Not Poetry. Quatrain Verse in English & Swedish. Dagsverser. On the Mundane & the Arcane.
Does goods hawked with perky snappiness
by such breathless marketing fanned
bring us but material happiness
wandering in Consumer Land …
… as Peace of Mind ever vernal
must unceasingly be yearned
Grasped fleetingly, though eternal
cannot be bought, might be earned
Aren’t we hapless then shopping sheepishly
while the true price thereof piles steepishly?
Here the expression of ‘cry uncle’ becomes ‘cry ankle’. Experienced after long days of sightseeing on foot in e.g. a major tourism city.
Our knees
both screech
Oy vey! oy vey! oy vey!
as feet ‘cry ankle’
Dawns yet another day
regrets shall rankle
But why dwell in an existence
where the major absorbing locus
is on bodily persistence?
Where’s the intellectual focus?
But until found ain’t it sadly obvious
that of such we just had not the foggiest
+)
-oy vey! = (Yiddish) expression of dismay or hurt
Lacked libationary restraint
until his dignity drained
Unfazed by concern & complaint
too tightly to habit chained
Used to drain bottles full throttle
when was that kind of fellow
Now fills a hot water bottle
since he turned cold & mellow
So there, we can now credibly debunk
that the bottle per se gets us drunk
Off to a slow start this morning? You’re not the only one. Tells here an airplane even:
Taxiing, creeping
something ailing
fuel in tanks seeping
Prospects paling
Fuselage sagging
wing tips drooping
til nearly dragging.
Forget looping!
Jet engine’s breath
held bated
a Shibboleth
ill fated
Anguish inflated
as tires deflate
landing gear weighted
controls frustrate
Squeaky in rust
who’s nonplussed?
Baby breath thrust
stirs no dust
+)
shibboleth = a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth
edited 09/09/22 0810
With their careers at stake
our ‘leaders’ lie & fake
Feeling all entitled
why would they concede?
The elite unbridled
in atrocious deed
They’re hawking ‘give & take’
means ‘they take, we give’
Gladly devour our cake
grimly combative
When faced with our demands
they wave, smile & shake hands
On days sloshing way below the brim
am mired in torpid emptiness
Just hobbling along aging’s path dim
cobbled with paltry pettiness
Then scope blows in by writing verse:
Found humor in what had seemed curse!
Finding humor in what I curse.
Since he aged wizen:
curbed his cupidity
not felt much frisson
dialed down turgidity
Instead finds daily adventure
popping the prescription pill
avoiding chewing his denture
Foot still tapping sitting still
All while lucidity
fades with rapidity
The palace of Versailles:
Earthly power gone awry
The monarchy absolute
of the people heedless
Then the plebs got resolute
and royals died headless
An action that ought to inspire
in any empire gone haywire
+)
royals = here: In 1793 Louis XVI, and his spouse Marie Antoinette were, among others, executed during the French Revolution
Riga straddles the mighty river
for all vitality it’ll give her.
She strides on heels stiletto
elegantly arrayed.
Drools over Rigoletto
cultured through her free trade.
Riga shows spires & beauty
from centuries of booty.
+)
mighty river = The Daugava forms deep in Russia and flows out in to the Bay of Riga
edited 09/09/21 1805
Am a wreck in howling storm:
My old knees bit stiff to fold
poor heart runs chilled & warm
wrinkly hands too cold to hold
With ears worn thin and wary eye
I observe Life’s mystery:
Us humans (although we deny)
do hatch our own misery!
In a next life lets apply prudence
as well as ‘uncommon sense’ shrewdness