Not Poetry. Quatrain Verse in English & Swedish. Dagsverser. On the Mundane & the Arcane.
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!
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 …
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
This verse was first written in 2018 for my son Matt, who was then living through droughts & wildfires in Topanga, amidst the marked 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
find 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
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?
+)
-Tonga = a South Pacific island nation, to where Matt’s great grandparents emigrated (from Sweden before WW1 and where his grandfather spent his childhood
-Topanga, CA = just outside Los Angeles
While the rich get wealthier
with tax breaks, bailed outright even
they get so being stealthier
entitlement they believe in
While the permanent underclass
has throughout history been struggling
this poor willfully ignored mass
needs for its daily needs be juggling
Still: Beyond roof over heads & food on their tables
rich & poor alike indulge sports & celeb fables
We do deserve a handout
our plight of course sui generis
Awaiting our next bailout
so make it quick & generous!
As we’re selling lipstick
we implore & ask
as we all have a shtick:
Please, don’t wear a mask!
Or wear one of see-through type plastic
would support our business fantastic!
+)
-bailout = Covid 19 $$ compensation
-sui generis = unique; not like anyone or anything else
Med dem väl litet bevänt
bortsett från uselhet
lögnaktiga, dekadent
i all slags vidrighet
Så hur att förvänta
att makthavarna galna
så grymma, valhänta
skall snart frivilligt falna?
När det bolmar i sågspånen
från de i rännstenen i ruset
till den förflackade fånen
som velar runt i Vita Huset:
Självuppfyllda å manipulativa
Av oss själva så representativa!
Items now in vogue
on screens gleaming
may just turn out rogue
scamming, scheming
But surely we have a choice
faced with a claim hollow
to trust our own quiet voice
not just blink & swallow?
First checking proven facts had once merit
while now vendor’s own sales pitch we parrot!
To think before talking
would be way too burdensome
could cause awkward balking
stymie instant words from some
Freedom must not be infringed
let’s keep up incessant spurting!
Whatever notions unhinged
must not be found disconcerting!
Scant by now any wish to acquaint
ourselves with what smells of self-restraint
When a car drives by
‘Diminutive Doggie’
gives instant chase. Why?
Due to thinking foggy
Feels compelled to chase
she runs off & away
with more grit than grace
looks not much like ballet
While chases with plenty pluck
stirring up dusty buzz
still hasn’t caught a car or truck
And if she ever does:
here we pose a stupendous stumper
would she lick or bite the rear bumper?