Sonnet 12 - The Hands of the Diligent

THE HANDS OF THE DILIGENT

For Jennie's graduation from Gettysburg College, May 19, 2013

A score and three years ago we brought you forth

and here, where the South once lost to the North,

your family has come just to celebrate you

at your Hillel House digs, you counterfeit Jew!

You’ve read foreign books and know what they mean,

you’ve rucked with the ruggers and bled with the team,

you’ve studied with scholars at the Sorbonne --

at Myrtle Beach played in sand and in sun.

Though your life here consisted of opposite poles

you've played hard and worked hard to get to your goals.

You speak French and Spanish, sometimes you talk bawdy

and now you can say that you finished cum laude

The hands of the diligent receive their prize

and the wise that are taught, grow only more wise!

Sonnet 11 - Birth, Luck, Love

For Betsy, Mother's Day 2013 

Spring comes to Massachusetts once again;
on the green the Garden Club sells flowers.
Women with horticultural powers
chat and smile beneath tarps in the rain.

The nascent blossoms of these stylish wives,
with petals wiggling under gentle showers,
like playing children favored with endowers
of all they need to lead successful lives.

While in the gritty neighborhoods nearby
this same rain falls down on the vacant lots,
and on the community garden plots,
where vegetables conspire to reach the sky.

Our lot in life depends upon our birth,
a bit of luck, and love from Mother Earth.