(A Lightsome Limerick)

Inhabiting a Cardboard Box

public domain photo - credits below

Inhabiting a Cardboard Box

Perhaps

it should be

a prerequisite

for adulthood or

mayhap a co-op class

in conjunction with

Compassion 101.

Maybe it might be

a mandatory

mini-course

for anyone

accepting a job

as a public servant.

Certainly, it should be

part of the core curriculum

for a member of Congress

or a President of the U.S.

(or any other country

for that matter.)

PSC / 2018-Nov

public domain photo credits  

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: 

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 

Past Imperfect

public domain photo - credits appear below

Past Imperfect

Will how we lived

and what we said

be held against us

once we're dead?

Might generations yet to be 

view us all with enmity

for what we did 

and didn't do?

We really haven't got a clue

what repercussions there might be

on any future progeny

(their drinking water, soil, and air)

Will they believe we didn't care? 

I hope they know we did our best

and they forgive us all the rest.

If we’re lucky, they’ll be kind

and view us with an open mind.

Then, when it comes to placing blame

their grandchildren will do the same.

PSC / 2018-Nov

public domain photo - credits appear below

But, It Shouldn't Be Fatal