VINTAGE LETTERS

mail was valuable way back then

in the days of grandfather’s youth

letters were the way to send friends

messages, money, and kind words.

his mother wrote him at college,

mail was valuable way back then.

words of encouragement arrived,

fine crafted letters full of love

weather updates, daily routines

anecdotes from a place called home.

mail was valuable way back then,

she assured him Father was proud.

in the basement, letters kept for

a lifetime, unshared memories.

I read them now, decades later-

mail was valuable way back then.

PRICE PLUS

Did you find everything you were looking for?

Are there any items on the bottom of your cart?

Do you have any coupons or a Price Plus card?

The 3 questions cashiers always ask at this store,

they must train them to say it before they start.

Did you find everything you were looking for?

Shopping for groceries shouldn’t be this hard,

displays and selfish customers block the aisles.

Are there any items on the bottom of your cart?

I spent $200 without a single package of meat,

the lady with food stamps buys T-bone steaks.

Do you have any coupons or a Price Plus card?

HOLD ON, SUMMER'S COMING

Mornings I shuffle to the thermostat

to bump it up a few degrees and think

I’ll be opening windows in a few weeks.

I’ll be soaking up rays of sunshine as

I rake leftover leaves from fall and sow

grass seed in an attempt to have a lawn.

We’ll put begonias in the flower boxes

with orange marigolds, blue ageratums,

and get excited buying tomato plants.

We’ll straighten the rocks around the

bed where the perennials come up and

we’ll pull weeds from the patio’s cracks.

I’ll cook hot dogs and burgers on the grill,

drink a few beers after cutting the grass.

I’ll listen to a baseball game on the radio,

sit in a plastic Adirondack chair,look up

at the stars in the sky and be thankful for

all I have and glad that winter is long gone.

TWO YEARS PASSED

before I called an electrician.

Tired of fumbling with keys,

trying fit it into the door knob.

Tired of eating in the dark and

hearing too many complaints.

I put it off as long as I could,

no one likes spending money.

Now lights shine brightly by

both doors, a ceiling fan hangs

above the dining room table.

The outlet in my son’s room

is updated for 3 prong plugs.

No more tape over his switch.

They spent all afternoon here,

two men working on the list.

With more money, it would've

been longer, 60 year old homes

always need something fixed.

In a few years, I might call them

to come back to finish the list.

POWERLESS

The hurricane hits, but without power no one sees

lost lives, streets flood, cars wash away, homes burn.

Darkness across the state, downed wires, fallen trees.

The hurricane hits, but without power no one sees.

No choice as waves rise, the entire neighborhood flees

It’s dangerous living near water, a hard lesson to learn.

The hurricane hits, but without power no one sees

lost lives, streets flood, cars wash away, homes burn.

GET THE MAIL

Sometimes we stack it up all week long.

Catalogues piled on the table every day,

businesses we ordered from years ago-

Hanes Her Way, L.L. Bean, Gaelsong.

Refinancing from mortgage companies,

always in some official looking envelopes

presorted postage, labeled with labels like

to our friends, Open at once, time sensitive.

Offers from Discover and American Express,

Alumni Associations begging for more money

join stacks of special life insurance policies.

Local Shopper’s Guides, Money Mailers with

offers and coupons to places we’ll never go.

My wife’s Smithsonian magazine, she doesn’t

have time to read it. And every quarter we get

a water/sewer bill on a small white post card.

Saturday mornings, I sit with a cup of coffee

to tear open envelopes, rip them to pieces,

drop them into the kitchen trash can and think

about how there are no handwritten letters on

floral stationery sent in colorful pastel envelopes.

Gone are those who used to send them to us and

soon, says the News, the Post Office will be too.

I wonder who’ll bring all this junk mail to us then.

MATCHES

Too early for pretzels, chips, or peanuts.

Too early for Brown Ale or a pint of Bass.

This morning begins like every other day,

with a pot of coffee, demanding pets fed.

Remotes find the obscure cable channels.

A five hour difference makes us get up to

watch games broadcasted from England.

I yell to him, he’d planned to get up too.

It’s football now instead of our old sport.

Its stats and standings replace baseball.

Its star players have replaced basketball.

Boxing Day replaces Christmas morning.

Magpies, Reds, Blues, Black Cats and Spurs

promise to outshine the lights of the tree.

Holidays have become too much work and

enjoying the season starts on this morning.

One day we’ll go there, is what we say.

Doesn't matter who we see, we’ll sit at the

edge of the pitch, we’ll have pies and tea

at half with shivering pink faced supporters.

We’ll wrap team scarves around our necks,

lose our voices from singing and when we go-

Rooney, Bale, and Gerrard will be long gone.

The money keeps us from reaching our goals.