‘Ode to Matters of Fact’ and Other Poetry by Joseph Psarto

Ode to Matters of Fact

The best advice
I’ve ever read —
if you don’t breathe
you’ll soon be dead.

And secondly —
a pleasant wife
can rid a man
of moan and strife.

Then third —
rye whiskey in a glass
can knock a good man
on his ass.

So keep on breathing,
marry well,
forego the booze
or go to hell.

Kiddle Loo, Kiddle Lee
(for the children)

Sedge and thistle and Queen Anne’s lace,
a dandelion flaunting her golden face,
pennycress, milkweed, foxtail, and wort,
I love wild creatures of any sort.

Groundhog and blacksnake and fox and bat,
a beaver who’s wearing a wet furry hat,
a mole and his wife who live underground,
a trumpeter swan and her wonderful sound.

Some call them feral, a horrible word
for such beauty and grace. It’s simply absurd!
A better announcement, it seems to me,
might be a song – kiddle loo, kiddle lee.

Featured Image: “A Woman singing and a Man with a Cittern Painting” by Godfried Schalcken