No class like the old class

 

The class of ‘75 is still in touch,

those disparate lives across the country.

We are all 48 years and an email away;

so many years and miles, places and times.

Vast distance and murky memories crossed

instantly, made fresh and real again.

Grainy mental images surface again.

Classrooms and teachers and lugging books,

prefects and brothers and late-night parties.

Moments happy and sad, terrifying and thrilling.

Homecoming excitement and basketball tournaments,

those colorful coaches saying “What the hell!” or even

“Open your damn biology books!”

Shakespeare records played by that gruff Bball maestro.

Stunning Colorado scenery made a perfect backdrop

to all of the teenage boarding school dramas and comedies.

It was an out-of-this-world experience, and we left there

able to compete academically and on the playing fields.

Others should be half as lucky

as we were to attend Holy Cross Abbey

way, way back in the dim mists of the 1970’s.

Go Bears! can still resonate today,

bring a smile to our faces as we

remember those golden years gone by.

The Right Pick

 

Booth or Table? is asked.

It used to be

Paper or Plastic?

That stopped me cold at times

on a busy Saturday morning,

when I had so many more things

to decide than what kind of bag to use.

A long time before this it used to be

Beer or mixed drink?

Dance or sit and talk?

Your place, or mine?

Bottom, or top?

The summation would arrive through a

fog of anxiety, as if by magic:

Whiskey and soda,

Dance then sit (on your lap?)

Mine,

Versatile.

Some magic times have to be taken

moment by moment, step by step.

However things turn out,

just keep taking those steps,

somehow you will get through it.

Today it was a table, a long one,

with many familiar faces.

After the coffee and smiles and chat and food,

there was no doubt in my mind:

I made the right choice.

Happy Thanks Day

 

So many things to be thankful for.

That my failures haven’t landed me on the street,

living in a tent and surviving on scraps and handouts.

Or in some prison or six feet under the earth.

Thankful that I stayed employed for many years,

built up retirement funds and credits that keep me

housed, fed and comfortable in my now older years.

Thankful that I still have a car to get around in.

Thankful that AIDS and Covid-19 didn’t take me down,

that I survived all of the other more minor afflictions.

So many others fell from these and other diseases.

I can pause and consider these things while I sit and

enjoy a big thanksgiving dinner with other survivors.

Thankful to enjoy the good things, wonders of the present

time, in good enough health to enjoy the benefits.

Search at my fingertips or voice command,

more options for travel and entertainment.

More ways to connect with others for intimacy.

May others be blessed as I am and enjoy a healthy life,

and good times and friends to celebrate the best moments.

Thankful for all of the kindnesses and gracious favors

that others have given to me, or done for me.

Thankful for many things on this Thanksgiving of 2023.

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

China

 

From rickshaws and dusty villages,

once conquered, humiliated and abused,

barefoot and wearing rags...

arose a new colossal economic superpower,

practically on par with the mighty USA.

Mao once said that “they will sell us

the rope to hang them with,” and

there is more truth to that than not.

Cheap labor, central planning and persistence

have transformed them into a major force,

now sailing the world’s largest navy.

What kind of future do we want?

One with irradiated rubble and a few

starving survivors, living in squalor?

Or one with amazing technologies,

wearable headsets to operate all of

our transports and technologies -- 

through neural interfaces custom-tailored...

Also real progress on climate change and

global hunger and poverty?

It is up to the present leaders to

not push us on the path of

inevitable war, destruction and despair.

Let’s opt for the better, brighter future,

the high road out of nuclear confrontation!

Haiku Play

 

out to eat today

an expected friend not there

time to move on now

some things don’t turn out

best laid plans fall through on us

pack up and move it

road yonder beckons

new chances just round the bend

there will be more friends

later down the trail

who should show but my old friend

renewed contact fun

it is not over yet

there will always be chances

get that chin up now

(These probably break a lot of traditional rules, but they are 5-7-5 at least.)

Cursed or Blessed

 

Blessed are the communities that do the blessing,

feeding the hungry and staffing hospitals and schools.

Doing the good and necessary that needs doing,

helping humanity as a whole while believing.

Omnipresent religion sits everywhere one looks,

Catholic and Lutheran, evangelical not forsook.

One can believe in fairies, trolls and monsters,

Satan and Jesus and Almighty God in His throne.

It does not much matter what one believes,

so long as they manifest those eternal qualities –

compassion, charity, forgiveness, humility and love.

These in themselves seem to hold the supernatural.

Instead of killing each other off for once and all,

we pause, consider, forgive, be generous in our charity.

Practicing patience and thoughtfulness and kindness.

we overrule our baser impulses of rage and jealousy.

And thus make the world a better place for our families,

our friends and offspring and loved ones all over.

Knowing we are flawed and imperfect,

we can struggle to attain a higher plane.

Whatever god purports to say it,

we can all strive to live it.

No matter who brings you some grain of gold,

it is and remains gold all the same.

Bright and valuable and yours to honor.

To the insect worlds, humans are the gods!