LAST POEM IN APRIL
I think that poets should be heard
Who speak in syncopated words
They trim and twist each phrase they use
Trying hard to not abuse
The language that is their device
To convey thoughts which are precise.
I wish that those whose speech is wrought
With sentences containing naught
An idea or an aspiration
To capture my imagination
One thing I think would do the trick:
Recite for me a limerick!
WHY ARE WE SO INCLINED
Why are we so inclined to put our
leaders on a pedestal?
And when their luster doesn’t shine
our Facebook posts besmear them.
Why are we so inclined to think
they can predict the future?
And when economy declines
we are surprised and snarky.
Why are we so inclined to forget
their faults and failings?
How an egotistical mind can
lead to much corruption
Why are we so inclined to assume
politians are no good?
Some are smart as well as kind
we need to vote them in.
Gadzooks- why do I not know these things? I decided to order tickets from what I assumed was a ticket office located in Prince George or at least somewhere in Canada. One month later- yesterday- I received my Visa bill. Yikes!! Can’t phone because phone lines are backed up. But I did have an email address:
Dear Sir or Ma’am:
I am a senior living in Fraser Lake BC about 100 miles west of Prince George BC. I saw the article in the Prince George Citizen newspaper that Bob Dylan – my son who suffers from schizophrenia’s favorite singer- was performing in Prince George on July 22, 2017. The article stated tickets could be purchased for around 75. 00.
I ordered tickets online and stated I could receive them electronically – at the time I thought I was lucky to get them at 112.00 per ticket which was somewhat higher than expected but my son’s enjoyment would be worth the cost. Then of course I was shocked to see the “Order Summary” purchased on my Visa account totaled $307.02
I am on Old Age Pension and I really kicked myself when I read the very tiny print at the bottom of the printed page that it was USD which my aging brain finally interpreted as meaning it was United States dollars. I almost needed a microscope to read it and I had not seen any reference to US dollars in the stated price that was shown online.
I have been somewhat worried about that as it was more than I could really afford. But now I can hardly believe it- on my Visa Statement there is a deduction for $421.31 – How can that be!! Apparently the 307 original total which was categorized as being in US funds has once again been catapulted into being converted- Something really stinks in that and I am extremely upset.
I want to cancel that order! I do not have that kind of money for something other than rent and groceries! I haven’t paid my Visa bill yet!
|
1:07 PM (1 hour ago) | |||
|
||||
Good Afternoon Doris,
Thank you for contacting us today and I would be happy to assist you with any clarifications regarding this purchase! We do try to be as transparent as possible within our website of how we operate on the secondary market for ticket sales. Ticket prices are sold based on market value, which includes factors such as popularity of event, the number tickets left available, section/row, etc… This means that market value prices could fluctuate either more or less than that of the face value. A complete cost breakdown for your order was provided throughout the checkout process and during the last page prior to confirming this purchase. Also next to the confirm purchase button was the disclosure indicating that all tickets purchases would be in USD. We sell tickets for events both domestically as well as internationally, thus why we have that standard for all orders. The Canadian exchange rate does fluctuate often, so my best suggestion if you would like to know that current exchange rate would be to consult with your financial institution for more details.
We do completely understand your concerns regarding this purchase Doris and want to try to alleviate this stress as best as we can. However we are unable to cancel your order at this time. When you press the place order button, you enter into an agreement with the seller to purchase these tickets. This is why we cannot cancel, exchange, or refund the tickets. At this time if you are no longer interested in using these tickets, I would suggest trying to resell them independently. There are a variety of alternate websites in which you would be able to post these tickets up for sale. For example, you may research these reselling websites by doing a quick Internet search of the phrase “sell my tickets” to see which site you would like to utilize to sell your tickets. There is also the option of advertising your tickets for sale within social media event pages. There would also be the old fashion method of asking people you may know that would be interested in purchasing your tickets.
Feel free to reply to this email if you have any additional questions.
Karen R.
Customer Support
Ticket Fulfillment Services
PHOTO OF A LOVED ONE
Who knew a photograph
Could evoke such pain.
A sharp, quick, stabbing
Wound, seemingly with
Internal bleeding.
The blood massing into
A pool of sadness.
I thought it was all over.
Two years have flown by
And (as they say) he’s
In a better place.
When time passes
Sufficiently,
I will join him.
Guess I will put away
The photograph.
Don’t need anymore
Internal bleeding.
A POEM ABOUT A POEM
A poem encapsulates the moment.
An idea niggles its way
from your subconscious
growing bigger
more insistent
as it slithers past
everyday bits and pieces
of paranoia.
The poem doesn’t care that
the neighbor’s dog woke you
up last night or that the phone
rang once again urging you
to vote Liberal or NDP.
It doesn’t even care
that Trump no longer likes
Canada.
The poem demands
to be written.
Not tomorrow
nor the next day.
Right now!
It may be something
totally inane.
A white moose
A sandhill crane…
Just get on with it!
Virginia’s writing prompt for a poem: Find a favorite recipe. Now write a poem inspired or in the style of that recipe about a family secret—yours or someone else’s.
Broccoli Salad
Broccoli is good for you
Cut in tiny curly cues
Celery sliced so very thin
Green onions add and then begin:
Toast your slivered almond wisps
Fry some bacon ‘til it’s crisp
Add to veggies when it’s crumbled
Stir some grapes into this jumble
One cup red and one cup green
Looks like a Merry Christmas scene
Before you add the mayo, sugar
Contemplate this secret riddle:
If we eat your broccoli
Sliced onions and the celery
Will that not balance on the side
The extra bacon that you fried?
What a fabulous day!
I’m so happy and gay
This morn broke my heart
Cause my car wouldn’t start
But a battery was bought
And the ignition caught
The wheels went around
With barely a sound
What a fabulous day!
I was happy and gay
But then later on
My key-rings were gone
Two sets of keys
I prayed “Oh no please!”
But things just got worse
I searched through my purse
I scurried and browsed
All through the house
In depths of despair
I knew they weren’t there
But my purse had a lining
With key-rings reclining
I felt for the lumps
Tore at fabric in clumps
My keys were so shiny
So pretty and tiny
What a fabulous day!
I’m so happy and gay
April poems from the Cariboo
Chimney smoke clots the nostrils
I can feel the beginnings of a sneeze, a snort
A wheeze.
Air is heavily laden with moisture
Black smoke sifting down
To the ground
An Old Log House
Old log house built
In 1927
Still habitable
My brother’s friend
Lives there along with his dogs
Carl and Tessie
And a black cat
With an attitude.
We visit the resident human
My brother and his dog
Named Rusty
And the dogs visit too.
So many old buildings
In the Cariboo
Abandoned for decades
Still valiantly upright
Roof shakes missing
Floor boards rotting
Logs lustrous with age
Nice to see an old log house
Still occupied
Log House in the Bushes
Built after the First World War
When hope enveloped the world
No more wars
No more epidemics
Time to reach out toward the wilderness
Leave the city. Take the train.
Wife, children, parents
Walk, ride horseback
Into the great unknown.
When Siblings Converse
We talk and we differ
In thought and perspective
Based on experience
Suppositions reflective
We walk through our childhood
Adolescence and youth
I married young and he was not couth
Now we are old in a state of decline
We chat and we chat
Until it’s past nine
Easter Sunday
For Easter Sunday dinner
We had salmon and creamed corn
A store bought pie and Cool Whip
And some coffee left from morn
Jack sang a song about Jesus
‘Twas fitting for the day
We launched into our repast
Listening to old tapes he played.
The Battle of Verdun- 1916
In August 1914,
Charles Holland Haynes
Left Vancouver on a troop train
For military practices
In Valcartier, Quebec
“Brittania Rules the Waves”
Was the catch-phrase
Of the times
Those upstart Germans
And their allies
Daring to compete against
The British Empire and France
Taking over lucrative
World trading markets with
Cheaper inferior wares.
That first fatal shot
Had been fired
And every good Colonial boy
Was prepared to fight
For the Mother Country
Two years later in June 1916
Charles was reported
‘Missing in Action’ from
The Battle of Verdun.
He was officially presumed
“Killed in action”
In March of 1917
Historians now refer to
The Battle of Verdun
As the “Greatest and lengthiest
Battle in world history”
Nine months of bloody conflict.
More than
Seven hundred thousand
Dead, wounded, missing.
The battlefield less than
Ten square kilometers.
No place to hide.
The devastation carrying on
Long past
Any reasonable conclusion
Degenerating into
“A matter of prestige.
Two nations fighting
Literally,
For the sake of fighting…”
The school gym packed to capacity.
An entire town guffawing, snorting,
giggling helplessly,
with barely enough time to breathe
before convulsing into another
throat muscle spasm.
Hilarious performances
pertaining to
people we know
and places to go
in our “Still Standing”
community.
SENSE AND NONSENSE 