THANKS

Thanks to my mother and father

    who raised us all to have good lives

Thanks to my siblings 

     best playmates and friends 

 Thanks to my teachers over 22 years 

     Miss Herscheid and Miss Guimond 

     Mr. Taylor, Mr. Eidt, and Mr. Biller 

     Dr. Eng, Dr. Filler, and Dr. Jerome

     Dr. Miller, Dr. Swanson, and Dr. Newcomb 

         who kept my brain buzzing 

 Thanks to Antioch College 

     which taught me I was a beatnik 

     but shaped my life direction nonetheless 

 Thanks to the University of Cincinnati 

     which gave us shelter, resources, and life tasks 

 Thanks to Justin and Kiersta 

     for special times, fun, and pride 

 Thanks to our grandkids Alex and Leo

     our hope for the future 

Thanks to our many friends over the years 

     who fill our bank with good memories 

Thanks to Dr. Cleves and Dr. Rabkin 

     who keep us kicking and plugging along 

 Thanks to all our family dogs over the years 

     for their unconditional love 

 Thanks to OLLI poetry teachers 

     who have kept me busy in retired life 

 Thanks to Katja for 

     marrying me 

     giving birth to our son 

     buying me motorcycles

     buying us dogs 

     making salisbury steak 

     taking me to the opera

New Years Ruminations from a Nervous Person

New Years Eve and I, forever a bad fit 

We did do some parties in our younger days 

Katja enjoyed them all right

But I could never carry it off

Too many people, too many strangers

The chatter, the small talk, the manufactured laughter

Hats and horns and tootie toots 

Too much pressure to have the greatest time ever 

I don’t mind drinking too much

But the revelry does me in 
New Years, intrinsically, a bit traumatic

One year at its end point
All those unfulfilled dreams  

The omissions, the commissions

The bumps and bruises  

And then a brand New Year is about to begin 

A  minefield of hazards
Potential disasters   

No wonder the people are driven to drink

I tiptoe into this New Year 

I’ll have another bourbon on the rocks, please  

Father's Day

Oh Father’s Day, you foolish scalawag

Barely one step ahead of Columbus Day 

But lagging miles behind 

Groundhog Day

or Fat Tuesday or National Pizza Day 

Mothers Day, of course, is another matter 

Mothers deserve their own special day

since the rest of their year is 

such a raw deal 

My thinking, of course, might be

out of date 

since it was formed in the nineteen-forties 

The dads in our crowd, 

just back from the war, 

turned their families into military platoons

Dad were three-star generals

Moms, second lieutenants 

The children, buck privates at best

Just one rule obtained:

Obey every command from on high

Do it quickly and perfectly 

Never ask why

Never talk back

The dads had jobs in the factory or the firm

Bringing home the money 

Thus excused from the menial household tasks 

Moms did the cooking, the cleaning,

the bringing up of the children, 

changing their diapers, washing behind the ears 

Although fathers were in charge of discipline

At least the bodily sort 

Usually with a belt or a ruler

Things we learned from our fathers:

Rich people are superior 

Never show weakness

Stand up, don't slouch 

But here I exaggerate

My father did have a fun side 

He took me along 

to chop down our Christmas trees

and pulled the toboggan behind the car 

Best of all, we went to my uncle’s

drugstore after hours

and created whatever 

we wanted at the soda fountain 

Butterscotch, peppermint, fudge ripple

But I can’t remember 

if I ever got a hug  

Those, of course, were the bygone days

Thirty years later

My dad became a grandfather

I give him credit

He grew to be a much better 

grandfather than a father

Engaged with his grandkids

Interested, affectionate, chummy

Times change 

People change with them

Nowadays there are many more reasons
     to celebrate Father's Day 

The Royal Wedding

We’ve watched every Super Bowl since Vince Lombardi 

The finals at Wimbledon, the French, the U.S. Open

Other galas too: the Oscars, the Tonys, the Kentucky Derby

Even Miss America till Bert Parks retired 

But nothing comes as close in elegance and grandeur as (you know it) 

The Royal Wedding! 

Arguably the number one extravaganza on Earth 

Even our closest friends don’t suspect  

But my wife, we believe, has a touch of royal blood

A mere teenager when her family traveled through Canada 

Numerous strangers approached her on the street

“You look exactly like our beloved Queen,” they’d say

Elizabeth was in her mid-twenties at the time

My wife, a fourth cousin?  A long-lost half sister? 

We’ve always included the royals in our family

Princess Di, practically a sister-in-law  

We see every movie by Helen and Kate

Binge-watched “The Crown” on Netflix

Are glued to the BBC at Buckingham Palace 

But the Royal Wedding, that’s another story 

Few things in life get more real  

The media, of course, a feeding frenzy

Pre-wedding festivities from dawn to dusk 

Then the wedding day itself, Four a.m. till Eleven

I DVR’d the entire lineup 

NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, E!, PBS, LIFE, HBO, CNN

Weeks of viewing pleasure for my spouse  

Mid-summer, it will take, to absorb it all  

No alarm needed, we woke up at six 

Prince Harry, Prince William, ambling into the chapel

Fine military regalia, Harry’s neatly trimmed beard

Then Megan Markle in her Hollywood splendor

Tiara, white gown, a forty foot train

A bevy of flower girls, tousle-haired page boys

Prince Charles himself walks the bride down the aisle  

There among the onlookers, Oprah, George C., and Elton John 

And, of course, the Queen herself, looking stately in chartreuse 

Sweet glances, quiet laughter, Harry’s slight signs of nerves

The gospel choir singing, “Stand by me”

My wife sheds a tear at the holy vows

A kiss on the steps, the carriage ride, the adoring crowd

Seventy-five thousand strong

Red-uniformed cavalry, twenty-six noble stallions 

Suddenly it’s over, this fairy-tale wedding 

The end of royal marriages for two or three decades 

We’ll probably be a hundred two by then 

But Prince Philip looked surprisingly fit at ninety-six

That leaves royal hope for the rest of us 

A Halloween Sonnet

All Hallows’ Eve, so much mystery 

Black cats and witches and objects of dread

Some six thousand years of satanic history 

The Celts, pagan festivals, the Day of the Dead 

Each kid at our school had a homemade costume 

So funny, the boys wearing big sisters’ clothes 

Ghosts and devils took over the playground

And silly small clowns with red paint on their nose 

 The streets were a threatening place in the night

No adults, we children went out on our own 

Just when we thought that we’d conquered our fright

We’d hear down the block a deep death rattle moan 

Few things after twelve match Halloween night 

Disguises, the darkness, the candy, the fright 

The Best Valentine's Day Ever

Valentine’s Day

It’s hard to keep track

Last year the doorbell rang and a man in a Nascar cap

Delivered a dozen red roses

Dark ruby red, opulent, bursting with color

A mystery gift for my wife

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” the card proclaimed

Then continued, “To Katja from David”

“What’s this?” I thought

Bamboozled, confused

I hadn’t ordered flowers

No memory, not a clue

Besides which, they must have cost a fortune

Just then Katja appeared on the stairs

A beaming smile on her face

“Thank you so much,” and she kissed my cheek

I started to speak but she whispered, “I know”

The flowers, she explained, were from NPR

A thank you for her annual pledge

She asked they be sent in my name

“What’s this?” I thought

Mortified, dismayed

“My wife has to send my Valentine?”

I pretended I had pressing matters

And scurried down the street to the store

I picked the gooiest card on the rack —

Eight Ninety-Nine, it played a perky song

Then a super-sized box of chocolate turtles —

Nineteen ninety-nine

Plus tax

Katja was thrilled, I have to say

In fact, I would say ecstatic

Not the chocolates, not the card, but that I’d come through

(Even though I had gotten a reminder)

She called it the best Valentine’s Day ever

And that may be true of our times so far

But, if I dig deep, 

There’s no telling, 

Perhaps I could  do even better

All Hallows Eve

The wind turns chill and whistles through the night

Tricksters in masks scurry everywhere

Halloween eve, time for thrills and fright

A pirate and a banshee wait for the light

A witch casts her spell, they stop to stare

The wind turns chill and whistles through the night

Vampires hug shadows, ready to bite

A child screams out, “Bloodsuckers!  Beware!”

Halloween eve, time for thrills and fright

A bumblebee clutches his lantern bright

Howls of wolves pervade the dark air

The wind turns chill and whistles through the night

A swarm of zombies lurches into sight

Returning to Earth from some dreaded nightmare

Halloween eve, time for thrills and fright

Kids carry treats to their porches bright

Greeted by mothers and fathers there

The wind turns chill and whistles through the night

Halloween eve, time for thrills and fright