Monthly Archives: May 2016

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seismic

her first tour with a band
electric guitars and bass
fully tricked-out drum kit
a quartet of dudes
who knew how to play them

and her

in the center
at the grand piano
her instrument and
her acoustic sole companion
on previous tours

everything plugged
and amplified
and i was glad this was not
one of those other tours

because of the infection
i couldn’t hear a note
but i could feel it
oh, could i feel it

the waves of sound
washing over us
from the piano
from the guitars
the percussive tremors
they caught me up

they pushed and shoved
as rowdy and rough
as a subway crowd
lifted me off my feet
and shook me
like a hail of bullets

and when she got up
to shake her own strong body
to the rhythm of the band
to shimmy and strut
in sync with that sonic gunfire
in sync with all of us
whirling and spinning
hair cascading out before her

when she and we
were swept up together
by the sounds i could not hear
for a moment
it was impossible
that there was anything
i was missing

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Curiosity Killed Moriarty

And did I tell you curiosity
Killed poor Moriarty?
Did you wonder who he was?
Or did you think of how he died?
Did you suppose he was a kitten
Or assume he was a nemesis?
Or say, did it occur to you
That maybe (only maybe)
Moriarty could be both at once
If he sincerely tried?

Well let me tell you how inquisitive
Little Moriarty
Met his melancholy ending
In a melancholy place
And how his death defeated someone
Who considered him her nemesis
Despite the fact that he was just
A tiny little kitty
With a tiny little scrunched-up little
Kitty catty face

Young Shirley Homer never thought when she
Took home Moriarty
That this tiny tabby cat
Could hold a nemesis inside
But well, it didn’t take him long
To demonstrate he was her nemesis
A nemesis who never stopped
Destroying all her knitting
‘Til she knew she must completely give up
Knitting (and she cried)

So Shirley wiped her eyes and said, the game’s
Afoot now, Moriarty!
I’m not going to be beaten
By a tiny tabby cat
And so she tried 100 hobbies
And each one she tried, he decimated
Painstakingly decimated
It was quite depressing
I won’t lie – poor Shirley got a tad
Despondent about that

And then the day came when the final straw
Fell on Moriarty
Shirley’d given up on crafts
But she loved cooking still, at least
She had a massive pot of gumbo
Boiling bubbling on the stove top
Moriarty poked his head in
Then of course completely fell in
Shirley never did another hobby
And the little beast…

Well the Napoleon of muddles
Fiendish cat called Moriarty
Curiosity had killed him so
He had just eight more lives 😸

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Aphorisms

The devil you know might be better than the devil you don’t, but he’s also a lot more boring.

Silence is like a mirror – better avoid it, or you might have to pay attention to yourself.

You can treat people like dogs, or you can treat them like most dogs treat people. Neither one is what most of us deserve.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with putting on some clean underwear.

A good boss inspires you to give your best while you think you’re slacking off.

No matter how far down the wrong road you’ve gone, you’ll wish you’d paid more attention to the scenery.

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For Owen Wesley Bulanow

Keep on looking around
Bright and welcoming Owen
Hold on to that hope
As you range far and wide
Keep on seeing this world
And the people around you
With the joyful embrace
That’s so clear in your eyes

I can’t promise that people
Or universe, either
Will always reward
Your inquisitive trust
But keep bringing it, Owen
Your glad curiosity
Gives you the power
To change worlds and hearts

(And if someday you think
Well, this sounds hyperbolic
Where’s evidence for
This potential to change?
I submit: tiny Owen’s
The one who persuaded
My skittish wife Tina
To enjoy holding babes)