It works

even in pictures

Where else would you put it?

Can you hear me now?

Yes, I know it's corny.

I Can't Believe This

Photographers have waited a lifetime

to get a shot like this.

Everything was perfect:

My Nikon was in top shape,

the film was fresh,

lighting perfect,

the subject, the background - everything

could not have been better.

I took my time,  made my settings...

and then -

at the most perfect time

an Osprey flies right in front of the camera,

carrying a very large fish

in its claws.

I didn't even have to move,

I simply snapped the picture.

As you may have guessed by now

this all took place some time ago,

back when you had to send film

out to be developed.

My pictures came back with a note

of apology. 

Just so you'll know -

All of the other pictures came out fine.

Mr. Corwin,  we regret to inform you that, due to

an unavoidable mishap at our lab,

we were unable to develop this print.

Father and son

We are time-zones away, you and I.

for here I type - what you,

tomorrow read.

Here, I cook my meal,

you - there,

already in bed.

I plan and hope,

someday we're together.

You -

time-zones away,

search your cereal

for a prize.

zc

15 Minutes of Fame

In my younger day

I tried out to be the raisin girl.

I wasn't picked.

Then I auditioned for

Columbia Pictures.

I didn't get that job either.

Finally I tried out to be the Breck Shampoo Girl.

They said they were going in a different 

direction.

So apparently, this Blog is my 

15 minutes.

Envision

Whirled Peas

Interior Designer Prosecuted

for cruel window treatment.

I don't know how...

but after being locked for 21 years,

I remembered the combination.

Shopping

We no longer wipe the handle of the shopping cart with disinfectant before using it.  In fact, we no longer use a shopping cart at all.  We sit at home, usually in front of television, and do our shopping on our cell phone.  Nope, we don’t even talk to anyone, we do it all on-line.

Of course, the people I feel bad for are the marketing professionals who spent years in school learning about product placement.  Fighting with other manufacturers for eye-level shelf space, end cap displays and that ever popular impulse counter at the checkout.

Suddenly, our entire way of life has been altered by a bug so small that a flyswatter is useless against it.  And what about that?  The poor flyswatter makers, who by the way, haven’t changed their product in 5000 years, find themselves unemployed and defenseless against this pest.

I, for one, believe that 3-dimensional graphics should come with every on-line shopping experience.  This way, as Mom reaches the check-out now option on her phone or computer screen, the children will see colorful images of candy bars, Frito's, and toys.

“Hey Mom, stop, go back.  Mom, Mom, I need that, Mom… can we get that?’

Don’t you see, we’re missing the best part of shopping.

Up and Down

It works...

Use it wisely

On the street where you live

An Empty Gesture

In an effort to do their part to support

social distancing, Delta Airlines announced

they will no longer sell tickets for the middle seat.

Of course they do this at a time when everyone

is forced to stay home, and the airports are empty.

Thanks Delta.

That's quite a commitment. 

Pure Michigan

Sometimes

there are no words.

I think we lost them...

"I know how angry you get when

I disagree with you, but..."

Smorgasbord

When moisture hangs

         from silent limbs

                             to catch the Sun't first light -

 I shake the tree

                 and so get soaked,

I'm really not too bright.

*****

To my Sister on her Birthday

Were I to fold and kneed the dough

and sculpt a lady strong of will -

I'd beg you here to model so

I'd see just how to fill the bill,

With class and grace I'd first prepare

with charm and laughter in the air -

I'd form and tend with gentle instance

and add a dash of strong persistence,

I'd blend in wisdom, love and dreams

with just a pinch of lively spirit -

and make the lady as she seems

not past the hill - just near it.

*****

Logic & Lewis

I hate to be so practical

but I'm sure you all can see,

you'd never find both carpenter

and walrus by the sea -

The walrus in a single day

makes grunting s like a beast

where  carpenters - without a sound

a thousand bucks at least.

*****

My mind and thoughts are not the same

my thoughts are wild - my mind is tame,

My mind is sometimes overwrought 

simply by a passing thought,

when to death my mind does heed

My thoughts I'll leave for you to read.

*****

California Living

I haven't got a swimming pool

a hot tub or a bar

I hate to run

I just don't jog

or even walk too far -

I eat a lot of sugar

and my seams have given out

I haven't got a Fe-fe

with ribbons all about,

I haven't got a matchbook

with success a stamp away

my sweaters all have patches

but they didn't come that way,

Backgammon is strictly out

tennis is taboo,

racquetball's for someone else

I hate the smelly zoo -

I didn't buy a mansion

on a cliff that might erode

I haven't got a foreign car

designed to self explode,

I can't tell you if it's butter

or rancid marmalade

you'll find no platinum coating

upon my razor blade,

I haven't got a habit

that I'm trying hard to boot,

I haven't got an ethnic drive

to find a single root,

I think I might have passed away

a long, long time ago,

but I can't find ten doctors

for nine of them to know. 

*****

The Chair

Two people in a waiting room

where was a single chair,

Insisted, the politest one

"You sit, it's only fair."

Twenty minutes later

in a voice that broke the still -

the sitter stood and gestured,

"It's your turn, if you will."

A squirm and thirty fidgets

and the sitter finally stood,

The stander said, "One needs a stretch."

"I know - it feels quite good."

Finally, when their patience thought

the wait - a bit unfair,

someone opened up the door

and brought another chair. 

*****

I heard the Hoot Owl call my name

and I there in the wood -

had not recalled a melody

to ever sound as good.

I came upon a tiny brook

a refreshing sip I had

such knowledge - not in any book

the feeling made me glad.

A winding path did call to me

with twists, and turns and bends

it took me deeper in the wood

away from long-time friends.

It took me from the sunlit rays

where flower hearts were still,

no streams or brooks upon my gaze

no warmth to chase the chill.

It took me to an inner place

where courage takes a hand -

and led me to a smiling face

there in the promised land.

Zobostic Corwin

Flush - Rinse - Repeat

There seems to be a movement afoot to make chaos the norm.  It is an almost imperceptible sprinkling of disorder over society, slowly filtering in and blending with acceptable behavior until we no longer recognize right and good.

Add to this the continual dumbing-down and the persona of society changes almost daily.  It is perhaps the overwhelming feeling of helplessness that forces the elderly to withdraw to mental comfort zones, while the working class chases a financial security that was laid to rest with their grandparents. 

This is not an issue to be resolved, for it is simply evolution.  It will, however, behoove the astute observer, for with little effort - direction can be predicted, and from that knowledge - wealth achieved.  If, of course, wealth is as high as you care to aim.

I suggest loftier aspirations, for wealth evaporates into taxes and trinkets.  I submit to you a revolt of such immense proportions that weeks after you have finished reading this essay you will still be digesting its concepts.  It is a passive revolt, but one requiring courage, conviction and a sustained level of outrage so intense as to far outweigh the corruptive effects of government.

The opposition would have you buying bigger and bigger televisions, each claiming to have a picture so true and clear that you'll feel a part of the action.  Well, my friend - you are.  Buy into their plan and you're signed up for life.  But say, "No" to television and you will get your life back.

That's right, I'm suggesting we take back our lives.  We stop the bombardment of ads; we stop the stupidity of sit-coms, and the moronic onslaught of self-adoring nitwits.

The power of our subconscious minds has suffered a brown-out.  Our thoughts should be the central control of our lives.  We must take back full control and accept responsibility for our own direction.

The above essay is not designed to inspire you to action.  I just had some time to kill and felt like writing.   I'm done now.  

Z. Corwin