Best Hat In Hand Poems

A spinning world globe just set off the center of its axis pole,
Welcome to the mad-mad Hatter’s topsy-turvy upside down
Wonderland, just another inside out hole where bunnies ware
Waist coats and fancy pocket watches!
Empty tea cups, please move down one place, as this riddler
Of whimsical nonsense...

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Multiple choices with one last try, amid this myriads maze

Someone very dear unto myself asked me the other day

"Is the sun shining where you are?"

So I took a crystal glance, into an oblong box....

Actually I thought, as I peered ever closer into this warping glass

It...

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Let all the tree tops glisten , 
And gleeful children listen, 
As snow drops gently fall,
To an amazing Christmas call.
Let all the people sing out loud, 
Let mistletoe hang, from every cloud,
Let stars twinkle in the sky,
Let Angel choirs reign this night ,
And bring delight...

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While a part of my soul longs,
To be carried away,
Far far,
From myself,
To another world,
To a mountain top,
To a lonely place,
To where the air is thin and light,
To where sensations stop,
To where feelings end,
To where noise is drowned out by clouds of silence,
Another part,
Just wants to...

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Considering how many times I set out to pen a small,
Master piece of art, a gem that might underwrite,
The utter liability of being just that stamp,
Or tramp, or whatever other denomination one might reliably take into use,
To put me in some camp,
By way of classifying...

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If my child came to me in need
with confidence that I would heed
his plea, responding right away,
giving my help without delay,

if then he took my gift and left,
would I not feel a bit bereft
if he gave  no more thought to me
until one more emergency?

Is...

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Merry Christmas to you, Uncle Sam

Leaving the jobless with hat in hand

   Congress on a Yuletide roll

   Brought an end to public dole --

They’re cooking their goose, not Christmas ham




*Written in 2010 after Congress made cutbacks in social service programs...

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The inevitable envy we feel
When we see our neighbour’s wealth
The eternal Ferris wheel
Up now, then down
The wheel turns
To be up
And to be down

Yet the greatest of us
Rise to the challenge
Of when being up
And seeing far
Not to look down
On those below

Not to spit
And not to drop
Popcorn...

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I loved you John Wayne!
		I wished you were my father
		or maybe an older brother 
		who’d tutor me to be tough
		when manners weren’t enough
		and toughness was needed
		that civility be heeded
		and not to brag or complain.
		O I loved you John Wayne!

		As soon as I was old enough...

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This is a portrayal of one of my favorite paintings by 
Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida: Spanish painter 1863 - 1923. 
The title of his portait I am writing about is called
"Paseo a orilla del mar" or "Walk on the Beach"

Joaquin’s  Girls (Caught on Canvas)

Beside...

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Ivy-covered sheepskin, firmly in hand
    the confident graduate, square-jawed and tan

  Pulled offers from prestigious start-ups all over the land
    a year later he played lead guitar, hat in hand

  He, ever-grateful to his folks for those...

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The fire goes unlit, within its granite frame
heated is the argument, cold the man. 
Husband mine, please accept this suitors claim 
for he is worthy of your daughter Ann.
See her downcast face, her melancholy,  
she sickens so and I've done all I can.
Raise her...

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Off With Their Filthy Heads


Should one dare oppose the arrogant kings
cry out with pride so it soundly rings
Stand with sweet honor, our hat in hand
fight corruption in this freedom's land

Those that say nay are simply afraid
going against the massive power laid
What power, have any over...

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Let us put on humility,
Even being on center stage; 
Remain meek and modest amid
Honor, glory, praise, and prestige.

Meekness may elicit picture
Of someone saying 'I was wrong'; 
Or one telling 'I need help' from
A certain group he does belong.

Yes, it brings into mind of one
Not expecting...

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(Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the greatest of Victorian
poets, formed a very close relationship with
Arthur Hallam and frequently visited the Hallam
home in Wimpole Street.  After Hallam's sudden
death, Tennyson frequently returned to the house,
and stood weeping in the street.)

Tears, Idle Tears

When two young men are close –...

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