A sunny Spring morning
I’m walking past
The Foxy Box Laser and Wax Bar
on west 10th avenue
waxing lyrical
thinking of childhood Easters
chocolate eggs and religion
pleasure and guilt
that Catholic Cocktail
and something about the time that’s in it
and that sun streaming down west 10th
takes me back to 1969
moon missions
and the United States in a war that won’t end
the more it changes……..
but the Earth in the new photos from Artemis
looks different
less vibrant, a bit faded
as if from the vantage point
of the rest of the Universe
we are a failed experiment
suffering from a chronic inability to learn.
I start to wax facetious
my brain is thinking of ad slogans
for The Foxy Box Laser and Wax Bar
but it seems like they’ve got it covered
or uncovered,
a guy jogs by, wearing just shorts and jogging shoes
his sweating torso ripples with muscle
headphones on
a jog before work
as for me
I’m at an age
where I think “muscle tone”
is a Hebrew greeting.
And so it goes
waxing facetious
again
the world turns
the astronauts fix the toilet.
Taking part in Open Link over at Its’ Open Link Night AND our LIVE session is just around the corner! | dVerse
Stopdraggingthepanda 
Your wordplay on ‘wax’ made me smile this sunny Spring morning, Jim, and the way you anchored your poem in time with the ‘Earth in the new photos from Artemis’ and the astronauts fixing the toilet. Considering the state of the world, I agree that ‘we are a failed experiment suffering from a chronic inability to learn’.
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Thanks Kim, much appreciated! JIM
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You’re welcome, Jim!
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Well I LOVE this! You actually had me howling (with laughter) out loud! My husband just came in the room and said, “A good one, huh?” Oh yes! A good one! “pleasure and guiltthat Catholic Cocktail” This brought the first smile….having gone to a Catholic grade school in the days when they didn’t teach any science but they sure did teach script writing and memorizing catechism questions and Father Cull went from class room to class room carrying a thorn stick, handing out report cards and if you got a bad grade, you bent over, right there in front of your classmates and received a swat on the bottom (I never did).And then a mood shift to the sad points that the earth looks a bit duller now from Artemis. But what really got me howling was this:”as for meI’m at an agewhere I think “muscle tone”is a Hebrew greeting.”
THANKS for starting my day with a smile!
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Thank you Lillian, really enjoyed your comment. Father Cull is a familiar figure. In our school in Dublin, the leather strap was the weapon of choice. I generally got into trouble for making remarks (still doing it). It pleases me no end that you got a laugh out of my poem. Much appreciated! JIM
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Love this, Jim! Really enjoyed the nostalgia, the past, present and future all colliding. Such a great poem. Love that first stanza especially 💖
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Thanks Sunra, much appreciated!
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Fabulous work, Jim! You almost sound nostalgic and maybe even a bit resigned to the mess we’ve made of this world.
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Thanks Eilene, yep maybe a bit resigned but that’s probably not a good thing,
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I love this poem. Rooted and booted, it made my Sunday morning here in England. It is full of reality and observation.
( still giggling at the Hebrew greeting)
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Thanks Kim, much appreciated! Glad you like the Hebrew Greeting!😊
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