Chōka 8 May 2023

I’m done racing rats

Through a seeming endless maze

Chasing smaller chunks

Of stinking green Limburger.

I see, now, the trap

Set by those soulless fat cats

To keep us from succeeding.

Gabba’s Grove

Beside a small pond

hidden in a cedar grove,

a homely shed stands,

indifferently attended,

not for lack of love

but for aching old bodies,

children too busy,

and grandchildren far too young

or moved just too far away.

An Inconstant Measure

Quartz cannot command

time’s irregular advance;

it passing us by

in subjective intervals

dependent on attention.

Decisive Daffodil Duo

Version 1

Daffodils care not

For the mad machinations

Of tyrants or mortal men

~

Version 2

Daffodils care naught

Of the mad machinations

Of tyrants or mortal men.

Two subtle wording differences produce two wholly different feelings.

Weathering

Like the well worn seat

in my old, hard driven, car,

molded, thus, by many miles

this nostalgic ache

dwelling here, where grief once lived

is my new life’s companion.

Anodyne Applied

Dawn’s fury displaced

by a walk among the blooms.

Harmony restored.

You Always Have a Choice

You can plan your death

but it’s much more effective

to choose how you’ll live.

Friends, Family, and Loved Ones.

As we prepare for this Memorial Day; a time to honor and thank all of those who sacrificed their lives to assure that our American society could continue, I would like to take a few minutes to propose a little thought experiment.

My purpose is to cast neither blame nor judgement but rather to inspire contemplation and encourage conscious choice in our celebratory behavior.

Many of us will gather in groups, Monday, to pay tribute to our fallen ancestors. Imagine you are there, in that gathering now, well before you actually arrive. Think about this example, and let your conscience be the guide to your personal behavior.

Picture in your mind, the celebratory environment you plan. Imagine the size of the crowd. Think about the personalities of the people with whom you will be gathering. Consider their occupations and the number of people they must interact with daily and the closeness of those interactions. Contemplate, based on those factors, how many of the people gathered will be wearing masks and how many will not. Honestly and fearlessly reflect on whether you or your immediate family will be masked or unmasked. Do you have that image firmly in your mind?

Now comes the hard part- please read the remainder with an open mind and do not assume any prejudice!

Imagine that at the culmination of the celebration, a time comes for everyone in the crowd to draw a handgun and fire all rounds straight up, into the air- kind of a all guns salute to the fallen. Appropriate, since we are honoring those who fell in battle to assure our freedom.

Thinking back of the image you formed earlier of your holiday crowd, imagine that all those wearing masks are firing blanks and all those without are firing live rounds.

Ask yourselves, in all honesty, would you wish that you and your family, friends, and loved ones were also wearing military helmets or had, even, chosen to celebrate somewhere else?

Savage Waters

This disease leaves wounds,

rivers both wide and deep.

Too deep for fording

and much too wide for bridges,

so we build ferries

and brave treacherous waters,

holding connections

to our loved ones long estranged

by these savage waters wide.

Regardless Our Intent

With every action,

We nudge ourselves closer to

paradise or perdition.

Masked

Behind bravado

Cowers insecure infant

Confidently clothed.

Internal Locus Lost

What Narcissism!

Forgetting how to control

both temper and car,

he lays heavy on his horn

trying, vainly, to control

actions of other drivers.

His Master’s Voice?

They must think us dogs

salivating to their bells

doing tricks for tiny treats!

~

And how can they not

when we drool at every cue

playing games they tell us to?

~

Is there any choice?

After all, they hold the cards

and set the rules we must regard.

~

Why must we regard

their arbitrary edicts

when their only care

is their self-serving interests?

Bite the hands that feed, I say!

Ignore their strident bellows!

Exercise our every freedom!

Let us run across the meadows!

Dawning Awareness

By sunrise first rays

Treetop branchlets a glisten

While upon the forest floor

We remain deep in shadow