Monday, May 20, 2013

A Bouquet For My Dentist


I dispatched a thank-you note       in floral guise
tender tulips       for a tooth whose days were numbered
delicate Afsoon!         most beautiful!    most wise!
through your skill       my dental life blooms unencumbered
 
gentle doc!            you who embody pearly youth
gratitude!       you deftly plucked my rotten tooth
 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Quatrain occasioned by a "We Miss You!" Notice


To what do the dead subscribe?
what periodicity draws them?
what news do they seek? what tribe
of angelic beings awes them?


==========

Note scrawled on a form letter
that arrived today, addressed to my late father (sent by the subscription department of The Progressive, a left-wing magazine) ; the letter begins:
Dear Sam Israel:
We miss you, and I thought you might be missing us, too. . . .
My scrawled note reads:
Dear Progressive:

My father, Sam Israel, passed away in October of last year.  He loved your publication, and for that I thank you.  But you need send no further subscription reminders.  Sam Israel is now permanently unsubscribed.

Thanks!
David Israel