Not as I was

Back then, inexperienced,
And more modest than I am today
I had the highest regards
For others.

Later, out there in the pasture
I met calves other than me
And now appreciate, so to speak,
First myself.

(My translation of "Früher, da ich unerfahren", a poem by Wilhelm Busch in Criticism of the Heart, 1874)

Weihnachtsfeierlich

Weihnachtsfeierlich der Wald
Tännlein, Christlein stumm und kalt
Welt in Heiliges gewickelt
Sofakissen, bunt bestickelt
Sterne schweben, hoch und klein
Nachbarshund jammert
Ganz allein.

Aus Schokolade, braun und stramm

Aus Schokolade, braun und stramm
Mein süßer, zarter Weihnachtsmann
Frisch aus seiner Weihnachtsfolie
Geschenkt zu meines Bauches wohl, ja
Wer hatte jemals so ´nen Freund
Der niemals dieses Fest versäumnt
Der massenweise produziert ist
Den man sorgenfrei allein frisst
Oder, wenn gezwungen, teilt,
Brüderlich, sein Weihnachtskleid.
Oh Du selig, frommer Mann
Mein Schokoladenweihnachtsmann.

Christmas Eve at the Office

We looked for an early dismissal
A three o'clock, five o'clock whistle
Yes, work is OK
But we'd rather play
Say now, and I'm out like a missile.

(Waiting for the word to leave early for the Holidays!)

Evening in the barn

Evening, there along the wall
Expectant eyes in every stall
Is it me you've come to see
Do come closer, petting's free
Don't really care about your day
I'm here, right now, to eat or play.

Fourteen faces, countless looks
Biographies concealed in books
Not yet written, not yet told,
So listen, hear their hearts unfold
A quiet nicker over there
A tail twitch stirs the fragrant air
That muzzle on a flake of hay
A hoof stomped in a certain way
Or perfect silence, dark and empty
For me, this evening, more than plenty.

What she said wasn't all that flattering
About someone I'd rather not know
Gave him a shellacking, a splattering
Her boyfriend, her someone, but no.

She had hopes, this being her birthday
He would call for a short I love you
Instead he said things not to replay
Which is why, as of then, they are through.

Early morning cat

Missing chicken

"Missing Chicken" poster disappeared. Check back later.

Mumbles, the Chicken is back! Or at least its poster.

Good fences make good neighbors

Good fences do, as Carl Sandburg said, make good neighbors. But more: good fences (boundaries) are essential for life. Dr. Shapiro in SciAm.com wrote how a boundary is one of the first preconditions for life. On a walk outside Wimea, Hawaii, along a road lined with fences, miles of fences without a break to walk through, I thought about what is fenced in and out. Fences keep in the cattle and keep out the rustlers, making for happy cows. The pasture is a viable, living region. Other regions are not.

Is the US, soon to be fenced north and south, a viable region with a suitably permeable membrane, or not? Is it an area of increasing order and decreasing entropy, or a decaying organism?

The land on the other side of the fence, scrubland, has no cows, houses. But it is owned, is private, is held for a time when it will be valuable as a construction site for condos. Nothing wrong with those. But consider: The population of the Big Island before Captain Cook "found" it in 1788 was more than it is today. This land supported more people than it does today. Fenced, subdivided, worked as it is today, is it as alive? Doubt it.

Three limericks for Gordon Morse

Thought Pele wasn’t around
And wouldn’t miss what they found
A chunk of basalt
Then a slip in the fault
They all disappeared in the ground.

The devil at home in the lava
Drank magma like ruby-red java
This stuff isn’t bad
Just wish that I had
A cool sip of tropical guava.

They came from the plains to Volcano
Found too much to do in one day, so
They scurried like rats
Lost kids and their hats
Saw most of it through a car window.