If an apple a day
keeps the doctor away
to such proverb
he'd not subscribe
as the income lost
to defray his cost
foolish he would ascribe
and instead
if looking sickly feeling ill
on my deathbed
a home visit plus pill
he'd quickly prescribe
as a patient I used to be
but now a customer that is me
and the Hippocratic Oath
he ducks like a quack
as to quote it he is quite loath
Knots-besotted
(too canny for a granny)
as sailors go (and they will)
of which I am (still) one
(when day is done)
I can bend a bowline
(from stern to stem)
with the best of them
(just so's you knows...
the rabbit out of the hole comes
'round the tree runs then back down goes)
and tie (not hit) a reef (or square) so fine
or (none too sheepishly)
yank a sheepshank
in a (fairly hefty) hank of line
also (if it's not too late)
do a (non-binding) figure eight
(with half a minding) to stop the rope
from sliding (I hope)
(and/or) fraying
to (defray the cost)
for new cordage paying
(in time a stitch)
yet there's one more which
(so all's not lost)
(clever clogs) calls a clove hitch
'Twas the night before Christmas, and insomnia befell,
No creature was stirring, but my thoughts are pell-mell.
Would the family squabbles and feuds come with the cheer?
Would I have to drown them out, with too much beer?
The smile and wave diversion has limited worth?
How long can my mirth defray my feeling good dearth?.
I flit like a butterfly, I sting like a bee.
But, my hands can't hit what my eyes can't see.
It's all so jovial, with all folks tongues tied.
Letting slip barbs tongue-in-cheek that lied.
Lips forced into clenched fist clamped smiles.
With forget-me-knots shrouded as wait-a-whiles.
The reindeers were laughing, stopping on the roof,
as I downed another draught of whiskey high-proof.
A hangover is a sure-fire cure to help me cope,
with the downhill slide to the slippery slope.
'Twas the night before Christmas, and I'm awake,
fearing the family feud sparring earthquake.
My mind is churning over past disputes, give-and-take,
and how to avoid ruining the day with a silly mistake.
What lies between the ticks of time?
The pause between heart beats pulse?
The eye sight missed when you blink?
The still moments when you are breathing neither in nor out?
Our body's attempt to keep pace is flawed
by the mechanics we deploy to defeat entropy's cost
to defray the inevitable decay
of the material universe
to maximum disorder, randomness and uncertainty.
To keep up, to stay alive,
to build and maintain
structure and order is costly,
as it defeats for a faction of time,
the universe's purpose
which is inevitable continuous decay to disorder
without pause,
without hesitation
without disruption or interruption.
It is within the momentary pauses
that we, the incessant, get our way,
animating an innate vibrancy
to resist the decay all living things face,
and struggle against,
to a totally disordered state,
lifeless and decayed, on doomsday.
Can we work to be busy? May we do it till dizzy'
Up until 70.' Against a scene of inflation and wage freeze'
To be punished by care home costs.!
Homes sold, still can't defray' all lost?)
Work till the spirits crushed.' Struggle in a system bust
Nuclear family, of modernity, sell your soul to a mortgage
Fee.' Buy a car' it will soon be old..Wasted assets are
The motherlode..Of those who devise the forever wars.'
Yet its your fault people..Thats how its been told.'
Why arn't you happy? And cheering on bold?
Why aren't people in the masses voting on?
The charade-parade. And woke marathon!
Imagine there's nought to do today
In the gentlest, 'let it be' kinda way.
No clock's insistent hands to allay,
No hurried 'to do' demands to obey,
When the peace of stillness has sway,
When 'what does it matter' to delay
Makes worries gently fade away,
Into the background noise, to play
At another time, in another place, to flay.
Look at the lake, so calm, tranquil, grey.
All at peace in the dawn before the break of day
Having a quiet 'time out' to defray
The chaos, clatter, bustle looming on the driveway
Waiting to sour the scent of the sweetest bouquet,
To spoil the moment taken, to smell the roses, in the doorway
Of the 'sweetness of nothing' place, where too busy's at bay.
SACRED FLAME
Let others speak in praise as well they may
Of nature green, untouched by human hand
A perfect Eden, God, sole would defray
That we should tend unchanged, this virgin land
When He incarnate made that brief outreach
In human form participating here
It seems to me his mission was to teach
Bequeath responsibility of care
Thus we were blest with talents and desire
To build and to enhance the world we own
Set deep within there burns a sacred fire
Creativity is ours, be it on loan
So let the works of mankind be esteemed
Divinity within is thus redeemed
THE WILLOW, THE ALDER (& We)
The Willow and the Alder choose to stay
By river bank and margin of the lake
Their roots, content, submersed, will thus defray
A thirst, to take libation and to slake
The Alder and companion the Willow
Endure when others suffer, drown or wither
In time of drought or when the waters billow
Embrace each challenge, full, no flinch nor quiver
Thus life will self adapt, on many roads
To satisfy imperative: Survive!
Whilst we take other paths, in different modes
And change: not selves, but world in which we strive
In brotherhood: with nature’s adaptation
Our God within decrees divine creation
Today here
Absolutely no fear
Gone tomorrow
We must now borrow
Expenses unforeseen
Ceremonies and meetings in between
Funeral Directors need money like candy
That life insurance not taken, would have come in handy
We troop in to contribute
Tea and bread to distribute
Last respects to pay
Hidden costs to defray
Life is terminal
The cost of death phenomenal
Spiritual gifts become active
Our faith in insurance, that reactive
They love to say
We leave areas grey
Total disclosure and utmost good faith
Read your policy we sayeth
Ignorance is intolerable
Without insurance life after, is unbearable
Have a vision, have a dream
Best served with life insurance, it would seem
The words came as gifts
from the land of proposal,
a voice of enchantment heard far, far, away
Wrapped in the promise
of a better tomorrow,
new bows made of letters untie and defray
Although undeserved but never unwanted,
in the vanishing darkness
feelings pledge with the dawn
As thoughts await marriage, the silence has ended,
a committed engagement
—betrothed in a song
(Rosemont Pennsylvania: March, 2021)
Throughout my life the bridges crossed
so many times I’ve loved and lost
as hopes and dreams were used and tossed;
my hardened heart had paid the cost.
I felt as though I couldn’t go on;
a darkness loomed at break of dawn;
my hopes and dreams forever gone;
I felt my heart was but a pawn.
Remove the hardness of my heart
that’s not where it belongs;
replace it with your tenderness,
and sing to me your songs.
To my surprise one sunny day
a gentle spirit came my way;
an angel sent from far away
to ease my heart, its aches defray.
A southern voice so soft and sweet,
just like a bluebird’s morning tweet;
a song with such a gentle beat,
to sweep my spirit off its feet.
Remove the hardness of my heart
that’s not where it belongs;
replace it with your tenderness,
and sing to me your songs.
And now my sun is shining bright,
my heart no longer bears the blight
of hardness felt in dark of night;
now deep within I feel love’s light.
May 22, 2020
The Heron, grey priest of the shallow mere
Stalks slow and calculated t’ward its prey
With cool far seeing vision of a seer
And knowing his own power needs no defray
For he alone adjudicates the day
His strategy grinds more than single axe
A long unhurried glide path to new gaze
Will reposition him for a climax
And total consummation of his plays
The end - submission that for him is praise
Political Damage
When minds contend
must each depend
on delivering cuts
that may never mend?
When ideas offend
do each then defend
their hurtul slings
to the bitter end?
When words betray,
can they then defray
the heavy costs
of the public's dismay?
When platforms collide
does each then divide
into tattered shreds,
comity denied?
O Moon, full moon I gaze upon your face
and ponder the many secrets you keep
of things you have seen throughout time and space
while the rest of the world was fast asleep.
The secrets of love’s infatuation
as young lovers embrace the night away,
or nocturnal crimes of altercation
against our humanity doth defray.
I gaze at your face as you roost above
in the sky, amongst the stars where you dwell.
While I’m awed by your beauty, I think of
the things you’ve seen and stories you could tell.
The wonder of your presence leaves me meek;
O Moon, full moon if only you could speak.
defray
debt, no delay
denial justified,
deal out to sharers what each owes
deem done
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