A Mermaid Tale

public domain photo - credits below

A Mermaid Tale

Some ancients say

a long time past

the sea possessed

a sweeter taste.

They attest  

‘twas the tang

of a spurned

mermaid’s

tears

providing

a reason

for the briny

seasoning

PSC / 2018-Nov

 public domain photo credits:

I Can’t Quit Now

 

photo by PSC / 2014

I Can’t Quit Now

Another moon,

the muse malingers

while the final days

drip through my fingers.

November is waning,

but I’m so far behind

I can’t see my way

to the finish line.

 Like a marathoner

trudging

on an uphill slope

I’m falling behind

and losing all hope.

But will I give up?

Nope!

PSC / 2018-Nov

Kudos to Kindness

photo by PSC / Nov-2016

Kudos to Kindness

Kudos and props

to the everyday people,

kind neighbors and strangers,

encountered each day;

those aides, maids and doers,

the help-you-get-through-ers

who find both the will and the way.

You know who I mean

‘cause you’ve seen them before:

They’ll stop what they’re doing

to open a door.

They’re smilers and greeters,

and please-take-my-seaters

(and lately our paths

seem to cross

more and more.)

 Those cup of hot tea-ers,

and coffee’s-on-me-ers

deserve all our thanks and our praise.

And it may sound outrageous

but I hope it’s contagious

and we all catch it

one of these days.

PSC / 2018-Nov

What For?

public domain photo - credits below

What For?

Everyone wants to squabble,

quibble, squawk, and squeal,

and I’m wholly fed up with listening

to every squeaky wheel.

Denouncing this, protesting that –

I can’t take any more.

I really don’t care

to hear WHAT you’re against

just tell me, please,

what are you FOR?

PSC / 2018-Nov

public domain photo credits: 

No Love Lost

Forsooth

photo by PSC / 2016

Mr. Potato Head

public domain photo - credits below

Mr. Potato Head

As a toddler and a young child

you were always numero Uno;

your life was Candy Land, 

and the world was just

a Barrel Full of Monkeys.

With watercolors,

finger-paints,

crayons, and chalk

you could color your cosmos

any way you wanted it to be –

 no one decreed

you should stay

within the lines.

As you grew older,

perhaps you discovered Life

could sometimes be puzzling

and (whether or not

you went looking for it)

Trouble  might eventually

(inevitably)

find you.

Sooner or later you may

(we hope) wise up to the fact

that it’s a lot harder

to Connect the Dots

than you ever imagined.

p.s. Some of us are wondering, in fact, 

if perhaps you’ve already lost your marbles.

PSC / 2018-Nov

public domain photo credits 

Heart Breaking

photo by PSC / 2012

Heart Breaking

One nation

under siege

in dissonance

sans liberty

sans justice

with walls

PSC / 2018-Nov

Stout

Anti-Anti-Any(Every-)thing

Anti-Anti-Any(Every-)thing

It's so easy these days

to be anti-

anything (everything).

Our current culture's

overcome with skepticism,

criticism, negativism, but

what we could really use is

more "for", fewer "against".

Just you scout out some-

one (anyone) seeking

to float a balloon of hope

and you'll find hordes

of people, pumped up,

hoping only solely

to pop it, to stop it

before it takes flight, but

that just leads us nowhere.

Mother Teresa had it right:

Positivity gets you places,

(and Mr. Rogers knew how

to get from here to there:

"Look for the helpers.")

We just need to look for

(to find, to become)

those helpers

(those do-ers, do-gooders,

the gal Fridays, and

right-hand-men)

who'll help put the world

back together again.

So, thank you, Burt Bacharach,

(what the world needs now

IS love), and also perhaps, 

(it certainly wouldn't hurt)

a plentitude of Pollyannas. 

PSC/ 2018-Nov

You Never Know

public domain photo - credits below

You Never Know

but, the veteran

inhabiting a cardboard box,

who scours dumpsters daily

for something warm

to wear, to eat

(she knows)

the single parent

working three jobs

who needs decide

which bills to pay

and not

(he knows)

the inner city kids

waiting greedily

for their free

school lunches,

the lonely seniors,

anticipating a visitation

from Meals on Wheels,

the refugees

traipsing empty

but filled with hope,

fueled by dreams,

carrying their most

precious cargo

(they know)

but unless

displacement

by the next 

natural disaster

finds YOU 

waiting on FEMA,

or Red Cross, or

Americares,

or the kindness 

of strangers,

you'll (probably)

never know.

PSC / NOV 2018

public domain photo credits

The Eyes Have It

public domain photo by Lorie Shaull

public domain photo - credits below

The Eyes Have It

Actual words and facts 

appear to carry less

weight these days, but

perception is everything.

If she speaks softly,

cautiously, then

she's deemed timid, 

weak, unfit to lead;

yet when he

does the same, 

he's perceived as 

powerful and

in control. 

When she

raises her voice

(or her fist)

she's judged a shrew,

while he, 

(on the other hand)

is regarded as resolute,

determined, decisive, 

and passionate.

(That is, unless

he's black or brown -

then he's presumed

a threat.)

PSC / 2018-Nov

PD photo credits below (in order):
(1) woman's fist
(2) black fist

In the Heart of the Beholder

public domain photo by Alan Cleaver

In the Heart of the Beholder


Catastrophe

can sometimes be

a matter of perspective.

Do you descry calamity

in a caravan

crossing your borders

or children confined to cages?

Is fatality defined

by the forfeiture

of gun rights

or human lives?

At times, disaster

is just the buzz

of an alarm clock

calling us to rise.

Can you hear

the ringing?

PSC / 2018-Nov

public domain photo credits