Author: stevehaarman

 It doesn’t matter
 Some think it does
 Then they punish you
 Because you out hustled them
 There is one life
 Have to live it well
 It is not a 40 hour week
 Get up early; you get the prize
 Nothing new there
 Still condemned
 By sleepy heads
 The alley is dangerous
 But it’s a short cut
 You learn to navigate
 Attend to you wounds
 Help others with theirs
 Then move on
 Get your job done
 Listen to the word
 Hear it on the go
 Never stop for applause
 Color blind and apolitical
 Hard work was the answer
 I kept going
 Even uphill
 It all paid off
 Here I am
  
 Stanski
 10/14/2019 

.
 Light of early morning greets me
 I am alert and give thanksgiving
 Looking out I witness calmness,
 a very light breeze and quiet lake
  
 Sunshine falls through the trees
 There is beauty to behold
 How lucky are we who live in
 this enchantment?
  
 What did we do to deserve this?
 I think about the news of yesterday
 There is trouble, hunger and anguish
 Many are in despair; no place to go
  
 Homeless and living on the street
 with rats, fleas, feces, drugs and needles
 Tomorrow will be a repeat of today for them
  
 Dictators suppress their citizens
 Citizens are hungry and dying
 We look for the light
 Leadership that seems to be lost
 A press that is very quiet
  
 There will be a day of reckoning
 We have been taught
 The answers are know
 Neglect in never acceptable
 How long will we wait
  
 Stanski
 August 25, 2019 ^ 

.
 When beauty overwhelms you
 the tendency is to settle on
 a simpler form of life
 which in a way is
 a sad, sad situation
  
 Beauty should be humbling
 Appreciation should not stagger us
 but we are very human
 No self-confrontation on
 improvement possibilities
 We may walk away frustrated
 instead of challenging ourselves
  
 We all have talents
 By nature they are different
 We must hone and develop,
 become the best we can be
 Let our own beauty break out
 to be seen and admired
  
 It is not pride or ego
 We are teachers
 trying to show the way
 Let others witness our code of living
 Be an inspiration to them
 Let them set us free
  
 Stanski
 October 1, 2019 ^ 

 
 The complexities of life
 So hard to understand
 Software invaded
 Computer security at risk
 But trying to access
 Your own information
 Is a nightmare 
  
 Frustrated by passwords
 And secret codes
 Personal questions
 Answers you have forgot
 Going berserk is around the corner
  
 You call for help
 Cannot understand
 Your assistant whose
 Second language is English
 Is not successful in helping
 The phone goes dead
  
 You are on your own
 Is ignorance bliss
 There was a day
 When a party line 
 Was a luxury
  
 Now phones are updated
 On a yearly basis at
 A great deal of cost
 Some have no problems
 Their lives must be dull
  
 We feed on anxiety
 No problems – an off day
 Make a connection
 Progress is made
 Close to solving
  
 The line goes dead again
 Like Grandpa goes fishing
 The local Verizon or ATT 
 Stores almost help
 Instead of getting you on line
  
 They give you clues and
 Suggestions and send you home
 Grandpa is home, too, with the fish
 Have a nice day
  
 Stanski 
 October 1, 2019 ^ 

.
 The ice is gone from the lake
 It should be; it is October
 I mention this now because
 The cold wind blowing last night
 Brought back the winter memories
 Last year was a killer
 It started early; lasted through spring
 And marched through part of summer
  
 Now the monarchs are leaving
 The birds will leave or have left
 In their own natural order
 Ice will return and 
 We will feel at home again
 The landscape looks good
 It sometimes becomes 
 Winter food for the deer
  
 Snow-blower is primed and ready
 Now all I have left to do
 Is work on my attitude
 I like winter but also
 Crave spring, summer and autumn 
 I must get my body in shape
 Winter muscles need their own tune up
 Nature will be with us
 There will be beauty
 For this we give thanks
  
 Stanski
 October 1, 2019 ^
   

.
 When I was a kid,
 I wanted to get away
 from the house, so
 a paper route 
 seemed to be the way.
  
 I took a morning route; a
 get up at 4:45 A.M. route, but
 It got me out, 
 seven days a week, 
 out on my own, 
 plus the collections, 
 that would be worth 
 two or three nights.  
 “Collecting for the Herald!” 
 “Could you come back Friday?” 
  
 So it went for four years.  
 I grew to know people pretty well. 
 I saw contentment, anger, 
 cheerfulness, satisfaction and 
 struggle: with the spouse, 
 with work, with the bottle.  
 I saw:  who was broke, 
 who was broken, 
 who had it, who didn’t.  
  
 I was the gatekeeper, 
 the constant, the dependable.  
 They liked me; my service.  
 There was conversation, 
 caring, and good feelings.  
  
 That was 60 years ago.  
 Now, they are gone or going, 
 the paper is gone, but 
 I’m still here, 
 not wanting to get away.  
  
 My memory carries me.  
 I read their obituaries on-line.  
 There is a plunk at my heartstrings, 
 a pang of sorrow, and 
 a little regret that I had to quit, 
 move on like we all do and 
 that I never went back.  
 This pings the heart, 
 never breaks it. 
  
 Life is that way.  
 It is and then 
 you move on with joy, 
 having learned, 
 never forgetting, 
 but missing that bliss, 
 the euphoria and 
 the excitement of 
 those four long ago years.
  
 Stanislaus Kuperski the Firski
 February 20, 2015 ^ 

.
 Lord, God!  Lamb of God
 I think of all the things
 we are asking for
 which we do not need
 but just want and 
 it leaves me in a state of wonder
  
 We have everything 
 Still desire more
 I read about the Haitians 
 and of their sufferings
 the things they need and don’t have
  
 Food and water, along with shelter
 being the highest on the list and
 then I read about their faith in You
 and are sure You will be taking care of them

 Supreme faith, even though they have nothing
  
 We pray for more, which we don’t need
 Our faith is weak when we do not 
 consider helping them in any way
 We are not of this world
 Cannot take anything with us
  
 I read of our Nigerian brothers and sisters
 dying of starvation while dictators are enriched

 Christians, Jews and Muslims being
 killed and sequestered in China
 It is sad as we wait for our leaders,
 the Pope in particular, to step up and
 offer assistance wherever needed

 Wherever, an echo of forever, which
 Is the forever we will have when we die
  
 We see misguidance in our own country
 Revisionists who dislike our constitution
 constantly breaking down our morality
  
 I hear preachers say how 
 They struggled all week
 With what words to use in their homily

 I think of the seven mile trek to potable 
 Water and the struggle back
  
 Water to make soup out of weeds for 
 their starving children, 
 hoping they will sleep
 in the ram-shack shelter 
 that barely covers them and 
 where poisonous spiders 
 and snakes lurk along with mosquitoes.
  
 I think to myself, 
 if we could only overcome
 all of this it would be 
 a wonderful world
  
 Stanski
 October 7, 2019 ^ 

.
 Do you remember me?
 That was the question
 at our first cousin’s reunion
 What was my answer?
  
 It should have been
 How could I forget?
 But I was stunned
 by the voice of a beauty
  
 An angel in white exuding
 a mist of sensuality
 She introduced herself and
 I could breathe again
  
 Then all the small talk
 Isn’t that the way it is
 Years and decades had passed
 Some not seen in over fifty years
  
 The story of modern mankind
 No longer tribal in one location
 But spread all over the country
 Children, grands and great grands
  
 Still it was like yesterday
 Conversation did not run out
 Food and drink and tugs of the heart
 Sadly, after a day, we had to part
  
 What will happen next?
 Will we get together?
 Questions we haven’t answered
 But I would say we better
  
 Stanski
 October 6, 2019 ^
  
   

.
 The season was autumn; 
 skies filled with gray clouds
 Hwy 10 was my choice to reach US 127
 I needed a diversion. 

 Route 55 through Lake City
 Was getting boring, so there I was

 Fall colors were peeking and
 beauty exuded in spite of the dull light
 Traffic was light; the ride joyous
  
 It was a relief from the day before
 where trucks by the hundreds crowded
 A trip from Tennessee north to Michigan

 I felt at peace and was happy with my choice
 The deciduous trees lit up in amazing colors
 Sunshine broke through the heavy clouds
  
 Nature’s chemistry cannot be diminished
 Nor can its mystery and unpredictability

 It could be compared with traffic
 One day a road full of maniacs
 Another calm and peaceful

 In a couple of hours I crossed
 The beautiful, awesome Mackinac Bridge
  
 The waves of the straits were driven and
 Tossed by the wind, an awesome sight

 Colorful distant trees solidified
 My thoughts on nature
 It’s just that time of year
  
 Stanski
 October 6, 2019 ^ 

.
 There was no drama
 Just the meeting and
 Shaking of hands
 He looked over my report
 Had relevant questions as
 He reviewed the situation
 Which had expanded
  
 He gave me an exam
 I can hear the rubber gloves snap
 Talked over the options
 Declared what he would
 Advise his father or brother
  
 Asked me what I wanted
 I am with you
 More pills
 Meet again in three months
  
 I remarked how Israel
 Had a tight election
 Situation and how I hoped
 Benjamin Netanyahu 
 Would be able to put
 Together a coalition
  
 He agreed with me
 I declared how I thought Israel 
 Was on the cutting edge of
 Medical advancements
  
 He said he was educated there and
 Felt that when he came to the States
 He was equal with everyone here in
 His studies and capabilities
  
 He felt he surpassed many 
 Because he talks with and
 Gets to know his patients
  
 Does not jump to giving 
 Test after test and so on. 
 I agreed, totally, with him
 Ethics over profits
  
 We chatted a few minutes
 And then it was over
 I had a new brother
 He is an admirer 
 What could be better?
  
 Stanski
 October 1, 2019 ^