This Call May Be Recorded for Quality Assurance

This Call May Be Recorded for Quality Assurance

"Hello. Thank you for calling the Mail Order Pharmacy.
Someone will be with you shortly, if you wait patiently.
If you want someone who speaks Spanish, please press two.
Or stay on the line, if an English operator will do."

I miss the days when a real person answered the phone.
Now it's always a machine... I feel so alone.
I just want to refill my prescription. It's NOT complicated.
My blood pressure is high. I must be medicated.

"First we need the numbers for your ten-digit member ID."
I scramble to find the numbers then say slowly "5..5..2..3..."
"I'm sorry I didn't get that," the machine interrupts me.
"Please try again. Speak slowly and clearly."

I try again. Saying the numbers, getting it right.
"Thank you," the machine answers--oh so polite.
"Now I need your birthday. Month first, then date, then year."
The machine goes on and on with more questions and options for me to hear.

I go through the motions, respond to each cue.
I'm losing my patience, but what else can I do?
Address, phone number, doctor's name; I provide them all.
All I want to do is finish, so I can end this call.

Suddenly the machine hangs up without saying goodbye.
"NO WAIT! We're not done!" I sputter and mutter, swear and sigh.
Resigned to my fate, I dial again...trying not to cry.
I know ONE reason why my blood pressure's so high!
I will hate making calls to customer service until the day I die!

Waiting on the Train

Waiting on the Train

Two gentlemen: 
one in tie and grey suspenders and crisp white hat;
the other in blue overalls and crumpled fishing hat 
and holding a smooth, wooden cane in his hand;
sit, laughing and happy, in the front porch swing.

They keep company with a gentle, white-haired lady,
prim and proper in her Sunday best,
relaxed in her rocking chair,
passing the time on the front porch,
while the scent of honeysuckle drifts on the breeze. 

All conversation comes to a stop 
when the 3:15 comes roaring by,
just a short distance away 
on the tracks at the edge of the lot.
They feel the vibrations through their feet
and up through their bones.
They wonder who is on the train,
where they are going, 
and how their lives are about to change.

She holds up her index finger in a "just one minute" wave.
The trio nod and smile at each other. 

When the caboose rattles by 
and carries the last of the roar away with it,
the exchange of words and stories continues.

Some of us wait for the trains to pass 
so we can tell our stories in the quiet.

Others of us are caught up in the rhythm of the noise,
embracing it and singing along with it, 
as we jump on the train and ride to the next station.

                                         *   *   *   *   *   *   *


I recently visited our local art museum where in one room they had a display of photos of trains. One particular photo caught my attention. It really appealed to me, and it inspired me to write the above poem.You can see the photo and read a little about it here. On the site, you can click on the photo to enlarge it and get a better view.

Big Zoo Dance

Big Zoo Dance

Have you ever been there?

Have you ever had a chance?

Have you ever seen the animals 

at the Big Zoo Dance?

The ring-tailed lemur

listens to the big jazz bands.

He does the swing step,

complete with jazz hands.

The jellyfish love 

the Blue Danube

as they gracefully float and turn.

 Do you want to waltz too? 

You can do it...

just watch the jellyfish and learn!

You wouldn't expect the grim turkey vulture

to dance around a lot,

but you ought to see him flap his wings and strut

when he does the Turkey Trot.

The orange fin clownfish, 

with its stripes of neon blue,

twists and turns along the coral reef,

while dancing the Electric Boogaloo.

The big old bear dances and prances

to a rocking Twist and Shout.

He puts himself in such a spin,

he has to sit the next dance out!

The penguin dances to Puttin' on the Ritz,

and maybe he looks a little funny,

but in his fancy tuxedo suit,

he gives Astaire a run for his money.

The Lion King says to his Mrs.

"I won't dance with you."

So, she refuses to talk to him

and mopes around, feeling blue.

Have you ever been there?

Have you ever had a chance?

Have you ever seen the animals 

at the Big Zoo Dance?

Snow Leopard's Lament

Snow Leopard's Lament

Most walk right past me

though I'm right here in plain sight.

They glance my way

and then look away.

Do you understand my plight?

No one speaks to me! 

No one! Not one word!

I'm never noticed, never seen,

never heard.

I'm here in the shadows

in the grey and the black and the white.

I'm not trying to hide,

and I promise I won't bite.

(Unless, of course, you are a bird

or some other tasty dish

like a rabbit or a goat 

or... perhaps a fish.)

This is a picture of a snow leopard that I saw at our local zoo. This is a color photo, although it looks like a black and white. I was impressed with how well this animal blended in with the rocks and landscape around it. At first glance, I thought there were no animals in this area of the display. Once I saw it, I thought it looked kind of lonely, so I tried to imagine what it might be thinking.

You Can Call Me Cuddles

You Can Call Me Cuddles

My ears are small.

My nose is wide.

I have squinty eyes,

big webbed toes,

and wiry-bristled sides.

My cousin is a guinea pig,

but I'm MUCH bigger than he.

My body's like a barrel.

There's no bigger rodent than me!

I lay around on the ground

and eat lots of grass and fruit. 

I whistle, squeal, and squeak,

and though YOU may not think I'm cute,

the Mrs. thinks I am.

In fact she's in love with me.

She calls me her Old Whiskery Ham,

and I call her my Dear Sweet Pea.

When I saw this Capybara at the zoo, I recoiled a little, shuddering and thinking about how much it seemed like a giant rat. Right after I snapped the picture above, a little girl who was maybe four or five years old came up, saw the animal, and squealed, "Oh, he's sooo CUTE! I wish I could have him as a pet!"  Her mother and I exchanged amused glances. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

Fed-up Flamingo

Fed-up Flamingo

Distraught and beady-eyed,
the shy, fed-up flamingo
frowned at her image 
in the water down below.

"Why me?" she cried,
 as she peered and sighed
at her backward knees
and purple-webbed toes.
"I hate being a flamboyant,
fluorescent freak.
How I wish I could be sophisticated,
elegant, and sleek.
I just want to hide!
Humph!
There's no chance of that, 
everyone knows,
not with these garish wings, 
pink feathers for clothes!
Oh, if only they could be shiny and black, 
refined and glistening,
like the ravens and crows!"

Just Call Me "Miss September"

So this is something new. I'm a calendar girl now.  Yes, that's right. I'm Miss September 2014 (sort of). Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are!  Do you remember that song, "Calendar Girl" by Neil Sedaka? That song has been going through my head. Let me set your mind at ease.  There's no need to worry. I haven't turned into a pinup girl in the true sense of the word, and you aren't going to find a picture of me wearing a bathing suit hanging on the wall in some mechanic's garage. Everyone should be very thankful for that.

What you will find is a head shot of me above a poem I wrote accompanied by a lovely photo of a grasshopper sitting on a coleus plant.  My poem titled "Sir Hopper of Coleus" is featured for the month of September in the 2014 Digging to the Roots calendar created by the charitable organization called Writers Rising Up. If you are interested, here's a little bit about this organization from their website:

"We encourage a deeper understanding and participation in environmental stewardship. Through the literary arts at community events, contests, workshops, literary performances, interpretive installations and publications, our focus is on nature education and writing. We promote writers who associate their work to cultural, spiritual and social connections to place, the land, natural habitat, including flora, fauna and wetlands."

The calendar is a lovely collection of nature photos accompanied by poems inspired by the photos. If anyone is interested in seeing the photos and reading the poems and/or having a copy of the calendar for his or her very own, it is available to be downloaded and printed for free at this link:  2014 Digging to the Roots calendar.  Even if you don't want or need a calendar printed up, you might enjoy taking a look at these beautiful photos and reading the accompanying poems. I am very excited to have my poem in this calendar published by this worthy organization.