For All It's Worth

 

Hay bales sunning naked

in an open field

Trash barrels Polka dancing with

no lids

Only one was granted

random access

Converts carry toxic candles

to their own demise

Koalas sing a happy birthday

song a cappella

It’s forty miles and a toothache

to the next watering hole

You sense the senseless

on the last day of school

Be-bop doo wap wails

at the sock-hop

Ridiculousness rides the rail

to elsewhere

Tangerine pustules mar

the surface of the Sudetenland

They told you to hold on

then hung-up the phone

What’s the use, you say?

Tomorrow there’s a chance

for rain

How many poets does it take

to fill the restroom?

Get a broom and sweep up

the rest of us

And you thought van Gogh

was insane

Sometimes Mondays and punctuation

count for nothing

Do it all over again

Rinse, repeat…

Three frogs wearing bowler hats have no feet

You’ve been warned

no more smart phone for you

                    -30-

Chris Hanch 6-17-2022

You and I

Imagine if you will, being born

something else. Trillions of cells,

and only a few arranged differently.

And then, brainwaves forcing your

behavior to dictate your day in a

more primordial way, lets say,

animal instinct rather than human

reasoning. You, no work, no play

no friends or family to understand

and get in the way. Just you and

your daily routine. Food, shelter,

constantly on the lookout for

predators. Imagine if you will,

having been born as something

else. No memories, no fantasies, no

vocabulary, no need to explain, no

philosophies or reasoning about

life and death, thoughts about the

before and after, just the daily

routine—food, shelter, mating,

ever on the lookout for danger,

day in, day out, every day the

same. No cell phone, computer,

toothpaste, deodorant or

automobile. No meetings to

attend, no prayers to say, no

bills to pay, stopping on occasion

to scratch behind your floppy ear

with a hairy hind leg while foraging

forest, field, tree or stream for a

certain delectable meal to eat.

There are lots of would-be folks

out there , you know, who were

never born to be like you and

me, and just a little tweak of a

few cells out of trillions made

the difference, you see, making

what we have come to realize

you as the you you are and I here

and now contemplating the reality

of the me I was born to be. 14-billion

light years and trillions of stars in the

making, you and I. What were the

chances of that? Mind-boggling crazy,

wouldn’t you say?

                         -30-

Chris Hanch 6-15-2022 

Lesson Plan

 

For eons dust has settled

over the history of man.

Sweep away as he may,

dust will forever remain.

They say every breed of

dog today is descended

from wolves 25,000

years ago.

Infants are born crying,

what then prompts them

to naturally form their

first smile?

Cicadas transform from

nymphs buried in the earth

seventeen years before

burrowing out above

ground into the light.

The recently launched

James Webb Telescope

promises to reveal

more images from

the Cosmos than

were possible before.

How much wood could

a woodchuck chuck if a

woodchuck could chuck

wood?

(There are no applicable

rules in English that say

a poem cannot end in a

riddle. Hey! Diddle,

Diddle. Live with it.

Class dismissed.)

                -30-

Chris Hanch 6-13-2022

I Watch TV

 

 I watch people on TV,

movies, commercials, news, interviews,

comedy, dramas, etc. etc. etc. and so on.

Lovelier, homelier, uglier people than I

appear to be currently.

I watch people on TV,

to determine whether they are younger

or older than I happen to be. Of course

mostly it turns out to be a guessing game,

for most folks don’t reveal publicly

exactly how old they are. By accident

or intentionally, some reveal their year

of birth. Then on my fingers, I do the

math and determine how old they are.

I watch people on TV.

Why do I care? Why do I try to figure

out their ages? Looks can be deceptive,

you know. Some age well and appear to

be younger than they are; some have

been ridden hard in life, and have been

put away wet.

I watch people on TV,

the young, the old, and with some frequency,

the deceased. It’s a mind game of mine trying

to determine my own appearance versus theirs

comparatively. It’s a vanity game I play with

myself, you see.

I watch people on TV,

and I’m glad to report that I look younger

than some who are younger than I; I look

older than some who are older than I; and

presently better than the deceased, like it

or not, I am older than I used to be, and

thank God that I’m still alive.

                          -30-

Chris Hanch 6-14-2022

Inevitability

Inevitability

One day sunshine

One day rain

Inevitability

a complex pattern

sometimes plain

Inevitability

feelings of pleasure

feelings of pain

Inevitability

calm emotions

feelings of rage

Inevitability

something old

something to replace

Inevitability

One door opens

another door is closed

Inevitability

another breath taken

until the last

Vulnerability

shit happens inevitably

to you and me

                -30-

Chris Hanch 6-13-2022

 

One Man's Advice

Thinking about infants again

after watching them on Facebook

postings. I have discussed them

before flailing about, arms and

legs, fingers and toes exercising

for the birthright to know.

To know what? How to function

in order to grow into life and do

what they need to do to survive.

They smile and cry not knowing

why. They have no vocabulary

to describe happiness and pain.

It will take months for them

to grasp the reality of their

precarious situation. It will

take years of learning to

negotiate on their own

the long and arduous road

life offers to the living.

Many, including myself, who

have managed to plow through

the obstacles along the way

to arrive at the Season of

Ripe Old Age look back

amazed and wonder how

we came to make it through

by-and-large unscathed.

I watch the videos of you,

little ones, and say, it is hard

for me to believe I too was in

your tenuous place of vulner-

ability.

I grew, nonetheless, to learn

from those who through profes-

sion and example taught me

right and wrong. I was molded

and impressed by the best and

worst of our kind.

The cat taught me cunning and

guile; the dog taught me un-

questioned loyalty. I learned

kindness and love from those

who are kind and who love;

I learned anger and hate from

the angry and hateful.

I amassed a vocabulary of

words along the way to describe

on my own what it means to

be alive. You can have free

of charge or pay dearly from

me and others about the facts

of life.

Some advice I will pass along

which may help when life gets

to be burdensome and over-

whelming—get yourself a dog,

take good care of it, and it will

teach you how to love uncon-

ditionally. Cook your poultry

well; salmonella and unsavory

dinner guests can be unhealthy if not

fatal. Take it from me, life is not easy,

but can be rewarding if you take care

of yourself, respect others and help

those in need. (Of course, a measure

of good luck always helps.)

I was once helpless like you. And to

my surprise, even to spite myself at

times, I somehow managed to make

it to age seventy-five. So, relax, take

a deep breath and continue to breathe!

Even screaming can sometimes be healthy.

                                -30-

Chris Hanch 6-12-2022

 

Thoughts of Me, Thoughts of You

I knew you were thinking of me

because you told me so. Had you

been making a grocery list or

thinking about a project at home,

I can’t read minds and wouldn’t

have known. And too, there are

just some things we would not

share. Because you thought of

me and told me so, I began to

think about you. How have you

been these days, anyway? Hope

all is well and you’re okay.

Just thought I’d let you know,

I too have been thinking about

you. I’m about the same only

older along with growing

lapses of memory and pain,

but I’m generally okay.

Thanks for thinking about me

and prompting me to think about

you. It’s a good sign that we’re

basically fine and still alive and

able to respond. You know, had

we not the thought, it could be

worse or otherwise.

                         -30-

Chris Hanch 6-11-2022