Something to Say about Time and Change

 

Nothing of great value to say today.

Pretty much the same as yesterday.

No one is listening or paying attention

anyway. You open your eyes and every-

thing appears to be unchanged.

Some move forward hoping for a change;

others with trepidation linger on, wishing

all that was yesterday remains securely

in place.

You do realize, although most clocks are

silent and L.E.D. these days, some will

persist in saying that time continues to

to tick away. I suppose that’s an old

fashion, romantic notion.

Appears as if I did have something to

say today after all. Whether that has any

relevance in in your day or not, only you

can say. I’m pretty sure that won’t have

any profound affect with the goings-on

in your day. Seems most days, I tend to

have that affect on people.

Do what’s best for you to muddle through.

Whether you are aware of it or not, changes

have been made, and time is ticking away.

                               -30-

Chris Hanch 11-30-2021

Perhaps It Was I

 

I skip along singing a song.

That’s a fabrication. I never

skip along and rarely sing

a song. Neither would be a

pretty sight to see and hear.

Even imagining such a

ridiculous thing would

likely alarm the innocent

child and drive their parents

wild. Instead, I shall whisper

a tune privately to myself,

as I walk nonchalantly by the

unsuspecting eye. No one shall

ever know that I was that guy,

the one who may have been.

                       -30-

Chris Hanch 11-24-2021

In Life Passing By

I bat an eye and miss the whole damn thing.

Could have seen that thing in passing. Could

have shared it with you, but in the blink of

an eye, it passed me by. A split-second in

life is sometimes all we get. Make the most

of your days, they say. An ingenious thought

comes and goes. Oh well, being rich and

famous slips away. Tomorrow is yet another

day, full of opportunity, but mostly for every-

one alive, pretty much the same. Blinking

and thinking is not unusual or abnormal. It’s

what we humans have the propensity to do.

With my eyes open wide and looking the

other way, I see you missed it too. Oh well,

what in hell? Maybe next time.

                               -30-

Chris Hanch 11-23-2021 

Word Salad (At Times a State of Mind I find)

 

confusion

delusion

thoughts

streaming

screaming

teeming

blindsided

side-winded

at times

untenable

lost in

an ocean

the deep sea

contusion

of profound

and pathetic

profusion

dredge me up

buttercup

                -30-

Chris Hanch 11-21-21

The Fates Allow, Some Will Say (for Helga)

 

Some exercise, some eat healthy foods,

others pray or sing their way through. There

are those who look straight ahead before open-

ing doors or left then right before crossing the

street. There are no guarantees, my friends.

Your are still here because the Fates allowed

you passage through to your present place in

time. Surely, caution and advanced planning,

certain choices at the right moment may

have added days or years to your misery or

prosperity, but there are the many whose

good fortune ran out as they stepped off

the fateful curb into the speedy inevitability

of an early demise.

Face it, should you take another breath,

and see another season of leaves changing

before your eyes, I submit to you, from my

own perspective—praise be to a higher

power, guardian angels or plain old good

fortune, some of us are damn lucky to

see the light of another day alive.

                        -30-

Chris Hanch 11-18-2021

State of Affairs

 

You have given up a lot to

get here. Mostly, you had

very little to do with it.

Luck and the earth

circling the sun with

timing and consistency

are responsible for the

life you have led which

got you here.

Old age is

about conceding to the

inevitable, removing oneself

from the dangerous and

provocative.

You gave up fried foods,

women and bars some

time ago, adding years

to your longevity.

You were forced socially

and biologically to give

up control, buying yourself

less stress and more time.

Your leaking bladder

and irritable bowel

remind you who really

run the show now.

                 -30-

Chris Hanch 11-17-2021

One Last...

On the 24^th of November, 1964, I took an

oath to the Constitution and was inducted

into the Army. I was seventeen years old

and my mom reluctantly gave her written

permission for me to enlist. I was still half

a year away from legally being able to do

so on my own.

That was, it seems to me eons ago. I was a

teenage rebel who needed a good deal of

regimentation and stability in my life at the

time.

My mom and dad had divorced several

years before. I had dropped out of high

school and needed some firm guidance

into manhood.

Beyond everyone’s expectations, I

managed to do well in the military.

For me, I got what I needed at the

time. I had to do what I was told to

by drill sergeants and officers who

held sway over me.

Three years of service taught me

everything I needed to know. Fifty

seven years later, approaching my

seventy-fifth year in life, I have

come to realize that all which remains

for me is the unlimited and unattainable

everything else.

It is said that time heals all wounds.

In reality, and with a fair measure of

cynicism left in me, I’d have to say,

Yeah right! There is never enough

time for that.

I cannot personally rely upon a heaven

or hell to extend my life eternally. Nor

can I abide that reincarnation thingy.

However, I do believe for some folks

that those nine lives cats are afforded

may apply. I consider myself fortunate

to have experienced as many in my time.

To those who have known me personally,

you can imagine any hereafter for yourself

and me that you choose. Before I go, how-

ever, the expulsion of one final fur ball and

a gruff “Meow” would be sufficient enough

for me.

                     -30-

Chris Hanch 11-15-2021 

Something About Reasoning

 

Stallion or mare? On this day, and from

this angle, I cannot see. Could be either

or, I figure. Besides, it really doesn’t

matter to me.

I am neither rancher nor farmer. I own

no animals, domestic, barnyard or wild.

Breeding and gender are of no relative

concern from my point of view, you see.

I employ what I reckon to be “common

sense” from my present positioning.

While from a distance, looking over

the fence curiously my way, that chestnut

steed applies what may be considered

“horse sense” as it is concerned with the

likes of me.

                          -30-

Chris Hanch 11-14-2021

Something About Needs

 

I have decided to delay plans

I had for today. They were not

life-changing or necessary plans

anyway.

I figure one day get I’ll get

around to doing what needs

to be done. And by that time

we’ll see if the mood strikes

me.

If it had been something of

consequence I had planned,

I am certain that the need

will come around again.

Good thing is these days,

I have little need for very

much anymore.

Should the need involve you,

I’ll give you a call. If I can find

your number that is.

No need for you to worry.

Like me, I’m sure you too

have better things to do.

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 11-9-2021

 

Dreaming the Greek Ancestry in Me

I listen to the music

of Manos Hadjidakis

and Melina Mercouri

soaking in the warm

Aegean sun.

On the Beach

of Mykonos,

I dance in the sand

hand in hand with

Zorba to the bouzouki

strings playing.

Lamb is on the spit,

squid sizzles in the fryer

and my Hellenistic

heritage is on fire.

Before you go,

Pour me another ouzo…

σας ευχαριστώ

Opa! Opa!

-30-

Chris Hanch 11-7-2021

Streaming

 

Folks these days are enamored with

technology. Among all the advances

people have become accustomed

with this thing they call streaming.

I, along with many my age, are not

impressed.

For thousands of years old folks

such as I have become aware of

certain signs. When the urge

strikes, you’d best hurry to the

bathroom. Uncontrollable

streaming is bound to ensue.

I say, phooey to those naive young

ones who believe streaming is

something new.

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 11-6-2021

Life's Cycle

The Past,

The Present,

The Future…

Wash,

Rinse,

Repeat…

                -30-

Chris Hanch 11-4-2021 

Little Old Me

 

Little old me has been summarily swept away into antiquity.

No pity, please, shit happens. It was the once younger me,

that strapping young man I used to be, the boisterous, un-

apologetic me before having grown feeble and gray into

my present state of hobbled and decrepit, rancorous im-

becility. One could say, I’m half the man at twice the age

I have grown to be. Me, one gone the way of the hapless

dodo bird and so many other species meant for the stone

age scrap heap of history. Me, the unwitting repository

of unrelenting time, heir to the bane of recessive biology.

Inevitability: I have seen better days; time did as time does,

getting the best of you and me.

                                               -30-

Chris Hanch 11-2-2021

Choices to Be Made

You’ve always considered yourself

a tolerable person with a logical mind,

mostly have done the sensible thing, managed

to live you life with honesty and integrity.

Oh sure, mistakes have been made,

but recognizing your shortcomings and

facing the facts, you have always been

amenable to making changes.

You have had the same consideration and

expectations from others. There are gives

and takes along the way in society. There

is hope as long as there is respect of others.

Treat others as you expect to be treated, and

the Society of Man can be a worthwhile

and acceptable way of life.

Come on now, you are being a bit of an

idealist, wouldn’t you say? Things don’t

always work that way. Ignorance, greed,

the lust for power and money, the me first

mentality are also pervasive in the litany

of mankind traits, always have been,

always shall be.

The battle for truth, justice and equality,

the struggle between darkness and light

is the pandemic virus spread across the

legacy of mankind. What say you?

Remember, complacency and sitting on

the fence counts you out.

                          -30-

Chris Hanch 11-1-2021