Love those Leisure Drives

 

A vast blue surface dotted with fishing boats;

Not some distant ocean, but rather our local

Mississippi river shining in springtime.

Taking a drive along the river is a delight!

Sunday morning and there is little traffic,

the rest stops and historical markers uncrowded.

Time to enjoy the sunlit serenity and scenery,

unopposed by impatient or reckless drivers.

That time passes, and then the sun climbs, traffic increases.

Tailgaters in a hurry, trucks barrel along in the opposite lane,

noise and congestion increase, crowds appear at rest stops.

A small, peaceful interlude soon overwhelmed by humanity.

But I, too, am humanity, so I take up space on the roadway,

try to make the last exits and head towards home,

without hitting anyone or getting hit as the afternoon sun

tries to blind me along the busy interstate highway.

Make it home okay, and breathe a sigh of relief.

The next morning I get up, it's raining outside.

And there I am, inside, a map unfolded on my lap…

Plotting my next great exploratory drive north.

Never learning my lesson, and always thirsting for More.

See you out there somewhere – and Safe Travels Everyone!

A walk along the spacetime trail

 

Not just a long walk on an asphalt ribbon,

but drinking spacetime up in big gulps.

Tasting the flight of hawks and vultures,

a waterfall rushing by on the creek,

sun-dappled buds unfolding everywhere.

I absorb ninety minutes worth,

filling up on moving limbs in an

easy gait, some footfalls on grass to

let bikers pass by on their electrics, hearing

a strident twittering of robins and sparrows.

Once I reach my vehicle, get to relax and

digest the experience of varied spacetime as

only a mind can, in all its fulsome scenery.

From my sore feet to my tingling scalp,

this spacetime went down good and smooth,

like the best of beers or finest of wines.

Tonight I’ll dream and drink a little more,

wake up refreshed and sober, ready to

consume more galactic vistas in nearby locales

.

Will leave it to the physicists to figure out

reality with their equations and computers.

I’ll just have another glass of time, please,

and slam that puppy down without a twinge of guilt.

Drink up!

Weaponize

 The military is always on the lookout for new weapons;

Various advanced drones and aircraft flit about in our skies,

Beamed laser weapons have been tested for many years,

apparently without any useful results.  They should take a lesson 

from Marconi and Edison:  Keep on trying!

Perhaps better yet, weaponize peace and diplomacy.

All human beings want pretty much the same things:

food and water, shelter and care for loved ones.

Good times, love and laughter, and especially

freedom from endless warfare and conflicts.

Spread the word like a hypersonic missile:

Compassion, peace and empathy will remove

high casualty counts and increase productivity.

Cooperation can solve many vexing problems.

Casting blame and accusations, going on the attack

will only do more damage, and produce great suffering.

Fire your ballistic missiles of love and empathy,

and do the worst thing imaginable to your enemies:

absorb them into the greater whole of humanity,

 so we can solve our serious problems and move on out 

to ever greater accomplishments and experiences.

3, 2, 1....Fire!

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 us all back to the stone age.

There was that brief decade of thaw,

when the Soviet Union disintegrated;

we seemed the victors in a new world order

that came about, for better or for worse.

Some mighty war toys got spent in smaller conflicts;

The new scare of terrorism reared up,

and every one had to adopt that security mindset.

Especially after those towers got hit and collapsed!

A new century brought new terrors,

but I never thought that the nuclear threat from

the last century would rise up again, bad as ever.

Now the world seems more fractured than ever,

Russia and China are allied against us again.

Yet somehow advancements keep coming,

the world survives, and some conditions get better.

So while the news frightens and alarms us,

we still enjoy more electronic conveniences,

we still manage to eat good and stay sheltered.

Most of us, anyway.

We never knew just what would happen until it did,

back in those Cold War days. Ironically,

we still do not know what will happen to us all.

Just have to keep trudging down that road.

Peace is still the best choice for leaders to make!

On the importance of important things

 

I like to post some poetry and the occasional mini-editorial on this blog. But I view it as a place to get out my creativity at times, and sometimes general impressions of things. This is not a bid for political power, or any kind of great importance. Rather is it just as a way to make my small ‘scratch on the fabric of the universe,’ a way of saying “I was here.” Just another flawed human being adding his voice to the chorus of humanity. Not in any bid to “be important” in some historical sense.

However, I am important to myself, and I hope, maybe to a few friends as well. Many other people are important to me in my life, in one way or another. My family is important, even though I don’t communicate with them very much. I still value them, and care about them. I’m not sure how may more years I’ll get to spend on this Earth, above it rather than buried in it. But my time with others is important. Making some happy memories with other people is important. Good health is important. (Some things that used to be important are not nearly as much now. )

After I retired, getting out and seeing the world (that I missed while trapped in a work setting) became more important to me. Watching finances to keep on going without undue money stress is very important too.

Fame and reputation I could care less about at this point. If I seem like some kind of a poser,  then my apologies.. Just trying to get out my “two cents” in the brief time allowed me here. Thanks for reading.

Emotions Conveyed Through Time

 

Vibrant colors that ripple and shimmer from different times

through history, emoting to us from the floor or a wall;

they give us strong messages in a deep primal language,

the impact more powerful than from mere words alone.

They speak of war and misery, or love and joy;

routine images of irises in a vase next to pears,

blooming waterlilies in a pond in spring,

or vast landscapes in a new land beckoning.

Full three-dimensional works tempt one to touch,

but deny that with a boundary, forcing a closer look.

Sight alone must convey the full impression,

though my fingers itch to feel and add sensation.

Shining ceramic impasto rises off the canvas,

tall lucite boxes with vacuum cleaners inside;

Human figured sculptures in various states of gesture,

all blur the lines between “see” and “touch,”

forcing one to feel it with their mind -

as if there is any other way that we really feel anything.

It is a wonderful experience to absorb these

communiques from many different human epochs.

Hopefully many can enjoy this art walk through history.

Viral Villanelle

 

Vacations can be such a wonderful thing,

abandon your worries and enjoy many pleasures.

Those sneaky viruses can spoil a weekend fling.

It sure is fun to tour and gaze at all the residents bling,

then relax in a nearby swim spa for good measure.

Vacations can often be such a wonderful thing.

Stroll pleasant avenues under festive light strings,

peer into shops with some exotic local treasures.

But beware the sneaky virus that will spoil your fling.

A delicious meal with wine, before some nightclub zing,

drink, dance, sing and maybe lose your composure!

Exotic vacations can be such a wonderful thing.

Perhaps that special person might surprise you with a ring,

Banishing any thoughts of some possible unknown exposure.

You can still be grabbed by a virus that will spoil your fling.

Let us hope that you do not feel influenza’s sting,

or feel like you just got hit by a sickening bulldozer!

Vacations are usually a wonderful, delightful thing,

unless you get clobbered by viruses that will spoil your fling.

Getaway in February

 Sometimes the only thing to do is get away,

escape the dreary winter scenes and undulating temps,

flee to a world of palms, mountains and desert.

Golf courses, swimming pools, tennis courts

all populated with happy tourists enjoying a

joyful vacation interlude, throwing their cares away.

Hope that more can experience this fun and wonder.

Hang in there, someday your Palm Springs moment will come.

Wishes are Happy Things

 

Wish that all people would be accepted and get along,

we could work together to solve common problems,

respecting gender, racial or orientation differences,

Accepting the need to cooperate,

to solve serious common problems.

Wish that all corporations were ethical and altruistic,

workers were dedicated and hard working;

well paid and otherwise fairly compensated.

Wish that there were four-day workweeks, plenty of vacations,

paid family leave and many other compensations.

Wish that we could do all of this and still out-compete

all the other nations on the Earth.

Wish that despite economic competition we could get along

with all the other nations on the Earth, and

live in a peaceful and harmonious world together.

Wish that poverty and sickness and disability could disappear.

I wish that scientific advancement could proceed quickly,

and grant us longer lifetimes, and more ease and comfort;

Yet I wish that we could all remain in good physical condition too.

I wish that we could explore and colonize the Solar System, and beyond.

I wish that we could explore all the deep oceans and utilize that space.

I wish upon a star, that we could do all of these wonderful things.

But for every light there is a dark,

for every up there is a down,

for every pretty flower there is nourishing muck underneath.

If it were perfect, it would not be real,

and in a state of constant perfection, how do you recognize it as such?

So we are human, stuck with all of the unevenness and contrast,

and while we manage to keep from extinguishing our very selves,

we just would not have it any other way.

There is never a genie around when you need one!

Hours Like Diamonds

 

“The hours are diamonds” - Time waits for no one by the Rolling Stones.

Thanks to the Internet and archives,

One has the chance to take a deep dive

into any past era, in text, video or songs.

You can take your present self along

for a ride into a past era of your life,

one with different pleasure or strife.

Care to revisit the roaring twenties,

the depressed 30’s or wartime 40’s?

Strap in and get online and search,

More of nearly everything lurks.

That song that grabbed your head

back then will remind of times fled.

The world of your great-grandparents

struggles and triumphs and etc etc

rises up out of the screen to grip

your imagination, do a mental backflip.

Our hi-def, always connected world has

the built-in wayback machine to razmatazz.

Earlier generations were locked in black and white,

but we have multitudes of full-color delights.

Hard to imagine what future generations will have

that beats our best technical enhancements and assistants.

Interplanetary Innovator

 

In the past words like “helicopter” and “Mars”

were not commonly used in the same sentence.

But in the past three years they were, often.

An improbable rotorcraft flew over another world.

Stuff of pulp sci-fi, seemingly explained away

by recent science – “there’s no atmosphere there!”

Yet there was a minute one made of carbon dioxide,

dense enough to support blades spinning very fast.

Along comes a tiny helicopter flying over the Red Planet,

snapping photos and performing experiments.

An autonomous insect, obeying commands from Earth.

Progress takes many forms – advancement many disguises.

This will be the first of many hovering seekers,

searching red sands for fossils of ancient creatures.

Well done, mighty little Ingenuity helicopter.

Memory Memorandum

 

I remember when

was hustling back and forth in front of some machine,

keeping it fed with paper and attention and commands.

I remember when

Was standing in front of another device, separating paper

stacks and removing carbons. For hours and hours.

I remember when

Was feeding paper into printers or slapping up tape reels,

studying screens, shelving tapes, troubleshooting all night long.

I remember when

I went into empty offices at night, emptied trash cans,

swept and mopped floors, vacuumed large areas,

cleaned bathrooms and restocked paper products.

I remember when

a crew of us got locked into a building overnight,

to sweep, mop and wax large flooring areas.

They paid extra for working overnight doing this.

I remember when

Walked the floors of a large telecom complex,

emptying wastecans, dustmopping, floor finishing,

all while keeping things secure and locked,

trying not to damage equipment or get lippy.

I Remember when

we had to clean filthy bars, restrooms full of vomit,

filthy carpeted floors, tables coated with spilled booze,

but we got to keep any dropped change on the carpets.

I remember when

got up at 4 AM, made it to work by 5:40 AM,

First went for the icemelt to toss it all around a complex,

a full square block, even if it was -15 deg. F and snowing.

Then after that going indoors to resume cleaning large areas.

I remember when

went down to several municipal buildings to clean,

walking through rain, snow, heat to get to other buildings,

go in and clean and re-stock, and be careful with speech

or actions – be on good behavior even around bad behavior.

I remember when

all of that came to an end one day,

leaving work on my last night,

breathing a sigh of relief.

It was all done.

Turned in work clothes the next day,

then went home to plot out a fabulous

retirement!

That was the happiest memory of all.

Dumped on Again

 

We know it is not a matter of if, but when

nasty old winter will take a dump on us again.

Going along our daily routines in fair weather,

There is never any question of whether

we will make it to our destination on time.

Usually the sun comes out and it is fine.

However, past tornadoes and derechos remind

us that eventually we’ll face ugly climes…

But we are doughty stout midwesterners,

and have endured many harsh weather events.

At least we don’t have nasty Nor’easters,

or hurricanes that oceans often present!

We can “hunker down” and barricade ourselves indoors;

Someday this will be a bad memory, one that we endured.