I search my purse for money or credit cards.
Discovering four brochures from September
Receipts from the veterinarian clinic with dog tags
Twelve poem ideas jotted on a red napkin
A used toothpick with gum at the end of it
Four pens that do not write
One pen that writes which I can usually never find in this purse
A blue dog collar
Battered melted peanut butter cup
Sticky roll that has escaped a baggie
House key I do not remember having
Grandchild’s pink and yellow headband
Shot glass, but why? I do not drink.
Two outdated postage stamps
The popped pieces of an orange balloon
Should I clean this fiasco?
No.
I just found my credit cards.
Brochures arrive quite often
And they beckon with a deal –
It’s time for senior living –
You don’t know how good you’ll feel!
There’s a pool, a gym, a clubhouse
With so much that you can do
And you’ll make new friends, for everyone’s
A senior just like you!
I know folks who have transitioned,
Others soon to take the plunge,
Eager for a fresh new start,
Their former lives set to expunge.
Though I envy their excitement
And the purging of the past,
I don’t see that in my future,
For I think the die’s been cast.
Back of the stockyards, over 100 years ago
Immigrants were easy prey, as many now know
Landlords would slap paint over rat-infested dwellings
then twirling their moustaches, they’d begin selling
Those dilapidated structures with four-color brochures
hawking them as 'visions of paradise,’ sure to allure
Prospective buyers, trembling ‘greenhorns’
all too soon shorn
Of their entire life savings, only to find ~
that ‘rent’ was just half of what for they had signed
(Precious hearts robbed blind)
No way I could go to Oahu without my cat she said.
Poindexter is in full agreement, he nods his head.
Gets out his brochures and points with his paw.
And he says “Let’s go during Mardi Gras”.
Viking sends me sleek brochures
For every kind of cruise.
I guess they figure that they really
Don’t have much to lose.
There certainly must be a lot
Of people who will look
And then be wowed enough to find
A trip they want to book.
We’ve traveled with them several times
Before pandemic days
And for the tours that they provide,
I have the highest praise.
My interest in that type of trip
Has waned, yet in the mail,
The catalogues keep coming;
All that effort’s bound to fail.
Perhaps to companies that big,
To go to that expense
Is worth it if such nudges
Push some people off the fence.
can you swim naked?
I do not know
I scour the brochures.
Naples Italy
home of Mount Vesuvius
Iconic Castle Nuovo
Mediterranean Sea
Big Cliff of Marechiaro
Great suggestive swimming
Time is not justly counted by increments...
like a pie all crust can have space without filling
it disappoints –
too much wasted by reluctant planning –
few visions of living ever leaving the station of
Excursion – like a dynasty of tempting brochures culminating in
tenure, that far more brave and less credentialed travel faithfully
outright...
Triumph's Reckless Youth vs Pompous Charted Night
such licensed surveyors expose dark by tiny bits called
stars, seeing only seconds, oblivious to stuffed longer
gigantic days' leaps packed into uncharted universes
time shallowly used is soul
and spirit only outside basted,
exterior roast__toast
while the bloody inside
left yearning release,
for its surface~ burning!
when time is too contemplated,
measured, set in plates of orderly
rations – seasoned but only tasted
(a belly denied lumps of glutenous
impulsive passions)
it is a written novel
with no real claims
to glory....
Time then...is only Time
dimly expressing God's timeless
true story
Singaphore’s Botanical Gardens shows off spectacular tropical flora
there is a quietude to this stunning verdant landscape showcase
my body releases a long sigh; I am motionless, calm and peaceful
unperturbed and unruffled, I wander appreciating the fragrances
no one can take my energy today; I am stress-free.
Glad my phone is off, so I can enjoy this sought after tranquility.
travel brochures could have never captured this serene feeling.
I flow into the gardens as one, feeling my stem and my petals.
Australia white sand beaches where koalas play
Hollywood glamor and stars, you'll want to stay
Tour Scotland, then France
Bagpipes first, then romance
Reading travel brochures always make my day!
11/26/22
In a show of manic one-upmanship
With my wife saying, “Just get a grip.”
I planned an adventure to show I’m well travelled
The spoiler to that is the whole thing unravelled
I looked at the brochures and boy was I keen
Determined to find somewhere Tom hadn’t been
That man is a nomad, he never sits still
He just grabs a suitcase and travels at will
[At this point please lend me a bit of your time
for this advance warning of appalling rhyme]
My legs are so white that I ought to be sunning ’em
I’ll find somewhere warm that’s eluded Tom Cunningham
I made a quick sandwich with pickle from Branston
And then thought EUREKA…I’ll call Richard Branson
I sold a few organs and Gran’s silver spoon
And raised enough money to fly to the moon
He said he does orbits then back down to earth
A trip to the moon was more grief than it’s worth
I grabbed Branson’s beard and said “Listen to me,
you’re gonna help me outdo Mr C.”
Well, long story short, I arrived on old Luna
Tom might have planned it but I got there sooner
Then a little green man said, “Is Earth where you’re from?
When you get back home again… say ‘Hi’ to Tom.”
Family is a battle of wills
An Armageddon before brunch
You took your chances now you pays your bills
Without a clue, without a hunch
In a litter of travel brochures
Somewhere there's a shining oasis
I'll tell ya how to get there from here
To the Land of Hospitable Faces
You can go by air or by sea
By carriage ride or by plane
Hoist the anchor of misery
For an island where it never rains
An island where it never rains
Work is the curse of the classes
The factory life never closes
Collecting all those bail-out passes
To labor under dreams of roses
Well, they'd work you 'til an early grave
They'd do that if you let 'em
Don't you be nobody's slave
Ditch your masters and forget 'em
If you go by air or by sea
By carriage ride or by plane
Hoist the anchor of misery
For an island where it never rains
An island where it never rains
Slow down! by Viv Wigley
The first week of September,
still no sign of Halloween,
a shop window full of Christmas cards
the second I have seen.
By the time my Pumpkin's binned and
fake spider on its last legs,
the shops will all have tinsel and
a stack of Easter eggs.
New year brings Summer holidays,
and brochures through my door,
Burns night there's bonfire toffee,
it's almost ten months before.
I'm getting on in years a tad,
my pace of life will slow,
retailers make the years flash by
as fast as it can go.
I'm hoping I've a few more years
before my life goes down the pan,
Oh,no- I'm only sixty-two,
here's ANOTHER funeral plan!
Scientists predict 2029 will be a very bad year
An asteroid will hit us, seems like the end is near
Better make plans
Maybe move to Uranus
'Cept brochures don't have deals for that year I fear
30 possible destinations.
Outstanding in a variety of ways.
12 stood out immediately.
Kindness meant we would listen to everyone’s ideas.
25 women thought they might go.
Did anyone think of Belgium? Their chocolate is amazing!
7 dropped out right away due to the cost.
Paring down countries fast now, due to news reports.
22 women are still serious about a trip.
Wiggling with excitement.
45 days until we leave.
New to traveling, one is nervous. We reassure her.
9 grown women have tickets now.
Giggling with enthusiasm.
31 days until we leave.
Unusual trip is what we wanted.
51 brochures on the table.
Victoria Falls sounds wonderful!
3 of us wanting to bungee jump.
Zimbabwe here we come!
Devil sends his advocate to recruit us from the office.
Is this a joke? I ask, thinking it must be.
The advocate comes in with a flourish,
Throwing her red satin cape around with a swish
As she sits daintily on the arm of my boss’s chair.
My boss jumps a few inches. Scared probably.
She is armed with brochures about how nice Hell is.
She has testimonials too. A slew of them.
Probably gotten through torturous sordid ways.
“It is warm all year round,” the brochure says.
“The devil allows all kinds of debauchery,” the testimonial says.
“Marshmallow roasts hourly, and you can have s’mores.”
I am not tempted to sign on the dotted line until…..
“Clothing optional.”
Hmmmmmmm……………..
Related Poems