Too bad I cought a minor cold somewhere along the line as well - s--t happens I guess.

Avoid Nuclear War

  Ever since I’ve been alive, all I’ve known is the nuclear sword poised, hanging over us all, ready at any moment to fall and send u...