Four Seasons & Eight Questions

If summer's the perfection of spring
if autumn is summer's completion
does winter show fall a new thing?
is spring merely winter's deletion?

If summer annihilates spring
if autumn belies summer's glory
is winter autumn's votive king?
does spring hide in winter's chill story?

If winter holds off spring's delight
if spring keeps in check summer's fire
does autumn fend off winter's night?
does summer suppress autumn's ire?

If fall had a crush on the vernal
& autumn were envied by spring
might winter in fact be nocturnal?
does summer at noon blithely sing?

an adage for the day (1)

Cool your heels   & soften your gaze       /
Idle your wheels  & brighten your days   //

In Rancho Mirage

In Rancho Mirage
the Prez meets the Prez
don't get out of Dodge
the Oracle says

In Rancho Mirage
the mirrors run deep
all those who make Haj
go miles before sleep

In Rancho Mirage
Obama meets Xi
is Maya a hodge-podge?
go 'n' ask the leafed tea

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

 

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