Gimme a Break

You can break a promise, break a toy,
Break a rack in pool;
Break a tennis player’s serve
And even break a rule.

Break a horse to saddle up;
Take a break for lunch.
Break a glass (at Jewish weddings);
Listen to it crunch.

Break a habit, break a heart,
Break your back by lifting;
Break your neck and break your fast
And break a line by shifting.

Break up laughing, break-out stars,
Break out with some zits;
Break a losing streak and break
Your taffy bar to bits.

Break dance, break-up, break a bone;
Break a record – wow!
Break your train of thought, just like
I’m going to do – now!

Sportsmanship

Two tennis pros at Wimbledon,
Competing stroke for stroke,
Played six hours plus and both
Were going, as they say, for broke.

Of course, at last it had to end;
My favorite, sadly, lost.
The winner, though, acknowledged
What the competition cost.

When interviewed, he shook his head
And then apologized
For seeming less enthused than
The reporter had surmised.

He felt for his opponent,
Knowing that he would have been
As devastated if he hadn't
Held on for the win.

Such humbleness was such a sign
Of well-deserved respect 
And with roles reversed, the same response 
Is what I would expect.

Aches and Pains

All you younger folk, take heed;
Here’s advice that you will need:
Every effort to keep fit –
Diet, gym class, all of it,
Will not help you as you age
From entering that “senior” stage.

Age alone is what explains
The bulk of many aches and pains.
Joints and muscles, all agree,
Arrive with Nature’s warranty,
Which, we never comprehended,
Cannot really be extended.

When we’re young we make mistakes,
Thinking all those pains and aches
Of older people we’ll avoid
Because precautions we’ve employed.
We view our elders with contempt;
From their distress we’ll be exempt.

This, then, is a wake-up shout.
There really isn’t any doubt
That even if you treat them right,
Your mind and body won’t be quite
The same as age controls the reins
And aches and pains are what remains.

Juiced

Every morning, all my life,
I drink a glass of juice.
It helps the pills go down
And it is healthy, you’d deduce.

But as I just discovered,
If you did, you would be wrong,
For fruit juice in a healthy diet
Just does not belong.

It’s filled with sugar, so much so
It’s worse than drinking Coke.
How awful when assumptions
You have had go up in smoke!

A fruit in its entirety
Is best, the experts said,
So it would be much better
Eating oranges instead.

This knowledge is engaging
But I’ll cling to this excuse –
I’ve survived this long so I will stick,
Each morning, with my juice.

Out!

Miraculous is how it seemed
That they escaped alive,
Those 12 boys and their coach,
Who many thought would not survive.

For 18 days they languished
In a cave beneath the ground
With raging waters rising near
The place where they were found.

The Navy Seals are credited
With rescuing the team,
Reversing parents’ nightmares
Into one amazing dream.

The world held its collective breath
While all this was transcending
And let out whoops of great relief
To hear the happy ending.

Straws

Years ago, the straws we used
Were paper ones, some striped.
Then plastic ones took over,
Since their sturdiness was hyped.

My grandkids love the bendy-types
In neon-colored hues,
Especially when from the box
Their favorites they can choose.

But it has been discovered
That these plastic straws pollute
And injure many animals
And human beings, to boot.

So Starbucks just announced that they
Won’t serve them anymore
And other corporations plan
To even up the score.

They’ll all revert to paper,
So old-fashioned and iconic;
Seems some “retro” things were better,
Which is just a bit ironic.

Trilling

It's such a thrill to hear the trill
Of birds up in the trees.
The notes just spill from every bill
In melodies to please.

With every frill the backyards fill,
A concert most delightful.
Their innate skill means hearers will
Perk up at every biteful.

We know the drill - they'll sing until
They stop; it isn't for us.
Then all is still and we would kill
To hear just one more chorus.