MODERN DAY GLADIATORS: A MODEST PROPOSAL

Hey fans, I’m sick of these barnburners.
heart-attack endings, last shot nightmares,
even if your team wins, blood pressure rises,
hearts palpitate, way too much stress.
All you have to look forward to is the next game.
Two hours of agony till the last second shot.
Enough.

Let’s do it like the gladiators of old,
mano a mano, David and Goliath,
some whole wars decided that way.
Each selected the best warriors.
The winners vanquished the others’ army.
Everyone went home to his family
after one side buried their dead guy.
The fight didn’t take that long, maybe a whole day,
even into the night, or the speed
it takes for a stone to hit a forehead.

We could do that in basketball,
maybe other sports too.
Line up the teams, each gets the ball to score
until one does and one doesn’t.

Then many more games, short stress,
the whole tourney in a few days.
Go get a beer with your buddies
and cry or cheer till the next short joust.

Originally published in Cactifur Magazine

DEATH ROW

We’re all on Death Row,
but we are free to do
what we want.

I’ve never been on death row
and don’t expect to be
or have to contemplate
my pending death, fantasize
how I would feel on my last day,
worry about stays of execution,
contemplate the nauseous
last special meal they glorify.

Just an average man,
not likely to hurt anyone
more than any other guy,
but realize we are all
on death row the minute
we are born, no jail cell,
no crimes, just life
for as long as we live it.

Eventually, we are sitting
on that row, waiting
for our demise after
being free for so long,
with no bars, travel anywhere,
get married, have kids,
love, hate, do good,
avoid evil, appear
to be free, even though
we know there will be
a last meal, perhaps ENSURE,
so we have a choice to live
like we are in prison or not
the only row for us
our garden, which
we can still plant while
the walls are closing in.

Originally published in Fresh Words

THANKSGIVING CAUTIONARY

The turkey tries to duck this holiday,
sadly does not succeed.
Maybe he should ham it up,
but, no beefs allowed,
nothing fishy of course,
not get too squirrely, chicken out
or play possum,
but lie down
as gently as a lamb
and hope the axe falls
rabbitly
so he can feed all the kids
and the old geese-ers,
wish that Chinese
is not just for Christmas,
that vegan becomes the law.

Originally published in JAKE magazine.

AT THE MEMORIAL OF ANOTHER'S CHILD

My Jewish mother-in-law called them
God Forbids.  For her, a lot of them.
For her, only one really mattered.

Cancer struck the man at 35,
wife and two young daughters bereft.
A Buddhist, environmentalist, admired doctor.
I have been at memorials of lesser men.

The gathering held in a Quaker House,
filled with aging intellectuals,
who bowed their heads because silence
becomes the easiest way to avoid a god
who bittered them. For them, this man's
immortality lives in soil and air and trees.

Stories and memories shared,
a beautiful letter from one sister
while other siblings did not speak.

Silly anecdotes briefly undercut the gloom,
fall from a tree, a mountain bike crash,
unhurt in both, his teen mania to sell
special cutlery to all his parents’ friends.
Many who still had them chortled.

Both daughters spoke, the eleven-year-old
who fell in love with the mic, laughed/sobbed
stories you could barely hear.

Just like anyone who projects
their own service at funerals,
every parent in the room fought
the deepest shadow of their fears.
 
The thought struck me—could I do this?
Watch a  memory video of my own child?
Of course, I would attend,
but like Cordelia rigid
facing her stern father,
I could not shove
my heart into my mouth.

Originally published in Wishbone Words

OTHER ANGELS

Most need help in old age,
bent and bending,
clogged hearts, ever aches,
lungs fight for breath,
diseases winning.

Not like that for some of us —
healthier, some infirmities, but mobile,
deep breaths, pumping hearts.
nothing really serious.
Good for helping,
good for being there,
good for straightening the bends,
consoling, hugging, listening,
knowing at some point it will be us
needing the kind eyes, firm hand,
a lift, a strained ear, soft words.

Doug’s mother made it to 106.
Miss Daisy was still driving herself
at 102, going to all family fun.
Her husband passed at 86,
struggled the last few years.
She was his angel.

Be glad we are not aging
at the same pace—
else no angels standing by.

Originally Published on Wishbone Words

WHEN THE FIRST LEAF FELL

When there were first trees,
we know they leafed,
still leaf and leave.

When that first leaf fell,
a universal sigh rose,
an Earth-shattering groan;
trees threw their branches up in horror.

Despite its beautiful colors,
green face painted with orange and brown
when the first leaf twisted and wafted down,
did the trees feel what was coming,
know the cycle of seasons began,
death trailing birth forever?

Originally published on Wishbone Words

HISTORY FOILED

Conscientious Enrico Fermi. It took him years
to develop the bomb. Hunt and peck, experiment,
fail, experiment. In 1934, he used tin foil
to wrap his uranium sample. It failed.
The world would have to wait to detonate, destroy.
Had he wrapped it in a different material,
Hitler might have dropped the bomb.
But Fermi made a mistake. Too bad, Hiroshima.

Originally published in Mad Swirl Magazine

JOB TO HIS DAUGHTER

NOTES:  Job 1: 18-19: Early in the Book, Job is a wealthy, happy man with a wonderful family and  is a faithful believer in God. However, various events destroy everything he has, including all of his children, but not his wife, who tells him to “Curse God and die.”

Job 42: 12-17: At the end of the Book, all his wealth is returned as well as a new family with ten children, including three daughters.

Tirzah, I see you before the storm
happy, dancing wild.
Family joy, laughter,
the best wine, until the wind
hit, blew all of our family away,
except your mother and me,
the cork never back in the bottle.

Where are you now?
Only the Voice in the Wind can tell me.
My faith says we will meet again
whenever God chooses.

Tirzah, I miss you and
your brothers and sisters,
lost in the terror of the storm.
The pain has never left.
A dull ache is a different pain.

I am a bit restored now.
Even your mother loves me again.
She is not so sure about God,
but has stopped telling me
to curse Him and is glad I am alive.

Glad too for my new children,
especially the girls,
the apples of your mother’s eye
as they should be.

I want to introduce you
to those beautiful, young girls—
Jemimah,  the shepherdess,
Keziah, the weaver,
Keren-Happuch of the lyre.

The eyes of the world and the eyes
of a parent do not see the same.
Appearance is but a fragment
of the beauty love shows when
your children dance before you.

I do not think this letter will get to you.
How would I even send it?
Maybe put it out on the rock
in front of our tent.
Hope the Wind blows it your way.

Yet writing it felt good.
I picked you because you were the one,
my oldest daughter Tirzah,
who always snuggled up to me,
never an embarrassed child,
just loving and trusting.

Better finish this letter now
or my tears will blot the page.

Until we see each other again
when the Wind blows,
Your Loving Father, Job

Originally published in Sybil Journal

A BEECH TREE

A revision of Elizabeth Jennings' poem--(1926-2001)

They will not go. The leaves insist on staying.
Just six weeks ago, too strong for the wind.
Almost as if they could stay forever,
leaf into brighter green.

What if leaves stayed despite the storms,
if branches bent but held?
Today, kissed by the sun,
the leaves are warm.

I touch one with my hand
though winter is nigh,
the unfallen
quickens my heart.

When will the branches go stark bare?
Will the beauty of leaves really end?

Originally published in Fine Lines

RABBIT

Inspired by Merle Haggard and his prison partner—
Jimmy “Rabbit” Kendrick

For thirteen years, no one
escaped from San Quentin.
Rabbit and Haggard
hatched a plan.
Hide in a huge desk
to be shipped to San Fran.
Not courageous like Henry Brown,
shipped out of slavery in a box.
 
Criminals who earned
the place they landed.
Merle croaked out songs
on the guitar the warden gifted.
Rabbit just a robber,
one of too many.
 
Rabbit: No; don’t do it Merle.
You got a life.
Escape the only life I got.
 
Merle listened, stayed.
Rabbit escaped.
But Rabbit killed a cop,
died while Merle watched.
If you love Merle,
thank Rabbit.

Originally published in Rat's Ass Review

OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE

Our leaders sword fight with nuclear bombs,
sling arrows laden with bio poison.
We have progressed to lethal injections
from stone axes. The pendulum
swings in one direction,
higher and higher till all dead.

Some dress well, reside in mansions,
scoot around in fancy cars, dine gourmet,
wine themselves, but infantile,
wah wah, greedy babies still in caves.

Originally published by Scud Magazine

ODE TO MABEL'S BLACK LABEL

You are gone, my brew,
along with whistling at waitresses
by dungareed men
in their favorite bar.

Gone with the others--
Falstaff, Pete's Wicked Ale,
Brown Derby, Red, White and Blue,
to name a few.

But you were my favorite,
braced me through teen years.
I snuck you behind the barn,
when you were not allowed.

As the jingle went:
The premium beer,
at a popular price,
enjoy the best!

I drank you with delight
before you failed me
one hot Florida night,
on that Ft. Lauderdale beach.

Drunk as skunks
and broke as punks,
we staggered into
the store's garish lights.

But not blinded enough,
able to count our change,
gather the $1.30
to buy you Mabel.

Hug your sweaty sides,
as we began to quaff
by the rusty garbage can
on that starlit beach.

Blech! I will never forget.
You tasted like gas.
I retched and coughed
Threw the six pack into the can.

Now older, richer and wiser,
I sip my fancy brews,
remember you as the girl
I left behind so long ago.

Oh, Mabel, such a different time,
an America now gone,
cheap beer the boon and doggle
of all those thirsty men.

Originally published in Scud Magazine

VITO 

A university writing teacher
when the VietNam War raged.
I taught my students about napalm, 
displayed the poster of the naked
young girl screaming down the road 
her hands flung up in pain,
the “guava” bombs made by Honeywell Corp. 
sent metal into bodies until
they changed to plastic shards
x-rays could not detect, 
taught about the lie that the North Viets
had bombed our ship at Tonkin
to convince the public of war
against a tiny black-clad nation.
The youthful student eyes
stared up at me, supped 
on these facts like little birds
so I spoke all over the campus 
dropped the seeds of protest
in all those open mouths,
except this Chicago kid, Vito,
whose Marine dad was killed
in that nasty war, decided
to take his fists and bulk
and his tough, drunken friends 
to find Un-American hippie freaks
and beat them to a pulp.
One evening they found me alone,
surrounded me, one smashed
face away from preventing me
mouthing my words of protest,
when one of my students,
Doug, a giant football player,
who hung the VietNam girl poster,
which pissed him off, on his dorm wall.
He strode up to the Marine’s kid
and said he would wipe the sidewalk
with him if he ever touched me.
I am glad I taught the Truth.

Originally published in The Font

NO ONE LOOKS AT OLD MEN, EXCEPT…

I sit in my coffee shop,
day after day,
moving the spoon
to catch the white streak
the overhead light
swirls in my cup.
Sit and watch
no watching.
Maybe I could change that?
Light up the gray faces
on the counter stools.

Next Monday, I will wear shoes
that don’t match,
maybe a tennie and a boot?
Tuesday, a pink polka dot tie,
with my Purple Heart pinned
outside my coat.
A large orange comb
in my left over hair, Wednesday.
Thursday, the rainbow bandanna
my only daughter gifted me long ago,

On the first day of the weekend,
my teeth in a glass on the table.
But that would not be nice
to the young waitress
who wears the watermelon uniform.
She doesn’t look at me
when she always smiles,
but she is very careful with my cup,
filling it even when it is almost full.

Then, Saturday, my old,
rusted service revolver.
Just set it on the table
in full view.
Would the cook notice
like he does when I sit too long?

I don’t come on Sundays
because it is closed.

But the next Monday, it changed.
Looking up from my swirls,
I spied a pert, older woman,
bold red hat,
purple polka dot dress,
twinkling blue eyes—
and Oh that smile. 

Originally Published in Lit Shark Magazine

CHARLIE CHAPLIN AND THE FALCON-HATER

Who knows what their Grandmother wants on her birthday?
My brain scrambled over what I couldn’t guess.
Our cousin helped—Charlie Chaplin movies.
I could get the film from the school library.
bring down my dorm projector for the party,
surprise her with the film of the Little Man she loved.
The Great Dictator or The Gold Rush or Modern Times?
Of course my Jewish grandmother hated Hitler.
My Step-Mother helped, kept Grandmother busy
as I hid the projector under a cloth, like a perched falcon.
Finally, came time to reveal the present as I whipped off the cloth
and all gasped—no one ever gifted a live birthday movie.
I let the film silently speak for itself.
The Little Tramp mocked Der Fuhrer.
Grandmother squealed and clapped her wrinkled hands.
I was pleased to see I had struck a chord.
But a few scenes in, Aunt Harriet Taylor,
the Falcon-Hater, jumped up, switched on the lights
and shouted: Shut that horrid man off!
The entire party glared at Aunt Harriet
who had cut up the falcon emblem off her son’s jacket,
hating his Club she thought was lower-class, Un-American,
flushed the scissored pieces down the toilet.
A Chaplin hater too her words sprang out:
He’s a Communist, hated our country,
How could you, you…anti-VietNam War hippie
spoil her birthday? And you know he was gay.
Who broke the silence? Not I said the little Red student.
With a flick of her wrist, Grandmother pointed at me to turn it on.
Harriet stomped from the room. No one turned their head.
In a few years, that awful war was over.

Originally published in Lit Shark Magazine

PAVLOVIAN PIG

She did this. A flagellation of habit.
Enjoyed eating animal flesh.
At a carnival won a ceramic kewpie pig.
Pink with a blue bow.
Sat it on her kitchen table.
Cooked a luscious pork roast.
Cut the slices thin.
Fanned out on her plate.
Moved Porky close to her.
Cut a piece of pork.
Lifted the pork to her tongue.
Patted the pig with her left hand.
Threw the roast in the garbage.
Slept well after her salad.

Originally published in Of Rust And Glass

HISTORY SISTERS

Only one civilian casualty at Gettysburg, Jennie Wade, hit by a stray bullet 
that passed through her kitchen wall and killed her while she was baking bread. July 3, 1863.

Jillian Ludwig, Belmont student in Nashville, killed while jogging in early November, 2023.

Two young women, struck down
by stray bullets.
Jennie and Jillian—
innocent sisters in death.

Jennie, a young wife baking bread.
Jillian, a music major, jogging in a park.
The same bullet across time.
A stray one from an unknown soldier got Jennie.
A stray one from a sick man got Jillian.

The unknown soldier defended a cause—
was the wayward bullet pro- or anti-slavery
when it killed Jennie, bread burnt?

Already deemed unfit to own a gun,
let off by law laxity, the assailant
was shooting at a car, when
he silenced Jillian’s music forever.  

Humans shoot for causes or not.
Uncaring Bullets. A terrible roulette.

Originally published in Of Rust And Glass

FISH IT FORWARD

Fishing with dad,  brothers, sons,   
daughter, grandsons—
a stringer of memories,
vacations at the lake, sunrise,
sunset paints the water,
reflect the brilliant colors.
Bass, crappie, perch, 
blue gills, Northern pike— 
gag at guts while
learning to clean.
Late night fish fries.
Don’t swallow the bones.
Cram down white bread if you do.
Snuggle under heavy quilts
against the northern cold. 

Now in old age,
I look at my poles—
did I need that many?
Gear in the garage corner,
no more to battle fish
who won or lost.

I think of a future boy, 
ragged T-shirt and jeans,
holey tennies, cowlick proud.
His parents found the poles
my kids donated
to the local charity store
after I passed. 

He squats on the bank 
of a local pond,
weedy and dank, 
grips the old,
but still shiny pole,
smiles as he
launches the worm.


A silvery fish
will leap skyward,
thrill that boy’s heart
as mine did when
my dad exclaimed
at my first tiny bluegill,
as my grandsons did
when we pulled in
that largemouth bass. 

We will never know each other.
I am not sure this will happen.
But it could.

Originally published in The Wise Owl