Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Sad Lesson

A stricken gray mouse, an easy prey
Panting in the moldly leaves it lay
Poisoned by bait in a dark recess
Meant to make the world just one mouse less.

The saw-whet owl swooped down for dinner,
Snapped it up in less than a glimmer,
Ate down the fatal rodent tidbit,
Ate down baited bait that undid it.

Both man and owl aimed for the same.
Both man and owl a mouse would claim.
Both man and owl got what they most sought,
But owl paid his life for what he bought.

Would that a pact could have been made
To keep the mice in the shaded glade.
But mice will not stay where it is not warm,
But seek out shelter from the winter storm.

Man found the owl with glassy globe eyes,
Who lay dying from the tainted prize.
He rued the sad day the bait was set
And vowed a safer trap to get.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Am I A Geezer Now?

This storm outside that was accompanied by a lot of hype just doesn't impress me. When I was a kid, Kalamazoo got 40 inches of snow in two days. Missed school days was counted in weeks, not days. People died. Geezers say, "When I was a kid..." What does that make me?