Op Ed

 

By expelling two young black representatives

over their protesting lack of gun control, the

Legislature in the Volunteer State of Tennessee

has willfully and openly once again rekindled

the tenets of the Jim Crow Era, revealing their

blatant and heinous racial bigotry.

In 2023, what could a righteous, common

sense citizen of that State expect from the

original birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan?

Shame, shame, same on you, State Legislature

of Tennessee!

Chris Hanch 4-7-2023

You and I

 

We go way back

You and I

we predate history

it seems

you, the way you were

and I the way I was

both of us question

why?

because, because, because

there was no other way

you and I were made

that way all those

molecules genetically

arranged

biologically composed

we two an amalgamation

of atoms arranged

a predictable phenomenon

from which we were made

before you and me

grammatically

otherwise you and I

nonsense you say

and I

well I must abide

you have changed

over time

and so have I

so much so

each other

nowadays

having gone

our separate ways

you and I

the one and other

we can hardly

recognize

and so it goes

you have

your father’s nose

and I

my mother’s eyes

face to face

together again

in a common

state of mind

             -30-

Chris Hanch 4-6-2023

Love and Hate

 

There are those in the world

who invite us to hate.

And there are those who have

love to show.

Without them how should we

know in which direction to go?

We need both, you know, need

others to show—Love and hate,

which to sow, which to grow?

As for me, I love to laugh.

Even idiots can make me do that.

Oh, happy days to love and laugh.

Sometimes sheer stupidity too, you

know. Resist it or go with the flow.

                        -30-

Chris Hanch 4-6-2023

Lost and Found (for all my Facebook friends)

He fumbles,

he mumbles,

he says

what’s on his mind.

He’s right,

he’s wrong,

he’s the blind

leading the blind.

He cannot change

the way things are.

He’s either flummoxed

or in a peaceful

state of mind.

From time to time

his world

is topsy-turvey

jagged and unsavory,

occasionally creamy,

half-baked

yet sublime.

Sticks and stones

have broken bones.

He has recovered

nicely and is

doing just fine.

Last reported seen

more than halfway

between here

and there,

he’s closer to

the finish line.

Idioms and

axioms have

fueled him on.

He plans on

a word salad

for lunch today.

It is his 76^th

birthday after all.

And he’d like

to thank all his

friends for their

best wishes.

That’s just about

all he has to say.

Oh, famous last words...

He is me.

Eureka!

(From the Ancient Greek,

εὕρηκα heúrēka, meaning

"I have found (it)").

***

Lost and found—

What “It” is

is between

you and me.

-30-

Chris Hanch 4-4-2023

It’s All Greek to Him

He fumbles,

he mumbles,

he says

what’s on his mind.

He’s right,

he’s wrong,

he’s the blind

leading the blind.

He cannot change

the way things are.

He’s either flummoxed

or in a peaceful

state of mind.

From time to time

his world

is topsy-turvey

jagged and unsavory,

occasionally creamy,

half-baked

yet sublime.

Sticks and stones

have broken bones.

He has recovered

nicely and is

doing just fine.

Last reported seen

more than halfway

between here

and there,

he’s closer to

the finish line.

Idioms and

axioms have

fueled him on.

He plans on

a word salad

for lunch today.

It is his 76th

birthday after all.

And he’d like

to thank all his

friends for their

best wishes.

That’s just about

all he has to say.

Oh, famous last words...

He is me.

Eureka!

(From the Ancient Greek,

εὕρηκα heúrēka, meaning

"I have found (it)")

                -30-

Chris Hanch 4-4-2023

 

What Came Before

 

Who was the first gal or guy to wonder,

why? Who were they who decided to

step over the line and proceed into the

great unknown, the one to leave the

cave of practiced routine, the first to

light the fire of imagination and inven-

tion?

How many generations of primitives

did it take to affect change, breaking

through the rigors of tradition into

the wonders of the unknown?

How many of those explorers and

innovators of their times did it take

to get us here alive and thriving in

our current time and place?

Who was the first he or she to harness

fire, to first bandage a wound, to form

and utter the first word from

a gruff or growling grunt?

Who was it preceding the historically

renown philosophers, scientists,

inventors, writers, artists, musicians,

and athletes?

Who first to use animal fur to protect

the human body from changing climates

and extreme meteorological elements?

Who first discovered a numerical system

which would eventually lead humanity

mathematically into a world of progressive

discoveries?

I look around me and wonder who first

came up with all the crap we contempo-

rary human beings use on a daily basis?

Using stone on stone, did Cro-Magnon

make a to-do list reminding him of

what needed to get done around

the cave?

I usually forget something I need from

the grocery store if I don’t write it down

on a shopping list. Now there’s a thought.

I wonder who on Earth first came up

with that?

               -30-

Chris Hanch 4-2-2030

What I Do

 

I do what I do

not for fame,

not for money or glory.

I do all of this for free.

I do this to release all

there is within me.

Take what you will

that which pleases,

inspires or intrigues.

Take that which you like

take that which

you may need.

These are my humble

offerings to you from me.

                -30-

Chris Hanch 4-2-2023

What Led Me to Be Me

 

Born lucky, I suppose,

Clean slate with which

to begin—arms, legs,

hands and feet, heart

and mind proportioned

appropriately.

Everything needed

to function and in place.

Then inevitably,

some sunshine in time.

torrents of rain followed

by pleasure and pain.

And, a direction and lessons

to learn—mind blowing,

ambiguous and unexplained.

A pinch of this and a dash

of that, added ingredients,

some bitter, some sweet.

With help, needing to

find and develop my

individual personality.

Fast forward, now

about to reach 76-years,

I turn over another new

leaf. Between now and

way back when, oh so

much to explain.

But got no vim,

vigor and vitality left

in my lifespan

which remains.

And most assuredly,

it’s way too late to start all

over again.

In summation, long story

short, I’ve either been there

done that or refused, neither

could nor wanted to do.

Wrote these final lines so

I didn’t end this here

dissertation of mine with

a preposition.

If memory serves me,

I learned that in grade school.

Suffice it to say, in my

lifetime not unlike the dung

beetle or pissant

in their respective domains,

there are certain traits and

characteristics,

anthropologically speaking,

which may have been

destined for me.

                -30-

Chris Hanch 4-1-2023