Poetry

A Poem Is Not a Jump Shot

I have done at least

One thing perfectly

In my life

I have faked my man

Gone up in the air and

Gotten nothing by net

Perfect

Now I write poetry

And now no matter

How happy I am

With a poem

It is never perfect

It can always be tweaked

Have words added

Or cut or changed

Never really finished

Never perfect

But, sometimes,

I have

To pause

To stop

And just get

Poems out the door

And that is this submission

Flash

I woke up

this morning

with an insight

into the meaning

of it all

I wanted to

rush to

tell the world

-- to explain

everything!

But, alas,

I can’t

It’s still under

investigation by

the Southern District

of New York

January 1, 2019

I sit in a chair

Leaning on my cane

And watch my wife

Walk Fala The Wonder Dog

On our property

Years ago,

I could have trotted

With Fala

But no more

It could be worse

Much worse

Now my goal

Is mainly to

Be able to write

These same words

On January 1, 2020

Food Pantry

I volunteer on

Saturday mornings

At our local

Pantry

Every week

We give food to

Over 100 families

All sorts of food

Ham

Tuna

Beans

3 cans of Vegetables

3 cans of fruit

Bag of fresh vegetables

Pasta

Tomato Sauce

Soup

Rice

Cereal

Juice

Eggs

Cake

Bread

Rolls

Bagels

But on holidays

We have toys,

Turkeys, and fixins for

Many more people

On the Saturday

Before Christmas

We gave food

To 170 families

And

Toys to 370 children

Most of the recipients

Are very polite and grateful,

Smiling and making

Small talk and saying

Thank you

A very small minority

Are not pleasant,

Even scowl, and

Act as though

We owe them something

Maybe they are right