Month: December 2019

Wintry days? This is winter
It is heaven; my blue heaven
Cold and covered with snow
Evergreens are white and green
The lichen are light green and white
This morning it was foggy
I thought of Old London Town,
Charles Dickens and the Christmas Story

Scrooge has not gone away
Either and more importantly have the angels
Good people are reacting to many needs
Many children will be happy
It is hard to think that there is hunger
In a society that seemingly has everything
Bud depression, drugs, alcohol and abuse
Have a way of striping dignity from human kind

Demons are at work in opposition to the angels
Close your eyes and think of some crazy rhythm
The melody and beat put an ease to your tenseness
No one is alone as we are all the sheep
Some have strayed and are lost
At nightfall they are the prey
Evil forces work when the midnight sun doesn’t set
Only you becomes only us as we huddle together

Little ladies knit mittens, scarves and stocking hats
Fruit cakes and cookies, jams and jellies abound
Churches are decorated complimenting the neighborhoods
Shop keepers are happy
Money is spent making up for the slow months
The snow from shoes mess up their foyers, but
A nearby mop is put to good use
How can you lose?

This is old fashion love of the holiday
The Birth of Jesus; celebrated in many ways
This is December; winter is here
The hardy hail; the weak stay indoors
Beauty is observed from every angle
Internal beauty is witnessed by many
It will be a happy season

Stanski
December 13, 2019 ^

My snow-blower breaks down
Not used to 24 inches of snow
Time to replace it because it is of no use
A new more powerful one will put on a show
Admired by everyone taking a look
Snow again, jump up and down
People wanting to run it
Takes me off the hook

Some will say I planned it this way
I suppose they can have their say
But am I the kind of fellow who
Would be having a Tom Sawyer day
Betting everyone they couldn’t
Do the work as well as me
Then watch them take turns
Even against my weak plea

Oh, they are out there showing off
The wind is blowing; this is tough stuff
No matter what I say or do
They keep up with their huff and puff
Snow keeps falling; the wind doesn’t die
I look out from the warm inside
When they look with hope at the window
I duck behind a curtain and hide

Another hour the drive is clear
Of the first half of the blizzard
Players are tired; looking gray
They slide along like a lizard
I know that soon it will be my turn
And shake my head and shudder
But then step up like heroes do
Knowing a good boat needs a rudder

Stanski
December 12, 2019 ^

The story is one, like many, in
the sense that it is hard to believe.
Someone new comes into my life,
presents her thoughts, dreams and poetic art.
Tells me how she would like to use it in
the oncoming days to inspire, challenge and affect lives.
After a while she leaves.

Her spirit is about me as I watch her walk away.
Somehow a little jealousy touches me
because she is such a beautiful person.
I look at her drawings, masterful renditions and
I think I am treading with angels.

The light feeling of envy leaves me.
I have been honored by her and
my being is filled with excitement.
Her ideas are immense and filled with possibilities.
I have been blessed.
Where has this wonderful person been?
Out of the blue, like a vision,
she appears to me.
I think of Cherubim and Seraphim and
am lifted to a new height.
I am full of anticipation and
consider all of the new potentials
her exhibition has brought.

I would never see her again.
My soul doth weep.
She suffers an untimely death.
An aneurism bursts in her brain and
the angels have taken her away.

My life will go on, but it will never be the same.
I know that being with her for just
the brief period has made me a better person.
I am fractured now, but will mend. My work will continue.
There are things to do and as I proceed
I will be talking with her,
knowing that she is standing by,
an angel in her own right.

Stansberry McKricken
November 30, 2015^

The denier was wrong and
acknowledged this to
anyone who wanted to listen.
There was no line up of interest so
I was left to bore people on my own.
The great maharaja was wrong.
Snow had fallen as predicted and
in the amount forecasted.
Ten inches is a lot of white
especially when packed by the wind.
My body was shaken.
The vibration of the snow-blower,
the stopping, changing gears,
changing direction of the snow flow,
running out of gas, and fixing breakdowns
plus the hand shoveling necessary
took the starch out of me.
I bought bird seed as
I went on about being wrong.
It happens so seldom that
I let people know when it happens so
they will believe I am human.
Buying seed helps this cause.
They know I am not bitter.
People will say that a storm is coming and
I reply, “There will be no snow, until its time.”
Most times I am right, but when
they point out all the drifts and accumulation,
I merely say, “It is time.”
I call that making a right out of a wrong.
Why not? It is just another blow,
and spring is on the horizon.

Stanislaus Kuperski
December 29, 2015^

This isn’t costing me a nickel
Just my time
a little paper
and this very nice pen
It’s a lot of fun.
jotting down thoughts
you can fail
and fail again
in coming up
with a good one
Nobody is out
one thin dime
I’ll keep writing
What can you lose
People keep coming by
They keep drinking my booze
They tell my I’m good
and I keep pouring
They wonder what I’m working on
I tell them a short story
about a friend
Then they wonder
if it’s about them
I say no
Then they go
It’s the end of the show
I think the total cost
was $7.40
but I still have
my pen
and paper
By Steve Haarman
on July 16, 2011

WAKE UP
NEVER TOO LATE
FIND THE JOY
PARTICIPATE

LIFE’S IMPORTANT
NOT ABOUT YOU
BUT RATHER ABOUT
WHAT YOU DO

DREAMS ARE SAFE
NOT ALL BAD
A WASTED LIFE
NOW THAT IS SAD

SO TAKE THE STEPS
ONE BY ONE
GOALS ARE REACHED
YOU HAVE WON

BY STEVE HAARMAN
11/27/11

There is truth to be found

One must look for it

It is not given

Not by the fake news

Only we do not call it the fake news

We call it the really fake news

Everything repeated verbatim

By anchor to anchor on

Every news station

Maybe an exception

A few of the shows on Fox News

Or Fox Business News

And One American News

A station which explodes with the truth

And points out the lies

More people are beginning to believe

In the President of the Country, who

Has done so much to move us forward

Accomplished more in three years

Than any man in history

He is an outsider, which is why he is detested

And assigned to impeachment on the day of his victory

Higher wages

Lower taxes

More jobs

Minorities lifted

Soldiers given relief

NATO paying up

Iran contract nullified

Regulations voided

USMCA

China recognized for what they are and challenged

Record Stock Market

Record revenue

Exposure of corrupt FBI and CIA at the top levels

Much more to do

Dealing with dictators

Completing the wall on the border

A five billion dollar request, denied

Which has cost us over $250 billion for

Feeding, housing and health care illegals

Removal of sanctuary cities

Removal of MS13 gangs

Defeat of ISIS

Rebuilding inner-cities

Draining the swamp

Removing troops where not needed

Charging for services rendered

Shrink government

Get the education department closed

As millions of tax dollars thrown at it

And the results are the same at 20 years ago

It is sad that so many believe that their party

The Party they support is the same party

That their grandpa and father supported

They are mistaken but cannot change

John Kennedy would be a conservative

Once entrenched and indoctrinated

It is difficult to come to reality and change

It is not Republican versus Democrat

It is the swamp versus us

The Statists versus the country

The millionaires versus the wage earners

The word is out

Time to listen

Stanski

December 11, 2019 ^

The only town I knew when I was young

Was the one I still love now that I am old

There were no streets paved with gold

Or a history with stories left untold

We were a neighborhood

Part of a bigger city

A collection of characters true

Docile or stern, grim or witty

Curfews and standards

Things we just wouldn’t do

Credit at the bakery

Joe, who repaired the shoes

Paint store and flower shop

They were all places you knew

Always wondering what you would do

To put a claim on fame

Cecil the butcher would help you

Decide on the very good cuts

Hammer & Cortenof, the hardware

Carried only the very best stuff

Harry Shook at City Service Station

Was part of the big family

You didn’t want to get out of line

He would take you over his knee

Kick the can and marbles

Basketball until all hours of the night

Kids of different backgrounds and color

Seldom was there ever a fight

Drugstores on every corner

Sometimes it was hard to choose

You could not pick a bad one

Really nothing there to lose

Lawn jobs, raking and mowing

Shoveling snow all winter long

Character developed unwittingly

Harmony and love, like a song

Gone now are the dear old neighbors

Mr. Warwick won’t be seen again

Dr. Slemons, old man Clark and Mr. Johnston

Nobody left it seems

It was a great, fine brotherhood

Room for every quirk and scheme

No one blowing taps for the other guy

Too much on your own plate it seemed

When you left you really didn’t leave

You moved, but you still held the dream

Home means different things for sure

Logan Street will always be home to me

By Steve Haarman

Revised by Stanski

December 11, 2019 ^

 The owl and the cowboy 
 Now that could be a story
 One that I might want to tell
 The owl was heard around the cowboy camp
 It kept some up but it wasn’t too bad
 To some it wasn’t the owl
 It was just that they were very sad
 Damn this town, but we can’t leave now.
 Least ways not ‘til I get my lovin’ back
 You see, I love that girl, but she had to leave
 And took the train to Birmingham
 Now, that’s all the way under the Mason-Dixon Line 
 She said she would be just fine and
 Told me to listen to the owl at night and
 Keep my eyes on the stars
  
 I don’t wanna leave you now she said
 But I just have to go
 I’m Detroit made and I never stayed
 Chicago couldn’t keep me either
 I said adios to California and I traveled east
 That was all before I met you
 I made it big there too
 But I was missing something and that my friend was you
 When I left that was when New York had her heart broke
  
 So hold on for your love, give me a little grace
 I had to trust her and had to smile
 Had to talk it over with that hooting owl
 I checked the moon and watched the stars
 Stayed away from the cowboy bars
 I sent her a note
 I’ll be here waiting for you 
 And waiting for you to get back
 When you do you’ll find me
 Down around my place
 My lovely shack
  
 With a tip of the hat to John Hiatt
  
 Stanski
 December 11, 2019 ^
   

 My Flamingos are shivering today
 They are made of metal and
 Have been fairly steady and reliable 
 Through all of the seasons up to now
 But when the temperature is cold
 That would be minus four or five
 And the wind blowing at twenty mph
 Even the sturdiest of us begin to buckle
  
 A few weeks ago in Florida
 The birds moved just enough
 To avoid the alligators
 They seemed content in the 
 Warm/hot weather
 They adjust as nature has provided
 Never a harsh word or complaint
 Tomorrow is always a new day
  
 We barely get ourselves shoveled out
 Of twenty-four inches of snow,
 Exhausting the snow-blower in the process
 Now wait for a delivery of something newer,
 More powerful and dependable
 Snow is in the forecast so the race is on
 Do we get the machine in time or 
 Spend our moments feeding the birds
  
 Five or six inches of light snow is not much
 But without equipment and over ice, will
 Most certainly manifest a major problem
 Prayer seems futile in times as these
 The facing up is what is important
 Attack before the avalanche 
 I look out at my birds
 They seem to nod in agreement
  
 Stanski
 December 11, 2019 ^