Considerable hassle and expense
And the inevitable awkwardness
By clicking, and browsing
Instead of traveling
To see people reforming
Old cliques for a night
Sticking together
Drinking together
Like they did twenty years before
Showing the world they’re still the same,
Or seeing those solitary loners
Who are only going
Because they have something to prove
And show how much they’ve changed.
I, like most, am opting to choose
Living in the present
Eschewing the drive
Down memory lane
Declining the invite
And spending the night
At home, with family
And the future
April 3, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
My 20-year reunion is coming up this summer and it got me thinking about how Facebook has pretty much killed the allure of going to a reunion. When we had our tenth reunion, I had hoped that everything would be different from how I remembered high school being. I had hoped everyone would have grown up and people would not get all clique-y as I was genuinely interested in talking to pretty much everyone and getting to know what people were up to. I was so wrong. It was like most everyone had powerful magnets in them that pulled them back to their same groups. I was disappointed.
Anyway, because of Facebook, there’s no more mystery in it anymore. I know what and how everyone is doing and can see pictures and everything.
Ranting Old Man
Ranting old man
Agitated voice elevated
Threatening everyone he saw
Damning finger pointing
Feeble fist pounding
Hollow words spewing
In a dizzying circular motion
Like an angry CD left on repeat
Until someone decades younger
Scooted into the situation
Put their arm around him
Quietly apologized
And guided him away
While looking back
With a sincere frown
Of embarrassment
April 3, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
This didn’t happen, but rather the idea for it popped into my mind, so I wrote.
Spending Time
Spending time is like
Spending money
The only difference is
Life doesn’t take credit.
Spend your time wisely
And on what you truly love
Because when you’re almost out
And looking back on life
You don’t want to see
A house filled with useless junk
But rather, one filled to the rafters
With wonderful experiences
And adorned with happiness
April 3, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
When I was writing “Thanks To Facebook,” I wrote the line “spending time,” and the idea of comparing spending time to spending money came to me. This may seem basic, but I had never thought about how similar the concepts are.
Break
Back when I was young
When the school day was done
You only had two ways
To communicate with friends:
Seeing them and
Calling them.
Since phones were
Hardwired and shared
With the rest of the house
We got a break from being social
We got a chance to be ourselves
Play in the yard, read a book
Watch TV in peace
Each and every evening
Kids today are on-stage
All night and all day
Calling, emailing
Texting, sexting
Twittering, Facebooking,
Skyping, KIKing,
Instagraming, IMing,
All of this and it’s still
Nowhere near enough.
Through their
Hurried desperation
They crave more
Communication
More ways to connect
So many means
And no way
To turn them all off
Kids today don’t get a break
To step away and be kids
April 3, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Kari and I were talking about this the other night, how kids these days have to be “on” almost 24-hours a day. I can’t imagine the incredible social pressure they’re under with the complex array of online/social media/communication things they’re all into.
Whimmy
For when
Doing things
On a whim
Is the norm.
For when
Life sings
Impulsive
And you act.
For when
Living needs
Description.
Whimmy.
April 6, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
This morning, on the way to work, Kari said something about doing something on a whim, and the word, “whimmy” popped into my head.
Assumptions of Belief
Religious holiday approaching
Strangers broach the topic
With biased assumptions
Colored by their own
Assumptions of belief
Because of how I look
And where I live
They think therefore
I must have the same beliefs
Wanting to avoid
Inevitable confrontation
I don’t correct them
It’s easier that way
April 6, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Unless specifically asked for, I think people should just be polite and keep religious and political statements tucked quietly in their heads.
Comments Section
If you’re the kind who revels
In wholesale, anger, hatred,
Bigotry, negativity, and vitriol
Plan to visit the comments section
Of any news website
Common sense and
Thoughtful discussion
Are in short supply
It’s where the crows
Who are looking to
Demean and belittle
Bemoan and libel
Come home to roost
Cawing on about conspiracies and
Shouting down any opposing view.
The sites allow this
Because the bitter crows
Keep coming back
Increasing the page hits
And making them money.
In this equation there is
No place for positivity
April 6, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Gee-whiz! The comment section of any news site (local or national) is filled with the most awful, angry comments. Now, after I read an article, I refuse to scroll down further; I don’t want to have my mind tainted with their poisonous negativity.
Members Only
Older smug man
Wearing a forgettable
Flimsy gray jacket
The thin epaulettes
Popping from the shoulders
Catch my eye
Which drop to the tag
Members Only
Sewn over his heart
White letters on black
Meant to sound elitist
Like some private club
You have no hope
Of ever getting into
If you have to ask
You don’t belong
Members Only
Which implies
He’s better
He’s a step up
He’s a cut above
In reality
It merely shows
He buys into brands
He needs the names
The exclusivity
To feel good about himself
Like a mild form of
Economic bullying
Showing he has
Poor self-esteem,
A set of values,
And a fashion sense
That hasn’t progressed
Since the 1980s
April 12, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Released From The Cerebral
Characters
Stories
Plots
Sub-plots
Twists
Turns
Dialogue
Action
Endings
Beginnings
Ideas for
Dozens of books
All of which
Turning
Churning
Bouncing
Back and forth
In my head
Waiting
Wanting
Straining
To get out
Through my
Fingertips
Clicking
On my
Keyboard
All of them
Everything
Needing to be
Released from
The cerebral prison
They were created in
April 12, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
I’ve got too many book ideas and not enough time to get them all out.
The Dachshund Emerged
Tiny heart-shaped nose
Poking out from under the covers
Like a periscope
Sniffing, sensing, learning, informing
Him of how his day may start
Shaking his head
Freeing it of the blanket
Stretching his comically long body
Making his dappling dance
Like an elongated
Cute tube of dog
The dachshund emerged
And trotted on with his day
April 12, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Every morning, when I get up, I look back at the bed and see the two noses of our two dachshunds sticking out from under the covers. It’s really cute.
Lack of Permanence
Packing
Unpacking
And repeating
Constant upheaval
Constant repetition
Sometimes it seems
We live out of boxes
I find the lack of permanence
Somewhat distressing
Something like
Twenty residences in
Twenty years
Is a lot to take
Each time I ask
Will this finally be it
Then, after a while,
The process begins anew
Jump into a moving truck
And again, off we move
Hopefully, this time
Will be the last time
Then again, I believe
I’ve said that before
April 17, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Subpar
Wrote two
Deleted two
They were subpar
Didn’t make the grade
Too trite
Too simplistic
To allow them to continue
This one isn’t so great either
But serves more as a warning
For the other
Lesser poems
Yet to be
If not for this poem’s purpose
I’d be three for three
April 19, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
I wrote a poem, thought it wasn’t that great, deleted it, immediately wrote another, thought it was trying too hard, deleted it, and then wrote this one.
Hypocriting
Santa look-alikes
Each and every one
Torsos obscured
Unseen and invisible
Floating hands out
Demanding money
Conflicting with the snake
Warning not to tread
Preaching from the truck’s bumper
Thinking takes a backseat
Twisting around morals
Hypocriting at every turn
April 19, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Lazy Tumble
Looking at the faint reflection
Of the vertically-lined wood paneling
Of the wall behind me
The round piece of glass
From the dryer in front of me
Behind which our clothes tumble
Counterclockwise, distracting me
From the tidy wall lines I wanted to see
At the other end of the humming dryer wall
Was an older woman, with glowing red hair
Sorting, drying, folding, choreing
While being bossed around
By an older man, roundly large
Parked in a motorized scooter
Porkpie hat on his head
“AC/DC” strangely on the side
Childlike shoes on his feet
Kept snug with Velcro
He pointed and spoke sharply
In a language I didn’t know
Paying him no mind, she did her duty
Ignoring his terrible tone
As I’m sure she’s done for decades
I turned up the volume on my iPod,
Sat back, and allowed the lazy tumble
Of the clothes to re-distract me
April 21, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
It’s a tiny laundry and I really prefer it when I have the whole place to myself.
A big storm forecasted for tonight
They say it’s a nor’easter
And, while they might be correct,
I look at the rain and doubt it.
Instead of snow measured in feet
Rain will be totaling a few inches.
To me it’s not a nor’easter
Unless we’re buried in snow
Not shoe-deep in a puddle.
April 22, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
MAY
Someone Else’s Desk
Working out my notice
Day-to-day desk-hopping
As I’m assigned to sit
At someone else’s desk
I take inventory of my surroundings
And am having trouble finding anything
Everything seems to be in the wrong place
Nothing but awkward positioning
And careless placement
I have a good mind to re-arrange
But I know this is a temporary desk
So I sit and try to conform to their settings
I wonder if it was the same for them, at first
But maybe they learned to make do
Instead of changing their surroundings
I wonder if they are as miserable as me
Or if they even notice it anymore
May 4, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Things I’ve noticed and the thoughts inspired by them while working out my two-week notice.
Photo From The Future
Out somewhere
Where someone helping us
Was wearing a name badge
I looked at the photo
And up to her face
And back to the photo
And tried to figure out
The half-decade discrepancy
In the opposite direction
It was as if her older self
Was there in the picture
Like a photo from the future
While the youn
ger her
Was standing before us.
If I were her
I would lose my ID
If I were her
I would want a new picture taken
A newer, younger picture
May 4, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Kari went to see a doctor and a nurse helping us had the weirdest photo on her badge. It was like she was visibly half a decade younger in real life than how she looked in the picture. I know it was because she had a much older-lady hairstyle in the photo and a much younger one today, but it still struck me as funny.
Whose Benefit
Pick a desk
Any desk
In any office
Look for personal pictures
Which way do they face?
Will they go unseen
By the casual visitor
But are always visible
To the desker?
Or, are they front and center
Facing out, away from
The occupant
Looking at a client or co-worker
Think for a moment
On the message being sent
Whose benefit is that picture for?
Theirs or yours?
Are they trying to impress,
Or reminisce?
Answer that and you’ll know
What kind of person
You’re dealing with
May 4, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
While working out my last two weeks at work, I was told to work from the desk of someone who was out today. On top of the cabinet above his desk, he has pictures of his kids. From his seat, he cannot see those pictures; only people who walk into the office can. What he can see from his seat are pictures he clipped out of magazines of deer that are hung up inside his cubicle. It got me thinking, which, in turn, got me writing.
Five Years
Like a flash of light
In brightness and intensity
The years have flown by
With you and I
Having jumped off so many
Cliffs, personal and professional
Riding high on the clouds
Of our dreams and desires
Not stopping to look
Back or down
Forward we go
Leaving realized dreams
And happy memories
In our wake
Thank you for these five years
And for the place we are
A long way from where we started
And a long way from where we’ll end
May 5, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
For our fifth anniversary.
940 Saturdays
Looking at the box
Perched at the end of the row
The one we all focus on
The one we wish would grow
Wider than normal