Square Thinking

The key to Eternal Happiness?

It’s plagued our poets from

            Ovid

               to

            Seuss

But thanks to the wily Internet

We have gleaned the elusive secret: ORDER

 And the most Orderly object of all:     THE SQUARE

                * * * * * * *

                *                *

                *                *

                *                *
                * * * * * * *

Symmetry

Quadruplicity

Uniformity

Angularity

Reciprocity

Equilibrium

To assemble an immaculate square:

(A) Place teeny dots at the corners

(B) Draw the straightest of lines

One pair horizontally

Two others vertically

(C) Take a deep breath, sit back, admire

Slothful critics are known to assert

That the so-called “circle” is superior

Balderdash

Lunacy

Vipers

Human existence is enriched by squares:

*Tables

  *Paintings

    *Checkerboards

      *Carpets

        *Saltines

          *Quilts

            *Styrofoam boxes

              *Window panes

                *Rubicon cubes

                   *Pillows

                     *Kitchen tiles

                       *Wendy’s burger patties

If you happen to think I’m

a weirdo obsessed

Add a new square to your life —

Bid farewell to despair!  

Trees of River House

The maples stood outside our dining room door

October, so brilliantly red

Their seedlings spun like little whirligigs

Then in winter we feared they were dead

The willow was our childhood favorite 

It sat at one corner of our yard 

A wonderful tree for us kids to climb 

Though reaching its top could be hard

The Norway pines were so tall and straight

But their cones contained goo that was sticky 

We used two Norways for goal posts

Two others held a swing for sweet Vicki 

The oaks were our most majestic trees

Their acorns could fill a large barrel 

We used those nuts for our acorn wars

One entered our yard at great peril

The birches were perched on our riverbank

Clothed in their elegant bark

We’d peel it off to write secret notes

Each tree  with its own watermark

We had a box elder on our front lawn

It too was a fine tree to climb

We lost a chameleon on that tall tree

I still dream we’ll find it sometime

The cedars had the most delicate cones

The deer came and fed in the night

These were trees with a fragrant smell

They grew where the sun was less bright

The blue spruce was a most elegant tree 

Its branches were too dense to climb 

We thought it our year-round Christmas tree 

So Santa was near all the time

The tag alder, sadly, were a second-rate tree

They grew in the swamp in profusion

I used them to build my secret camp

It was alder that gave me seclusion 

The sumac lived in our field in the back

Its fruits were bright spikes of red

I’d bring a bouquet to my mother

Though she actually liked trillium instead 

The Drunkard's Lament

            Many

            Days

            When

            Fate

            Drew

            Nigh

           I left

          Judgment

         Far behind

        Shutting out

       The dark world

      Drowning my mind

     In piquant liquids

     Denying my reality

     Whiskey so lulling

     Comforting my soul

     Blotting out truth

     I’d rather not see

     Later I passed out

     Slept on the floor

     Dreamt of my youth

     And cheerier times

     Oh the splendor of
     Bourbon and Scotch

     Taking me off to a

     World more hopeful 

     Ensuring my solace

     Dulling the senses

     Escaping existence