… but will we lead a worthwhile life?
If we want to get along
mouth only the mundane
and if we want to belong
stray not in the arcane!
Let others spout their opinion
and just pretend to listen
Act the sycophantic minion
smile, best if our eyes glisten
Avoid these words to get along:
‘ascetic’ & ‘poetic’
Apply in order to belong:
‘athletic’ & ‘cosmetic’
Voice only the prosaic
like ‘we get warm by burning coal’
avoid ‘photovoltaic’
Above all do not bare our soul!
Thus we’ll evade some risk & strife
but will we lead a worthwhile life?
Hur än svag hans rytmkänsla
En sån figur
oböjlig
en sån filur
omöjlig
Omedgörlig
utan rättkänsla
otillbörlig
saknar skamkänsla
Hur än svag hans rytmkänsla
svagare hans erkänsla
Gråa gryningar gråtmilda
Att ha varit alkoholist
tack å lov länge sedan
Förnedrande förtvivlat trist
känner alltjämt av svedan
Plågas alltjämt sinnet
i uttröttad lekamen
Gnager grymt på minnet
kuggad på livstentamen
Alltför många år blev förspillda
i gråa gryningar gråtmilda
When the ego struts tall, the greater its fall
Posting on Internet’s boulder
our stale jokes from hapless heart
while little we care to shoulder
is neither kind, brave or smart
All wrapped around our own
with the ego puffed up tall
nonsense filling our phone
outrageous our naive gall
Oblivious & headstrong
quite heedless of our affliction
merely keeps muddling headlong
largely by lack of conviction
By all means, if we must, act the wag
but please, spare us being such a drag!
A mindless barter
People already hapless
buy phones ever smarter
which turns them ever sapless
What a mindless barter!
Never learnt to navigate
so by voice command dialing
let GPS cogitate
On-screen found oh-so beguiling!
Never mind that crisp phones resplendent
make humans ever more dependent …
He’s always the victim, says they tricked him
While spared Life’s worst bludgeons
our decrepit curmudgeon
one of many gudgeons
drowning himself in dudgeon
Claims others kick & trick him
he’s ends up the poor victim!
If at times duplicitous
he would loudly lament
Seldom seen solicitous
or rarely heard repent
Little thought to others given
been unable to discern
how self-occupied and driven
for others lacking concern
Oblivious in his own smugness
blames others for his lack of snugness
Leave Topanga!
This verse was first written in 2018 for my son Matt, who was then living through droughts & wildfires in Topanga, amidst obviously the steep decline of the United States. In 2020 Matt moved to Sweden, where his father is from.
Trust in your guts & brains
take your leave from Topanga
for a sane place with rains
but don’t retrace to Tonga
as The Islands getting hotter
long since Garden of Eden
not long until under water
While you’re welcome in Sweden
from where easy two hour flights to Tuscana
while U.S. turns Republic of Banana
Faint prescience is all it takes
plus aptitude for a new language
So why wait to pull up the stakes
why wallow in anomie anguish?
+)
-anomie = a society characterized by a breakdown of social norms and values, here: The U.S.
-Tonga = a South Pacific island nation, to where Matt’s great grandparents emigrated and where his grandfather grew up
-Topanga, CA = just outside Los Angeles
Can-do nation brought down to lower station
The ailing United States
til recently can-do nation
Rare results, dismal debates
brought her to a lower station
Voter bases emotions inflame
as ‘Leaders’ these days spew insults
busily they’re hurling lies & blame
Were did they go, erstwhile adults?
Nations, like ships, run aground
by self-serving helmsmen’s neglect
Can be hard to turn around
while human greed remains unchecked
If when floating it off the ship sinks
shall many nations miss how it stinks?
+)
floating off = here: pull the ship of the ground
What would be the sound of ‘Freedom From’?
This year no longer succumbed
to Blue Angels aerobatics
by masks & distancing bummed
spared outsized firework dramatics
For too long we have celebrated
as Sound of Freedom planes thunder
exotic cultures deprecated
countries laid waste in plundering
In past years ‘exploits’ celebrated
while on next year’s 4th of July
by inequity permeated
let’s focus on what’s gone awry!
As the Covid keeps a wily eye
deciding who can fly, live or die