Not Poetry. Quatrain Verse in English & Swedish. Dagsverser. On the Mundane & the Arcane.
Waiting in line at the bank
Pompous Temple of Usury
Floor marbled, breathing air dank
smells like a Goosery of Greed
Manager supercilious
tellers aptly pedantic
Banks prudently punctilious
ambience un-Vedantic
Of Money too easily sycophantic
as urge for earthly riches turns us frantic
This verse was inspired by grandson Mikey when as a small boy he romped on top of the windlass in the bow of HMS ‘Queen Mary’, moored in Long Beach, CA since 1967. Of course ‘sic transit gloria mundi’ ship wise, while Mikey is still in his prime as a young man.
On polished upper decks: splendor & light
a display of power, riches & fame
while in the ship’s belly toiled crew out of sight
Times past like today, remaining the same
In her day the flagship of empire
enterprise, industry & might
albeit were it soon to expire
based more on arrogance than right
Many a storm howled around the crew in the con
No longer sets her bow in huge waves rushing on:
The windlass a stage for a toddler’s romp
as parents watch by gleaming gunnels
Without fail shall fade circumstance & pomp.
The ship a play field with three funnels
Now an amusement park in a disparate age
the ‘Queen Mary’ languishes moored in a zoo’s cage
+)
-funnel = smokestack, especially on a steamship
-gunnels = the upper edge of a ship’s side
-the ‘Queen Mary’ held the ‘Blue Ribbon’ speed record across the Atlantic after averaging 31 knots in 1938, between New York and Southampton
Worrying, wobbly & old
his eyes bleak, heart & body cold
Integrity long since sold
a life story not needing told
Shifty much like a sand shoal
covered with tears & mold
dark & shallow is his soul
No hope getting re-souled
Locked away in old age’s cage
stowed & forgotten backstage
With each & every breath
we are descending
the very stairs to death
for me impending
My erstwhile sensory clarity
in old age has begun shading
still beckons brightly integrity
while my mind & body fading
While integrity, that ever upright bouquet,
an aspiration that shall never wilt away
This verse suggested itself in the face of rising anti-reason & anti-science sentiment
Feel science is deniable
or of it plain unaware?
It still remains unpliable
so watch out, best be aware:
Each action & appliance
demands we’re compliant
with exact laws of science
of physics reliant
But if your attention rivets
on to being entertained
around science life still pivots
even if you’re unrestrained
The implacable law of gravity
knows neither virtue or depravity