Back in the olden days
my age of once upon a time with relatives and strangers
filled the radio episodes of Silver and the Lone Ranger
where The Shadow crept in Inner Sanctum threats
and tv intros to Howdy Doody and Uncle Milty timed guests;
I lived in innocence and well-protected immunities
of grammar school and study time too quickly passing
grandmothers and parents meant to be forever lasting
with fathers who came in and out of our lives living
returned eventually without forgiveness or misgivings;
I could go back and try with fondness to recall
within this aged mind and all its fading memories
having lived now, three-quarters of the twentieth century
and condemned to wonder and to wander still
along with the cutdown forests and cemeteries on the hill;
I would return in 2021 and do it all again
with just a tweak, a twist, a turn of history's pen
bring peace and trust and leadership to all women and men
but time is never erased nor easily displaced
what's done is done as the unknown future comes.
12/6/20
What to drink this morning? Coffee or tea?
Cold or hot? Sweet or slightly tart for me?
I do not care about breakfast. I have no time for that.
I have to feed the dog. I have to feed the cat.
Getting in the car I realize I am pretty much a mess.
Being a fur babies mamas I would expect nothing less.
They both sit in the window making me feel guilty.
Their names are Sugar Boy and Uncle Milty.
I drive six blocks before I remember my tea.
They are probably poking fun and laughing at me.
UNCLE MILTY AND ME
Uncle Milty,
A compact man,
Not really my uncle,
More a close friend of my parents,
Drove a New York City cab.
He had no kids and
A wife who didn’t smile.
When they visited,
My mother’s pot roast,
Served with little white potatoes
And yellow corn,
Prepared only for special guests,
Made Uncle Milty smile.
After dinner
He waved me closer and
I could smell the cigars in his shirt pocket.
I believed him when he cautioned me,
Catfish are really baby sharks,
He had no reason to lie.
Then, he gave me a quarter,
Told me to buy some candy.
I think he wanted one of us
To be happy.
T"aint me, dunn leff dat mess...
Wad'cha'do, just take a guess?
Got evidence dat I iz guilty,?
Or dis sum bullshoot
From Uncla' Milty?
So dowen' 'spects me
to clean it up...
It diden' split,
From my coughee cup!