Hope the light comes back on

 

Tis a very fragile balance

where we live and what we do

We cannot fix the things that break

so we must buy them new

 

Everything’s electronic

simply plug them in

Planes are supersonic

the ice is oh so thin

 

Employees in the workforce

haven’t got a voice

Livelihood’s dependent on

who was nobody’s first choice

 

Prices just get higher

wages – not so much

Politicians get elected

even though they’re out of touch.

 

Tis a very fragile balance

and should the problem linger

Pull the plug – then plug it in

and then just cross your fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Treasure

 

What value are coins

too heavy to carry

I’d need pockets so big

they’d look a bit scary

 

To take them to market

would be too unkind

A spot for the coins

they never would find

 

No vending machine

so mighty and grand

Accepts such a coin

they’re not in demand

 

What value are coins

all silver and gold

But to bury them deep

draw an X, so I’m told

 

Sprinkle clues here and there

till the kids find the map

Let them dig and rejoice

at finding this  treasure

 

 

    zc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're not in Kansas anymore

There is a tree in the hallway.  The color of everything feels a bit off but it is the tree that has my attention.  Am I outside looking in at it, and if so, what is a tree doing inside?  If I were someone who took drugs, I’m guessing this might be a normal vision, but I don’t, so what’s going on?  I’d like someone to explain this to me. 

Maybe this is a tinted window.  That would explain the odd color.  I can’t really tell where the light is coming from.  I don’t see a distinguishable shaft of sunlight.  Just what is this place and how did I get here?

Is that even a tree or is it a stack of pots with a plant in the top one?   Maybe I need a CAT scan. 

 

 

 

Self-inspection

 

When I reach the end will I regret having spent my life writing?  What end did I expect?  Was this a quest for something?  A search for purpose?  Will I have wasted my life playing with inactive verbs and mannequin nouns? 

I have turned thoughts into images, ideas into stories, all the time, not even once, riding a seahorse or taking an active part in anything requiring sunscreen.  I have wiggled my fingers above this keyboard as if they knew what they were doing.  Planting words and spreading commas like fertilizer.  Believing things would grow while I remained just an onlooker, sitting along the sidelines watching the sprinkler rotate back and forth. 

Always missing were the sound effects.  With any luck the last thing I ever write will be…

 

Ta Daaa…

 

 

 

It looks much more serious in Russian

 Пришло пора, — сказал Морж, — Поговорить о разном: О башмаках, О кораблях, О сургуче и печатях, О капусте И о королях.

The time has come

the walrus said

to talk of many things,

of shoes and ships

and sealing wax

of cabbages and kings

 

Bagged & Tagged

 

Locked up in the evidence room, the DNA was awaiting trial, all set to convict beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

The surprising twist in the trial came when the defense attorney showed actual footage of the defendant using this brush on Margie, the family dog, who can prove she was chasing the cat at the time in question. 

 

 

 

The other side of Art

 

Only the shadow of the pen is real.