Disingenuous

Ted Koppel used the word effortlessly.
Calling the man a liar by synonym
Allowed for the continuation of a conversation.
Disingenuous; a suggestion that you are mistaken... intentionally.

An eight year old who is having trouble with math,
Maybe learning disabled, not retarded.
She was born with “a broken learning”.
No fault here. She could move on with a disability.

Could I but distinguish between being right
And being righteous,
I would be a better man.
But I think I should be a better man first.

There is a radio station that plays only piano solos.
Most of the music does not raise
To the level of the concert hall
Nor sink to an elevator recital.







*

Russ At 177

A big smile said “hello” before he spoke.
Russ looked real happy.
He’d shed 25 pounds and shifted into high.
There was light in his eyes.

Having done something that marked him,
He now viewed his surroundings as fair game,
No longer a series of grievances
To be cursed like the darkness.

Could you, or me reach beyond our boundaries,
View ourselves as immune from attack
Grounded in the other guy’s
Finger or car-horn.

Could we leave a meditative state,
Carry the calm and strength
We had gained there
Into the world of noise and threat?

Russ, of this moment,
Has arrived. After a lifetime,
Of looking outward for cause,
At a place of possibility.

Tossing Papers

I destroy papers.
Nothing to do with recycling,
Everything to do with recovery.
I will never find the documents if filed.

I spend time
Debating the alternatives;
By subject, date, author?
Which should be discarded?

If asked “why I discarded a paper”?
I usually respond “I believe in recycling”.
Occasionally I suggest that keeping the papers means
“The terrorists are winning”.

I have not worked out the cause and effect,
But no one wants the terrorists to win.
Responders nod sagaciously ,
Meaning “Leave this crazy man alone”.

I had a lawyer who suffered a similar malady.
He had files covering his office floor.
That way he could claim he was working on them.
And could not possibly put them away.

I work on Thoreau’s system.
He hypocritically claimed files should
Be kept on a thumbnail,
(But could supply a list of every half-penny he spent.)

I feel my descendants will be grateful.
They need not concern themselves with
Sorting all manner of poor punctuation.
They need only take the cash, if any, and run.