Must Feed Those BirdsA Poem by Donald Ray HeistandWritten on an impulse.
Looked out the kitchen window,
Hard yard of ice-covered snow
On the hill, bird feeder needed seed
Went out back, tried to walk the slope
Knew right off it was no go
Don’t know where I got the idea
Shuffled over to the right
A little less incline there
Got a running start
Attempted a charge up the bank
Wife should have been recording
This stunt worthy of those a******s
That you see on TV, and now a movie
Their painful feats planned, lucrative
Mine thoughtless, entirely gratis
Didn’t get far, probably a good thing
Behind me feet went airborne, legs still raced
The ice though slick, had fine grit
Kissed it with my lower lip and slid
Crimson trail meandered on white
First thought was ER for me
Like my wife who went down
Just days ago, walking cautiously,
Broke her wrist; I chided her
Undeserving, I got up lucky
Quick short steps to the house
Straight to the freezer, grabbed i -
Civilized cousin of my pitiless foe
The third power, my only answer,
To swelling lip and shrinking pride
I’m sure she tired of me saying
What the Hell was I thinking?
Can’t remember much thought process
Only, “If I get a running start I can make it.”
This, from a normally nimble mind
Really hope the neighbors didn’t see
They’d imagine I sleep with an open tube
of Superglue by my nose
With a head full of fried macaroni
Then tell the kids, “That’s why you just say no.”
Should I curse my stupidity, immaturity?
Lament that fifty-one year’s experience,
Did not cause me to hesitate, consider options
Does this mean I have learned little,
And doomed to repeat the follies of the young?
Or, ought I celebrate that I’ve not grown stodgy
Nor taken a slide toward a geriatric outlook on life
Afraid to take risks, a self-made invalid
Rather, acting with the recklessness of youth
Thus, proved an impulsive ageless spirit.
© 2008 Donald Ray Heistand |
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Added on May 18, 2008 AuthorDonald Ray HeistandDillsburg, PAAboutThe inspiration for much of my writing springs from my Christian faith. I will often shock and disturb readers, but I know when to lighten up. I have so many stories outlined-every time I am in the sh.. more..Writing
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