in chess no one sees

every possibility

once you make a mistake

it's past

and you can't take it back

spine-chilling

headlines

on the cusp of war

will it remain as words

or become something more

the sirens sounding

for the Clarksville tornado

how quickly the cloud changed

into a white funnel

of terror

Aerial View Of Mount Vesuvius, Courtesy of the St. Louis Science Center. Pompeii Exhibition

"We are not good at recognizing distant threats even if their probability is 100%..." 

     ~James R. Schlesinger

fleeing Mount Vesuvius

in a boat of uncertainty

the survivors

never claim the ashes 

of those they left behind

Courtesy of the St. Louis Science Center, "Pompeii: The Exhibition"

Erie, PA, 2024

after the eclipse we drove

to the bicentennial tower,

its two-hundred steps

more than any of us

could climb in one breath

A Nickel for Your Thoughts

 

50 days

to unravel the economy

let’s get rid of pennies

as if that were the issue

keeping us up at night

remembering 

the January 6th insurrection

I will not pardon

the snow's return

nor shake its icy hand

Welcome to

the 52nd state

of US healthcare

I hope you've been dealt

a rich set of cards

 

broken promises

if Santa had you on his list

you'd have enough coal by now

to heat the entire world

until the end of time

built in 1883

the narrows covered bridge

its lifespan stronger

than any words I have

to describe it