What, another year of them???

 

Infection rates are dropping,

while deaths decrease daily.

Vaccinations are increasing,

Could we start to mingle safely?

Not quite, say the epidemiologists;

We must stay on guard against Covid-19!

While it feels good to be an optimist,

feels even better to keep a healthy sheen.

May have to wear those masks into 2022,

if that is what it takes to stay alive.

By then we may get used to wearing two,

put up with the inconvenience to thrive…

Anything to tamp down the rate of sickness,

keep the world healthy, and emerge strong.

I would wear three to help us regain fitness,

set new goals, and finally sing victory songs.

Another Act

 

You have had all the fun,

sexed all the good sex you want,

known and met and slept with

the glitterai and low-downers and others.

Worked all the crazy shifts,

went without sleep or slept at odd hours,

“Been there and done that” at so many jobs.

Taken orders and given orders, been trained

and trained others, worn responsibility’s mantle

that holds back so much and allows so little.

"What next?:   You ask, "where do I go from here?"

The final drop-off is drawing closer way too fast.

Need to find and live that third, fourth, fifth act

and fast, before your clock runs out entirely.

The gun we all run under – yet no less urgent.

But we will not find out by sitting at home,

explore hidden caves by hovering outside,

behold vistas of outer space by staying on ground.

Rather must push the shaking corpus out there,

yet again, to be amazed, astounded, or at least amused.

Once more to that leaden Front Door,

to cast it open and inhale the outside,

draw energy from sun and air and hope inside.

Here goes nothing –

see you on the other side.

Is it cold enough to freeze a ghost?

 If I die when it is this cold,

will my soul freeze too,

maybe shatter, fall back

to the ground in shards

that await a passer-by to step on and

crunch the essence, like others did

self-esteem when I breathed in flesh?

I can believe it. Sure as I’m shivering

right now while typing this.

The cat snuggles on the bed at night;

offers to keep me warm if I keep her warm.

I take the deal, knowing she will not stay long.

Any warmth is welcome, human or feline.

If an animal dies, its soul tries to fly,

yet just may be frozen mid-air tonight.

A bit more white dust added to the flurries

that flutter down to cover windshields,

cover corpses and souls in alabaster shine.

In a few days the temps should moderate,

and the Sun will glow through the miniblinds.

Bodies and souls still intact will celebrate

with a vengeance:

Die, winter, Die! Now!

Troublesome Offspring

 

Old television shows us how far we have come;

sixty-year old computers the size of refrigerators.

Replacing the workers on an average assembly line,

or so they thought in ninteen-hundred and sixty three.

Computing, display and communication hardware

took many leaps and bounds in the interim,

so today we hold marvels of annoyance in our hands:

A world of infotainment, and a world of advertisements.

So much convenience, entertainment, humor, connection.

What could possibly go wrong, with humans directing things?

War technology has progressed apace, if not leading the way.

That GPS and Wi-Fi we use enables missiles and bombs too!

The robots are coming, already stalking around in labs worldwide.

The day may come when we lose control of everything,

and then we will see if our primitive instincts enable us to

survive the onslaught of our petulant artificial children.