‘Twas The Mouse Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring,

Except for a mouse,

But my kitty was on him,

As soon as she woke,

She chased him right down,

With a single great stroke,

Her paw sent him flying,

Right out the of door,

But the joke was on her,

While she’d slept and she’d snored,

He’d eaten his fill,

Now away he could go,

With a tummy quite full,

And a Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!

Creatures of An Empty World

There is an empty world
It sits above our own,
Its silent souls

Reflect to us

A silent warning,

Like a lighthouse on a rock,

Their message,

Barely heard,

Is clear,

“This world,

It loves you not,
Our killers,

They still walk.”

Let their message

Never be forgot.

A River Song

Where do old couches go?

And old TVs?

The ones that weren’t born as HD,

They go into our nearby river,

Sadly,

Along with fish,

But fish in fact are s’posed to be there,

And maybe

Jimmy Hoffa too,

Who ain’t.

To speculate would be unfair,

The river doesn’t say.

The Pay Phone

Folks in cities, and even suburbs, can count on pretty reliable cell phone coverage.

This has rendered the traditional pay phone an unprofitable, and rarely encountered

creature. With the population's heads perpetually buried in their smart phones, why 

would anyone seek out a pay phone? Unfortunately, here in the mountains, cell phone 

coverage varies from spotty to non-existent. That hasn't prevented the local phone 

company from ripping out our pay phone. Verizon has been called many things, 

but never public spirited.

Our pay phone is no longer known,

They’ve taken it away.

It’s gone as gone can be,

It left a hole outside our

One and only store.

So if you want to make a call,

Pull out your cell phone,

Fire it up,

Oops!

It’s just as good as any brick,

Out here amongst the hills.

We’re sorry,

But,

You’ll find no signal,

Not a peep.

If you need to make a call,

Go ten miles down the road,

You’ll find a pay phone,

And a signal for your cell phone.

Welcome to our mountain home,

Knock on any door,

And ask a human,

May I use your phone?

Westward Bound at Dusk

Red sky at dusk

A beauty sublime

Rests on our mountains

For moments in time

Gone all too soon

Close your eyes

Imagine the clouds

Hanging like blood

Before your eyes

The Ghost of The Catamount

The catamount,

It does appear,

From our fair Commonwealth

Has disappeared,

It's just as gone

As gone can be.

Just ask the state

Environment folk,

They'll tell you

It's extinct in our fair land,

As is the Nittany Lion,

From its home

Of Pennsylvania.

They say the only Nittany Lion left

Is frozen in perpetual leap

Outside the Penn State football field.

And as a proof,

Her moaning call

Is heard no more

Throughout the Pennsylvania mounts.

We've slain those big cats

One and all

From the Allegheny

To the Blue Ridge.

So when a giant cat

Stretched herself full out

Before our car

Just to cross the street

At the time of her desire,

Not one moment sooner,

Nor one moment later,

We might have almost hit a ghost,

But she didn't stick around

To tell us who she was.

The great cat speaks not,

But goes about her business,

If she's there,

And if she's not,

What the heck was that
That crossed the road?

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. I usually write a poem for my wife, rather than buying her a card. There was a certain amount of long distance courtship before she flew up to Virginia from Florida to marry me. When she got here she was wearing the most delicious sweater. This year, in order to take her to lunch, we had to get ourselves dug out of 18 inches of snow. It was a great lunch!

February 14th 2014

It's Valentine's Day again,

But I,

I still remember when,

You returned the call,

And set the journey

In motion.

Just a few calls,

A few notes,

A flight,

A sweater,

And something so much better.

As best friends,

Let us dance 'til the end,

'Til the end of our time,

With our hearts intertwined.

When we are together

Life really is fun,

And surely the best

Is yet to come.

Let's do lunch,

Today!

Or as soon as we

Can dig ourselves out.

Love, glm

Panic’s Visit

Panic walked into the room

As business like as he could  be,

He only shook a few folks hands,

He doesn't really need to,

He mixes well

Without a touch,

And carries with him friends,

Fear lives within his pocket,

And remains behind

When he departs.

He said,
I've come to take you,
Hold on tight

For now,

'Till I abandon you

To something

Worse,

Sometime later in the night.

Hold on

And pray I drop you in the light.

But be on guard,

My touch remains,

When I have gone,

So watch your back.