What Escape

Time to pull the zinnias, prop up mums that linger on;

Insulate, cover windows, get out shovel and scraper.

November’s cold breath raises goose bumps,

thoughts of snow and ice dead ahead.

Just so not ready for this weather crap.

But I should be, since it has been

weather upheaval all year long.

Heavy snowfalls, ice storms, torrential rains,

repeat flooding events, whole towns inundated.

Not global warming or cooling, but both:

Climate Change is real, and overwhelms all.

Just hope that our city, state, and country can

figure out some mitigation, or at least refuge strategy.

Severe weather is one onslaught from which there is no defense.

Sure glad I don’t live on the coasts (until next tornado season, that is.)

Let’s see how far we are able to colonize space,

before the Earth eliminates us for good,

the human pestilence,

Homo Sapiens Infection.

See you at the launch pad if we’re lucky.

Craziness

White House refuses to co-operate:

No wonder, is there any surprise?

They ignore the law anyway;

welcome to the rule of law’s demise.

People jockey and careen down roadways

in their modern chariots, trying to outdo each other

in so many ways at once;

hope they are keeping up with their social networks.

The city is always under construction,

never getting finished,

new projects pop up and old ones die

before even seeing the light of day.

Folks are laid off and re-purposed,

everyone broke in this roaring economy;

hunting down that last discount fast

before it disappears.

Putin and Jinping must be having quite a chuckle,

watching Britain and the United States tear themselves apart

with partisanship and bickering;

Liberal democracies foundering on the shores of our own self-hatred.

We can treat each other with rude disdain,

but we had better treat our animals well,

or risk some serious legal troubles.

Maybe PETA should take over the White House.

When we suck the last drop of oil out of our domestic wells,

and watch the price skyrocket,

will we have an electric infrastructure to take over?

Who will get the most blame, Republicans or Democrats?

The past can be fascinating,

the present makes me dizzy;

The future is frightening;

See you on the other side – if we survive.

Workplace

The floor all looks the same,

yet I can still tell where I am located.

Loud sounds of rectifiers,

elevator rushes, hums and thumps,

Steady whine of fluorescent light ballasts.
Here a row of desks, over there a bank of signalling wires.

Over a dozen floor entrances are burned into my brain

like that afterimage on some old TV screen.

Some slight change, a new lock, or a new door hinge

can momentarily halt me – then I process the change and move on.

I glide through the floors, dust mopping or emptying trash,

mind’s autopilot works flawless until there is a sudden change.

On days when there is no significant interruption,

I swiftly flow through my routine,

then wonder how lunchtime got here so fast.

Other days problems disrupt my flow, and

I wonder when some nightmare of a morning will end.

Someday I’ll be retired, away from all of this;

Will I miss it?

Or will it be good riddance, and easily forgotten.

I would rather clean nowhere else but this,

or a place like it – already clean for the most part.

It is a part of my internal mental world-model,

suppose I’ll dream about it years after I do leave.

Despite any kind of contempt I may feel,

familiarity is often convenient and comforting.

Think I’ll be here,

my home away from home,

for quite a while yet.