When a Big Event Approaches

When a big event approaches

That you’ve worked towards and awaited,

The kind that needs your loved ones near

As it is celebrated,

 

It’s natural to feel anxious,

Hoping all will go as planned,

As anyone who’s been there

Will be sure to understand.

 

There must be some who smoothly

Take preparing in their stride,

Who do what needs their input,

Cool and calm personified.

 

That’s not me, however, as

The opposite’s more fitting,

With stress and pure anxiety

The foes I’m not outwitting.

 

Yet as the day gets closer,

I know all my preparation

Will allow me to let go and

Revel in the celebration.

Grossed Out

Living in the city,

I’m aware of where I walk.

If surroundings raise my hackles,

All my senses start to balk.

 

So I really was astounded

When I glanced down at my shoe

And I realized that I’d somehow

Stepped into a pile of poo.

 

It’s been years since this has happened

And I’m grossed out to the max,

Knowing that until I’ve cleaned it off,

I really can’t relax.

 

I’ll accept the blame for missing

What an owner didn’t scoop,

But I’m angry that so many dogs

Are free to leave their poop

 

Anywhere they feel like squatting

So the sidewalks reek of it

And when owners are too lazy,

You, like me, can step in #*&!

East River Fish

The fisherman was tugging

On the line; he had a bite.

And just as I was passing him,

He pulled with all his might.

 

A good-sized fish was hooked

And flopped around where it was dropped,

Its life in the East River,

In that sudden motion, stopped.

 

I caught the eye of someone

With her dog, who saw the catch.

I asked if she would eat it;

Our opinions clearly matched.

 

Despite what’s in the river, though,

I knew, for sure, that fish

Would be proudly served for supper

On that fisherman’s best dish.

Ditching the Maps

When cleaning out our car, we found

At least a dozen maps,

The paper kind you have to fold

And not the ones on apps.

 

The New York state one sat on top,

With Jersey right below

And then a Northeast version

With some places we would go.

 

Assorted other versions, based

On driving trips, were there –

Vermont and Pennsylvania, Maine

And more of who knows where.

 

Sometimes we’d plan the routes before

We started on the drive

And highlight all the highways

We would travel to arrive.

 

Once maps were opened, it was quite

A challenge just to hold ‘em,

But even worse was trying,

Single-handed, to refold ‘em.

 

We tossed them all; technology

Has made them obsolete.

With WAZE at hand, the memory

Of maps is bittersweet.

An 81 Year Old Driver

The driver somehow lost control

And caused a lot of grief.

He ran a light and witnesses

Looked on in disbelief.

 

Two people died with others hurt,

A terrible event,

The driver’s minor injuries

Belying the extent

 

Of all the havoc that he caused

By speeding through the light.

Though I admit it’s awful,

The reports just don’t seem right.

 

For every newscast mentioned

That his age is 81,

Implying that’s the reason that

There was such damage done.

 

If he’d been 57, say,

Or 62 or 3,

We’d never hear, on news reports,

Just what his age might be.

 

A little postscript – if we blame

His age on this brash speeder,

How can we trust (not that I do!)

Our 80 year old “leader?”

Upgrade

Traded our car in;

We knew it was time.

It no longer was 

In condition quite prime.

The mileage was high;

The A/C sometimes quit.

The front window got stuck;

The tire warning stayed lit.

So we got a new model

Much like what we had,

Although saying goodbye 

Was a little bit sad.

It looks just like the old one -

Same color, same style,

But the dashboard is loaded;

We’ll need a good while

To figure the screen out

And how it all works.

I wish we had fewer

Of tech’s latest perks.

Yet still, it will get us

Where we have to go

And maybe we’ll learn

All that we need to know.

Expect Delays

Construction on the road ahead

Or weather causing grief –

To get where you are going,

More and more, is a relief.

 

When traveling, you cannot count

On missing every glitch,

For every type of hindrance waits

And you can’t plan on which

 

Will be the one to hold you up

And make your trip run late.

There are no guarantees despite

A smooth start out the gate.

 

So when “Expect delays” signs flash,

With alternates advised,

You might be ticked, but really,

You should never be surprised.