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Vernon Waring Jul 2015
When the poet dies
his grandchildren may
only know him from
memory
someone who used to
hug them
tickle them
give them fresh
dollar bills on
their birthdays
someone to tell them
what his youth was like
when he lived it

Will they read his
poems and stories
his published works
now relegated to a
box languishing
somewhere in the heat
and dust of a storage
space
just stuff in a box marked
MISCELLANEOUS
a carton among many
cartons right behind
a half dozen hefty bags
pregnant with forms,
statements, bills, things
he never quite
got around to
shredding?

Maybe he should have
composed an opera
with the singers'
voices rising like
beautiful pink angels
in a heavenly choir,
a celebration where
the audience would stand up
and shout "BRAVO!" -
a sound so triumphant
so unique
even the gods
would bow
in reverence
Vernon Waring Jul 2015
"Two bee oar knot two bee..."
Seams knot too bee well honed
Wen awl ewe knead four align too fail
Is won to many homophones
Vernon Waring Jul 2015
Our minds can barely comprehend
The courage that they find -
A "Letters to the Editor" writer
Who always speaks his mind.

His pen is brave and daring
As he takes on all his foes.
His views provoke, incite, and ****;
He keeps us on our toes.

We marvel at his candor,
This keeper of the flame;
Direct, uncompromising,
"Anonymous" is his name!
Vernon Waring Jul 2015
What a poor letter is q
That can't get by without its u.
While other letters get by -
Independent, strong, and free,
A q can't make it alone
Like an m or an r or a c.
I can't help but wonder
Why a q without u will not work.
Could it be what etymologists call
A qirk?
Vernon Waring Jul 2015
To overeat is human.
To diet is divine.
To count your every calorie
is a precious use of time.
To pass up fattening goodies
shows your admirable restraint,
a noble cause you've championed
with nary a complaint.
But who could nix banana splits
or pasta, piping hot?
Your diet is well balanced.
Your mind is surely not.
Vernon Waring Jul 2015
I dreamed I won three Oscars,
Four Emmys, and a Tony too.
My fireplace mantel was sagging
From the honors I accrued.

I picked up two Golden Globes,
Five Grammys plus a Pulitzer Prize.
The awards just poured in that night.
I couldn't believe my eyes.

They gave me the Nobel Peace Prize
And my very own Stanley Cup,
Then I earned a People's Choice Award
Seconds before I woke up!
Vernon Waring Jul 2015
The newspaper reported he was
    the kind of kid
who rode home on a crowded school bus
sitting alone
looking out a window

Silent
shy
socially awkward
he kept to himself

He appeared in a nightmare I had
after that  tragic December morning
at Sandy Hook:
I only saw him from the back
moving quickly from a car
carrying a rifle
shooting his way
through a locked glass door

Then I woke up
cold
sweaty
a knot in my stomach

I never saw his face in the nightmare
just him
moving quickly
like a phantom
in a hurry
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