Companionship, Today is Forever

 

Look at it this way, I tell myself each day,

my dog doesn’t care that I am not rich

and famous, could give a hoot that I am

hobbled and bent, old and gray.

She is, as I am, aware and grateful that

we are here together today and every

day. She couldn’t care less as to how we

got here, just content as can be, safe and

secure in each other’s company.

Side-by-side, she and I each being all we

were meant to be, best friends forever

and ever, and that for us is today, here

and now which is all that really matters.

I have learned this from her. Today,

together, today is all we have—in all

its sublime glory, a faithful and trusting

companionship forever.

                               -30-

Chris Hanch 5-18-2023

What are the Odds?

 

It’s 12:16 PM Central Daylight Time,

Kansas City, Missouri right here and

now, and I got to thinking—there are

some 340-million inhabitants in these

Good Old United States. What are the

chances one or more of them is right

now doing exactly what you are doing

at this time—cleaning house, driving

in your car, eating lunch, walking the

dog, tying your shoe, scratching an

itch, listening to Beethoven, Reading,

watching TV, even thinking what’s for

dinner, and so on. I’ll bet you dollars to

donuts, that not one of you folks are

like me, listening to Roger Miller and

You Can;t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd. 

I’m feeling pretty damn unique right about

now—one in 340-million, I’m guessing.

And my critics said that I'd never amount

to anything.

                           -30-

Chris Hanch 5-16-2023

An Excess to Explain

 

Notes, hundreds of notes

scribbled on scraps of paper.

Names, numbers, dates,

appointments, favorite tunes,

penciled, penned vertically,

diagonally, parallel, perpen-

dicular, every which way,

hundreds of notes written

over the past 5-years, piled

on top the end table in my

living room. Security for me

in the event there is contained

within those disheveled slips

of paper most anything I need

or want to know. Now, in the

bedroom at my desk, I have

3-ring binders with hundreds

of my printed poetry neatly

placed. And upon my death,

I am relatively sure my kids

will rummage through all this

mess. And frustrated to make

any reasonable sense out of the

best and worst of my remains,

they will relegate my discordant

collection to the trash. Hemingway

and Twain, I maintain, did not face

the same editorial acclaim. Forgive

me, I far exceeded my allotted 15

minutes of fame.

                         -30-

Chris Hanch 5-14-2023

Our Situation

 

Literally speaking,

the gravity of our situation

brings us inevitably down to Earth.

I know, I have too much

time on my hands.

Chris Hanch 5-12-2023

Time and My Aging Frame of Mind

 

The maintenance man came today

to check on a suspected water leak

in my apartment.

I remembered him from another

call some 8 or so-months ago.

I recalled that at the time his wife

was expecting their fourth child.

Was it a girl or a boy, I asked him?

Another boy, he replied with a

gratifying smile. Now I have two

girls and two boys. That's it,

I’m done.

I gave him my congratulations

and made the comment, 8-months

has it been that long? Time passes

so quickly.

He pulled up a recent photo on

his smart phone. There was his

smiling baby boy, cute as could

be bearing the growth of his

first two teeth.

Now, at my advanced age

of 76-years, I am

mindful daily of the swiftness

of passing time.

Memories of all the faces

and places which make up

my rich and rewarding

history overwhelms me.

Of course the maintenance

man could see signs of aging

overtaking me—

the grayness of hair, the bent

and hobbling fragility of body,

the walker supporting

me in getting around.

I wondered if he could

imagine his own likelihood

as an old man should he

live so long?

At his age with his youth and

a young family to raise I thought

he doesn’t really know how fast

this life really progresses.

As a unseasoned man myself

way back when, I surely didn’t.

In studying the image of his

infant son, I said

to him, I remember my son’s

first teeth. That was fifty-six

years ago.

This is my reality.

What more need I say?

Time,

fleeting time, uncaring

and unemotional

always has its way.

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 5-12-2023

What Will It Take?

 

Marathons

microphones

porcupines

diamond rings

and such things

not so much today

Sports cars

a trip to mars

clowns dressed

in night gowns

walrus whiskers

whisk brooms

brides and grooms

loony tunes

do not apply

Geography

and philanthropy

come to mind

and I wonder why?

Slipshod

and ramrod thinking

I suppose

heaven knows

A thoughtful

and encouraging word

to say

A mediocre or profound

thought to convey

What will it take

to make myself

relevant today

as I stand on my own

two feet

and as I live

and breathe?

Will I find the words

to give voice to

my thoughts today?

Sometimes it’s easy

as pie or more

challenging than

it seems putting an

idea into play

I repeat

What will it take

to make myself

relevant today?

At times it’s not

up to me alone to say

Is my topic related

or germane?

With what, you ask?

That’s for me

to ponder and explain

I’ll let you know

when relativity

and clarity

of word come to me

Until it does

I remain

yours truly

posthumously

speaking figuratively

without periods

in between

to stop me

(Ironic or moronic

that’s up to you

to say)

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 5-11-2023

The Caption (a Waking Memory)

 

I awoke this morning still sleepy-eyed

and groggy, yet with a thought in mind.

I wished I had pen and paper bedside

for surely awakening from my dream state,

I would not remember.

I kept repeating my idea in the hopes that

I would make it through dressing, the

necessary bathroom visit, taking my morning

meds, pouring coffee, and waiting for my

computer to go through its start-up mode.

I can’t believe I made it that far retaining

both thought and word.

Was it so important that I remember?

Surly in my time I have lost more

memorable thoughts. Why this, I asked,

heaven knows?

Well, here goes. I used to draw a lot.

Many of my works were cartoons, you

know, funny or weird things I saw or

which came to mind. Well, no longer

do I have that wondrous luxury. At

76-years old I have developed several

maladies which are part-and-parcel

with aging, one of which are tremors.

I can barely hold anything in my hands

(let alone pen and pencil) without shaking.

No longer am I able to draw.

Well, my thought this morning was a

caption for a cartoon, words which I

thought would make a great cartoon.

(I did, however, think it would be

humorous on the basis of the words

alone.)

Now folks, this is no game-changer,

mind you, no million dollar pot of

gold, but some other from which

one might conjure up a cartoon in

their own mind.

So, at no cost, I share this caption with you.

Silly of me I know, but for what it’s worth,

here goes…

“Over at the Worlds’ Fair, the Mexican kiosk,

Orfel and his Martian friends mused that

they would prefer to have a slice of Jose, the

proprietor, rather than his soggy enchiladas.”

Hell folks, even if you didn’t get a chuckle

with that vision as I did, at least I got this

writing said and done today. Ha! And with

that, shaky hands and all, I shall press on.

                             -30-

Chris Hanch 5-9-2023