February 5.23: Coping, but barely

Did you ever in all nobleness

make promise to yourself

that you wouldn’t touch that chocolate

in the corner on the shelf?

Did you succumb to self-delusion

like some invertebrate schnook

and tell yourself you’d only

take a little look?

Maybe also sniff

of cocoa-infused air

just to be assured (of course)

the forbidden was still there?

Well, maybe just a nibble

wouldn’t be transgression awful;

it’s not as though a nibble

is criminal, unlawful!

Your hand has barely moved

when you see the fearsome worst:

security is tight —

your conscience got there first!

 

Not that I’ve ever done this.

OK, maybe once.

Amazements to Susan Rushton for this too-real photo of my conscience.

July 7.22: Coping, but barely

My calendar says —

therefore, it must be —

today is a day

for Vitamin C.

C is for chocolate

and what could be sweeter?

So Happy World Chocolate Day

to you, dear reader!

If we can find a respite from reality, surely it is in a chocolate moment.

May it be so for you, dear reader.

 

November 3.20: Coping

Beset by inane logorrhea,

I turn to time-honored idea:

when the world goes askew,

make you some goo,

the original holistic panacea.

 

Here we are, dear reader, in this country, in desperate need of goo. “From sea to shining sea” used to refer to the beauty of the land; now it refers to angst, despair, fear, rage, frustration, isolation, loneliness, and profound exhaustion. And it is likely true that wherever you live it is the same. You might not have an election to deal with, but you likely have illness and death and uncertainty and loneliness stalking you. I offer you this goo by way of saying I wish I could make things better for all of us.

 

 

February 2.20

This date is a palindrome

so  I think that it is right

to begin and to end dinner

with chocolate tonight.

Then forwards and then backwards

it’s the same, I must insist;

dessert both first and last

makes glad palindromist.

 

Well, all right: it doesn’t have to be chocolate. I’m flexible.

Many more thanks to photographer S.W. Berg.

 

Disconnections: June 17.18

Amazement unceasing:

that dad’s my son!

Better than chocolate

is watching the fun.

 

A very happy Fathers’ Day to all dads who’ve stood in a shady spot

doing not much with their children,

for whom it will be a forever memory.

 

 

Connections: November 6.17

For presentation Puritan

there need be no defense

simplicity is paean

to mythic decadence.

 

 

More thanks to the S.W. Berg Photo Archives.

Connections

Connections: March 30.17

Not proper damask

nor the very best platters

but let the party begin —

it’s the chocolate that matters.

Thanks again to the S.W. Berg Photo Archives.

And a happy birthday to my second-born!

Connections

Connections: October 25.16

I am generous to a fault

so I give this gift to you.

Now please excuse me while I seek

the tree on which it grew.

Dear reader, did you know that October 28, better known as THIS FRIDAY,

is National Chocolate Day? My calendar says so; therefore, it must be true.

Are you ready for it?

More thanks to the S.W. Berg Photo Archives.

Connections

Connections: February 27

In the Land of The Way Things Should Be

my grandson would rule by decree

it seems incredible

but cars would be edible

aerodynamically.

Thanks to the Mesterharm Photo Archives, especially designer/builder Toby.

Connections

August 20

Who knew white coneflowers turn to chocolate?

No wonder the finches are inviting their friends.

August countdown.