House
by Ted L Glines

In me - a room
where someone once loved
furnished dusty memories
musty aching old
unswept - fear
of losing even this
one room echos laughter
children playing ages past
windows gaping upon
a gusty cliff - longing
lonely blue hazed distances
faint embers glow
on my spirit's hearth
where youthfire blazed
wisps of dreamsmoke
lost among uncaring breezes
closets littered - broken shoes
from brave uncertain paths
creaking - dissolution
my house prays
for no more storms

Author's Notes: Dedicated  to those feeble ones who  shamble on alone toward their own end-of-days,  and especially to those who are  finishing out their tour-of-duty  in antiseptic nursing homes where waking up  today may be a mixed  blessing. "Salute!" to you, Dear Ones, as you go in peace.

Humor
by Ted L Glines

The man tells his wife
"Watch your step - don't fall, "
but this is Murphy's Law of life,
he falls against the wall
and makes the crowd convulse with laughter,
surprised by his plight,
and guffaws raise the rafter,
another prat-fall cheers the  night.

From sublime to absurd
lies a very short road;
with a mystic arcane word,
“zap” - your boyfriend is a toad,
and we who take ourselves so seriously
in hot debates of God and Money
may be laughing deliriously
when we see ourselves as funny.

If it were not for disasters,
both nature's and man-made,
there'd be no work for telecasters
and no jokesters would be paid,
for the human condition,
in all its awfulness and pain,
lends a poetic vision
and gives the wit to laugh again.

Author's Notes: What  is the "secret" of humor? Why  is a joke funny? Patty and I dined  at Panda's (a Chinese buffet) and, following  an excellent meal  full of wonderful Chinese taste treats, three different  Chinese  serving girls offered us ice cream for dessert. For some unknown  reason,  Patty and I found this offer of ice cream ludicrous, and  the repeated offers had  us giggling behind our hands. Now, years  later, we still remember the "dreaded  ice cream" and we break  into gales of laughter. Why? Ice cream for dessert  sounds like  such a normal thing, hardly worth a smile, let alone outright  laughter.  Perhaps there is a tiny bit of insanity in this "funny bone" of  ours.  If so - so mote it be!

Honoring Dads
by Ted L Glines

Helps to bring kids into this world
as into life they are swiftly hurled
he disciplines and praises them
plays with them and raises them
and time has brought him joys and tears
as kids grew up through all their years
his gentle touch has molded them
even when he scolded them
and finally there comes the day
when he must send them on their way
a hug - a smile - a tear to hide
in hopes that they will bring him pride
and that is why - this year - we say
a well-earned Happy Father's Day.