.
Uncontrolled
When my behavior needs to change,
__But I can’t make that be,
Such lack of self-control seems strange,
__And I’m ashamed of me.
Sometimes the angst I feel inside
__Was planted long ago,
And all success that time’s supplied
__Can’t counteract back flow.
.
.
Two Forms of Garbage
While jogging on a lakefront hiking space,
Amidst a mountain forest, blue sky topped,
I realized the beauty of the place,
Was marred by countless cigarette butts dropped.
Such desecration made me bloody bitter—
Impairment of an Eden many share!
But more than my revulsion at the litter,
Was scorn for human scum that put it there.
.
.
Leftist Shelf Life
I hope that Leftist thought today
Will have a short mortality,
And to its enemy fall prey,
That ceaseless foe—reality.
.
.
A True Story
Because of budget cuts a lifelong friend,
Learned suddenly his teaching job would end.
He’d have to move—his son’s last high school year!
That could not be for people I held dear.
I wrote a check to cover all their needs,
And tried to help his hoops star son succeed.
The boy played with his friends that year in school,
And got a scholarship—the long-sought jewel.
One fact that had no relevance in sight—
My friend is Black, I happen to be White.
He gratefully told other friends this story,
And several of them sang my praise and glory.
Those other friends years later cancelled me.
I learned with pain and ire how that could be.
My vote for Trump was cited as their basis;
The Left taught them that meant I’m now a racist.
.
.
Russel Winick recently started writing poetry at nearly age 65, after ending a long legal career. He resides in Naperville, Illinois.
Four great poems depicting social issues and the human condition that spring from personal self-awareness and observations. Consider that it is not you that needs to change, as in “Uncontrolled,” but others. “Two Forms of Garbage,” is something I relate to and have similar revulsions. I am always in hope that reality overtakes the “Leftists,” and they suffer from the consequences as their shelf-life expires! I have no doubt about your feelings in “A True Story,” when the true racists are revealed.
Thanks Roy – I truly appreciate your generous comments. “Uncontrolled” depicts work that likely will always be in progress.
Russel, I always look forward to reading your witticisms. You have such a talent for saying so much with so few words, as in “Leftists”. There’s a lot of meaning packed in your poems, not to mention the fact that they often give me a much-needed chuckle.
Thanks Cheryl – I always look forward to your feedback, as well as your poetry, and am delighted to be a chuckle provider!
“A True Story” reminds me of this old proverb: No good deed goes unpunished.
As for “Uncontrolled,” its basic idea was expressed by Ovid: Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor. (I see what is better and I approve of it, but I follow after what is worse.)
Thank you Sir. I’m glad to learn that my immaturity has historical precedent and is not unique.
Great to read Russell. “Two forms of Garbage” is so true. I am often horrified by dog poo bags hanging on trees in our National Parks. “A True story” reminds me of the English expression, “As much use as a sheep’s thank you.” whereby you rescue one from entrapment in barbed wire, only for it to kick you in the teeth. Great stuff. Thank you.
Thanks Jeff. I appreciate your kind feedback. Yes, those dog poo bags are a sad commentary.
Russel, your poems so often make the point with logic, and make it stick with powerful little word tricks. There’s the unexpected “back flow” image in “Uncontrolled”; the alliterative “scorn for human scum” in “Two Forms of Garbage”; the resonant sonality of “short mortality” where you could have said “brief” in “Leftist Shelf Life.”
I’ll bet those cancellers in “A True Story” might have been persons of empty word and no deed, if the need you met had been known to them. I know of times when nothing at all was done to help because a possible giver felt he could not cover the entire amount, or because the person in need said he could handle the matter, even though he clearly could not. For you in that story, your gift was multiplied down generations when the son, through his own talents, was able to win the scholarship.
Thank you Margaret. You have the ability to point out things in my poems that I wasn’t even aware of, which is truly great. And FYI, the wonderful young man in “A True Story” now plays basketball professionally!
I really enjoyed all four of your poems Russel. In ‘Two Forms of Garbage’, I imagine that most people who suck cigarette smoke into their lungs, don’t give a whit about the dirt they leave lying around. And I can definitely relate to ‘Uncontrolled’, I am sad to say. Thank you Russel.
Thank you Norma. I’m delighted to write poems that you enjoy and can relate to.
I really appreciate all of these, Russel. Thank you!
Glad to hear that you liked them, Cynthia!
You, as usual, Russel, are uncontrolled.
Thanks. Truthfully, in this vein, it’s not so great, but I do keep working on it.
Russel, how did I miss these gems?! I love every single one of them for their rhyme, rhythm, alliterative beauty, and overall poetic splendor… that never once overshadows each magnificent message. You inject a harsh dose of reality into poetry so smoothly it always leaves this reader satisfied. Well done!
Thanks very much Susan. You’re an inspiration in many ways.
Russell,
I appreciate the ease with which you address both personal angsts (can that even be plural?) and societal ills in your succinct poems. I can definitely relate to the struggle you describe in “Uncontrolled”.