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The Covid Crisis The Covid crisis won't recede from view. Hair covers me and quarantines my face. Eclipsed from you, I'm knotted through and through, Combs failing daily in my cloistered space. Once when hair care required my car to run, "Vrrr-ooom!" was not a sound that found my ear. Instead a batt'ry dead from too much sun Declared: You have been spared, just stay right here! Can I have trust the barber must just know Risk's down in town to zero on this day? If I come by the courage there to go, Suppose my nose meets Covid on the way? Is care for hair the risk my car believes? ... So far, my car has earned my curls reprieves! (First published on December 29, 2020 in the Creativity Webzine) |
Show Me the Monet Serenely and divinely Japanese! How else could one describe Claude's garden scene Of water lilies under willow trees Where nature has been made to look pristine? Maybe instead describe it as a fraud: East meeting west where you and I are conned To think the garden's how 'twas seen by Claude! ... Have you not wondered if his painted pond Erased a truth? I mean discarded junk, Moved out of sight by short and deft brush strokes, Oils gracing canvas, till you would have thunk No one could guess Claude played the best of jokes— Except if they had seen a shopping cart Tipped over in the pond in Banksy's art! (Prompted by this article; first published in the Winter 2020 issue of Rat's Ass Review and reprinted in the Ekphrastic Review on January 12, 2021) |
I'm Notorious RBG I'm scarcely five feet high but I stand tall. My stature towers far above my size: No one dare claim that my achievement's small Or doubt my luster in my nation's eyes! To girls, I've blazed a trail they too can ride One day, provided they work smart and hard, Refusing to let justice be denied. I've shown them that no future role is barred! ... One caveat is not to think new laws Upholding equal gender rights worldwide Should be cheered only by the women's cause— Remember, my success helps either side! Both men and women own this truth to tell: Good law for girls is good for boys as well! (Prompted by this article and first published on October 30, 2020 in the Creativity Webzine) |
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Octopus Teacher On Netflix there's an octopus whose charms Conceal the most intelligent of minds. Two thirds of her cognition's in her arms, One third in her main brain is all one finds. Pyjama sharks regard her as a meal, Until they find they're easy to outwit, So craftily she moves: nine brains reveal That smarts all in one place are not most fit! ... Encephalon is singular in us, And though an extra brain did not evolve, Combining brains, just like an octopus, Has still been humans' only way to solve Enigmas that one mind can't puzzle through: Robust brain power means both me and you! (Prompted by My Octopus Teacher and first published on November 30, 2020 in the Creativity Webzine) |
I'm Attenborough I'm ninety-four and still I climb up trees. My love for apes and monkeys knows no bounds. Antarctica is where you'll see me freeze, To catch a glimpse of penguins on their rounds. The tropics still are where I scuba-dive. Exotic species all know me by name. No creatures bat an eye when I arrive, Because they know I love them all the same ... Oh dear, oh dear! We reap what we have sown: Rare species I once snuggled on your screen, Or marvelled at in such a soothing tone, Unless we act may never more be seen ... Go forth forth and be a veggie! Ride a bike! Hug trees! Love bees! Use solar and the like! (Prompted by A Life on Our Planet and first published on November 30, 2020 in the Creativity Webzine) |
Teeing Off An Elk The golfer needs to understand the rut, Especially when bulls are on the green. Elks don't much care if you just want to putt, If keen to steal their dames is how you're seen! No golfer should be ignorant of how Golf carts sound like a serenader's tune: Once bulls believe you're coveting a cow, Forget about a quiet afternoon! ... For golfing irons poking from a bag, Approaching in a golf cart on the grass, Not only look like antlers to a stag, Elks fear they're in the harem-stealing class! ... Lest you be gored by antlers hard as nails, Keep golf bags out of sight of rutting males! (Prompted by this article, first published in Light on October 12, 2020 as one of the Poems of the Week; reprinted in the Washington Post on October 15) |