Haircut!

Before today, the last time
Was on February third.
I looked a mess; if you had seen me
You would have concurred.

For shorter hairdos need a trim
More often than the long.
That in-between length somehow looks
Just ultra flat-out wrong!

But now that my reflection,
Which the mirror does display,
Looks a whole lot more familiar,
I must cover up the gray!

A Cup of Iced Coffee

This is a tale of the haves and the nots
Which I witnessed in front of my face,
A question of simply connecting the dots,
For it happens all over the place.

A woman was rummaging deep in the trash -
She was homeless, or so it would seem –
And extracted, to drink or to add to her stash,
An iced coffee, half-filled, made with cream.

Did she drink it? Not sure, but it made me aware
Of discrepancies glaring and wrong
For whoever did toss it did really not care
Since it cost him not more than a song.

But to her, what it meant (though of course I can’t know)
Was a drink she could never afford
For the way of the world means the nots (this is so)
Are just naturally shunned and ignored.

Ode to A/C

A breeze is nice, but my advice
When temperatures are soaring
Is get inside where you can hide
And cooler air is pouring.

I guarantee that with A/C
Your mood will be improving
And you can do the normal things
Like standing up and moving.

For when I get a coat of sweat
I’m cranky and I’m sluggish.
An A/C blast will get me past
To where I’m almost smuggish.

When people name what they acclaim’s
The number one invention,
It’s cars or planes or P.C. brains
But what they rarely mention

Is B.T.U.’s, so I’ll effuse
On how they help with cooling.
Without A/C, well, woe is me!
(And really, I’m not fooling!)

Elevator Etiquette

It’s hard to social distance
In an elevator car
For just one other person
Ups the ante way too far.

So when another occupant
Steps in, there is no doubt
That I will just excuse myself
By quickly stepping out.

The regulars respect this,
Riding solo with a mask
And waiting for an empty car
To not be called to task.

But strangers or impatient folk
Or those who doubt the facts
Just waltz right in no matter how
Their rider-mate reacts.

At times like those, which I believe
Will happen more and more,
I wish, instead of 9, I lived
On the 1st or 2nd floor.

Oh, Joy!

I saw my favorite girl and boy
First time since March, oh joy! oh joy!
I can’t explain how good it feels - 
I want to leap and kick my heels.

By their reactions, I am sure,
From when we first walked through the door,
They missed us, too, but now we’re back,
As life crawls slowly on its track.

A Dr. Kildare Shirt

My grandson has a lot of tees
With Mario imprinted.
His sister wears her Ariels,
Her mermaid passion hinted.

Which made me think of certain shirts,
Quite popular back when
I though that Dr. Kildare
Was the handsomest of men.

They didn’t have his picture
But resembled what he wore
And how I wished I had one
Sitting in my dresser drawer!

In doctor-white, with buttons
Going neck-high up the side,
The wearer would be filled with
Fans of Dr. Kildare pride.

A classmate owned one and she wore it,
Showing off, at school.
Ironically, she found Ben Casey,*
M.D., much more cool.

Compared to tie-in clothes today,
A Dr. Kildare smock
Was rare enough that even E-Bay
Has not one in stock.

*Dr. Kildare and Ben Casey, M.D.
were two popular T.V. shows about doctors
in the 1960’s

A Shady Bench

Been cooped inside for months except
For exercise at dawn
Until today, when to the river
We were strongly drawn.

The mugginess had disappeared
And with a gentle breeze
It felt delightful strolling
‘Neath the softly swaying trees.

We fortunately nabbed a bench
And knew we had it made
Because it was a rare one
In a lovely patch of shade.

To check out boats and people watch
Allowed me to believe
That life was back to normal
And I didn’t want to leave.

Alas, we gave our bench away
And, at a languid pace,
Proceeded home to our cocoon,
Our masks held firm in place.