she inherited millions
her parents’ house, furniture, clothes, knickknacks, jewelry, daddy’s watch
never spent a penny on a couch, never chose a painting or a necklace
satisfied with mommy and daddy’s things, wore mommy’s clothes
a spinster, who spent her money frugally on groceries and utilities
turned her thermostat down to fifty-six in the winter, to save money
satisfied with her parents’ furniture, never chose a comfortable couch
left a million dollars in the bank when she died
no one to give it to
Virtues are a gift from the Donor,
Unsellable to a pawner,
Just as love is always around the corner,
So does respect attract honour,
History is a former,
The present is upon her,
The future by Jeremiah twenty nine eleven makes it calmer.
Knowing thyself is wise,
It is a journey taken to paradise,
To the best of characters recognize,
Otherwise,
What cannot be understood analyze,
From within live admiringly without compromise,
Exploring the mind where the prize lies.
The world is full of possibilities,
Map out hidden abilities,
Create a tree of endless possibilities,
When you believe in your capabilities,
The universe collaborates to unfold the existing utilities,
As a reward of the artistic qualities,
For rulers are the best in imaginative poetic symphonies.
I said ,"I love you ,"
He asked ," How so?"
I said," I troubleshoot and brainstorm there,
Where you are truly guiding me to lead a way
To clean the silence
Not to silence the clean."
He said, "I live there
pay my rent
Monthly utilities too!
Sometimes audible
Sometimes dusable."
I asked, "There?
You mean... There?
Do they have golden hair
Or heir, there?"
He shrugged,
"Just in June, sing soon!"
September 2024
THERE is a lake somewhere
'midst pollution, coots & comorants thrive
Jewel in our overflowing sewage
Creation endures Curse of (ANC, Adam &) Eve
NoTE:
ANC is the ruling party & government majority in South Africa since the elections of 1994. With hardly a basic maintenance program anywhere, every hospital, school, office, utilities, and national treasure left THE ANC by its predecessor (NP, nationalist party) is an eyesore, tragedy, or will soon be).
I
When my landlord is a slumlord
The sermons also mock God
"There but for Grace go I"
Helps see a plank in my eye
II
Here, no exposing of hypocrisy
Makes a difference to men, women, me:
Sex and money, sex for food -- for lazy
Is the South African -- post-Mandela's day**
Note**
27 April 1994 was the first democratic election in South Africa, RSA, making winner Nelson Mandela both president & freedom's icon. 28 years on, people sometimes prefer welfare, begging, crime - while immigrants run many small businesses, even in remote towns. Easy money has ruined Mandela's nation (it is mine, too, as I am native South African). If one Google's/ searches "loadshedding, RSA" or/AND "minimal Utilities," the declines are given another slant. Power brownouts on New Year's day, also.
If Ben-Gvir is a terrorist
What is Bashar Assad?
Whose hands are stained red
from spilling fellow Syrians' blood
If Ben-Gvir is a terrorist
What is Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah?
Whose 'soldiers' use children as shields
Those 'brave men' of Hezbollah
If Ben-Gvir is a terrorist
What is Vladimir Putin?
Who bombs water mains and utilities
Nothing left for Kiev to ration
If Ben-Gvir is a terrorist
What is Mahmoud Abbas?
Who lavishes rewards on 'freedom fighters'
for dynamiting packed Israeli buses...
Ben-Gvir is a force for law and order
in a region overrun by anarchy and terror
So, he's tough and no-nonsense
~ On HIS side I'll error
A Leprechaun found himself some gold
though, it was very very old.
He then went on a shopping spree
for houses and bought, seventy three!
But, he can’t pay his utilities, I’m told.
3-10-2021
Enter the 'LIMERICKS in honor of St. Patrick's Day' Poetry Contest
L MILTON HANKINS
Her name was Nora, she had not had a house since she was in her twenties.
Parents died, her money ran out, her emotional illness kept her in the streets.
She was not just content, she was happy. Her life was fine; she had friends.
She sang, danced, and played her days away. In the evenings she had a fire.
“Here’s our girl!” her friends said. They shared what they had, which was little.
It was more than enough. She did not worry about paying rent or utilities.
She felt sorry for those who worked eight hours a day to pay for empty houses.
She could not imagine a day without friendship, dancing, singing and play.
The Apocalypse is coming, someone said tonight as they stood by the fire.
They laughed.
Wondering why the suits wearing tennis shoes were wearing masks.
Are they all going to do surgery? Jett asked.
There was more laughter.
They did not know about the pandemic.
They were simply loving their lives.
I fell for it again; because I am easy and forget
I keep forgiving, and when I do, it is over.
So here I am, giving him another check,
To pay his rent, a one time deal
Just like last month and the month before
No wait, it was not rent the month before
It was grocery money. His social security check did not come.
Now that I think of that, I feel better, less suckered.
This will be the last time surely, not like last year
When I was writing a check for his utilities and his girlfriend’s baby’s diapers.
He is my nephew after all. He is seriously trying.
He has a new job, and he sounds optimistic about it.
I found myself saying “if you don’t like it, you should quit”
I knew better, I wished I had taped my mouth
Knowing it will be the same as the last six times he got a job.
political
social-democracy is a dressed-up capitalism
And you can’t have it both ways.
Sooner or later capitalism will take over
By transferring the utilities to private hands
Water is a human right issue so is access
To see unhindered the wonder of nature.
Socialism is about sharing recourses
Capitalism is by taking it and selling it for profit
The two beliefs cannot mix as human greed
Takes over if unchecked
We are stronger than you think,, our trials and tribulations
We have lost everything we own in two floods, finally owning our own home and not having that feeling of stability cause we can't pay to keep the utilities
Addicts, theives and hoodlums trying to unravel our world, trying to move us out.
Well we bought their to, they should just go back to their crazy zoo
We are stronger than you think, never giving up with whatever comes our way
Twenty years together and still we make it through the stormiest weather
We have each other and work together and that makes us stronger than you think
We are stronger than you think,, our trials and tribulations
We have lost everything we own in two floods, finally owning our own home and not having that feeling of stability cause we can't pay to keep the utilities
Addicts, theives and hoodlums trying to unravel our world, trying to move us out.
Well we bought their to, they should just go back to their crazy zoo
We are stronger than you think, never giving up with whatever comes our way
Twenty years together and still we make it through the stormiest weather
We have each other and work together and that makes us stronger than you think
Apartments are expensive
With an extra monthly fee
For maintenance, which I can
Understand, to a degree.
But in an advertisement
For a condo that’s for sale,
A factor was included
That would make some people bail.
Along with monthly maintenance,
The purchasers would pay
Nine hundred for utilities
But, more outrageous, they
Would have to shell out, with no choice,
(Get set for Oh, my goshing!)
A fee of almost fifty bucks
For monthly window washing!
Perhaps it’s people just like me
Who prompted such expenses.
My windows, lacking such demands,
Display the consequences.
Always before when we were bored we built something new or remodeled a bathroom or a closet.
Or something.
This is the third house that we have built from scratch.
It is perfect.
We knew now what we did not like in the others.
Four bathrooms for the two of us might seem silly to some.
For us it made sense, seeing as we have ten grandchildren – six who rarely visit.
A dog door for Sophie was imperative, so she can relieve herself too whenever she wants.
The only thing we would change about this house is the dirty coal tax.
We built an earth-sheltered home that was guaranteed to stay an average fifty-five
Degrees, even if the air and the heat went out.
Our utilities were an impressive one hundred and sixty three dollars a month the first two months.
Not bad considering my husband keeps this house on FREEZE in the summer, and that is usually expensive.
The “dirty coal tax” came into play the third month we were here. We are now paying an average of seven hundred dollars a month because someone decided we needed to add a “dirty coal tax”.
The name is apt, I will give it that.
She was a delicate being.
Things bothered her more than most.
She walked off more jobs than we care to count.
There were eight of us when she was born.
She was our baby, our princess, our doll.
We all babied her, some of us fought over
Who would carry her to Kindergarten.
When she fell on hard times,
We pitched in and paid her
Rent, and her utilities, for
A couple of years.
We helped her a lot,
Because that is what big
Brothers and sisters do.
She is forty-two now.
Still living at home.
She can’t keep a job.
Can’t get along with others.
We cannot figure out why.
Related Poems