Playing with Angels
by Ted L Glines

Here comes Pooh, playing, racing,
doggy ears flying, gleeful, chasing,
playing with Angels on the Rainbow Bridge.

No cares now, blue skies above,
bright eyes sparkle in heavenly love,
playing with Angels on the Rainbow Bridge.

After fifteen years of doggy life,
she's gone beyond all pain and strife,
playing with Angels on the Rainbow Bridge.

We're happy for Pooh in heaven above,
she lives in our hearts, our life, our love,
playing with Angels on the Rainbow Bridge.

Was  that a snuffle, a  nudge on the door,
the click of nails on the kitchen floor?
... just playing with Angels
... playing with Angels
playing with Angels on the Rainbow Bridge.

Author's Notes: This  to honor a dog, Patty's dog  Pooh; more than a furry friend, Pooh  was Patty's baby. Gone to the Summerlands  on 12 January 2005.  Pooh is loved.

Poets
by Ted L Glines

The sword of a poet is a mighty obsession
to right the wrongs which are done by oppression
and to heal those hurts which tear us apart;
you can count on truth when it comes from the heart.

And it's not for money -- there's no cash in it,
but if there's a fight, they're out to win it.
Whether dueling for Gaia or saving the whales,
look for a lesson in poet's tales.

These ladies and men full of rhythm and rhyme,
they cut to the chase -- tell the truth every time,
stunning your mind with a sparkling phrase,
waking you up with the ruckus they raise.

Author's Notes: Way  back in the 1960s, activist  poets in The Village Voice and college  publications were in the forefront of the  fight for racial equal  rights in America, and things like freedom of speech.  Now, all  these decades later, our hottest poets are working on animal rights  and  environmental issues and pushing the envelope for recognition of those from “different” cultures. We are bards and we sing the world to those who live in boxes. I  guess you could say that activist poets like a  good fight and they/we intend to  win.

Pills
by Ted L Glines

In your medicine cabinet -- look at all those pills,
you gotta pill for everything -- some for all your ills.
This pill grows your hair -- this one grows it less,
and this here pill with stripes -- is anybody's guess.
You got pills to wake you up -- pills to make you sleep,
and pills to make you happy -- should you chance to weep,
pills to hype your hormones -- blood sugar too,
steroids to make you run until you're turnin blue.
Open up this capsule -- looks like crystal meth,
you got pills to cure all things -- except for love and death.
And here's a pill for fatness -- you know that it won't work,
the only thing it clearly proves -- your doctor is a jerk.
A pill to lose your water -- and one to keep off strokes,
while pharmaceutical salesmen are laughin tellin jokes.
TV ads will scare you -- "Eeek!" a dread disease,
but here's a pill that you can take to put you at your ease.
My friend took pills for all her ills -- died at thirty-five,
without her worries and those pills -- might be still alive.
Another friend -- a teacher -- young and active man,
was killed by his own doctors -- cancer/chemo plan.
Side effects might kill you -- "ask your doctor today,"
your side effects are good for him -- prescribes it anyway.
Hark -- the cries of sickness -- ring across this land,
the brotherhood of doctors -- puttin pills in your hand.
Wellness does not get a play -- never gets a pitch,
illness is their blessing -- makin doctors rich.
Here I am at sixty-six -- happy -- drinkin wines,
smokin ciggies -- don't take pills -- full of vital signs.
Have not seen a doctor -- forty years or more,
bills for pills to cure my ills would only make me poor.

Author's Notes: Don't  stop taking your medication;  you might need it to stay alive.  "Pills vs. No Pills" is an old controversy with  no resolution  thus far. Most of the maladies we know today were unknown one  hundred  years ago, as were almost all of the medications and chemical additives  which are common today. One might make the case that the side  effects of the  chemicals we now ingest have created the wide mosaic  of maladies which beset us  today. I am one of the lucky ones who  has never had any major health issues, nor  any doctor's appointments  or prescriptions, and I believe I will keep it that  way.