I have a folder on the computer titled: Songs, Raps and Poems. It’s a collection of my occasional poetic outbursts over all these years. While looking for a poem (coming soon in the next post or two), I browsed through some of my work and discovered —I like them! I can see a future publishing project gathering them all together. Meanwhile, here are four short ones from 10 to 13 years ago:

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

56 years old, I step onto the bathroom scale.

Further proof that the universe is expanding.

The blonde in front of me in line

is talking on some fancy new gadget.

Off to the side, four guys are staring.

Are they checking herout

Or her machine?

“Attention, passengers. This train is stopping.”

In 1989, the voice on the Atlanta airport shuttle train

was robotic, a stuttered a-rhythmic monotone

without inflection.

In 2008, the voice has become almost cheery.

It could be the girl next door, your dental hygienist

or your 3^rdgrade teacher.

That’s progress.

The hardest part of flying

is the five minutes after the seat belts are released

with their click of impatience

and the jetway crawls to the plane door.

This one is slower than usual and we weary adults,

sullen and travel-worn, stand in the aisle

sighing, slumped and simpering.

Meanwhile, the four-year old girl

stands on her seat and aims the overhead air nozzle

at her face. Shrieks with delight as her hair blows behind her,

opens her mouth wide to swallow the wind.

And we grumpy grown-ups think,

“What didn’t we think of that?”