Thinking About, What If?

 

Thinking about, What if?

What if I had grown up with

a sister as part of my family?

Would that have resulted in a

better sibling relationship?

I am the middle child of

three boys, each approxi-

mately one year apart.

Some would think that

brothers would foster a

greater bond. And that

may be the case in some

families, but not in mine.

We three brothers were so

different in looks and per-

sonalities. And those who

knew us found it difficult

to believe that we were

part of the same family.

My older brother and I fought

constantly, and the youngest

did his best to separate from

the fray.

An older sister may have

been one to look up to;

a younger sister may have

been one for an older

brother to affectionately

honor and protect.

How come Mark gets to do

this and that, and I don’t?

Why does David always get

the biggest slice of pie?

I’m better looking and have

more muscles than he.

The comparatives between

brothers can be uncompro-

misingly brutal.

He stole my baseball glove

and traded it to Ronnie Barker for

a bat. Where’s the brotherly love?

Look at Cain and Abel, I used to

think. How did that arrangement

work out?

At least if someone disrespected

a sister (had I been blessed

enough to have one of those),

I could have punched the rotten

bastard in the nose.

My older brother would have

chased me all over the place

with his bat had I punched him

instead. The younger brother

couldn’t have cared less.

           -30-

Chris Hanch 6-30-2021

Out My Window

 

Out my window,

I long to see

a scene of something

grander than me—

a snow-capped mountain perhaps,

the shoreline of rock and sand,

repleat with whitecapped waves

of an endless sea.

Out of my window

a Midwestern landscape in actuality.

I see summer’s grass,

the broad green leaves

and peeling bark

of the stalwart sycamore tree.

For this moment in time and place,

and the tenacity of my age,

a grand enough vision for me.

            -30-

Chris Hanch 6-29-2021

For All It's Worth

My job today is not to jog or lift weights.

Today, my job is not to fritter away the

hours in dismay. In my lifetime I have

shied away from physical exercise and

wasted enough time twiddling my thumbs.

Today, I am mindful of the countdown of

minutes and hours allowed. As I age, my

options for activity fade. I am neither cow

nor hen expected to produce product every-

day. No further need have I to punch the

clock and prove my worth for pay.

No sir, no ma’am, I no longer tick that way.

I have no further need to pull my own weight,

ingratiate or substantiate this modest space

I occupy. I am for all it’s worth simply here

and now as I have been all along since birth.

And today, you have the rare opportunity to

engage with me in useless conversation

and nonsensical validation. 

Start your 30-day free home trial at

www.wtfishappeningtome.com

or hashtag me at #BSforFreeEasyas123.

Don’t you just love what you can do with

all this new technology and a wasteland

of free time on your hands?

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 6-28-2021

 

Who Cares Anyway?

 

Sleepy-eyed summer Sunday

Framed pictures on the wall.

Memories of bygone days stored safely away.

The clock is running a minute late.

No one is expected to arrive today.

Grand schemes are visions of some other day.

Not here, not a whisper, all the music has been played.

No one cares to know; no one cares to say.

Sleepy-eyed summer Sunday

has a certain aura of peace an quiet to it.

The dog naps snugly in the lap.

Not a care in the world inside or out today.

Nothing of earth-shaking consequence to say.

Nothing is forever.

In between black and white reside shades of gray.

                       -30-

Chris Hanch 6-27-2021

The Story Behind a Story

 

On the Disney + Channel last night I watched

a documentary on how an animated movie is

made.

It was about the feature movie, Frozen II. I won’t

go into the details of the movie itself, but rather

would focus specifically on the process and people

involved.

3-years in the making, dozens of professionals

from producers, directors, writers, artists, designers,

animators to composers, musicians and technicians

were involved.

I was not only amazed with today’s modern technology,

but with the heart and soul dedication and creative work

of all who played an integral part in the project.

All of this, a world of creativity, the stresses and

strains, the myriad emotions, the teamwork,

a conglomerate of talent, a labor of dedication

and love to entertain, educate, and for all it’s

worth to make us laugh and cry.

And in keeping with the evolutionary and

ongoing traditional manner of mankind’s

premier and valued legacy, to bring us pure

joy in the telling of a story.

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 6-26-2021

Tell Me Why

 

Tell my why the beard grays with age?

Tell me why lines take over the face?

Tell me why the joints and muscles ache

and deteriorate?

Tell me why the bladder leaks and the bowels

constipate?

Tell me why the mind forgets once well known

name and place?

Tell me why easy is getting harder everyday?

When I was younger I used to wonder why

I couldn’t fly.

Used to ponder all the possibilities available

to me...

figured the world was my oyster...

thought I was 10-feet tall and bullet proof.

I never expected to see the day when I was

set out to pasture dried up and lame,

Never expected the day would come when

I had had enough of enough. And I often

wonder what lies ahead of me? Guess I got

everything and more than I deserved

coming to me.

And humming along with the lyrics

of Iris DeMent...Everbody’s wondering

what and where they all came from?

Everybody’s worried about where they’re

going when the whole thing’s done?

But no one knows for certain, so it’s

all the same to me. Think I’ll just let

the mystery be...

                   -30-

Chris Hanch 6-25-2021

In the News Today

 

In the news, Israel and Ethiopia.

In Washington, the filibuster

fiasco fumes.

States are passing legislation

to hinder voter’s rights.

Infrastructure will be The

Administration’s next move.

Across the Country, serious

crime is on the rise. And of

course, the topic of The Big

Lie is still alive.

Vacinate, vaccinate—

There are folks out there who

still stubbornly resist.

Our area is under a flash flood

watch until 7 PM tomorrow.

Thought you’d like to know.

Hardly anyone talks about hard

boiled eggs anymore. I have been

watching the pot of bubbling

water for 6-minutes. I’ll continue

waiting for 2-minutes more.

There, I’ve said all I’m going to say

publicly today. Then, what’s done

shall be done. Egg salad for dinner;

I can hardly wait.

I have no more of irrelevancy to say.

Quite honestly, except for the latter,

most of this crap makes no sense

to me.

             -30-

Chris Hanch 6-24-2021

Things People Do

 

Father is up early. He smokes

his first cigarette while shaving

in front of the bathroom mirror

before dressing and heading off

to work. At an early age, I learned

that is what fathers are supposed

to do.

Grandma drinks her coffee and

smokes cigarettes in the morning.

She bakes oatmeal cookies for her

grand kids in the afternoon. I know

this because as a child I would see

this is what my grandma used to do.

Old men sit on benches in the

middle of the day, smoke cigars

and feed the squirrels peanuts in

the park. I know, because this is

what I have seen old men do.

Firefighters wash and wax their

engines when they aren’t busy

fighting fires. They lean back

in their wooden chairs and

chat with one another when

there is nothing else to do.

I used to watch them in my

neighborhood every day on

my way home from school.

Butchers slice meat into steaks.

Bakers bake donuts and cakes.

Mail carriers deliver mail in rain,

sleet and snow. Teachers teach

ABCs, math and history.

Robbers rob banks. Ballplayers

chew tobacco and spit their wads

in the dugout as pilots fly airplanes

to far away places. I know because

I have seen them with my own eyes,

or so I have been told.

When I was about 10-years

old a friend of mine told me

where babies come from.

At first I couldn’t believe

my parents would ever do

such a thing. And I thought

to myself, how aweful. Why

would God ever allow that to

happen?

Nowadays in the throes of

my old age, given in a life-

time what I have seen, heard

done and know, I have come

to believe there is nothing on

Earth people can do which

would surprise me.

And although she’s long gone

now, I suppose grandma knew

a hell of a lot more than I ever

gave her credit for.

               -30-

Chris Hanch 6-23-2021

Consumption

 

Consumers everyone everywhere.

Consumers of sunlight and air.

Consumers of loneliness and despair.

Consumers of happiness and gloom.

Consumers of music and games.

Consumers of sickness and health.

The wealthy consuming the poor.

Facebook, Google and Amazon,

T-Mobile and Samsung,

Verizon and Spectrum,

Disney, GM, and Netflix,

Exxon, fire and ice,

sugar and spice,

naughty and nice,

chicken soup and rice,

Beelzebub and Jesus Christ,

and for a price,

I consume you and you

consume me.

All feed and cosume to survive.

Walmart and Target,

Wall Street and Main Street,

Little Caesar's and Burger King,

every what-not and gizmo devour

every second, every hour,

grace before dinner, bedtime prayer.

We say please and thank you

before and after we consume.

Cancer and AIDS consume,

Alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, heart attacks,

Rhythm and Blues, fatty foods consume.

Peach trees and arthritic knees consume.

Nike's and Old Navy, Max Factor

and Preparation H, Snuggies, Huggies,

Depends and Kibbles and Bits consume.

The Blue Danube and Eiffel Tower,

The Grand Canyon and Ft. Leavenworth,

Cleveland, Ohio, Las Vegas and

Delta Airlines, AR-15s and Keebler

Cookies, murder, mayhem,

mass killers and crooked cops,

obesity, poverty and stupidity consume.

Fascists, Qanon, KKK and Proud Boys

consume.

Face it, folks, we are all doomed.

The pundits, politicians and preachers

and the powers that be

say there is no other way. Scientists

tell us it’s too late to change.

Consumption not salvation all along

has been the Grand Plan.

Get what’s coming to you while

you still can. And for God’s sake,

let go of the remote, hang up

the smart phone, take a deep breath

and have a pleasant day!

            -30-

Chris Hanch 6-22-2021

It's Magic

 

Wanna see a magic trick?

Wanna see it again?

The hand is quicker than

the eye, you know.

So how fast is the hand

you can’t see?

Magic is an illusion

leading one to believe.

Pay no attention to the

person behind the curtain.

Dorothy’s story in the

Wizzard of Oz was a

contrived illusion of the

mind. I grew up hating

flying monkeys, but

had to laugh when Mike

Meyers of Saturday Night

Live and Wayne’s World

Fame proposed them

flying out of his ass.

Now imagining flying

monkeys makes me laugh.

Lookie here and see, there’s

nothing up either sleeve.

-30-

Chris Hanch 6-21-2021

What Matters Anyway?

 

I had a feeling: Nothing was supposed

to happen today. And if it did, I would

be of a mind to ignore it. I’d go with

my gut on this one.

No appointments, no phone calls, no

one at the door, even the muse would

ignore me. The music, my writing,

nothing to interfere, just a modicum

of relief from the everyday for me so

to speak, like being left alone blissfully

sailing the emptiness of space between

here and Mars.

We’re advised in life to make every

minute count. Today is one of those

throw-away days which counts for

nothing. Who but I am keeping track,

anyway?

A clap of distant thunder outside,

and the dog barks. I tell her, hush girl,

it was nothing really. When you have

a dog, you can hope, but can’t pretend

some days nothing matters.

And besides, what the hell, we sure

could use the rain. The next thing you

know, thoughts come and the muse

has to pervade. And here we are again.

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 6-20-2021

Still Doing What I Can Do

 

Old Age teaches you one thing for sure,

you are no longer able to do some things

you were capable of doing when you

were younger.

I can no longer help a friend move; no

more construction work for me; no soft-

ball or volleyball activities. At age 74

with arthritic disabilities, I have limited

physical abilities.

I now need a walker and ofttimes a

wheelchair to get about. Sure, it’s a

loss for me, yet I accept my condition,

and make due the best I can.

Life is sometimes that way. It is what

it is. I’ve always done what I was capa-

ble of doing at any given point in time

with my life.

And now I must adapt to my present

reality. I can accept that. My greatest

loss personally has been the ability to

draw, paint and sculpt which had been

a major part of my life since I was old

enough to pick up a pencil, pen or brush.

Art is my greatest gift in life, has been

from the beginning and in some form

will be till the end.

With pain and uncontrolled shaking

hands, I can no longer create visual

art as I once did. Hell, I can barely

sign my name without scribbling

all over the page.

Fortunately, over the years I have

also been writing. These days I use

a computer word program allowing

me to type keys which works most

satisfactorily for me. So, writing has

become my primary form of artistic

expression.

No need to feel sorry for what I have

lost. And I am okay and perfectly sat-

isfied with that which I have gained.

Just for shits and grins, today I decided

to try my pen and ink cartooning once

again. Knowing beforehand what the

results would be, I went ahead with

the test anyway. And low and behold,

I got the shaky and rudimentary results

I expected.

But I was blessed instead with the

ability to write about my current

experience and condition.

I still have hundreds of examples

of artworks I’ve done in years past.

I haven’t given up on my creative

endeavors, and I have this and

several thousand writings to show

for it.

Creatively, expression wise, at age

74 and for my time remaining, I have

these word pictures to share with

you and interested others.

Although there are still minor glitches

and drawbacks with this medium, for

the most part I am grateful, and thank

God I have spellcheck.

                 -30-

Chris Hanch 6-19-2021