Updated: Dec 8, 2023
FRONT
confused, cranky
line ‘em up
stack ‘em
but never despondent
WTJU rock marathon 1993
BACK
freedom does not rhyme
with “zing” or “ling”;
brackish, fractious
the ladder of life;
“parfait sealed”
“delicious blend”
enriching, the crispy wit
91.1 fm charlottesville
Updated: Aug 29, 2023
The view from my rear window is so spectacularly fine, especially in the evening,
that I find it hard to look away, go read a book. Watching a movie’s forgone.
Yet almost everything back there, between my house and the railroad line
is an “invasive alien.” Except for the box elder, Acer negundo,
in Russian, the америка́нский клён, or American maple (Amerikansky klyon).
We aliens welcome her among us. We’re all somewhat American these days.
I, the most recently arrived, naturally,
but the Norway maples, Chinese privet, burning bush,* periwinkle, bittersweet, kudzu, and bamboo too.
We’re a total mess right now, of course (especially the last three). C’mon!
We’ll sort things out--just give us, say, a million years or so.
You will, obviously, I know.
*Winged eunonymus
Foolish when young, and later yet, God knows!
I now, grown old, lament departed loves,
adorèd friends, acquaintances—and even
a few foes. Still, there’s an unadmitted advantage in such sorrow: witnesses of my immature boo-boos and no-no’s
have stepped offstage, one by one, without fuss.
I’m sad they’ve passed away, of course, but that’s a plus!
What goes around comes around’s nothing new. The task of many is to mourn the few. May Generations Y, Z, and Alpha too,
come to this point in life, look back on me, weep a bit if they feel like it and say,
“Thank @#$%, he’s not here to remember that today!”
