Impromptu,
a thought, a word
I did not plan to say.
Impromptu,
an idea which came
to me out of the blue.
I like the sound
of it, how about you?
Impromptu.
I did need an idea,
some impetus to begin
my poem today.
Impromptu and impetus,
add impulse, I propose.
What more need I say?
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Chris Hanch 12-20-2022
Children have grown up
and grown away. Grand kids
have fitfully done the same.
So, what of the world today?
This is the Earth, wind and
soil of pessimism and optimism
some will claim; others shall
go on and yet others shall
fade away. What say you?
Time past, present an future
shall have its day. More or less,
life in passing is all which remains
of this day.
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-25-2022
Two days before Christmas,
my son turns 56 today,
the temperature outside is -5 degrees,
a New Year is on the horizon,
hopes and dreams are fleeting,
no tree of lights or Menorah for me,
it’s in my dog’s nature to bark,
against my will sometimes,
changes in me have come naturally,
I have my faucets on slow drip
so that my pipes don’t freeze,
Barrett Martin Group plays
“The City Slithers” a jazz tune
on the cable music choice TV,
Central Standard Time is 8:46 AM
where I am,
the date, December 23, 2022,
so far today is one run-on sentence,
but nothing lasts forever,
for now, I’ll wait and see.
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-23-2022
My mind’s eye goes wacky and wild at times.
Today when I consider this bitter cold and
snowy day winter’s day, a silly memory from
my childhood fell into place. It was such a
day way back around December of 1959.
My brother Dave and I decided to brave
the severe weather, bundled up accordingly,
shovels in hand went out into wonderland
of white to plow our neighbor’s snow. Money
was our goal. We figured about 50-cents each
would be a fair price for our labor, driveway
and sidewalk included. Our first stop was
next door, Mrs. Webb’s home,, an average
place, two car-wide driveway and a short
run walkway from the front door connecting
the two, a piece of cake. Mrs. Web was pleased
with our effort, and gladly paid our fee smiling
as she said, “Thanks muchly, boys!” “Thanks
muchly?” Why even I at the naive age of eleven
thought that couldn’t be proper English. “Thanks
muchly?” Why, never before or after that in my
life have I ever heard that said. Well, no matter.
We did the job and got paid our due. More oddly
than Mrs. Webb’s phrase of gratitude was my
remembrance of it popping into my head on
a cold and snowy day some 64-years latter.
I have long since forgotten famous words in
history spoken by the likes of Jesus Christ,
Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln which I
was compelled to learn in school. But Mrs.
Webb’s “Thanks muchly, boys” remains
a quote for the ages indelibly frozen in the
vast Wasteland of My Brain.
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-22-2022
What’s in a name? Well,
I am here to tell you.
Without a name, who then
is to be praised, who then
is to be blamed?
A lifetime is to be denounced
or acclaimed based upon your
name. Who would you or I be
had we gone unnamed?
Well, there you go, just another
Tom, Dick or Harry, just another
plain Jane or proud Mary. As for
me and the rest of you John Doe
or Susie Q just wouldn’t do.
And what would a first name
without the last be to describe
and individualize? A perplexing
dilemma don’t you see? Names
are the game in life, a basis
in our reality.
Now, there are many folks
who bear the same first and
last name. Then we must use
another tag to differentiate us
from others. That’s when a
middle name comes into play.
And when that’s not enough
to distinguish us, perhaps a
number is assigned, ergo
Social Security or a military
service number. The one
issued to me more than 50
years ago was RA 17 699 364,
is a number indelibly embla-
zoned into my brain to this day.
But for you, Christopher or
simply Chris will do. My mother
gave my two brothers a middle
name, but for me she figured
the first and last were lengthy
enough. Lord knows over a
lifetime my first and last name
got me into plenty of trouble
Wikipedia says Christopher is
the English version of a Europe
wide name derived from the Greek
name Χριστόφορος (Christophoros
or Chris-toforos). The constituent
parts are ριστός (Christós), "Christ"
or "Anointed", and φέρειν (phérein),
"to bear"; hence the "Christ-bearer".
Now, I happen to be of Greek descent
so I suppose that makes sense. Mother
may have been right about not giving
me a middle name. And the Greek
definition of Christ-bearer is way
over the top for the likes of me.
Simply Chris can be considered a
girl’s name as well. And It would be
unsafe to divulge my Social Security
Number publicly. So, in order to be
spot on (if you must), RA 17 699 364
will suffice. As far as I know that nom-
enclature applies to the one and only me.
Either that or you can just point your
finger and say, that’s him, he’s the one.
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-19-2022
Today a prison
Today an escape
Today a direction
Today another choice
Today another chance
Today an inspiration
or a mistake...
Today, which
direction shall
I take?
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-16-2022
After birth with a clean slate, and no words
developed in my brain, my first impressions
of life I certainly could not explain.
After my death, while I am yet alive today,
I can say without a doubt, my impressions of
a life lived will most assuredly be the same.
In the middle ground of my old age, I feel as if
all the words in life I have acquired in the
interim are one by one gradually slipping away.
Thus, I surmise (while I am still coherent and
alive), life has been overall an exercise in gains
and losses, sometimes more than words can say.
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-15-2022
He stood in front of the mirror one day
snickered and said, Man, you’ve come
a long, long way, billions of years in the
making from stardust beginnings, all
your biological elements arranged and
rearranged into this human species
configuration. Thing is, in your present
physical and mental state, you know, arms
and legs, heart, blood and brain. You’re
only good to go for a limited stretch in
this life on Earth then it’s back to ashes
to ashes and dust to dust. As it stands to
date, 75-years by mankind measure in
time and place has been a fairly decent
run. Even stars, trillions of which expire
nameless and are replaced. For now you
can claim your name, and your fortune
and fame—Ah life, for all it was worth,
been there, done that. Never did try
that Goliath Roller Coaster Ride at Six
Flags. The looks of that scared the living
crap out of me. He stood in front of the
mirror one day, snickered and said, all
things considered, Man, you’ve come a
long, long way…Name or no name,
no matter how brilliant, ain’t no star
in the heavens can say that.
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-13-2022
It’s the 10 o’clock hour, a Sunday,
and I have nothing to do but sit
and wait. Wait for what, you may
wonder? I wait for lightning and
the thunder of words, the perfect
storm, a downpour or drizzle
of worth said. And I wait, I sit
and wait. And the clock says,
10: 01 and with that a trickle...
Finito, I’m done!
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-11-2022
What do I have to say today? What on Earth inside or out
of me is worth repeating or revealing to you publicly for
the first time?
April 1965, I had barely turned eighteen years of age.
Six months earlier at seventeen, I had joined the Army.
This particular day I had set sail for Bremerhaven, Ger-
many with some 2000 other GIs on the troop carrier ship,
USNS Patch. Some 21-years earlier US soldiers including
my Uncle Ray were sailing perhaps on the same vessel
across the Atlantic to face combat in Europe during WWII.
Twenty-one years to me at eighteen seemed to be ancient
history. Although there was a war going on in Southeast
Asia at the time, I was fortunate to be headed the other way
to face a somewhat stalemate standoff with the Soviet Union.
Uncle Ray, a combat veteran with the 2nd Infantry Division
went through hell, and by the grace of his god survived The
Battle of the Bulge and other conflicts across the continent.
As far as I was concerned, I was off to see the world for the
first time in a far different light. I sailed out of New York
Harbor, past the Statue Of Liberty with the whole US
Army ahead of me and behind me.
Now today into my 75th year of life, after so many wars
world-wide, with millions of military and civilian deaths
and casualties, I think of my Uncle Ray who somehow
managed to survive, dying a peaceful death in his late
eighties a few years back.
What else have I learned? Well, twenty some years in a
lifetime is not a hell of a lot. For more than 250,000 years
wars have persisted throughout mankind’s history. The
Statue of Liberty stands for an ideal which has not yet
been fully realize.
And what I have to say today or any other day over the
previous decades of my life thus far on this planet won’t
change one blessed or a god damned thing. To date, and so
far as we know, being human scientifically and esoterically
speaking is an unusually random and weird happening.
-30-
Chris Hanch 12-6-2022
Christmas is a reminder to me,
good men and women are born
to live and die eventually. And
good stories, true or not, often
follow them throughout history.
I like the one where a young woman
sells her lengthy hair to buy her
husband an expensive watch fob.
And unbeknownst to him, he sells his
beloved watch to buy his wife an
expensive brush for her beautiful
long hair.
O. Henry's famous Christmas
story, The Gift of the Maji, gets
at the heart of gift giving for me.
Even though biblical gold, frankin-
cense and myrrh and storied watch
chains these days are pretty much
old-fashioned or expensively out
of reach for common folk such as
you and me, in the true spirit of
gift-giving, a good Christmas story
is worth repeating over and again.
I’ll trust your judgment this Christmas,
my friends, but please, no ties for me.
I haven’t had need for one of those in
years. Besides, ties don’t make a very
romantic story line.
-30-
Chris Hanch 11-30-2022
