A Night Watching
Nature Programs
Round eyes,
small pert
nose,
fluttery brown
fur,
gentle
demeanor,
prim gait,
the antelope
is a play
for our
sympathy.
Prowling,
stalking,
fierce gaze,
salivating
incisors,
rippling
muscled chest,
the lioness
is a play
for our awe.
Once in a
lifetime deal,
prices slashed
on all
vehicles,
all must go
to make way
for new
inventory
and then theres
the
advertisers.
Those Door-To-Door
People
Who remembers the Fuller
Brush girl?
Or the Avon
Lady?
And what about the vacuum
cleaner salesman
or the kid selling
magazine subscriptions
to pay for his college
education?
Salesman still come door
to door
but not with perfumes in
a suitcase.
Instead, its
Jehovah Witnesses
trying to sell me
God.
And politicians, of
course.
And God knows, they're
for sale.
Those were the
days.
The world of
commerce
put on its best walking
shoes
and did the
neighborhoods.
Now it's just religion
and politics
that bother.
And when they come
calling,
I pretend Im not
home.
Now if they only
preached
that old Fuller Brush
religion.
Or they ran on a
platform
of Avon, Hoover and
Life.
The Couple Measure
Success
Page One
My life begins with a
couple
driving through a new
estate,
going from house to
house,
admiring the two-car
garages, neat lawns,
in-ground pools out
back,
the golf course in the
distance,
the rippled sheen of a
lake
within walking distance
of all.
Of course, they
cant afford what they see.
So my life starts out
with disappointment.
And maybe something
like,
This isnt
what we bargained for.
And yet, this
impoverished couple
tell themselves,
All is not lost,
maybe the kid will grow
up
to be a doctor or
lawyer
and will shower us with
all
the treasures, the
pleasures, we never had.
So my life steadies
itself
through a series of
apartments,
hand-me down
cribs,
occasional Chinese
takeout meals,
cheap vacations by the
shore.
And even a home, nothing
fancy,
but that new estate is
old by this,
in reality and in wishful
thoughts.
At some point, the couple
must realize that
this boy theyve
nurtured,
put their faith in, is
smart enough
but not engaged in their
dreams.
He doesnt take the
cats temperature.
He scribbles on paper
instead.
And the couple move in
circles
where children go to
medical school
or study the law or, at
least,
put their mechanic skills
to good use
and open their own
garage.
These kids dont
stick their head in a book
unless it ends in dollar
signs.
And wild Basil is not a
flower to them
but just some crazy guy
they work with.
The Couple Measure
Success
Page Two
The couple drift steadily
enough
into middle
age,
then grow gray in hair
and body and outlook.
My life is determinedly
mine by this.
Im married with a
place of my own,
a job that pays
and a vocation that
doesnt.
They do go on the long
trip
that theyve always
dreamed of
but, halfway through,
the tug of home is too
great,
and they head back
to where their roots are
waiting.
The couples lives
fade eventually.
while mines still
in progress.
At their late date,
theyve finally
accepted the fact that my
life
is the one they want for
me.
Not the life of mine they
want for themselves.
But, at the end,
thats a start.
The Truth
Please
I gave up on
ambiguity.
I wanted black or
white,
yes or no.
Instead she handed out
maybes
like Reeses Pieces
on Halloween.
I needed some time with
clarity.
A day, an hour
even,
when I knew where people
were coming
from.
But she wouldnt
give me a minute.
Not even a
moment.
I longed for words
and facial expressions
to align,
for actions to coincide
with promises
but her uncertainty
joined hands with
vagueness,
threw in some
doubt,
and then topped it off
with,
So?
Had I known where I
stood
I wouldnt have been
standing there.
A Healthy
Lie
He told the doctor he
had quit cigarettes
for good this
time,
even though he had
puffed on one
that very
morning.
He wanted to be superior
in the
physician's
eyes.
And he could do it with
an untruth,
without having to change
anything.
Beautiful!
Gravity is
overrated.
Other pulls are
greater.
To be seen to be making
improvements
puts magnetism in the
shade.
He doesn't want to
die
but he doesn't want to
give up pleasure either.
If the doc keys into his
laptop,
"gave up
smoking"
then it has to be partly
true at least.
It has to
help.
And then there's the
story he tells his wife.
It grabs him by the
tongue.
points him in the
direction of.
"He says I'm as healthy
as a guy
half my age."
Then he goes out back
for another cancer stick.
His next appointment
isn't for six months.
A lot can be said to
happen in that time.