EMILY'S BIG DAY
Graduate at one
Celebrate, anticipate
Go to work at four
DRK 6/5/16
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
WHERE'S LAZARUS?
WHERE'S
LAZARUS?
A new infant, I
Strained an old circle
A beggar, whose benefactors
gave
To let my childhood grow.
Indebted early
Now a benefactor
I encounter
Thirst on every corner
Those once powerful now want to know
Where's Lazarus?
I can’t go home to mother’s meals
I have to pay her due
And assisted living rent.
I can’t go back to the U again
They want to know,
Have I made my last will and . . .
They print names ranked by
contribution size,
Wine and dine, name a building
after you.
So I, ranked,
Rank and dip my water to
My family, the local needy
And favorite diseases
Arts, culture, multiple schools
And several churches
Wait. Name a building after me?
What do you say, kids?
Dennis R. Keefe
May 1, 2016
Monday, February 1, 2016
FAMILY CAR
There was a thread, a common fabric --
something shareable from the family attic.
When I was young families ruled
roost and road.
Bounded entities with familiar roles,
their well worn paths
got us where we needed to go.
Our four door sedan, once dad’s pride,
now struggles to compete
with modern rides.
Ford had a better idea.
Opportunity costs
sent designers outside the box.
Diversity the aim,
going off road the game
brought thrill rides, spilled rides
over new ground, barely tilled.
Explorers and SUVs?
Definitely not your father’s Oldsmobile.
CAR FAMILY
New cars, improved products, their variety a marvel.
Amazing the ways we have discovered to travel.
Shopping around?
The auto show is now in town --
the latest models and options.
Test drive a few. One may choose
to come home with you.
You’ll find youthful flash and geezer splash,
redneck bulk and metro mini,
durability, trade-ability
acceleration, top end speed,
handling, prestige and luxury.
Hauling needs? Specify
kids, weeds, or handicap-ability.
For fun, on some the tops come down.
If the basic models do not suit,
try a blend:
her three, his two, ours, theirs, never dull, extra pairs,
and always full of action to boot.
But you really must like to drive!
For a tighter ship and smoother ride
try personal cars, adults preferred.
Sophisticated cars which advertise
who you really are.
Those on the lot don’t satisfy?
Let them make one for you,
a concept car with YOU in mind.
We’ll all butt out. Design your own . . . online.
Not sure?
Future foggy?
Lease . . . and try
serial monogamy.
Whichever model you select,
one sex or two,
May and December,
“family,” is now a verb.
Respect its potential
for mobility.
When you’ve had time to consult the rep’s,
map your pre nup’s.
then close a deal.
Customers do have the final say.
But check,
long term,
do you want a warranty?
Dennis R. Keefe
3/16/12
There was a thread, a common fabric --
something shareable from the family attic.
When I was young families ruled
roost and road.
Bounded entities with familiar roles,
their well worn paths
got us where we needed to go.
Our four door sedan, once dad’s pride,
now struggles to compete
with modern rides.
Ford had a better idea.
Opportunity costs
sent designers outside the box.
Diversity the aim,
going off road the game
brought thrill rides, spilled rides
over new ground, barely tilled.
Explorers and SUVs?
Definitely not your father’s Oldsmobile.
CAR FAMILY
New cars, improved products, their variety a marvel.
Amazing the ways we have discovered to travel.
Shopping around?
The auto show is now in town --
the latest models and options.
Test drive a few. One may choose
to come home with you.
You’ll find youthful flash and geezer splash,
redneck bulk and metro mini,
durability, trade-ability
acceleration, top end speed,
handling, prestige and luxury.
Hauling needs? Specify
kids, weeds, or handicap-ability.
For fun, on some the tops come down.
If the basic models do not suit,
try a blend:
her three, his two, ours, theirs, never dull, extra pairs,
and always full of action to boot.
But you really must like to drive!
For a tighter ship and smoother ride
try personal cars, adults preferred.
Sophisticated cars which advertise
who you really are.
Those on the lot don’t satisfy?
Let them make one for you,
a concept car with YOU in mind.
We’ll all butt out. Design your own . . . online.
Not sure?
Future foggy?
Lease . . . and try
serial monogamy.
Whichever model you select,
one sex or two,
May and December,
“family,” is now a verb.
Respect its potential
for mobility.
When you’ve had time to consult the rep’s,
map your pre nup’s.
then close a deal.
Customers do have the final say.
But check,
long term,
do you want a warranty?
Dennis R. Keefe
3/16/12
TRAVELING SHOD
Been around awhile?
Need an opportunity to smile?
Imagine the surprise, the glee,
approaching the TSA,
a birthday sign for me.
No need to bend,
undo shoes, then
strain
to re-lace.
I could stay on my feet,
not face
the fumble , the struggle
to get up again.
A true privilege
for reaching 75,
a modern Fountain of Age.
For me
to choose this way
to blow up the sky
someone finally figured the odds
of traveling shod.
DRK
4/20/2013
Been around awhile?
Need an opportunity to smile?
Imagine the surprise, the glee,
approaching the TSA,
a birthday sign for me.
No need to bend,
undo shoes, then
strain
to re-lace.
I could stay on my feet,
not face
the fumble , the struggle
to get up again.
A true privilege
for reaching 75,
a modern Fountain of Age.
For me
to choose this way
to blow up the sky
someone finally figured the odds
of traveling shod.
DRK
4/20/2013
BABY ROOMBA’S BABY BROTHER
Blake, our year-old vac,
makes tracks to mimic
sister Senja’s.
Angling across the floor --
guided by some cosmic engineer --
to cabinets and drawers
he searches, changes direction,
and picks up . . .
always on the go.
Senja, Baby Roomba years ago,
the first to open our kitchen drawers,
swept up learning skills
that began her world explore.
Now Blake pulls and slams
reachable doors
piling pie tins on the floor.
Then, bouncing down . . . all fours . . .
reprises motor skills
from just two weeks ago,
to reach his Easter basket
with its music maker shakers.
Through his Stevie Wonder grin
he communicates the ecstasy
of shaking out
a sound again and again.
He completes his toddle
with a random Roomba swagger
to the John Deere Gator.
On and off the riding toy,
not yet in control
of facing aft or fore,
he grins at the noise its buttons trigger
but can’t quite figure
how to work them
with his fingers.
DRK
Easter, 2011
Blake, our year-old vac,
makes tracks to mimic
sister Senja’s.
Angling across the floor --
guided by some cosmic engineer --
to cabinets and drawers
he searches, changes direction,
and picks up . . .
always on the go.
Senja, Baby Roomba years ago,
the first to open our kitchen drawers,
swept up learning skills
that began her world explore.
Now Blake pulls and slams
reachable doors
piling pie tins on the floor.
Then, bouncing down . . . all fours . . .
reprises motor skills
from just two weeks ago,
to reach his Easter basket
with its music maker shakers.
Through his Stevie Wonder grin
he communicates the ecstasy
of shaking out
a sound again and again.
He completes his toddle
with a random Roomba swagger
to the John Deere Gator.
On and off the riding toy,
not yet in control
of facing aft or fore,
he grins at the noise its buttons trigger
but can’t quite figure
how to work them
with his fingers.
DRK
Easter, 2011
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
ON BEING THE SAME AGE AS
Jane Fonda
Yes, that Jane Fonda
A similar arrival time
And geography of activity
Led to some sharing
The waning years of the great depression
World War II
Watching the soldiers return
Then, for me
One school after another
And Jane became famous
The sharing stopped
Never any glamour here or requests to entertain
I promoted no one’s health
Moral outrage, I could never sustain
And was never invited to hobnob with wealth
Today, no star allure
Tempts me to reprise a public career
As for the future
Developments have occurred
Among the cohort we share
That suggest to me
A reason to rendezvous
I recently saw on TV
Jane, a model of coherence
No evidence of senescence
Or problems with balance
No muscles cramped, arthritic or stiff
Certainly no shortness of breath
Did we really share the same years?
Ms. Fonda
Some of us have moved beyond you
Someday, should your heart announce
“It’s time”
Or other parts chime
In and you begin to imagine
Life’s slower lanes
I’m an early-arriver
And would have time
For palaver
DRK
1/26/16
I must fondly acknowledge Kenneth Boulding, an inspiring economist, social scientist and philosopher, whose insightful writings were laced with British wit. If you were lucky enough to hear one of his presentations, you may want to join me. He may be the only person I remember who used the term, “palaver.”
Jane Fonda
Yes, that Jane Fonda
A similar arrival time
And geography of activity
Led to some sharing
The waning years of the great depression
World War II
Watching the soldiers return
Then, for me
One school after another
And Jane became famous
The sharing stopped
Never any glamour here or requests to entertain
I promoted no one’s health
Moral outrage, I could never sustain
And was never invited to hobnob with wealth
Today, no star allure
Tempts me to reprise a public career
As for the future
Developments have occurred
Among the cohort we share
That suggest to me
A reason to rendezvous
I recently saw on TV
Jane, a model of coherence
No evidence of senescence
Or problems with balance
No muscles cramped, arthritic or stiff
Certainly no shortness of breath
Did we really share the same years?
Ms. Fonda
Some of us have moved beyond you
Someday, should your heart announce
“It’s time”
Or other parts chime
In and you begin to imagine
Life’s slower lanes
I’m an early-arriver
And would have time
For palaver
DRK
1/26/16
I must fondly acknowledge Kenneth Boulding, an inspiring economist, social scientist and philosopher, whose insightful writings were laced with British wit. If you were lucky enough to hear one of his presentations, you may want to join me. He may be the only person I remember who used the term, “palaver.”
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