Author: stevehaarman

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 ^ 

 What will the sea throw up today?
 Its behavior is not known or unknown
 Three days ago, two days ago and one day ago
 It throw huge waves, thunderously, upon the shore
 Today that same sea is calm and innocent 
 Lending to us a feeling of control
 But the subliminal knowledge that we control nothing
  
 Where is the dune that was created over the last fifteen years?
 Covered with grasses and vines with long spidery roots
 Over seven feet tall in places and twenty-five feet across
 The sea stormed its way in and took it away
 In its recovery it took all of my totems 
 It took my eight-foot square meditating deck
 And the thirty year old bench that we sat on
  
 It claimed part of another, older dune and
 Did this without a permit from 
 The Department of Environmental Quality
 The department with its man rules that
 Make things impossible for those who wanted
 To build a lovely home on the magnificent shore
 Because one endangered Lily stood in the way
  
 The sea has reclaimed the Lily and without a doubt
 Thrown it with the current to a new location to flourish 
 This is what the sea does; it has no rules, but just is
 We foolishly get in the way of nature with our novel ideas
 Build walls which finally, in time, break down
 But, oh, I remember them well and weren’t they great
 Especially when the light of the setting sun fell upon them
  
 The sea is forever changing and we are helpless
 We reverse rivers to our own detriment 
 Rivers are straightened and swamp drained
 Until the unintended consequences come to pass
 Then we spend millions and billions trying to restore
 Will we ever learn?  That is the question
 Today the answer is no, but then there is hope
  
 Stanski
 December 10, 2019 ^
  
   

 Teardrops
 Raindrops
 Rainbows
 Van Gogh
 Indigo
 Picasso
 Mistletoe
 Banjo
 Tango
 Tangle
 Laying low
 Persuading
 Evading
 Memories
 Slow go
 Cargo
 Too much
 As such
 New fad
 Too bad
 Bagpipes
 Copper pipes
 Plastic banana
 Persona non grata
 Bad fit
 Then quit
 How sad
 Step it up
 Drinking cup
 Rearrange
 Forgive 
 Forgiven
 Now glad
  
 Stanski
 December 10, 2019 ^ 

 New day
 This day
 Everything soon will start to fit
  
 This day
 No play
 Long work list will make you sick
  
 Start slow
 Then go
 Just fast enough to avoid the kick
  
 Sun day
 Fun day
 The rent is due, should start to click
  
 Slow go
 No show
 All of this and I don’t give a lick
  
 Day done
 Had fun
 Work still to do calls for the whip
  
 Final day
 No pay
 Laid to rest, bow your head and rip
  
 Stanski
 December 10, 2019 ^
   

 The big comeback
 Almost lost and now on the verge of victory
 And then only to be denied because somehow
 The other players needed victory more than we
  
 We almost made it
 We almost made a thing of it
 Where it would take us fascinates us more in fantasy
 Than it would in the world of reality
  
 When we don’t have it we can extrapolate outcomes
 To levels almost beyond belief
 We can become critics of those who won
 And who seemingly do nothing with the benefits they received with victory
  
 The actual doing 
 In the jungle of obstacles and probabilities
 Is daunting and beyond the scope of imaginary projections
 We want the losers to keep dreaming
  
 The winners to keep working through new problems and situations
 Winners can begin dreaming and losers can try problem solving
 We mix the good with the bad
 The haves with the have nots
  
 The bitter with the sweet and
 Somewhere in this process come up 
 With either an overall good outcome
 Or a blandness which fits all, but makes no one happy
  
 We have room for all but reward the winners
 Encourage the losers
 Recruit new players and slowly advance
 The process is exciting; the dreaming essential
  
 Confrontation with reality is a must
 Together we grow and perfection is still sought
 We give allowance for error and make preparation for failure
 Mountains await us, just because we can
  
 Stanski
 December 10, 2019 ^
  
   

 We look and we see
 And what do we see?
 We see flags, posters, banners, buttons, and shirts,
 Each proclaiming something about us
  
 Each is a little layer of identity
 A feeling of belonging
 A thread of security
 Which keeps us from falling apart
  
 And becoming isolated
 As we try to sort out just where we’re going
 In this topsy-turvy world of ours
 We have our scars, styles, shoes and they become our badges
  
 Just a little more layering and what we need to comfort us
 The iPads, droids, and other technological gizmos
 Give us an upper hand for a while
 But we know the empty feeling will soon be returning
  
 We look for direction
 But where are the leaders
 And is there any hope in this dark world of insanity?
 Who do we trust and who can we follow?
  
 Who will teach us to lead?
 We begin to think and analyze
 And know that we have to begin to grow
 We have to know more than the last thing we read
  
 Whatever the season, this is the time of growth
 False gods say the end is at hand
 While all around us new growth is exposed
 We look to our God for purpose
  
 With our acceptance of this
 We feel the presence and are uplifted as we move forward
 The novelties lose their importance
 And our gratitude for life increases
  
 Stanski
 December 9, 2019 ^
  
   

 The road is hard
 It is cold
 You must pound on
 If you are to succeed
 Turning back
 With no effort
 Would corrupt you
 Forever
  
 Why move on
 One may ask
 What are the percentages?
 And for whom do you move?
 For gain is the answer
 Personal and general
 There is no advancement
 Without movement
  
 Advancement is necessary
 When there is growth
 Knowledge is waiting
 To be grasped; necessary
 If chaos is to be avoided  
 Will chance be supreme?
 Do we want to exist in
 A confused unorganized state?
  
 No; so we take the steps
 Proceed forward until
 We reach the mass or mess
 Begin the sorting
 This is fundamental
 If civilization is to exist
 Input is equally allowed
 Leadership will vary
  
 It is survival we wish
 With fair terms for everyone
 Disagreement will prevail
 The majority will decide
 We all should remain tolerant
 Make changes when necessary
 Live by an agreed rule of law
 Or remain primitive

 Stanski
 December 9, 2019 ^
  
   

  
 It is oil
 And it is good
 It is coal
 And it is good
  
 Given to us
 Oh, we pay
 But given to us
 To put to good use
  
 Some equate to 
 Dirty air
 Not I
 Air can be cleaned
 Call it technology
  
 And at the same time
 We improve human condition
 Extend life span
 Electricity
 Fuel
 Medicine
 Clothing
 Anything plastic
 Which is almost everything
  
 Where is the hemp
 What would that do?
 Why not the coal
 What does that do?
 Why not the oil
 What does that do?
  
 Who are these people?
 We still have CO2
 We exhale this
 Every time we breath
 Yesterday the waves were huge 
 Today the lake is calm
 The birds are still flying
  
 Termites exhale, too
 What can we do?
 DDT is gone
 What can we do?
 Malaria increases
 Nearly three million
 Die each year
 What can we do?
  
 Pass out the nets
 What are they made of?
 Is it green? 
  
 Where is the wind?
 It’s getting colder
 Where is the sun?
 It’s getting colder
  
 See, its working
 The law of
 Unintended consequences
  
 One pack of renewable needles
 And one sack of wool
 Going to make a sweater
 Hope it isn’t scratchy
  
 Stanski
 December 9, 2019 ^