My Poetry

I was lying in bed the other day and trying to think some thoughts, when a thought suddenly occurred to me that there are eight human beings in existence because of me, and happily for them I happened to marry the woman that bore them. If I married someone else the eight would never have existed. They should think about that. Well, that thought was really weird. A following thought was of all the things I did in my life to be proud of like-- surviving WWII, getting a PhD, running a marathon, writing a book, etc., I was most proud of giving life to those eight. Oh, I know--the grandchildren had parents to thank as well, but I and their mother gave life to their parents. I consider myself an athlete, a scholar, and mostly, a poet. Those eight are my greatest poems. The titles of the poems are Robin, Joel, Bobby, Bonny, Adam, Sean, Hannah and Katrina. Lovely names. And each poem is "sui generis"...unique.

My next thought was that I would like to think that since I am responsible for their existence they might, out of respect and thankfulness, call their parents and grandparents more often then they do. The poem, Adam, might call when it snows in Florida. Hannah never, ever calls, but only answers emails. Sean calls now and then when he needs my help and that's O.K. And Katrina, in the Navy, simply responds to our emails. As far as the poems, Joel, Robin, and Bobby are concerned, their calls are...well... Cheerfully, the Bonny poem tries to call every Sunday. When that happens, I sit back in my chair, light up an imaginary cigar, sigh, and think about what I have wrought.

Tonight Rho and I went to Nathan's in Boynton Beach for some comfort food--hot dogs, fries, corn and a soda. As far as I'm concerned, Nathan's dogs are the best. The only other place I know where they can be bought is in the Lake Worth plaza on the Florida Turnpike. While we were dining luxuriously, I saw that the $3 Jackpot Lotto was up to 31 million dollars. So happens that the other night while I was lying in bed trying once more to bring up some thoughts, I thought what it would be like to have 31 mil. So, I bought a $3 ticket and tomorrow night is the drawing. I asked Rho what she would do if we won, and she said she'd put away money for the granddaughters' education. Then she said she'd strip our place and start all over again. As for me, I don't have any idea what to do with that kind of money. Perhaps I'd give a mil to each one of my "poems"--plus a telephone.

"Cease to lament for that thou canst not help...Time is the nurse and breeder of all good." (2Gentlemen)

I am texting this blog in the color of The City of Hope, the organization whose function is to raise funds for research to cure various diseases, but particularly for the cure of cancer. Rhoda recently became President of the Huntington Lakes Chapter of The City of Hope. Since then she has had her hands full with the bureaucracy of the parent organization in California. I am personally not privy to all of Rho's frustrations with them, but apparently with the rules and regulations they trickle down to the various chapters around the country. Nevertheless, I know for certain that she is doing a splendid job in her "administration".

Last night we went to dinner with Bill and Bev Berger to an Italian restaurant which recently was called Cucina Rosa but now is called Cucina Mia. The owners got divorced and Rosa became Mia and her husband took over the other Rosa in Boca. When Rhoda had her birthday party back in February, it was in an Italian restaurant called Piazza d'Italia, but it had been called Piazza de Roma. My favorite breakfast place, Lox Around the Clock shut its doors last week. Bagel Tree in the King's Point plaza closed down last month. Restaurants open and close around here like swinging doors. Possibly the cause is that people are not going out to dine as often as in the recent past. The price of food and gas has gone up as rapidly as the Dow has gone down. Whose fault could that be? Now, if I want out for breakfast, I'm forced to IHOP it; for dinner, instead of Longhorn's or Outback, we dine luxuriously at Wendy's for eight bucks on a hamburger and baked potato.

Today is Sunday, and instead of an expensive day at the Cinema where bottled water is $3.75 and a small popcorn and soda is $7.00, I have free entertainment on TV all day long. This morning it's tennis from Wimbledon, this afternoon it's the Marlins and the Diamondbacks. Later it's the EURO 2008 final soccer game between Germany and Spain, and this evening it's the Olympic trials in track and field and swimming. Why go out?