Fortunate Enough to Be

 

Another holiday season is over.

All the gifts are given, get-togethers

and well-wishes have been passed.

For some, time has left them behind;

others luckily or grudgingly go on.

14-billion years to get here. 2023

is but another speck in the incom-

prehensible span of time. As indi-

viduals we place ourselves in the

center of relativity.

As a grade-schooler back in the

1950s I recall the world population

of the human species being about

3-billion. Today, some 70 years

later, mankind’s numbers are ap-

proaching 8-billion.

Now, at age 75, all these humon-

gous numbers tend to flummox me.

I’m pretty sure that in my more

than 270, 380 days on this Earth,

I have never before used the words,

flummox or humongous in a writing

of mine before.

Rest assured, folks, historically

speaking, I am neither the first

nor shall I be the last to make

such an indistinguishable and

nonsensical claim.

Besides, in the universal scope

of things, who in hell on Earth

could give a good goddamn?

In my time, I consider myself for-

tunate enough to remember what

day of the week it is.

                       -30-

Chris Hanch 1-3-2023

The Journey, 2023

 

2023...

yet another chance

to apply your passion

and follow your dreams.

2023...

if you’re reading this,

it’s us once again

on the road to discovery.

2023…

may the journey,

yours and mine,

be bountiful and set us free.

                -30-

Chris Hanch 1-2-2023

Her Name

 

Daughter of Peter and Rebekah,

born in the autumn of 1968 to

a couple who met and fell in love

at the university during the social

revolution, a child in her generation

of the times.

Given an unusual name not of

Christian or Hebrew lineage,

not common to Hindu or Buddhist

origins either. She, tall and slender

with flowing auburn hair, walked

proudly among her peers.

A standout beauty of stature and

grace, a proud young woman, she

was considerate of others, the gifted

and less fortunate alike.

She was the practical and gifted

progeny of a talented family and

an endowed heiress of a benevolent

society.

Not even as a child in the elementary

stages of her education was she ever

embarrassed or ashamed when asked

to stand up in class. Proudly, tall and

straight, she would rise up and sing

out her name, Summer Sunrise, in

such a sweet melodic refrain.

                   -30-

Chris Hanch 1-1-2023

Impromptu

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?

             -30-

Chris Hanch 12-20-2022

 

Have It Your Way

 

Delightful

Insightful

Deplorable

Frightful

Fulsome

Wholesome

Gruesome

Each passing day

This way

That way

Every which way

Who on Earth can say?

Take it or leave it

Relent

Prevent

Invent

Consent

Confuse

Defuse

Infuse

Reveal

Appeal

Beg

Borrow

Steal

Emphatic

Dramatic

Enigmatic

Have it your way

There are choices

To be made

Bear with me

This is going

To take awhile…

-30-

Chris Hanch 12-27-2022

ollett

***

Delightful

Insightful

Deplorable

Frightful

Fulsome

Wholesome

Gruesome

Each passing day

This way

That way

Every which way

Who on Earth can say?

Take it or leave it

Relent

Prevent

Invent

Consent

Confuse

Defuse

Infuse

Reveal

Appeal

Beg

Borrow

Steal

Emphatic

Dramatic

Enigmatic

Have it your way

There are choices

To be made

Bear with me

This is going

To take awhile…

-30-

Chris Hanch 12-27-2022

erry Collett

More or Less

 

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

Today, for What it's Worth

 

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