Things ain’t what they used to be

 A flute 

Some woodwinds

An announcer 

A fifteen year old 

Pianist

What is

Nonet

A poem that gradually reduces

Is called a nonet. You would think

That each line would be shorter

Than the previous one

And sometimes that is

The case, but words

Are tricky,

Complex

Beasts

Recipe

 Cooking a Poem

Is it cooking or baking?
Baking, of course relies
On mixing ingredients

One
        By
               One

(by two by three by four)

And the blending or kneading
        Or some such arduous 

Task

 Then the long 

                        Bake

An hour

                At 

Least

(by two by three by four)

Cooking, now that's an 
Action
            Sport 

Eye contact with your 
Opponent is key
Constant engagement|
Assured

Blade skills ensured
Chopping
        Dicing
Chiffonade

The watching of the

    Heat

And then, of course 

Stirring and scraping 
And watching the

Heat

Cardiovascular

But when it comes down

To 
    It

You eat well

                    Either 

Way

My Friend Ron

I really don't know what happened
Suddenly I get a phone call, a call
In this day of text only messages

That, of course, is a sign to answer
But I was indisposed. You  can make
Of that what you will; I will make 
That of what I will. But I am
Disconnected

But this morning when I paid
Attention

Ron was dead

Dead by his own hand

It is not my place to judge
Was my immediate thought
And it isn't

I don't understand
How pain, in whatever
Form

Can drive someone to
Kill
        Themself

But I burned my hand

                        Badly
    On Sunday
           Searing, electrical
                            Pain

If I had to live from
                    Day
to

                                                            Day

Godspeed

Ron

Intestate

Reaching fifty eight
And I know exactly
Where everything 
Goes

I also know exatly
Where everything doesn't
Go

It goes where to the

World

A brother's death

 They fought

They fought like 

They fought like cats and

Dogs

(As my mother said)

And now she is dead

And now he is dead

I really can imagine them 

Fighting

Forever

Some ginormous ur 

Fight

Kind of like 

Normal,

Right?

Lost Dog

I saw a lost dog this morning
Cantering uneasily, its head
Looking back and forward
Trying to scan where it had
Been towards where it was
Going, not recognizing either
Way

I was walking too but knew 
Where I was going: down the 
Block from my house for 
Exercise and back again;
Down to the far corner
Where three roads meet at
Odd angles. There were no
Cars on the roads,  and the
Dog stuck to the sidewalk
Still, I worried about him and
Turned to watch him jog
Down the block, and turned to
Follow

But the dog was faster than
me, and I wasn't about to break
Into a jog myself. I don't need
That kind of exercise hammering
My old knees and then he took
A corner turn at the big maple,
Gone from my view so I turned
Around and continued on to
Home.