SUN’S UP

                      It’s time to toss this torpor off and rise
                      To new vitality—the day awaits:
                      There’re waking dreams I’ve yet to realize
                      That only daylight consciousness creates.

                       It’s only when I sit like this and sip
                       My morning brew and chew my pen cap that
                       My mind can travel off to Serendip
                       And hoist a magic rabbit from my hat.

                        It’s true a verse is drafted line by line,
                        And yet that labor’s guided by the Muse
                        For more than human effort but divine
                        Is called for or my torpid brain will snooze.

                             You may will think my Muse failed to appear,
                             Or I should undertake a new career.

*

HILL &  BILL

                    Bombastic, megalomaniac buffoons
                    (And there is one I’m just now thinking of)
                    Belong not in the real world but cartoons,
                    Objects of scorn and ridicule, not love.

                    And yet, there’s Donald Trump on his high horse
                    With billions to invest in a big win,
                    Whose victory would prompt buyer’s remorse
                    And pleas to do the whole process again.

                    However, we have finally this best shot
                    To vote for our first female President,
                    A long-time politician who is not
                    A wild card or a weird experiment.

                        And if you liked her husband, you’ll have Bill
                        Again, although this time nose-ringed by Hill.

*

SHIELDS AND BROOKS

  
                    There’s Mark and David on the Friday news
                     Prepared to give the week’s wrap-up reviews
                     As Judy prompts them from one topic to
                     Another to reveal what they pursue:
                     The motives and the circumstances of
                     What needs a clearer look from up above,
                     From the perspective of well-seasoned minds
                     Revealing what clear-eyed discernment finds.
                     These gentlemen may sometimes disagree,
                      But count on them to do so civilly
                      And with good humor as they reason out
                      The best way to transcend or settle doubt.
                      May they continue long on PBS
                      Applauded by us fans for their success.

*

YIN/YANG







*

WHAT IS PROGRESS?

                    The universe seems programmed to produce
                    From its most elementary particles
                    More complex entities for higher use
                    While reaching ever higher pinnacles.

                    That we’re the highest yet, we may suppose
                    For lack of evidence of any higher,
                    But surely, out there, we have friends or foes,
                    A knowledge we’ll eventually acquire.

                   Meanwhile, how should we best prepare to meet
                   Such awesome aliens from outer space
                   Who, if they find us, will no doubt defeat
                   Us easily, unless we win their grace.

                       Our best defense must be to show we’ve grown
                       In peace and love—and come into our own.

*

 HUMAN POTENTIAL

 "We are beings of light, love, music and happiness."

                                                                            —Duane Elgin     
                    
                    We come with grand potentialities
                    That with good circumstance we’ll realize
                    Fulfilling our implicit destinies,
                    By which we Homo sapiens grow wise.

                    Unfortunately, because of many traps,
                    Distractions, and our own misguided choice
                    We prove instead of sapient simply saps,
                    No outcome at which angels will rejoice.

*

EX NIHILO

                      What is it needs exploring in this verse
                      That only rhyme and meter may disburse,
                      Some subject by meandering to be found
                      As if it were just lying on the ground
                      Just waiting for a passerby to see
                      Then cast into a new reality?

                      The very subject I’ve discovered now
                      By just such random circumstance is how
                      There seems to be implicit Providence
                      That out of randomness engenders sense.

*