Smoking

 

I must confess, I am a lifetime smoker

of cigarettes mostly, though, on occasion

I have partaken in the long, slow draws

of cigars.

As a younger man when it was illegal,

I toked on some weed. It made me too

tired to continue the practice so I gave

it up.

But those damned cigarettes have had

me hooked from the age of twelve when

I began. And here I stand today still puf-

fing away…

before meals and after, morning till

night, through three marriages, dozens

of jobs, having moved from place to

place, through thick and thin, when I’m

relaxed and up tight, with coffee and

booze when I imbibed, and after sex

when I was in still in my prime.

Anytime was the right time, and for

me, any place it was allowed was per-

fectly fine.

Once my friend, Ronnie Barker (who

got me started in the first place), and

I sneaked up to the empty choir loft at

Holy Redeemer Church during the 8:00

Sunday Mass and shared a cigarette.

Don’t “hot box it,” he scolded me.

What’s that, I asked? It’s when you

take a bunch of drags all at once,

and it makes the thing too hot to

handle. Needless to say, I learned

cigarette etiquette from Ronnie

as well.

And 60-some years later in my ripe

old age, I still smoke like a chimney

today.

I suppose this is my penance for smoking

in church with Ronnie Barker during Mass,

one time in my youth. I figure that’s how

God has made me pay.

Often I wonder if he’s still alive? Ronnie

Barker that is, not God.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been

told that smoking is bad for you. And God

they say, He’s always watching. Supposedly,

He’ll be around forever, and I am left sitting

here smoking another cigarette biding my

time.

                    -30-

Chris Hanch 12-10-2020

Old Memories

 

An old lady friend of mine

e-mailed me a photo of the

house where I lived as a

young teen.

Thought you’d like to see it

again, she wrote. Thought it

might bring back some good

memories.

It was a big old place, more

than my family of five needed

or could afford. But my mother

had to have it because it was in

in the neighborhood where she

grew up.

I expect the stress and expense

of living in that place eventually

caused Mom and Dad’s divorce.

Memories, you know. Some folks

pay handsomely for those.

I looked up to the third floor

window. That was where my

older brother positioned himself

to shoot me with his BB gun on

my way home from school one

day.

That was just one mean thing my

older brother did to me when we

were growing up. And still to this

day I don’t like him for that.

Oh well, we have long since gone

our own ways with our different

paths of lives to live.

Several years ago I lived with my

old girl friend. We spent the better

part of 6-years together. We never

did marry. It just didn’t feel right

between us at the time. And even-

tually I moved on.

Looking at that photo of my old

childhood home sure does bring

back memories, some good and

some not so good.

Got to thinking, though, in our

time living together, I never told

my girlfriend about that BB gun

incident with my brother.

Never gave much thought about

my old home place back then.

As I recall, the BB my brother

fired which hit me in the chest

didn’t really hurt all that much.

Just scared the hell out of me.

Guess I was damn lucky he didn’t

have a .22 caliber or 30 ought 6

back then. Likely, I wouldn’t be

looking at this photo and sharing

these “fond” memories with you

today.

              -30-

Chris Hanch 12-9-2020

The Climb

 

I liken it to an attempted ascent

of Mt. Everest in wintertime.

Waiting in a blowing snow and

bitter cold line for Nate’s Crown

Liquors to open. Who will survive

the treacherous climb? How many

souls have died trying?

                       -30-

Chris Hanch 12-9-2020

My Life Today

 

Had my morning cup of coffee.

Listening to Mozart on my Echo.

Read some poetry which prompted

me to write this.

Smoking my third cigarette of the day.

The clutter of my present life

surrounds me.

Pup at rest nestled between my legs.

An ash from my smoke

tumbles down the front of my shirt.

Nonchalantly, I brush it away.

Sunday, I remind myself

if I survive it, will likely play out

the same as every other day.

                    -30-

Chris Hanch 12-6-2020

Quantum Mechanics

 

Is light a particle or a wave? Ever ask yourself that question?

Perhaps if you are a student of quantum physics, that quandary

has entered your brain.

Well, for the layman, I have been told light is both a particle

and a wave. To compound the matter, it is also neither.

Einstein believed light is a particle (photon) and the flow of photons

is a wave. Effectively to this day, however, that conundrum has never

been properly explained.

Quantum physics is the branch of mechanics that deals with the

mathematical description of the motion and interaction of subatomic

particles, incorporating the concepts of quantization of energy,

wave-particle duality, the uncertainty principle, and the correspon-

dence principle.

If you are confused, my friends, well, so am I. This is why a dimwit

such as I decided to pursue art and writing in my life. I’ll use light

to see what in hell I’m looking at and hopefully to help illuminate the

way. I do know, I like Picasso and Monet.

Some claim they don’t understand Picasso, and that too is okay.

I myself failed Latin two years running in high school. You might

say, it was Greek to me.

Good thing I was born in the Twentieth Century for even in the

light of day I never would have mastered communicating in either.

Turns out, I must follow the rules of quantum mechanics to wherever

it leads, as life and existence itself dictates, even if I don’t understand.

Whether you care for Picasso or not is up to you.

                                      -30-

Chris Hanch 12-5-2020

The Lesson

 

Life is learning. We spend most of our lives

seeking answers. Why is this, that, what is it

all about? Why me?

And when reaching the plateau of all you

know, you come to understand there is much

which is left unrealized. There are so many

more questions than answers.

Then it hits you, a strange and soothing notion

It is what it is, has been, and shall always be.

Let it go, let it be. You are relieved in realizing

that you know so very little about anything.

Why even at the last, the crucified Jesus cried out

with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?

that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou

forsaken me?

Perhaps you were blessed in not knowing all along.

It never was about you personally anyway.

                                  -30-

Chris Hanch 12-4-2020

Happenings

 

Let it be said, once I did factory work just

to get along. But a factory worker is not who I am.

I had a friend who was a plumber, a damn good

plumber indeed. But he was much more than that,

you see, a good guy and a friend of mine was he.

I had many jobs throughout the years

which provided financial support for my family

and me, but I managed to juggle other inane tasks

and meet myriad responsibilities.

History shows Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou

were poets, and that they were. But what’s more,

they were thoughtful women who were purveyors

of images and words.

Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Confucius, Descartes,

where acclaimed philosophers in their day.




Picasso, Michelangelo, Rembrandt




and Monet painted and sculpted their way to




fortune and fame.

Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Isaac Newton,

Charles Darwin, Nikola Tesla and Galileo Galilei

to the benefit of humankind put their scientific

genius on display.

Let it be said again,

I did factory work in my time, but a factory

worker is not who I am.

I did a hell of a lot of other things

to occupy my time while life was happening.

And much like you, I imagine, we did

what was needed of us or that which

we loved to do.

Oh and then, of course, there was all that other

unmentionable stuff too. (Nod, nod, wink, wink).

Just saying.

                         -30-

Chris Hanch 12-3-2020