bird feeder

my new bird feeder, another

avowed addition to my extended solidarity

with the community of winged creatures

had a larger opening at the bottom

for seed to easily slip

soon i realized i made a hole

in my wallet too

i, therefore, covered the gap

with little pebbles to control

the outflow of my loonies

realizing later the very act

of my calculated charity

with all my good intentions

towards my little friends

in fact, i built a solid wall

to shut them out

© henry victor     09.09.2003

oldest man!

 

to become the oldest man

ever to have lived in this world
is not what i aspire for
but a tranquil and a hard-working
life that i keep yearning for!

let me remain close to those

whose life i can make it brighter
and when i have to leave this world
let my going be swift and painless
to me and those whom i lived for!

while living let my life

be simple as well as my food
including more gorgeous greens
with less of manifold muscular meat
consumed with ceaseless cheer!

in my short life let me not campaign

against the wine that tickle
my soul but never going after
for me and mine, that very same
to sustain their, or my, laughter!

let my mind never settle down

with those who settle self-confidently
with easy answers that repudiate further
probing the well-traveled path
of life’s more complex questions!

04.01.2002