Sonnet 5 - When the Levee Breaks

To all the angels at East Congregational Church, Milton, Mass.

Although it seems like there's no joy, my friends

when we're immersed in trials and tribulations;

the quality of our resolve depends

on how we deal with touchy situations.

It's said good gifts are sent us from on high

but sometimes from the sky comes too much rain

which floods out some, while leaving others dry

untouched by muck arising up the drain.

But we are touched, our eyes well up, we care;

a silent voice inside both you and me

calls all of us to rise against despair

together, and drain pain from misery.

Then that still voice, from the unseen Spirit

crescendos until everyone can hear it.

Sonnet 14 - Worthy of Our Trust

In honor of the installation of Rev. Michele M. Davis 
as pastor of East Congregational Church, Milton, Mass.

The fool says in his heart there is no God;
(philosophers and scientists do too)
in light of just how much this world is flawed,
believers here have lots of work to do

to show the world we're not just pompous preyers
who meekly seek to justify the strong
believing ancient fables from soothsayers
which nowadays have all been proven wrong.

No, we must meet the need for consolation
which to this day has never gone away
and bravely work to make good this creation
led by the pastor we've installed today.

A woman who is worthy of our trust
who calls us to walk humbly and be just.

The Perfect Gift

For Tom, 12:01 AM, December 25, 2012

This store of value unexcelled, and medium of exchange
which humankind for ages held, so Commerce can arrange
free market equilibrium.

It needs you at a minimum.

This steadfast friend both new and old, our help in times most drastic,
is sometimes silver, sometimes gold, sometimes made of plastic,
or paper with engravings,

for access to our savings.

 
And so we should admit that good is rooted deep in money;
the way we're paid our livelihood, with which the Easter Bunny
and Santa Claus buy eggs and toys
 
for all the little girls and boys.

 
Our Saviour, gentle meek and kind - would He be overjoyed
at gifts of cash at Christmastime, so givers could avoid
the mall and all its craziness?

Or would that just show laziness?

The Men's Book and Beer Club

Once a month on a Sunday evening

As the shadows draw longer and near

Some middle aged men get together

‘round a fully stocked cooler of beer

 

The cooler is loaded with beer

And the end table’s stacked with snacks

And the middle aged men have appeared

Determined to drink and relax

 

They drink and relax and crack up

and a humorous mood starts to spread

as the dead soldiers start to stack up

and they talk about what they’ve read

 

What they’ve read is a book of their choosing

To educate aging minds

Although they’re enamored of boozing

And telling tales tall as the pines

 

Tall tales like Liz Salander’s story.

Zafron’s Spanish surrealism sticked

In their heads, but “The Big Short” by Lewis

Was the best book this year that they picked.

Sonnet 13 - Putting One Foot in Front of the Other

We're not the kind to whine about the weather
when we encounter fog and rain and chills
on vacation in Green Mountain hills.
We aim to make bad situations better.

So armed with discs, and donning hats and hoods,
we aimed at targets one thru twenty-seven
and walked a flowery path through Frisbee heaven.
beneath the leafy limbs of sheltering woods.

Meanwhile, at home we left a full grown son
who six months to his bedroom has been bound,
tortured mysteriously by normal sound,
and in life's prime cut off from everyone.

So walk on dear, and finish up your weeping;
ahead lie promises we must be keeping.

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.