AFTER WANG FAN-CHIH

When the bigshots whiz by

in their sleek

Mercedeses 

and Teslas,

I feel small in 

my tired old Honda.

But I feel better

when I pass

a bus stop

crowded with women 

and babies

and wheezing old men.

INGENUITY (or, Life on Mars)

They flung a thingamajig

300 million miles

across open space

and hit a rock

zipping along at 

14 miles per second.

Bullseye!

Those guys must be

pretty smart.

Copter goes up.

Copter goes down.

People cheered.

Meanwhile,

I saw a man 

dumpster-diving

for potato skins,

and a woman

begging quarters

with her two

doe-eyed boys.

And I'll be darned if 

there wasn't 

a rocket scientist 

in sight.

TRUTH 

All those teachers

and pop singers

and motivational 

speakers who said

"You can change the world"?

They lied.

And besides,

who are we to say

that the world isn't 

perfect just as it is?

4/18/21

LOOKING BACK

Looking back on my life 

is so surprising!

I'd always imagined

I would 

achieve something great. 

But early on 

I decided

I'd rather be a good person

than a bigshot.

It's hard to be both.

4/17/21

RED TAIL HAWK

Red-tail hawk 

knows where he fits

in his world.

To the crow

he's a baby-killer.

To his family

he's a hero.

To me

he is mind.

4/15/21

DOG (for Ferlinghetti)

Dog is angry.

From behind his fence he 

snarls and shouts

insults at passersby.

Working himself into a rage,

he spits curses and turns his 

intestines toxic, his liver 

to axle grease.

I glance over and 

continue my walk,

humming softly 

to myself.

4/14/21

SOMEBODY ELSE

When I was young

I really just wanted to be

somebody else:

Someone taller

with chiseled features

perhaps more artful,

with bags of cash

and world renown,

a hit with the ladies,

estimable friends around the globe.

Now I'm old:

No taller

bald and jowly

devoid of mastery,

still not rich

completely unremarkable

I have few friends,

a wife who loves me,

stumbling my way through life

but no longer ashamed.

4/14/21

THE PRICK OF LIGHT (Or, My First Vax)

I waited a year for that 

prick of light. I wore 

my favorite mask

to the event. I even 

posted the requisite selfie. Now, 

I have the shingles.

4/13/21

 THE CLIMBER

Thirty years ago

I followed rocky trails

to great summits,

gulping ever more 

encompassing eyefuls of

urban sprawl.

Now I gaze up 

at the peaks 

and sigh.

But my vision is clear.

4/13/21

LADYBUG

Ladybug clings

to a slender leaf of grass

while the gale rises 

around her,

lightning cracks

and thunder claps.

Tenuous 

and tenacious.

Such is our attachment 

to this life.

4/12/21