Category: Poems

A Poem for Willoughby South

A Poem for Willoughby South

Today the First Amendment was abused,
as a cudgel, it has been used.

Used to shut down a high school play,
a student opera to premier today.

Children practiced for weeks, for months,
but plans were dashed all at once.

A letter from lawyers was received,
its contents were not to be believed.

Desist your plans or actions will be taken!
Injunctions will be filed, don’t be mistaken!

Your grievous threat to freedom must be halted.
Church and State separation must be exalted.

Zealots against religion went medieval
upon hearing kids may ponder good and evil.

We can’t tolerate any hint of religiosity.
Freedom of speech for the secular, but not for thee!

The episode that inspired this entry occurred at South High School.

 

Coffee maker

COFFEE MAKER

A bleary-eyed need
the brewing relief

Who will clean the pot?

Filling the basket,
grounds delight me
I smell Colombian

Who will clean the pot?

Reduced and powerful liquid
changing state
to solid

Who will clean the pot?

This is a poem I found in my year 2000 planner.  Sadly, I can confirm that coworkers are not any better at cleaning the office coffee pot in 2015.

Baseball in the cold

Titans played baseball
Night was cold, but bats were hot
They won 12 to 1

The tournament in Hudson began tonight. Earlier in the day it snowed. All the boys on my son’s 12U team looked like they had gained twenty pounds from all the layers of clothing under their uniforms.

John enjoyed the outcome and even got to pitch an inning.

 

A disco dancer’s lament

Some days I feel old
Showed off my disco dance moves
Sore muscles followed

We had an all-day conference at work today.  After lunch the moderator helped the crowd get our energy up by asking us all to break into small groups and bust out some dance moves.

Luckily, when I was in eighth grade the Sisters of Notre Dame taught us how to disco before our class dance.  I’m not as limber as I was when I was thirteen.

A haiku for Mondays

Another Monday
The first day of the work week
Carpe diem, friends!

I realize that not all of us work Monday through Friday.  As I think about it, not many people I know actually take the whole weekend off.  The spirit of this poem is to encourage us all to make the most of every day.

Pondering the lack of twang

ACM awards
Always make me scratch my head.
Where is the “Country”?

I don’t really watch many awards shows anymore. Orgies of self-congratulation fail to hold my attention for long.  I do watch the ACMs and the CMAs. Every time I watch them I get a little heartburn because I don’t think much of what is marketed as Country Music really qualifies as “country” it is pop rock hip hop with pickup truck in the video.

 

Tuxes and curse words

Rock Hall Induction
Much excitement in Cleveland
Tuxes and curse words.

#haiku
#NationalPoetryMonth
#RIPSRV
Inspired by @BetsyKling


The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Cleveland, Ohio.  The city hosts the induction ceremony every three years.The  New Yorkers that run the show can only be induced to come here that frequently, I suppose. Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble were inducted – hence the #RIPSRV hashtag.

Many Cleveland celebrities were at the festivities and the awesome Betsy Kling was keeping a count of the F-bombs dropping, inspiring today’s poem of the day.