DEADPAN

One side is animated, one deadpan;
One brow lifts up in question or surprise;
The other gives no clue of mood or plan;
One lip side smiles; the other side won’t rise.

One eye can wink; the other blandly stares;
One ear still wiggles when I bid it to;
The other one seems needy of repairs,
And nothing on that side responds to cue.

It’s not the stroke it seemed, my doc proclaims,
But something called Bell’s Palsy, which will pass,
A virus that good medication tames,
Which meanwhile makes a frightful looking glass.

     And yet I’d rather face my startling mirror
     Than wrestle with that other dreadful terror.

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AN AGNOSTIC’S PRAYER

If there’s a Higher Being, provident
And kind, benevolent toward suffering
And needy individuals, intent
And capable to help—to Thee I sing.

Please pardon me my old agnostic doubt,
So skeptical of credulous belief;
Too many souls are conned by creeds that tout
Absurdities, though proffer no relief.

Yet now I do not sing to supplicate
But thank for what seems merciful and kind:
That what looked perilous may soon abate
And this result was lovingly designed.

     For if there is one miracle above,
     To show below, then surely that is love.

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IMAGINEERING

There’s what we know, and what we just suppose;
What science verifies, or we surmise—
And yet imagination often shows
The fancied ways by which new truths arise.

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SACRED GROUND

On what ground may we stand unanimous
On universal principles prescribed
By ageless sages for each one of us,
Who by our kind compliance are allied?

The ground of our humanity is found
In loving kindness, wherein we all are kin,
Whereby gentility and care abound,
And through such practice we’re absolved of sin.

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ENGLISH 101

This will be a good course for you

1.    if you want to improve your writing skills, which you will

2.    if you appreciate how vital it is to express yourself well in writing and to communicate clearly and effectively with others via writing;

3.    if you recognize that writing clarifies and organizes your thinking far better than spontaneous speaking, being more articulate and artful and impressive;

4.    and if you want to discover how much more your mind contains and can generate through the medium of writing than by mere vocalizing in a gush of speech.

“How do I know what I think till I see what I say?” is an exclamation I’ve heard attributed to “a silly old woman” and derided as the nonsense of a babbler.  But it’s more profound than that, I think.  None of us knows, or knows very clearly or thoroughly, just what we think until we convert inchoate notions into words and syntax—into precisely articulated, rhetorically effective language.

That is what writing does as it moves from rough draft to polished prose.  For that reason writing is an essential tool of thought and a vital medium of intellectual advancement.

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NOTE TO SELF

Remember this: your memory was never
So very good, for a face more than a name,
Though oftentimes you could be sly and clever
Finessing ignorance, avoiding blame.

There are many ways to circumvent and dodge
Detection when what you seek won’t come to mind,
When what you know you know, you can’t dislodge
From crevices your searching light can’t find.

You simply stall, distract attention, change
The subject, take the pressure off your brain
In hopes your consciousness will rearrange
Itself spontaneously, once freed from strain,

     And then the fact or name you lack may spring
     To mind—Presto!—as plain as anything.

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EVERYMAN REDUX

No matter how your treasure ledger mounts,
How well you’ve lived your life is all that counts.

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