We will overcome it

Treatment may become routine,

be great if you live through it;

Stay at home in quarantine,

better to avoid getting sick!

Be great if you live through it,

taking all the needed precautions.

It is easy to avoid getting sick,

just disinfect and practice sanitation.

Take those necessary precautions,

Avoid any large teeming crowds;

disinfect and practice good sanitation,

Stay indoors, stay healthy, stay proud.

Avoid any large teeming crowds,

especially at the busy supermarkets;

Stay indoors, stay healthy and stay proud,

there is lots of food, don’t have to hoard it.

No need to go to busy supermarkets,

you can still order restaurant carry-out;

there is lots of food, don’t have to hoard it,

We will overcome this, there is no doubt.

Government checks could soon be on the way,

stay at home in safety and quarantine;

no need for excessive despair or dismay,

treatment for this virus will become routine.

the Divine Miss D

Forget any fentanyl-laced heroin;

Forego the cannabis brownies or drinks;

no need to smoke joints or bowls, no siree.

Hard liquour or craft beers? Who needs ‘em?

Divine donuts are enough of a treat,

lush with creams and tasty frosting,

oozing with flavorful jellies,

spiffed up with color sparkles.

Long square frosted eclairs,

round, plump bismarcks,

cake rings thick with frosting,

I could spend all day gazing at

these glazed lovelies in a bakery window.

The only law enforcement problem

I might stumble across might be a

hungry, impatient patrol officer,

eager to grab his breakfast and be gone.

Then I would have to stifle my addiction

momentarily, and offer a place:

“After you, officer!”

Never know, might prevent a ticket someday;

Even addicts have to observe protocol sometimes.

Corona Afire

Concerns stack up like bodies at a morgue,

as a virus roams across continents.

Some researchers struggle to make a vaccine,

while others mass-manufacture testing kits.

Stock prices whipsaw up and down,

Central banks take emergency measures

to loosen up the money supply. Can a

lower interest rate help eliminate a virus?

Guess we will soon find out.

Some of this reminds me of the AIDS

epidemic, and how threatening that seemed.

It was a guaranteed death sentence, disability

granted with no questions asked. 30-some

years later, HIV+ people lead normal lives.

Science and human determination will find

a solution, and then a cure. We always do,

sooner or later.

It is the damage in the meantime that is tough.

(Wash those hands, everyone)

Spring Arise

Green is rising up the stalks

of the Spirea I’m trimming;

A peace agreement was signed yesterday,

potentially bringing our boys home;

Forsythia flowers in a neighbor’s yard.

Temps have risen to a balmy 63,

the sun is out and fresh robins serenade.

New weeds leaf out to catch those March rays,

for a moment all is quiet in the neighborhood.

This rare moment of tranquility is savored…

Tomorrow more rain is forecast,

along with falling temps and north winds.

Today’s teaser just whets my appetite,

but I know the main course is coming eventually.

Patience and perseverance and a good yard cleaning

will bring an emerald lawn, and new flowers glowing.

Tulips, hyacinth and daffodils poised for their showing,

Time to get the lawnmowers out, homeowners grumbling.

No chips or dip or beer to sip

Buy the market dips?

Take some Corona sips?

The “Orange Crush” will

make everything swell...

Have faith all you losers,

Take heart all you movers.

Our leaders have it all under control,

the CDC is alert, Pence is on a roll.

No matter what you read or hear,

one thing is abundantly clear:

Wash your hands and cover your sneezes;

Take precautions, prevent spread of diseases!

Collecting Neurons

All these items showing off their time:

Hot Wheels cars, action figures, Lego everything;

Postum general beverages, oil cans, jars of screws.

They seem to say, “Remember this year, that year,

those years when we were young too?”

Cigar boxes, decorative bricks, cowboy hats;

Metal calendars and water pumps all remind us

of some other date, some other time.

That day as a kid when you first used a

hand pump to drink cold water on a sizzling day.

Riding bikes to a town next door and stopping

for a pop or candy at the venerable gas station.

Figurines and steins and tea sets speak of

happy finds and happier times, patina of

colors reflecting memory glimmers in

our contemplative minds. Years blend together, like

that cat wedged in next to the bird, cup and decanter,

all mixing together in our axons and dendrites,

mental casserole signaling nostalgia from the past.

Mannequins and uniforms, toys and VHS tapes

gather stares and dust, next to a large bin of old tools.

Trowels and gas pump nozzles nuzzle our nostalgia.

Lanterns and bottles and binoculars each do their thing

with reflected fluorescent rays, like they used to with the

sun or the moon, back in our more pristine incarnations.

Now some of us accrete at the local flea market,

more mobile versions of what sits on the shelves;

Both pass on memories, images and greetings galore…

One day closer, one day more.

Consensual or Rape

They emerge out of the shadows of time,

harbingers of disaster for another career.

So sincere in their grief over events long past,

They must reveal it all, in great earnestness.

So out they come, onto the talk shows,

dab eyes with tissues, loose minor admissions,

implicate some imagined evil beast who happens

to be a successful male star or movie producer.

Coincidence?

How many poor nobodies have been dragged out

before an enraged public, forced to admit to

unwanted sexual advances performed decades ago?

None?

Some of these sad, unfortunate victims need to

be charged themselves – with racketeering;

Because it sure seems that is exactly what they are doing.

Shaking down some unfortunate guilty party,

who in many cases thought everything was just fine.

Must be a more honest way to sell an expose.

The truth is indeed an elusive beast...

Happy Caucus-ing Iowans!

The 2020 Iowa Caucus is here! Joe and Amy and Pete and Liz and Bernie are making the last rounds, shaking hands and flashing victory grins.

Their supporters are turning into precinct captains and promoters and assistants. TV stations are inundated with coverage. Kinda exciting to see our humble state in the spotlight – but it happens more often than one might expect. Not only during caucuses and elections, but also during the State Fair, when big names come into town to entertain, or even campaign early. Not sure how much this happens in other states, but Des Moines seems to get a fair amount of news coverage all year long, for one thing or another. Is there any truly isolated mid-sized city in the USA anymore? I doubt it.

And our state as a whole also seems to get outsize attentions. Ames played an important role in the development of atomic energy, not to mention the invention of the first digital computer. The U of Iowa hosted James Van Allen and his space physics department. I could list many more examples of ways in which some region of Iowa played a critical role in our national history. I suppose other states could make a similar claim. It just seems amazing there were so many things that happened or got their start in our middling agricultural state.

So here we are again, in the national, and international, spotlight. Put on your best behavior, Iowans – not the way you act in rush hour every day, or the way you behave in a crowded grocery store or restaurant or bar. Nope, put on that finest suit of behavior and show your Iowa colors and pride to the world!

‘Cause tomorrow they will all move on, and we’ll be stuck with just each other again. LOL. Somehow we’ll get by until the next exciting event. I hear that St. Patrick’s day parade is a real party – a month or so away. Happy Caucusing, everyone. Take care and thanks for reading ;-)

Two more days

They are all circulating now in our state;

Donald and Pete, Bernie and Amy and Liz.

Or rather, they were, before the impeachment voting.

Now their surrogates circulate all over the place.

Town halls, cafes and coffeehouses.

Rallies at meeting-places of every

size, shape and description.

Eleven contenders still stud the Democratic race,

only two at most can to the White House go.

Television stations and Downtown streets are

clogged with candidates and supporters.

Such excitement to descend on our humble

Iowa landscape – now the center of world attention.

Why, it could give our egos an unnatural boost!

Not to worry, though:

After February 3^rd, the spotlight will move to

New Hampshire, and all of us exalted folks

will once again, be “just folks” left to deal with

a lot of cleanup and one hellova Media Hangover.

We’re Iowans – we’re tough – we’ll get over it and move on.

90 seconds to extinction

Our planet is not like Venus, roasting in heat,

nor like Mars, frigid and barren yet irradiated.

We inhabit a world of life, lush, fertile, nutritive

to our human swarm that threatens to choke itself.

Not blessed with wing or fang or claw,

humble Homo Sapiens made do with

hands and brain and desperate practice.

We became so good at killing, we rose to the top.

Now we threaten to eliminate ourselves altogether.

Nuclear and aerospace armaments poised at

each others throats like so many giant daggers,

our trigger fingers twitch and itch for payback.

The lower species, if they have a lucid moment left,

will perhaps laugh in their own way.

“Those humans thought they were so mature,

so clever, so smart, that they devised a way to

end their species forever.”

Now who is on top?

Nobody.

Evolving viewpoints

Evolution is incredibly complex,

with niches dependent on other niches.

We need Mr and Mrs Bat to eat lots of mosquitoes,

helping us keep down the spread of diseases.

Praying Mantises eat lots of baddies too,

and manage to do it looking so cool.

Various other insects all play their part

in this intricate dance of our ecology.

Dying trees give up their corpse to all:

Birds to nest and shelter in, cozy and dry.

Squirrels to hide nuts and make their home.

Various minute creatures feed on the wood,

in turn they fertilize and enrich the soil.

In time, new trees will emerge from stray seeds.

The young saplings will stretch and grab for sky,

eager athletes showing their happiness to play their role

to provide homes for new generations of climbing or flying life.

As the Earth orbits the sun, so the cycle repeats, over and over.

As crawling molds and algae morphed into grasses,

then the grasses morphed into flowers and trees;

then sea life ooozed itself onto land, grew legs,

evolved into so many kinds of animals, mammals,

hominids, apes, and finally, us.

Despite any willingness on our part to imagine some

Alien intervention, it seems pretty clear by now that

we evolved from humbler beginnings.

Through learning, competition and survival struggles,

we just keep getting better, smarter, and more lethal.

I feel sorry for those in the past, as they did not

have it as good as we do now.

But the future is too difficult to imagine anymore.

Glad that at least I have now –
we all have now to make a difference.

Emotive experiments

Emotive

A new day starts good,

email generates big results,

look at me now, powerful and in command.

The universe is responding well today,

there is some hope for the future.

Then disparaging remarks get floated,

I try to ignore, tense up, twitch faster.

More are heard, and the temperature rises,

Stomping along try not to explode.

A kind word, a quiet reflection,

mood stabilizes. Progress happens.

Achievements – lifting spirits.

Then, bottlenecks, difficulties, struggles.

Shaking with temper furies, getting thru it.

Bimbos have the nerve to laugh at my misery.

The day ends on a somewhat positive note,

I make a grateful escape to the car,

weathering an ice storm, less harsh

than that thing I faced indoors.

Friend emotive

Call him, chat and feel good.

We talk over each other,

lousy cellular connection,

both try three times, start over.

Frustrated enough without this crap.

Broach touchy subjects,

be careful, back away, compliment;

Got to contain my own temper.

Keeping it cool, continuing into better areas.

Happier things: dinner out, travel, retirement, sex.

End the phone conversation on an upbeat note.

Another stormy sea navigated,

tricky currents at-tacked well.

Pull into port and

breathe a big sigh of relief.

Did not sink a friendship today!

Another decade done

2010-2019 slid by pretty fast.

didn’t seem that way when it was going,

all those natural disasters,

air crashes,

terrorist bombings,

school shootings.

But time does eventually pass,

no matter what we do or don’t do.

We humans keep doing silly things,

normal things, and occasionally great things.

Then one day another decade passes.

“Oh! Where did that time all go?”

From 1960 to 1980 there were tremendous changes,

Cars got smarter and more compact,

Interstate highways built, Space explored,

the Moon landed on and mapped out.

From 1980 to 2000 change accelerated.

Personal computers and the Internet exploded.

Cars got still smarter, lighter, more entertaining

with all the gadgets loaded in them.

From 2000 to 2020, more rapid change.

A space station completed and occupied,

Regular cellphones became smartphones,

and we now have a world of knowledge

at our disposal. That includes porn, of course.

What changes will come about in the next 20,

it is hard to predict. Augmented reality,

and advertisements beamed right into our eyes.

Space exploration further out, people landing on Mars.

(This old guy is hoping for better medical tech too.)

Lots of changes, some not so good for the Earth,

like global climate change. We’ll have to deal

with some of our past blunders, even as we

try to expand the human presence out into

the Solar System. Should be interesting.

Hope to see you there when the calendar

rolls over to 2030, and we can marvel at another decade done.

A Banker's Memorial

He was a local banker’s banker,

a regular cash counter and bagger.

Numbers were his biggest fame,

other peoples money his game.

He started out clerking in 1922,

moved up the ladder real smooth.

Got hired away by a crosstown rival,

and his path was set, the president’s

fixer and right-hand man – in 1933.

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,

dollars and fives and tens and twenties.

Tinkle, Ching, Clatter and Shuffle -

the currency of commerce his currency of life.

He was born to it, a natural talent;

Just had to be good at numbers and math.

After 14 years he became a bank president,

and rode a rising economy to a pinnacle of

wealth and community esteem.

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters;

ones, fives, tens and twenties.

All counted and sorted in correct order,

his family lofted to higher living quarters.

A dynamo of commerce,

a dancer in capitalism’s arms;

he gave so much to all his offspring,

bestowed money along with his charms.

(We will never forget our

loving, generous, brilliant, tender, stellar grandfather:

Lewis B. Wilson - 1899-2001)

Seasonal Spirit Dreams

Robots, LOL toys, plushies galore,

chromebooks, Ipads, Sandisks and more.

Food sets, drink sets, hot sauces to suit,

utensils to cook with, cutter for a cheroot.

20, 30, 50 percent off and more,

just for today, so rush out the door.

Lights and trees and decorations too,

on special this week, the mall is a zoo!

Start out early, the traffic is busy;

Get in-store early, folks in a tizzy.

Checkout lines are going to be long,

Bring endurance and hope you weren’t wrong.

Or better yet get away from it all,

somewhere pleasant with no malls.

If you can do this and bring some friends,

you are truly lucky, no regrets or amends.

However you celebrate the darkest of days

and return of light, enjoy it in your own ways.

To all a joyous solstice and a warm pleasant night,

tucked safely asleep, after celebrations and delight.

Say Hello to Artie

I’ll fill in your blanks, take care of your sins.

Drive your SUV, track your gaming wins.

Will clean your carpets, and mow your lawns.

Monitor your perimeter from dusk until dawn.

I’m here to perform all your menial tasks,

plan your menus and fill your glasses.

Locate the best online website to use,

sign up for hot dates, find one to peruse.

The age of Artificial Intelligence is here,

in some ways smart, but you need not fear:

“IT” can do single tasks well, that is clear,

but not feel, plan or love, or know what is dear.

Some workers will have to find new occupations,

Yet society will be freed from common frustrations.

Already my email spells and greets friends for me;

When IT composes my holiday greetings, then I'll feel glee.

(First published in the 2019 edition of Lyrical Iowa)

Last Wednesdays muse

Wednesday night, and it is all quiet.

Feels like a miracle.

No derogatory remarks,

no accusatory comments,

no mean-spirited judgments.

Just the sounds of trains going by,

the sounds of a modern industrial city.

No meanness or accusations there,

unless my mind puts them there.

Counting blessings in my chair.

Don’t even have to comb hair.

Soon for bed I’ll prepare.

Not that anyone cares.

No harsh stares,

Streetlight glares.

Wednesday night, hump night.

Work will be winding down soon,

another weekend – already!

More wine, wishes and song.

Lines of thought

“Humanity has come late upon the scene. And the Galaxy has a big head start.” - David Brin, Existence.

“To assume that humanity is the highest-performing, most intelligent life in the galaxy is the ultimate in arrogance.” - Me, deriving from some readings by Carl Sagan a long while back.

What form will they take? How will we communicate with them? Will they just tap into our minds, being so advanced that they are like gods? Or will they be a bit merciful and use more conventional methods. At what point will the human race be ready to talk to our superiors, and join a larger confederation of species than we ever imagined?

Or is it all a waste of time? Or at worst, an invitation to disaster, when ‘they’ do arrive, and stomp us insignificant ants into the ground? No one can know until we all do.

Some possibilities: The ambient radiation present in our solar system is profuse. Some from the sun, some from Jupiter and maybe Saturn. Some of that might possibly be encoded messages being passed back and forth by extraterrestrials.

Some random meteors, comets and the like could disguise ET travelers.

ET’s could be sitting just outside our Solar System, watching and waiting for us to emerge intact, or at least waiting to see if we destroy ourselves first.

We could be a zoological experiment, started, seeded and set in motion by some far older race. And they could still be watching and monitoring our progress, or lack thereof.

At times ET’s could have subtly, quietly intervened in small ways to decide the outcomes of various major events. Wars, natural disasters, epidemics and the like. Unlikely, but possible.

It could be said that the Galaxy, even the Universe, has already been populated by our imaginings and suppositions about ET races and civilizations. In a sense, we have populated the galaxy with our imagination. If and when the first real contact is made, how bad will our illusions be shattered, and how good or bad will that effect the psyche of the human race? One of the only reasons I might wish to live forever is to be present to witness the meeting between humanity and civilization X. It will be an amazing time for sure.

If they are ever able to upload a person’s brain into an artificial AI shell, will the uploaded person be aware in both places at once? Probably not. Both entities will be self-aware, but they will still be two separate entities. At most, the person will have bought a copy of themselves eternal life. That person will still, unfortunately, die.

Enough deep thoughts. Time to break out the wine.  Happy Holidays to all.

Captured Living

Some memories make me laugh,

like when a friend ran bare-assed into a river.

Others slap me again with the burn of embarrassment:

Walking into a meeting late, all eyes on me,

Sneezing and coughing during a poetry reading.

Some I forget easily, like long

tedious traffic jams or the edge of

a cupboard door hitting my head.

Some I choose to remember,

like when the Kirby salesman promised a quick clean,

then overstayed his welcome trying to sell one;

Inviting the wrong person into my home;

These so I won’t make the same mistake again.

Some I want to hang onto, to record;

Making love, slow and deliberate,

traveling to Palm Springs in February,

Dinner at China One or Olive Garden,

enjoying libations and great conversations

with some close and dear friends.

Time to stop reminiscing, the clock is ticking;

got to go out and make some new wonderful memories!

November into January overnight

What do you do when November turns into January?

Balmy fall breezes turn into Arctic gales overnight?

Hunker down inside, insulate anything that isn’t yet?

Discover new binges on Netflix, threads on Facebook?

Let oneself eat more treats, after all ya need to fuel all

that shivering and snow shoveling somehow.

Leave the outdoor venues to those eager politicians;

I’ll watch them inside on the news.

I hope all the accidents and snowbanks are worth

a few more votes garnered.

It just seems too darned early for icicles and scandals

hanging over yards and people.

Wonder if it is snowing in Ukraine?

Do they have many snowplows?

Maybe they can do double duty,

plowing through all of the Lies and BS.

Think I’ll go watch that TV special about Mars:

One place colder and less hospitable than Iowa

at this particular point in time.

Who in their right mind would ever want to live

in a hostile, barren place like that?

Probably someone wanting to get away from all the

grandstanding politicians and their ridiculous promises.

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.

Only Human

I’m sorry that my teeth are missing,

sorry I’m not quicker on the uptake,

Regret not being faster with wit,

or that I miss something if distracted.

After all, I’m only human.

I’m sorry that I don’t have more money,

sorry my car is not aging very well.

Sad that my job occupies a menial slot,

and I can’t go on expensive vacations.

After all, I’m only human.

Sorry for any insults or slights given,

Sorry if I’ve made anyone feel bad,

or inferior, or left out or any negative thing;

sincerely regret that I’ve come to hurt others.

But please understand, I’m only human.

Sorry if my house is little, in need of repairs,

Sorry if my yard doesn’t always measure up.

Sorry if my wardrobe is years out of date,

sad with regret that I can’t always relate.

The only excuse I have is that I’m an imperfect human.

But I am so grateful for those who forgive me

for any slights or insults given, and stay by my side.

Very grateful for the luxuries I have, and for my cat.

Grateful for a steady income, and a comfortable place;

I am far better off than many other human beings.

Please accept these apologies, and appreciation too.

For I am lucky to have some friends, that special few

who overlook my deficiencies and accompany me,

as we travel into age’s far boundaries together.

We are still alive together, us determined humans.

Onward into the third decade of the 21^st century we

will walk, hobble or struggle. The sights ahead

promise to be amazing, or at least not at all dull.

(ADD:  Saw this snippet on a billboard today:

             "You are Human,
               you are loveable,
               you are strong;
               That is enough."