Something About Nature and Metaphors

 

From the storm, twigs as

fingers from the trees lie

broken and strewn across

the lawn.

As toes, the roots, unexposed,

escaped danger buried safely

underground.

As a kid growing up, some

older kids would threaten me,

Hanch, your ass is grass.

(That usually meant a whooping

was coming my way.) I figured

then that nature, like some kids,

could be a damn cruel thing.

I suppose I had it coming though,

knowing nothing about metaphors,

and not being able to see the forest

for the trees. Son of a beech!

And to add insult to injury, in the

summertime, my dad made me

mow the grass once a week.

                    -30-

Chris Hanch 8-31-2022

Time Immemorial

 

Above me the stars at night,

their sight at 186 thousand

miles per second,

light years away.

What is the relative measure

of time between

the heavens and me?

Even at night time passes.

The grass grows in darkness

beneath my feet.

Seventy-five Earth years in my life

has gone only so far as I can see.

                    -30-

Chris Hanch 8-30-2022

State of Mind

 

7 AM Sunday morning, the dog in the

apartment next door barks incessantly.

It’s owner has gone somewhere again.

Another neighbor’s dog, whose master

has apparently taken off as well, howls

in response to the barking dog. My pup,

who has a tendency to bark at the slightest

outside provocation is surprisingly quiet

during the rousing rendition of this canine

cacophony.

I am not irritated so much by the dogs

behavior, it is only natural. But I do

question the negligent tendancies of the

owners who often abandon their pups

for hours on end.

Being a shut in due to my arthritic dis-

abilities, I have not had the opportunity

to meet any of my neighbors. However,

my vivid imaginings picture them as

either wart-infested, hairy faced baboons

or wriggling, slippery, slimy worms. In

any case, they are thoughtless masters

who I see as irresponsible misanthropic

caretakers insofar as their animals are

concerned.

Now, you may consider my characterizations

of them a bit harsh. Perhaps selfish, little

snips would be a gentler depiction. In a

way, being the obnoxious, sniveling and

judgmental person I can be, name calling

gives me a modicum of relief.

Understand, it’s what we reclusive old farts

impulsively have want to do.

I find that I have got to have something to

fill all this time stagnating this bloody state

of my critical and vacuous mind.

                               -30-

Chris Hanch 8-28-2022

For Better or Worse

 

I waited for her

sitting on the park

bench all day.

She told me to

be there at 9AM

and I was. And

now it was 3PM

and no show.

What a fool I was

to wait so long.

Youth and stupid

inexperience

told me to.

She made a promise,

I did too. She was a

no show and I stuck

to mine like glue.

I was like the loyal

puppy dog told

to sit and wait.

Oh well, we

learn from our

mistakes. The

only thing running

on time in this town

are the buses. Life for

me changed that

day. As darkness

descended at 6PM

I gave up and walked

away. Since that day

I have never been

the same. Had she

arrived on time

that day, likely

I wouldn’t be the

same man I am

today. Things

change. For better

or worse, who

in hell can say?

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 8-21-2022

Forces at Work, a Brief Synopsis

 

There are forces at work here, folks,

at the molecular level smaller than the naked eye can see

at the geological level

glacial, volcanic, tectonic, oceanic, continental

at the biological level

organic systems at work against one another or in harmony

at the cosmic astronomical level

pulsars, quasars, stellar, planetary, galactic, universal

at the geothermal level

magma, geysers, hot springs, steam vents,

at the microscopic level

cellular, viral, bacteriological, genetic

at the government level

city, county, state and national, international

at the social level

leaders, followers, complacent, indifferent, laudable,

repulsive, commendable or damnable

Where would you rate or place yourself in the scheme of

things, sexually, racially, theologically or socioeconomically?

Do you consider yourself “on the level,” left, right politically or

somewhere in the middle, a capitalist, naturalist, socialist, fascist,

communist, anarchist, racist or generally a smart ass “off your

rocker” all together?

With the forces at work and all things considered, my friends, the sciences

tell all, it appears mankind has got one hell of a mess.

                                            -30-

Chris Hanch 8-20-2022

The Life Cycle

 

There must be a reason one day

contains 24-hours, and then begins

all over again. And why does the

week end on Saturday while another

is begun with Sunday once more?

How many Januaries come around

to be lived in a lifetime?

Second hands, day planners, calendars,

run repeatedly over and over again,

day after day, week after week, month

after month. Oh yes, years plow forward

numerically advancing hypothetically

forever.

There is some false sense of security

in the seemingly never ending cycle

of going round and round, where it

stops no one knows. The dinosaur,

the Roman Empire, the dodo all

show even the progressive stream

of years must have an end in the

continuum of time. And then one

day, astrophysicists say, the cosmos

will end in fire or ice.

Make every minute count, my

friends, history and the dumb

dodo show, every beginning has

an end. Not even the dinosaurs

with their millions of years of

existence had the sense to see

it coming.

                     -30-

Chris Hanch 8-17-2022

Night and Day

 

Humming a tune today,

forgot the words to say.

Sometimes happens this

way in my present state

of old age.

Not getting any younger,

so I figure no improvement

will be coming sooner or

later my way.

Old and gray, today and

tomorrow, I reckon I’ll stay.

Lucky to still be kicking

around humming the same

old tune, Night and Day.

The words, you are the one,

come to mind. Problem is,

I remember your face, but

for the senile life of me, can’t

recall your name.

                 -30-

Chris Hanch 8-16-2022

Untitled

 

The cedar was amused to see

the dogwood barking up the

wrong tree.

                 -30-

Chris Hanch 8-15-2022

Words to Live By

 

Aptitude and attitude,

that’s what it takes.

A willingness to learn

and ability to earn,

to make

your own way.

Life is a gift

given and received

every day.

Count you blessings,

share with the less

fortunate along

the way.

Respect others

and in kind

expect respect

to be paid.

Seek and speak

the truth

come what may.

Justice delayed

is justice denied,

or so they say.

Could be true,

perhaps a ruse,

or simply

legal palaver

to defuse

and confuse.

In any case,

palaver is a fun word

to use.

                 -30-

Chris Hanch 8-14-2022

What It's Like

 

What is life like here on Planet Earth,

the landed aliens from another galaxy

want to know?

For me personally I’d have to say, it

resembles the photographs I took

moments ago, days, months and

years ago, people, places and things,

you know.

To be sure there is a whole lot more,

that’s only a representative slice of

the pie according to me.

Only so much one can do in an

Earthly lifetime, you know, if you’re

lucky 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years or so.

My question for you is, what took

you so long to get here?

We’ve got so much to discuss. Let’s

do lunch. My treat. You like pizza?

I happen to know a great place. Do

you prefer St. Louis thin crust or deep

dish Chicago style?

                         -30-

Chris Hanch 8-12-2020

Time's a Wastin'

 

Got a late start today

That means more

music and less TV

one day closer

to the grave

for my pup

and me

If I continue

at this pace

who can say?

Lunch and dinner

will follow late as well

What in hell

got no where to go

no appointed

time and place to be

Just my pup and me

toe tappin’

and snackin’

to all that jazz

cool, calm and cozy

slummin’ it

doggin’ it

breezy

free and easy

Time’s a wastin’

figurin’ it’s

now or never

for pup dog and me.

-30-

Chris Hanch 8-11-2022

Beethoven Dream

 

In a dream of mine, Beethoven told me

I had a long way to go. This of course

was after he became deaf. He had written

it on a piece of paper which sat atop his

piano.

The note he wrote was in German

of course: Sie haben einen langen Weg

vor sich. It was my dream, so I could

understand.

I am old, I wrote back to him in English.

He understood for here again, it was my

dream. In my time, I wrote on, fame and

fortune have illuded me, and now it’s too

late. But that’s okay, I wrote on, at least

I’m still here.

He nodded his head and wrote back.

I’m glad of that.

Now you stay right where you are,

he told me, I’ve got something

I want you to hear. I hope it’s your

Ninth Symphony, I told him. That’s

one of my all-time favorites. And he

played the whole damn thing, even

including the Ode to Joy Chorus.

You may be wondering where the

choir came from? It was my dream

after all.

                        -30-

Chris Hanch 8-10-2022

Why Even Try?

 

I read from obscure poems,

so many written, even the

famous author has never

bothered to memorize.

Once committed to paper,

published in a book, there

they lie, these puzzle pieces

on the page, to be glanced

a few times by the curious

reader’s eyes. These are

simple works about farm,

field, wind and snow,

following in the footsteps

of the poet as he travels

through his day. And here

I sit of a summer’s morning

sipping my first cup of

coffee reading this verse

as I smoke my first cigarette

of the day and listen to jazz

music and the neighbor dog

barking across the way.

I shall not attempt to

memorize these lines and

they likely will not attain

the published stage. So,

all this fuss over nothing.

Why, I wonder to myself,

why even write this un-

interesting piece no one

else is likely to see. Life

is packed with boring,

routine, everyday images

such as these can be found

most everywhere. It’s either

him or me, here or there.

And as I write these lines,

summertime here; I am sure

snow is falling on a mountain

top somewhere.

                 -30-

Chris Hanch 8-8-2022

Kingdom Come

 

No peace or war looms in eternity,

no grief or relief either. It is said

those dark days of reality are bound

to arrive. There are no feelings of

pleasure and pain to proclaim in

the nothingness of the realm of

the everlasting. Heaven and hell

are meant for the living. And

the before and after are all which

exist for for the living as the present

is a nebulous condition lived through

every day. Today, my dear friends,

is the visible star at night seen

light years away. Only the ever-

lasting darkness of timelessness

lasts forever. Whimper, bark or

howl—the end, Kingdom Come,

an incredulous condition of which

even a keen watchdog cannot

forewarn. Not even I, a lifelong

advocate of freedom for all, look

forward to the day.

                       -30-

Chris Hanch 8-7-2022