Different Slants

© January 22, 2012 

To know a rabbit

Requires

Paying attention

to

Silence

*

I call

My rabbit:

Rabbit

To date

Rabbit

Has expressed

No other preference

*

When Rabbit is hungry

He looks at me

When Rabbit is frightened

He looks at me

When my Rabbit is happy to see me

He looks at me

*

Rabbit’s

Opaque

Shining black eyes

Expect me to understand

*

The consequences

of my

Misunderstanding

are

Permanent

*

Dry Timothy grass

Leafy Romaine lettuce

Raw whole carrots

and

Curious little pellets

Make up

Rabbit’s buffet

*

I line

Rabbit’s cage

With

Recycled

New York Times

Pages

Hoping to raise our

Relationship

To a

Higher plane

But Rabbit’s

Response

Has been disturbing

(Read on …)

Mary and I spent the summer crossing Europe from west to east in a sailboat.  The trip took us through the rivers and canals of France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania before leading us to the Black Sea.  Details of the trip (written for boaters) can be found on my Red Sky website.

After reaching the Black Sea we sailed along the coast through Romania and Bulgaria then through the Bosphorus to Istanbul, Turkey.  The first three days in Istanbul were spent going through the byzantine process of clearing in.  After that we had a couple of days to play tourist and just explore.

One day, while wandering the market streets on the Asian side of the city I spotted a barber shop.  I have begun a tradition of never having two consecutive haircuts in the same country.

A market street in Istanbul

I had not had a haircut since Germany.  I also had not had a shower since Bulgaria – so I was neither looking nor smelling my best. (Read on …)

© January 13,  2012 (Revised June 1, 2014)

I never received an allowance as a child. I always had to earn it myself. So, I was motivated to learn how to do that.

At age five, I dragged a red wagon behind me, walking about half a mile to a vacant lot across from a high school where I discovered there were seemingly endless empty pop bottles thrown there by the students, which I could collect and deliver to my nearby drugstore for instant cash, at two to five cents per bottle. Many of the bottles were broken and it was risky to go after the good ones, but I felt the reward was worth the risk. Evidently, no other kid did.  I had the bottle harvesting market to myself, in 1955.  Learned, at five years old, that there is money to be made almost everywhere if you are astute and can evaluate the risk, reasonably.

(Read on …)

I wait for you

I wait for you

Crushed by my anticipation

I wait for you

Playing with pink packages of fake sugar

Ignoring Today’s Special

Searching the streets…for you

Searching for the ways your flowing hair sways

The indulgent tilt of your head

The coldness in your eyes

Your unapologetic walk

I endure forgettable music

Bitter aroma of burnt coffee

From unwatched pots

Wafting through stale air

While I wait for you

The worn waitress

Peers over her glasses at me

Wondering:

“Will he ever order?”

(Read on …)