Back Attack

 

Amost like a steel cage slamming down around you,

your activities suddenly restricted to

hobbling around,

bent half over,

a hand holding the back.

How could this happen?

You are not that old!

Then again, over six decades…

It is kind of a long time.

Just one activity,

followed by one restless sleep,

and days, weeks of pain followed.

Something pulled,

something slipped out,

mis-aligned or twisted about.

You stretch this way or that,

up or down,

left or right,

back and forth.

Mild relief for a time,

then the stabbing pain comes back.

What awful thing did you do to deserve this?

Where is a damned exo-skeleton when you need one?

So now those bright activity plans dim,

and the compensation strategies blossom;

So we hobble on into an uncertain future.

Thank goodness for cheap Ibuprofen.

Not for the faint of heart

 

Inside burns desire, still white-hot;

Schemes and plans sifted, some laid in;

Time to move that body out where a lot

of playmates circulate, and taste some sin.

But the physical frame that encloses

this hungry, constantly-seeking mind

will throw one surprises at it discloses

New injury and pain from deep inside.

Those lofty dreams of sexual conquests

need to be temporarily stowed away;

Simpler physical needs and requests

must be tended, no doctor visit delayed.

Youthful licentious desires can still soar,

yet remain a fantasy on old age’s shore.

Sure hope not.

On Mars

 You can probably hear faint moaning winds,

red sand whistling in whirlpools over ancient rocks;

That is if any sound carries in the thin atmosphere at all.

Here and there, scattered among valleys of rubble,

one san see the odd landing platform or silent rover.

Over there in the distance, a couple larger rovers still

operate, probe, snap photos, measure compositions.

Today a new presence was felt on this tired old world.

A small helicopter spun up blades and lifted off the surface,

hovered and turned, then landed again.  More photos.

A video in full color was taken by the parent rover.

Another American first on Mars.  Can people

be that far behind in arriving?

Another couple decades at most, and human boots

will make imprints on the Martian regolith.

A couple years after that, I'm guessing,

the first shots will ring out.  Mass shootings,

so common here, will probably follow the

violence-addicted peoples that settle There.

I would hope not, but common experience here

on Earth tells me otherwise.  

First, boots and simple habitats,

then larger underground colonies,

compete with lockers of Kevlar vests,

so the colonists can be protected from

each other - just like back home.

Stay safe out there, everyone, if you can.

One Second

 

So fast, fleeting, ephemeral,

just a wisp, here and gone;

an eyeblink can last longer.

A life can disappear.

So many people drive and glance at their phones,

enough that a significant proportion cause accidents.

You can tell who they are -

the cars that swerve, scrape a curb,

cross the centerline, weave in and out...

You think, ‘What kind of idiot is that?’

‘Are they drunk? Stoned? Having a heart attack?

Having a baby? What?’

When the inevitable happens,

the weeping and sorrow begin.

And it could all have been avoided.

Just put down that phone!

Really – it can wait!

A whole life history saved,

not snuffed out in some stupid tragedy,

one that could have been avoided if

you could look at the road for just

one more second.

Set it down,

turn it off,

save a life,

do not scoff,

it can wait,

set it down, or

turn the damn thing off.

Red dusty greenfields, ready for development

 

Sojurner,

Spirit and Opportunity,

Curiosity,

and now, Perseverance.

The fourth human visitor from Earth,

robotic emissary,

ambassador of human inquisitiveness.

Scientific probe scouts,

surveys future housing developments?

Exploration or exploitation?

It will be up to us to decide which.

Nine billion souls burgeoning on a tired oasis,

many yearn to go out and find new spots,

stake new territories to transform, use up, despoil?

A mad rush to expand tends to ignore any limitations,

reproductive controls or environmental restraints.

It will be a struggle between moral and ethical determinations,

and sheer human need and greed and expansionism.

Just as difficult to decide who will go where,

as it will be to be for us to to survive there.

Just as in the Old Western United States,

the initial explorers will paint wondrous

landscapes onto the human imagination.

The followers will do the dirty work,

and in the end humanity will cover it all.

Journey on, mighty robotic rovers;

and enjoy the privacy over there on Mars.

It certainly will not last long!

Corpus Complaints

 

 One sets out on tasks and chores for the day,

to get work done, to resume fun without delay.

Pull on the sneakers before heading outside,

the bunion shoots a pain, but I take it in stride.

I reach for a beverage to put in a cooler,

that right shoulder tells me “move a bit smoother.”

Then I stoop to pick up a dropped beard comb,

the back shouts out enough pain to keep me home!

This body has it’s own unique language,

aches, twinges and pains in a big montage.

A conversation I do not need when trying

to get things done, work or fun, truth or lyin’.

But at times when I see a cute stranger I like,

the aches and pains fade away real nice.

Different sensations and twinges take the fore,

as my eyes drink in beauty, and the mind wants more...

Thank goodness some pleasure pathways still work,

yank my attention off bodily convulsions and jerks

What a dismal existence it would be, indeed,

if there was nothing to sense but pains ugly screed.

Am grateful anew for those pleasurable sensations,

hopes even get raised for potential carnal relations.

Forget about own miseries and focus on good company,

Fellow human beings to ease one away from the misery.

Those knees may keep yelling about the changing weather,

but my heart soars upwards, casts off pains persistent tether.

Happy Poetry Month Everyone!