MAYBE NEXT YEAR 

 

Potholes occur.

But work on the roads?

Maybe next year.

Hope does endure –

see the suggestions below –

for those who drive

with the discipline required

to avoid the distractions

driving pleasures and civilities provide.                             

 

“Think less about driving fun,”

would be a good Rule One.

Focus on the surface,

not the scenery

or driving leisurely.

If you must have fun

leave your car behind

and take a 5- or a 10-k run.

                                                                          

A mechanic replaced my car’s front spring,

realigned the front end,

charged me five hundred bucks,

then recommended

“Drive slow,” Rule Two.

Won’t please followers

of slow-driver me.

But the goal of pot hole

management is

not their happiness.

Traffic is a distraction to ignore.

Watch the road, not someone else’s car.

 

To see potholes coming

use Rule Three, namely:

“Don’t follow closely.”

We prairie guys value elbow room,

but here they treat space as a liability.        

Pass, change lanes and cut to fill in.               

Time to make space a friend again.

Defend it against the cutters-in.

The discipline is –

if it’s traffic, ignore.

The communiques, the body language

of drivers you can’t satisfy –

let them rage.                                           

Avoid that hole! 

 

Yes, “Avoid those roads full of holes:” Rule Four.

Follow the roads still drive-able –

out of the way, to be sure

but detours capable

of protecting your car

while getting you . . .

who knows where.

Unfortunately for me

that’s my whole neighborhood.

We have invested so much in schools

we can’t afford the roads

to reach them.

Could mean home schooling for the grandchildren

but I can’t be sure.

Unable to get out there since the January thaw.

Now it’s April and our hole bumper crop has really matured.

I’ll see the kids again,

but in the meantime I continue

to search and share word

of roads that are good.

If you live at the end of one of the others,

maybe next year.                                       

 

Dennis R. Keefe

May 1, 2009

 

                                     UNCOVERING THE MAGIC

 

                                              One of my fears

                                      as a grandparent this year:

                               Easter’s magic would fail to appear.

                                          Were the kids too old                                                    

                                           to drag out the stuff?

                                           When ours stopped

                                             it didn’t get done.

 

WE’RE GOING TO DYE EGGS AND DECORATE CUPCAKES     

THEN YOU CAN GO BACK HOME

AND HUNT FOR EASTER BASKETS.

THERE IS A NOTE FROM THE BUNNY

WITH JELLY BEANS SCATTERED AROUND.

 

We can make a bunny village.

                                       

IF WE HAVE TWENTY FOUR EGGS AND THERE ARE FOUR OF YOU,

HOW MANY EGGS DO EACH OF YOU GET?

 

Look, they’re all hide-and-go-seeking

this bunny’s on guard

They want to bring the chicks to bunny town

it will be very exciting

 

WHERE IS THE EASTER EGG TREE?

HAS ANYONE SEEN THE EASTER EGG TREE?

 

I am the mayor of bunny town

and this is my crown.

 

They have to get all the way through bunny town to get it

and there are things that pop up out of the ground to get them.

 

OMIGOSH, I DIDN’T KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT

 

How many tablespoons of vinegar for the dye?

         How do you make turquoise? 

         How about dark pink?

Don’t throw the dye away; I’ll be right back

         I forgot to put eyes on mine

         Look, I made an Indian

I want the frog decorations; you can have the chicks

 

Grandma, she’s taking too many!

No, we each get six!  This is one of my six!

 

YES, YOU CAN EAT THEM

WE CAN EVEN MAKE DEVILED EGGS LATER

 

. . . WOW, THESE BASKETS ARE REALLY HIDDEN

 

I still can’t find mine

I’m the last one

 

DO YOU WANT A HINT?

IT’S IN THIS ROOM AND IT’S NOT IN THE MICROWAVE

(WE HIDE IT THERE EVERY YEAR)

 

DO YOU WANT TO HIDE EGGS?

 

Yes, can we do it inside? 

We did it outside yesterday

 

                                  If Jesus were an eight-year-old,

                                     would he celebrate this way

                                            with kids like ours,

                             bunnies, chickens, flowers and candy?

                                   Maybe make up a new game?

 

                             The worries this year were premature.

                    Maybe it was Grandma Meme’s fuzzy bunny ears

 

Dennis R. Keefe

July 9, 2009

 

ZANDER

 

Zander, Liz’s young

Michigander, is a spruced

Goose soon to be loose

 

DRK

4/1/23

 

STELLA

 

Stella and fella

Tyler found the old foibles

We dropped to the ground

 

DRK

4/1/23

 

THANKS TO OLIVIA

 

Olivia came to live with us

and she brought her mommy too

Now we have pretty furniture,

new rugs and a piano – who

do you think is learning

“Doe, a deer, a female deer . . .?”

 

Olivia came to live with us

and now we’re learning to share

our dog and minivan                 

but we don’t care;

she brought more grandparents

an aunt and uncles.

Fair is fair.               

 

Olivia came to live with us

and now we can’t sit still

we’ve traded cable for

tennis, swimming,

dance and yoga

         to name a few.

They say it’s all to have some fun

but it makes us sleepy too. 

 

Olivia came to live with us

and helped us shape our ship

we’ve planted a garden

trimmed the yard 

and generally fixed things up.

We even took a trip

to Disney World

and did it up

real proud.

 

Olivia came to live with us

now there’s music everywhere

for Livi’s mom sings, plays and teaches at the U. 

She taught us handbells and 

‘Tho we struggle to reach the keys and pedals

we’re learning piano too. 

 

Olivia came to live with us

I guess our daddy liked her some

because he married her mom.

 

Dennis R. Keefe

September 6, 2007

 

 

        

 

                                     EMILY GOES TO SCHOOL

 

Emily’s family has a new focus this year

For Emmy’s first school day is finally here.

Preschool is done

Kindergarten roundup was fun.

Now play days are school days,

Just beginning the run

Through teachers and friends,

Classes and grades,

Year after year.

Will it ever be done?

 

They will help her get better

At this and at that

Learning numbers, letters

And how to spell “CAT.”

                                                                                

Ideas will be led through her mind

In formations of phrases,

New words and new books;

Adding, subtracting and art --

She may learn to cook,

As she discovers the gold mine

That is hers for a lifetime

One that will deepen, grow bigger --

Similar, but different

From yours and from mine.

 

Thanks, mom and dad,

For getting her here;       

The time will go fast,

And you will be proud;

Just remember your role in the cast

You can’t cheer too loud.

 

Dennis R. Keefe, August 25, 2003

March 25, 2023

 

HANNAH’S BANANA BOAT

We stopped for lunch at The Banana Boat

Next door to some boaters

Near the Florida shore

Now Hannah
Has a banana boat in mind 

For when she turns four

In her mind 
It’s not a toy

but big enough

"For all of us to ride on”

Shaped like a banana, it's real

With a flag and a triangle sail

A rainbow concoction

“With all the colors in it”

And somehow
Through her three-year-old eyes
She is able to see beyond rides

And wonders

“How would we take it out of the water?

And take it home?”

I suggest we gather
In her boat together
For some sailing fun
Every color and sailor

And when done
Build that banana boat

A trailer.

Dennis R. Keefe

July 2, 2003
December 21, 2014