Square to Spare

Hey Buddy, have ya gotta square to spare? I just checked the cab'net, there's none in there. The store tells me they'll be out til June, but it's nine right now, I won't make it to noon.

Yeah Buddy, I know times are tough. Nobody's got any. There's not enough. I checked the 'mart and Stop-N-Go. If there's someplace else, I'd like to know.

This virus, Buddy, it ain't no joke, it's got teetotalers reachin' for a rum and coke. I ain't one to run, but this is kinda scary. I heard Joe got tested and so did Larry.

Hey Buddy, I hate to ask, but it's gettin' serious, you got an extra mask? I know they look kinda silly, but Buddy, we're in a real picadilly!

Hey Buddy, did ya see the news, four thousand cases, man, we're gettin' the screws! They're lockin' us down I heard the gov'ner say. It was on the news, four o'clock today.

Well Buddy, so much for 'Paddy's Day and this four leaf clover, I'll save it 'til next year when this thing is over. If you need me, I'll be six feet over there. Until then, can you spare a square?

Shut it Out

Turn it off
Shut it out
All bad news
Worry, doubt
Infection counts
How many dead
Short of mask
Short of bed
Lockdown
Stay at home
Don't drive
Don't roam
Chin up
Head down
Stores closed
All over town
Take it out
Eat it later
You're on your own
Chef and caterer

Turn it off

It'll still be there
But will end
This nightmare
Buy a book
Not a gun
Dust off a board game
Have some fun
Don't pretend
That it's not real
Don't imagine
That you can't feel
Look inside
Not out
Find hope
Never doubt
Disney on Thursday night
The popcorn maker
That's been out of sight
Table prayers
Not often said
Blanket forts
Above the bed
Embrace the silence
Or the din
Of kids and pets
All shut in
This will pass
God is near
Come what may
Have no fear

Raise Her High

Hail Old Glory, raise her high
Never surrender, Never say die!

Raise her high out in the yard
When times are good, when times are hard

A symbol, yes, but so much more
She's the woven fabric of our nation's soul

She scaled the rubble after the towers fell
And Suribachi, over Iwo's hell

She says to the curse, you will not win
I stand for what we are within

This country will be your toughest yet
You might bruise us, but you can bet

That when it's over we'll still stand
At the ballpark, with our neighbors, heart under hand

Where we'll proudly salute her beneath the sun
One nation, indivisible, every color, every creed, everyone

Model 1814 U.S. Flag at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore, MD

When Does It Stop Being Funny?

When
When does it stop being funny
When do the jokes and the memes
lose their edge and become cruel irony
When does toilet paper cease to be a punchline
and instead become an apropos symbol of this mess
What will be the death toll and when and where will it hit closest
When do the gallows no longer become humorous and open beneath our feet
When will "If I get corona, I get corona" become the hauntingly real battle cry of the ignorant
Maybe when the shelves of toilet paper and cleaner don't get re-stocked in a week or two
Maybe when the patient with the twisted knee waits at home for another week to be seen
Maybe when the realization hits that the last goodbye really was the last goodbye
Maybe when last month's rent really was the last month's rent
Maybe when schools announce that summer's cancelled
Maybe when neighbors aren't
Maybe then
Maybe

Spiritual Food

I went to write a poem of sorrow

One full of despair

But when I searched my heart for words

I found they just weren't there

For I'd just finished praying

And my soul was at its best

I searched for angst and worry

But I found my mind at rest

I tried to rile myself to passion

But alas it did no good

The 'damage' had been done

I'd had my spiritual food

A Week Ago

It was only a week ago
Hard to believe
Awake and alive
Now asleep in a dream

A week ago
That's all it was
Rainbows and sunshine
Dandelion fuzz

A week ago
All was right
Day was day
Night was night

A line was a line
A dot was a dot
Things were fine
Now they're not

A week ago
I held out my hand
Now it's wrapped in a glove
Sealed with a band

Up was up
Down was down
The lights were on
All over town

It's quiet now
Everyone's inside
A ghostly silence
Something's died

A week from now
We'll be fine
Strong of heart
Peace of mind

A week from now
We'll realize
How to adapt
How to survive

Life will be basic
Slowed down
Bread and family
Sitting down

Time for prayer
Contemplation
Time for reflection
Meditation

Time for projects
Pulling weeds
Mending fences
Humble deeds

Charity will be in vogue
Across our blessed nation
We'll see faces, not commodities
Service, not recreation

Ready and stronger
We'll survive
Better and balanced
Awake and alive

Lunch Break

I thought Id take account today
Of all the things that've come my way
Or that I can plainly see
From my bench
On the Mall
In old DC
There's geese a-swimming in a
Green ripply pond
Some folks look
But most move on
Achy feet or
Scooter bikes
Wheelchairs, or
Strollers for the little tikes
Languages
I hear a-plenty
A German tour with
More than 20
I've seen horse-mounted cops and
Black sedans
Souvenirs and hotdog stands
Along the asphalt trail with simple benches
Like the one lI've already mentioned
Portajohns wrapped up with tape
If you gotta go
You'll have to wait
So many people
Come to see
The head of this land made
For you, For me
If you make your way out here
I think, you too
Will be amazed
At what you see and hear