The Cool-Aid™

The president watches too much TV
They tell us.
We all do. True
TV keeps us
company,
in a community property kind of way,
like a park-
My cat, ask any dog, they would all agree,
likely
TV is showing something for every one of
Us
Right-

Now,
social media, via the lower channels,
seem more real than virtual-
to many.
Too many
say, there is
something, someone, somewhere,
for every body there too.
And there too
it was always
only you and you.

Then,
TV and the like
asked what We liked-
and we shrugged our stringed shoulders,
some said-I dunno,
You tell Us,
and they did.

Now, the president has found
company,
and there too,
two stringed shoulders
shrug,
I dunno.


Image credit By DonkeyHotey (Donald Trump - Caricature) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Phantastic Piano Performance

It was during the intermission
we watched the best performance.
It was out in open the courtyard
during a Metromaniacs matinee,
on a sunny winter Saturday.

The public streamed through
the park with iphones out
snapping selfies and photo-
bombing against the facade of
replicated architecture, others lines,
inspired fed and resaid by other centuries
countries and similies reproduced.

When just then at the break-
a balding, middle-aged, frumpy man
with a black backpack, thick rectangle
glasses, wearing immaculate white tennis shoes
took a seat on the bench at a public piano
painted like our nearest galaxy
covered ephemeral stars.

And he began to play
and play feverishly,
and he plays himself away.
His head hung limp and
gently swayed, his shoulders
carried the notes.
Heavy wafts of ivory notes,
smoke and perfume danced.
And while he played
people paused
For it
was
Intermission-when
over, he knew, winding up
keying down, the piano man
stood quietly as he came,
and wordlessly shuffled himself away
taking his notes
with hymn.



Image of painting by Thomas Dewing, The Spinet c. 1929 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
Composed 2/25/16.