“Shall we dance?”
You whisper in my ear
Extend your hand
Tell me words I want to hear

.

Take a bow
As the music begins
Don’t lose me in the crowd
Keep me close with your grin

.

Spin me around
Look me in the eye
In your movements, let me drown
Stay with me tonight

.

As the others break away
Keep us in the center stage
Move with me like there’s only today
Hold the story on our page

.

Twist and turn me like a tornado
Lift me up to the skies
Ground me like fallen snow
Let me know that you are mine

.

Secure me in your arms
As the song comes to an end
Protect me from all harm
Ask me, “shall we dance again?”

Dad didn’t get it

.

when I sent him a letter
asking him to guide me through
repairing my mother-in-law’s old radio,

.

rather,

.

he told me to bring it to the wedding,
he’d take it home with him,
fix it in six to eight weeks.

.

Takes a lot of knowhow,

.

equipment, requires good soldering
skills and WHAT to troubleshoot.
Must know knowledge of circuitry
of solid state and vacuum tubes;

.

Electronics is NOT easy.

.

Under the covers with my wife,
I wonder if I’m meant to try again
or let him dwindle day by day, clueless

.

in his bedful of acquired tools and parts,

.

keeping them for himself.

You’ll find me when the night is dark
You’ll find me shining among the stars
In every time and place that we left a mark.

.

You won’t find me waiting just here or there
For you forget I’m a little bit of everywhere.

.

You can find me if you search
I am here, I am there, I am Everywhere, but most specifically…
Find Me in your Heart and then for all days we will never part.

My aluminum skin is pristine.
Yet, I walk stiff and my metal joints creak.
The tin shell of the man I am sits upright.
But under my screen, my smile shines not as bright.

.

What good does it do
To be a liar, to be untrue?
A mask, a poker face, a permanent smile.
None would ever be worth my while.

.

What if I said that under my perfect exterior
My blood is inky black, intestines gushing sulfur?
If my insides are wasted, are putrid, are rotten,
Am I still expected to smile then?

You seem no more mesmeric and beautiful
Than fallen roses in cold winter’s grace,
I’ve grown nonchalant and unmindful
Of your beguiling charms in life’s fast race.
Your words of love and blessed life together,
Again, try to make me their smooth prey
But I move not like a dainty feather,
Though it pains me to stay away.
Life’s other charms astutely call upon me,
Willingly offer so much more!
It’s where I truly need to be, I believe
Oh Why! Hadn’t I seen them before?
At last, I break from your shackles and drift afar
Everything, my dear, is fair in love and war.

There was an old judge in Manhattan
who often misused legal Latin.
As he just wouldn’t leave,
they gave him the heave
along with the chair which he sat in.