Lucky Pup

I preferred to think "Homer"

Was named after the great poet

Rather then the TV cartoon icon.

It offered me a little status.

His walking stride 

Called to mind a child's toy rabbit.

Uncoordinated steps that allowed for limited forward progress,

Changed abruptly when he ran.

Stretching his elegant long body,

Pushing off his powerfully muscled legs,

Homer gained a grace that stopped self-absorbed strollers,

Who found themselves transformed into this blissful, handsome    creature.

Nor was speed and grace all.

Racing along the water's edge,

Experiencing the disruption of the bay's surface,

There was a joy and self affirmation that knew no species limit.

From molecule to Blue Whale

A message was understood.

An unbounded freedom

Was being expressed in a universal language.

A Subtle Ride

I dominate the driveway,

Screaming to passers-by

“Look at me, but not too long,

For I am a big badass and discourage excessive gawking.”

I am a Cadillac Escalade,

With a 4000 hp engine, darkened windows,

A 20 foot wide stance, and weigh in at 7 tons,

And a very black exterior.

You can not afford me.

I inhibit most earthlings,

And take pride in my “Guido Effect”,

Therein stifling laughter from peasants.

My presence here reminds people

Of my owner’s  prominence.

I fully understands the obligations

Inherent in being among the truly gifted.

Whereas a foreign sports car may attract

Those tending toward the effete,

You must be awed by the power I project.

Superior, in my humble way, to old money.

You would do well not to speak to me

Of trifling matters such as miles per gallon,

And small parking spaces,

   They call out the “Donald” in me.

Ruth 2

“Why are those policemen here”?

Her question weighed heavily on my chest.

Waiters had morphed into cops

And there was no changing her mind.

If giving up control of her checkbook

Signaled the acceptance of  diminished capacity,

I was now seeing the river of thought

Beginning to flatten and ebb.

Four years have passed, and the remaining stream

Has lost the energy to push further.

She has outlived her generation,

Leaving few who can recall her independence.

For these last few months,

Ruth has played no part

In conversations that surround her,

Looking at faces that grow alien.

Euclidian geometry has its limits, mercifully.

Halving, then halving again, comes to an end,

And the woman who had opinions, loved her family,

Supported Women’s rights, and changed my diapers,

Has left the room.

Alice Discovers Mahjongg

Alice has joined her Mahjongg friends

For three days in San Francisco.

Without premeditation, Alice finds herself

Approaching strangers with a smile.

It is as though she has found a religion

That she does not fully understand

And wishes to share her joy,

While having no gospel to offer.

Alice is uncertain if this high

Will stay with her, or pass with the return home

She recognizes her experience may prove ephemeral,

And is utterly indifferent to any long term extrapolations.

The Biggest And The Best, The Pig And the Rest

Ayn Rand imagined a world

Where the gifted would rule

And the rest would accept their subordinate roles

Because the leaders would produce enough for everyone.

When the most fearsome animal is released,

His requirements are many,

And his satiation never reached,

As his territorial needs, matter and mind,  expand.

The experimenter never entirely escapes his experiment,

So too, Rand’s Libertarian leader

Can become the biggest.

Although being the best requires no allegiance to materiality.

An unending appetite is its own justification.

The need to consume matter does not allow for introspection,

Merely genuflection to a false god.

Building a gigantic chariot does not expedite the search for truth.

Acceptance of the strong leader’s mission reflectively

Does not promise an honest search.

Alas, the best explorer for truth is never assured eventual insight,

But it is only he who engages in a meaningful hunt.

Police At My Door

He came on strong.

He would not come in.

He demanded my dog, Rose, be tied up out of sight

He and his junior would not take off their sunglasses.

He threatened to arrest my wife. She was not home.

Said she had nearly shoved my neighbor’s workman into a ditch.

That neighbor had not seen the event,

And the workman had left the site.

Another neighbor who had witnessed the scene

Told the cop that Diana had not touch the workman.

It didn’t matter to the cop.

His message delivered, they left.

Maybe my name, Greenspan, was the problem?

I’m White, he and the workman were Hispanic.

He surely gave his junior a lesson in policing.

Whatever his reason, it expanded my view of cops.

Sleuth On The Loose

It may sound like false modesty

When I say, “Ah, it was nothing”.        

In truth I am understating the sheer brainpower

Needed to locate the missing phone.

It was not in its assigned location.

When I drive my faithful smart-phone

Rests in a space to my immediate right.

Exiting my car I spied its absence.

Here’s where my mental faculties took over.

It must have been alongside at some point.

I was returning from the gas station,

And had made no calls, coming or going.

Hence, I would not have removed the phone,

Yet clearly it was not where it should have been.

I examined the passenger seat. Not there.

Where had the goddamn thing gone?

Perplexed, I scratched my head.

It was then, smiling to myself,

I realized it was a case of

The right hand not telling the left hand what it was doing.

I lIve In coronado

I know what’s wrong with the folks in other towns.

They don’t have as many color-coded trash containers,

Two theaters, an art school for special students,

Or the houses aren’t quite so nice.

We are more special than your average US town.

Of course all Americans share

In our national exceptionalism.

It’s just that Coronado is extra-exceptional.

Just look at our bridge.

Built to create permanent lane-changing employment.

We have the most elegant police station in the country,

It’s just hard to find the front door.

All our lawns are incomparably green

Many are artificial.

This shows our level of concern for the environment,

And our average family includes 1.5 dogs.

Exoneration

Got an email today. It spoke of a jury decision that concluded I was not guilty. Not quite innocent, but not guilty. Where did that email come from? It was mailed by a good friend,. He has been in my life for forty years. This particular email was not in the nature of an inquiry, hoping to clarify a poem I had just published. It simply spoke of his shock at my “apparent” lack of concern for minorities, and gun control I exhibited in this poem..

Why didn’t he pick up the phone and “What the fuck are you doing?” No one would, or at least should ever attribute “perfection” to what I do or say. But this friend and I have discussed a great many, far more personal and potentially awkward stuff. He did not apologize for racing to send me a condemnation. And he took my explanation as exoneration.

I have lost many friends over the years. Some died, some chose. I have done my share of choosing. I want to keep this friend. I might never know why he sent that email. Maybe jealousy? Can I let it slide… I hope?.