My Kitchen Cabinets

To upgrade a kitchen,

Most people I know

Would hire an expert

And work with a pro.

 

I live in a rental,

Which limits the range

Of the choices I have

If I’m wanting a change.

 

So to spiff up my cabinets,

Boring and plain,

I decided that I’d go

Against the, um, grain.

 

For, instead of cheap plywood

Or particle board,

Some rustic aesthetic

Was what I aimed toward.

 

I found what I needed

And measured and cut.

The kitchen looks better

(At least to me!), but

 

I have to fess up

For it didn’t take much.

Contact paper provided

That cool farmhouse touch!

Parents and Children

Our parents introduce us,

From the moment of our birth,

To their values and we learn from them

What everything is worth.

 

We grow up and observe the ways

They deal with joy or strife

And tuck this knowledge in our minds

For later on in life.

 

In time, we leave the nest behind

And follow our own trail,

Which leads us to a place where

Not all lessons will prevail.

 

We may reject the models that

Are those our parents taught

And sometimes quite the opposite

Will be the ones we’ve sought.

 

Most parents do the best they can,

But it’s a short-term role

And as their children grow, those lives

Are out of their control.

A Birdhouse

A birdhouse hanging from a tree

Has snow piled on its roof.

If there are doubts about the storm,

Well, there’s the real-life proof.

 

Designed with details to appear

So cottage-like and charming,

Its Wedgewood-colored siding

Both familiar and disarming,

 

This mini-homestead’s cuteness is

An unexpected treat.

You wouldn’t look for such a thing

On a Manhattan street.

 

Yet there it is, with bright white door

And next to it, a broom,

Just waiting for a sparrow

To stop by and take up room.

 

Surrounding it, apartments loom;

Pedestrians make haste.

Still, somehow in this neighborhood,

This dwelling’s been embraced.

Chain Mail

When I was a girl,

Every once in a while,

I’d receive in the mail,

Because that was the style,

 

A letter to copy

And send to a name

At the top of a list,

Which in that letter came.

 

When you copied the note,

You’d add your own address

To the list, while deleting

The top one. Success

 

Came when after some days

You’d receive quite a slew

Of the letters, from strangers,

Delivered to you.

 

If you followed the rules,

You would have some good luck.

If you didn’t, without it,

I guess you’d be stuck.

 

The letters back then

Needed stamps and were mailed

And the fun part was knowing

That you had prevailed.

 

Now my granddaughter sent me

A chain in a text:

“Sent to 15 new people

Or what happens next

 

Will be lots of bad luck

For 3 years if you don’t.

If you do, you will get

A new phone.” (No, I won’t.)

 

“You will also be getting

The pet of your dreams.

Everybody will love you!”

I guess that’s how it seems

 

To the youth of today,

But with this kind of chain,

As I wrote to my granddaughter,

I will refrain.

A Sizeable Story

A clairvoyant, who wasn’t too tall,

Got involved in an ill-fated brawl.

His predictions fell flat

And his client, quite fat,

Threw him head-first right into a wall.

 

When he managed to finally stand,

There was somehow a knife in his hand,

Which he used for one thrust;

Then, avoiding a bust,

He escaped, like it somehow was planned.

 

When the cops arrived, someone in charge

Did explain what occurred to the sarge;

So in minutes, the police

Sent an all-points release:

There’s a medium, small, who’s at large.

My Doctor's Appointment

I canceled my doctor’s appointment

The second time, due to the snow.

It’s to check on my eyes

But to no one’s surprise,

The predictions say I shouldn’t go.

 

It’s not an emergency visit,

But now I will be overdue.

I wanted things checked

But the blizzard’s effect

Is to underscore what is taboo,

 

Which is venture outside when the weather

May have whiteout conditions or worse.

I could trip on the ice

So I’ll follow advice

And stay home since the forecast’s adverse.

 

Maybe third time’s the charm will prove worthy

And on my next appointment, I’ll show.

Until then I’ll give in;

Mother Nature will win

And from home I’ll watch blizzard winds blow.

Their Own Ticking

We can’t set our internal clocks;

They manage their own ticking

And though it seems a paradox,

They can’t be changed by tricking.

 

For if you are an early bird,

Your body will awaken

At hours some will find absurd,

The dreamer’s world forsaken.

 

Yet you will revel in the dawn,

Its quiet like a buffer,

While later wake-up times will spawn

A mindset that will suffer.

 

For those who let the morning pass,

Reluctantly arising,

That extra sleep provides the gas

They need for energizing.

 

A rooster’s crow will surely jolt

Their deep and dreamy slumber

And mind and body will revolt

At daybreak’s early number.

 

Internal clocks are set at birth –

We have one or the other,

But my advice, for what it’s worth –

Don’t blame your dad or mother.