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.

Dear Jack We Miss You Yet - Fifty Years Later

Dear Jack,

It’s been so long,

Yet we cannot let go,

You are our touchstone,

Our Icon of perfection,

You did so little,

Yet your smile,

Set upon that charismatic face,

Gave to oh so many,

A stunning vision of things

Yet to come,

Perhaps.

Your three short years

Grew in our minds,

To a giant’s legacy that never was,

‘Til you could do no wrong.

Now everyone,

Knave and angel both,

Fight to have you as their own,

But no one knows

For sure,

Just what you might have been.

Oklahoma Haiku - May, 2013

We live at arm's length,

Close by the great monster's den,

And pray for mercy.

The Song of The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

On we drone,
Another day,
Another death,
We fly on high,
All day,
All night,
We never tire.
We've got the time,
Until we fire,
And we're assured,
It's not a crime.
It's more or less
A righteous act,
Our work
That is.
We're told in fact,
That when we kill,
It's been approved,
Approved on high,
It couldn't be a
A crime of war.
Death comes right from
A Kill List,
Like a – Fatwa,
If you will.
And should you happen
In the way,
It was just your time,
But not a crime.