Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Some 73rd Birthday Numbers


2,700,000,000 heartbeats
At varying rates caused by love or aerobics
693,000,000 breaths - some mindful, many not
2,000,000 words in my 42 journals
26,665 days, some more alive than others
4,400 books read
500 paintings created, 400 destroyed
11 - acturially estimated years remaining (but who knows?)
Zero vegetables liked


Saturday, February 4, 2017

Log In, Log Out

I logged in to the visitor list at 7:29
And exited the elevator at 7:32
Nurse: Are you here to see Mr. Graves?
Me: Yes, how did you know?
Nurse: We alerted the family a half hour ago
As I enter the room
Denny: labors to take his last breath
They: time of death 7:44
Me: "Goodbye old friend"
The Details Are In the Dash

Larry Glenn Andrews, 1944 - 20??
I've secured the first two digits of my end date
And the growing frequency of notices
Of the death or disability of contemporaries
Cause me to speculate on the remaining numbers

But I'd rather focus on the details in the dash
How then shall I live the Dash?

Christmas Snack

My face smiled and sighed
While my soul laughed and wept
My 36 year old autistic son
Still believes in Christmas

On his own initiative
He placed a glass of milk
In front of the fireplace last night
I noticed his worried look

"What's the matter Joey?"
"Fraid the milk might sour"
My little Buddha
So thoughtful and guileless

I scheduled myself to empty the glass
Before he awakened Christmas morning
But he beat me down the stairs
However, Mrs. Santa Claus saved the day
He was so pleased, and so was I
Santa got his Christmas snack

Friday, December 9, 2011

POEMS OF NECESSITY

These are poems of necessity
Recording what matters
Saying what needs to be said
Revealing unappreciated complications
And the unexamined chaos of the heart
Providing comfort, not explanation
Gathering words behind a levee
To contain love and loss and laughter

You Dirty Rat

No longer can Cagney
Fling out
"You dirty rat"

Neuroscientists have now discovered
Empathetic rats will set free
An imprisoned fellow rat
For no reason

Other than compassion
Something many of our species
Cannot yet do

Instead, it is prison for ounces of marijuana
A Berlin style wall for our Mexican border
And rats accusing each other
"You dirty human being"

[Based on a Houston Chronicle article, 9 Dec 2011, "Altruistic behavior stuns scientists". Neurobiologists increasingly believe animals can detect emotions. I hope they find something we can inject into certain political leaders before they kill us all.]