Pete's Shiva

Debbe’s 3 sisters are here,

All coming from Chicago,

Showing a love and warmth

That few can communicate.

Reducing the tears, making guests comfortable,

Offering easy conversation,

Explaining Pete’s interest in the Jewish religion,

And how quickly his last days had gone.

People who knew Pete,

People who know Debbe

Come, mumble condolences,

Honor the grieving.

Soon enough the house will quiet,

Life’s tempo will shift.

Soon enough morning’s challenges will

Inflict hurt and offer consolation.

Pain

Time, time without reprieve or consolation

Pushes against my chest 

Reenforcing the pain

That confines my path,

Offering a wealth of rationalizations.

A wall initially appearing impervious,

Proves a pitiful and short lived substitute

For a recognition that both sufferings;

An unhealthy heart and a refusal

To test my talents, serve to insulate.

Nor do I not recognize the value of the dance.

I am not the seminal thinker

Who first voiced, from a safe distance,

Support for those tentative barriers

That give respite, at a price.

Let me fill the day with the kindness of friends,

The love of those I call family,

And the wonders that give wing to hope.

Can I not feel, once more the joy 

Of a child’s brief escape in its dash 

To the oceans edge, 

Or the warmth of the fawn who choses to lie with the lion?

Knowing night will return, 

And eclipse todays sunshine,

Does not void this afternoon's laughter.

Outgoing Tide

In a looking glass darkly, we can catch 

A distorted vision of natives selling shiny objects

Back to the invaders,  in exchange for survival.

They do not swarm and drive you into the sea.

Acapulco is rich in tourists and hope.

Young couples avoid endless procreation,

But wish rather to share in the prosperity.

Ten miles of sand, smooth, and fine,

Pristine in the first eastern light, but not deserted.

High rise hotels and condominiums 

Hover like vultures at the beach edges,

Strain to devour the ocean view,

Vie for more of the preeminent panorama,

We dance and dine,

A week of epicurean delights should

Produce more guilt than I can bear,

But I seem to be managing.

Out Of Touch

It's no use.

Every time I figure one out,

Something bigger blossoms,

Forcing me deeper into my cave.

I sort of understood a club.

A spear was within my grasp. (That’s a joke, son.)

Shooting sticks exceeded my limits.

Now we race toward a cliff edge.

I’m going to leave my cave.

Posting a sign at the entrance

“ This is a non-nuclear neighborhood”,

Won’t deter the hordes or missiles.

I’m thinking of building in the Mariana Trench.

Figure most of the big booms go upward,

At 35,000 feet down most of the noise

Will be over my head.

I know it wont be easy.

All that pressure could really bend a guy. (Another joke, son.)

Light and heating could be problems,

And food shopping might be difficult.

On the other hand, lots of meat and poultry

Will be drifting down my way.

Of course TV’S and computers 

Will need extensive cable connections.

Allowing for a certain amount of ground shift,

My place will resemble an anchored submarine,

Attached to wooden pier.

I’m thinking of nautical colors.

Once Upon A Time In The East

New York has lost too many soldiers.

Their names are legend;

Yankee Stadium, Polo Grounds,  Ebbets Field, Shea Stadium.

New ballparks with sponsors names will need our indulgence.

Baseball is what they did before going to work.

Washington to Cincinnati, Boston to St. Louis,

Those were long train trips.

Duke rented an apartment in Brooklyn.

Such a beautiful swing.

Though he’d just as soon draw a walk.

Mays and Mantle made Duke appear less,

But none are his equal on today’s rosters.

After the traditional fall loss to the Yankees

Brooklyn would mourn,

And a couple of people would be shot.

We took the World Series seriously.

The Dodgers’ move to LA,

Was a catastrophe of epic proportions,

At least in Brooklyn, possibly Staten Island.

O’Malley had done the unthinkable.

No close fence for the Dukster,

400 feet to the right field LA Coliseum  wall.

Ebbets Field became apartments,

Imagine the Packers leaving Green Bay.