I don’t write in a journal everyday, but I have accumulated many entries over the past 50+ years beginning in 1966. Some items evolved into longer works. Among the leftovers little pieces survived. I thought a collection of these with a piece culled from the same date in a past year would make an interesting yearbook. The consistencies and inconsistencies of mind, skipping back and forth across time, provide varied perspectives. It is difficult to remember the context of the past we’ve lived; we also make suppositions about times that predate ourselves.

The few alterations from original drafts were to improve clarity. The worst of my work is not included. There remains enough mediocrity and immaturity to make me feel humble and you feel smart. There are also moments of accidental insight and incidental humor.

Author Stephen Crane referred to his little pieces as pills…apparently they were small and somewhat hard to swallow, but good for you.


Comments Welcome!

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

The old men have spots on their pants


May 1, 2009  (I was 64)

The old men have spots on their pants
in places that should embarrass them
They do not see them
They no longer have reason
to suspect they might have spots on their pants

The old men grumble under breath
about things that would embarrass them
if they thought anyone heard
They no longer have the attention
of any near enough to listen

The old men tremble at the table
in a tremor that could embarrass them
if it overturned the furniture
They no longer have the influence
to register an after-shock

The old men issue perplexing odors
tainted wafts that might embarrass them
They don’t smell a thing
They no longer have to discriminate
aroma from taste

No comments:

Post a Comment