8. What are you gonna do? (06/26/07)
Well Steven lost another tooth
Tonight at dinner. we had him
Put it in a paper pill cup.
When it was clear he had
No pockets I opined, you are
Interesting as a dinner companion.
Lyle said, but we were eating
Cottage cheese and melon pieces.
and Dave said, what are you
Gonna do, what can you do?
[Home]
9. What's for Supper? (7/11/07)
LaTina found Mary
Slumped in her chair.
'My left knee popped.'
She ran for ice,
Filled a plastic glove,
Tied it off and laid it
On the swelling knee.
'Lift your feet,' LaTina cried
As she ran Mary to supper.
Later the weird icebag
Fell off the knee and Dave yelled,
'God almighty what's on my foot?'
We all loved the iced hand and -
'Actually ,' Mary said, 'my knee
Feels a whole lot better.'
[Home]
10. The Building Stretches and Grows (07/20/07)
It was a ballet of
Fifteen men in rhythmic
Stop and start, pouring a ribbon
Of concrete, leveling, smoothing,
And now the Nijinski man
On his knees smoothing while
The Pittsburgh truck breathes,
Breathes � actually sounds like
Breathing, Lyle says � and drums
In the background. One dancer
With a trowel on a long pole
Stands alone and suddenly
It is done. The music, the dance:
The flooring for the new addition.
[Home]
11. Remembering heroes (7/23/07)
Dave asks me, Is it
True, is Ellie near
Death? And I say yes
And he says Jesus how,
O Jesus how that poor
Lovely woman has
Suffered: Cleopatra
On her barge you know.
When she was pushed past us,
Past our table I would
Always say please.
To her. I said more than
Have a nice day, I said
Have a nice day, please.
He turned and said, did you
Ever see Lou Gehrig, Lyle,
And Lyle said, no but I saw
Babe Ruth play and Ty Cobb.
We were so quiet, thinking
of Ellie with Lou Gehrig's
Wasting illness, of Cleopatra
Being wheeled to lunch
On her barge, or so Dave joked
And now, he says, she is not expected
To last the day. Today.
[Home]
12. Suppertime (07/27/07)
Beans beans, sang out John Wayne
The musical fruit, growled Jimmy Cagney
The more you eat, sang Cher
The more you toot. All tables
Chimed in and laughter that gift
Waved through the hall and then
Mae West insinuated, beans beans -
Over giggles and cheers Sly Stallone
Roared, it's gonna be a long night, folks.
[Home]
13. For Months Norma Did Glide (07/26/07)
For months Norma did glide
Through the hallway in
Her floorlength gowns,
Every inch a diva from
Her cinnamon hair to her pumps.
When I learned she had sung
All over the world I asked
What roles? Her blank stare
Shut me up. I never asked again.
And now she never uses her cane,
Never walks anywhere. Linda says
Norma has discovered the
Wheelchair. And Norma sits
In the lobby by the fish tank.
O yes she says, I sang in Russia,
I toured Italy and France,
Performed in England. She wears
Carpet slippers, has let her hair
Go white. Her speaking voice
Is musical. She has an air.
However, says Dave, I just
Do not envision her as Mimi.
[Home]
14. Such Excitement (08/17/07)
There they stood,
Mom and her two fawns,
Looking at me. I didn't
Breathe. We didn't move
And then they walked away
Away. Two hours later
There were more and Linda
Found the salt lick
Looking now like bark:
Many teeth marks, black
In color. She stared at me.
I told Linda as if to say,
"Where are the apples? Three
Were all I had. Linda placed
Them in the grass behind
The fireplug, along the woods
And in the open. I told Bill
Two babies.Their mom,
She isn't limping now.
O no he said. you saw
A different mom. He stood
Holding a paint brush,
Balancing a tray on one hip,
And last night a ten-point buck
Tripped the light outside
My garage. I was doing dishes.
The light came on. I looked
Down and there he was
Looking up at me. Why, I said
Are we so interested in them?
Because despite all we have
Done to them, there they are.
Because. he smiled, because
They are so beautiful.
[Home]
15. Fish Dinner (9/24/07)
Lyle cut up fish for Steven
And said, 'Here's your mayo for it,'
And Mary said quietly,
'Tartar sauce'
And he said,
'We should all be thankful
Mary is here to correct us.'
[Home]
16. Old People Know Better
They should keep the
Developing addition as
A sculpture, Lyle says. He says
I told their boss, don't have
Your boys up on the steel
When there is lightning,
But he laughed and he said
We keep track. We know
Where the storm is. We're okay.
Us they put in the hallway
During the tornado scare
But the boys, Minnie says to Lyle,
They are up on the bare steel
Of the new roof. O, I am sure.
Dave says to all, they are down now.
Lyle laughs. Down or dead, he says.
Dave says to all,
They are up on the bare steel.
POEMS II, 2007 -