May 27: "Card Sharp," Remembrance, "Memorial Day Cemetery"

Billy Collins meets a , , ,

Card Sharp

by: Billy Collins

He said

he was born, 

raised,

and re-raised

somewhere in Nevada.

Collins can make me laugh.  His short poems, in particular, fill me with admiration for his wit and wordplay.  He's refreshingly honest in going for the punchline.  He just doesn't give a shit about not being taken seriously.  

Tonight, I'm not going to try to be witty or funny in what I write.  Perhaps I'm going to sound sentimental or maudlin, and I, like Collins, just don't give a shit.

It is Memorial Day in the United States--a day set aside to honor our fallen soldiers.  A lot of U. S. citizens treat this day as simply a reason to head out to camp and have a barbecue.  I don't do that.  My father, who was a Private Second Class during the Korean War, taught me to honor and respect the true meaning of this holiday.  

I taught my kids the same, taking them both to Memorial Day services at our local cemetery since before they really comprehended what it was all about.  Now, they stand at parades when the flag goes by.  When taps is played, they remove hats, put their hands over their hearts.

All the freedoms I take for granted every day were paid for in blood by courageous individuals who sacrificed everything to make the world a better place.  I never forget that.

Saint Marty will always be eternally grateful.

Memorial Day Cemetery

by: Martin Achatz

The small flags

on the graves

snap with wind,

sound like distant

gunfire of battles

fought over 80 years ago.

June 4: Never Getting Ahead

Sometimes it feels as though I go through my day simply waiting for the next piece of bad news to come my way.  I work hard, play the pipe organ at one church, play in a praise band at another church, teach community school classes, and always treat people well.  I paste a smile on my face every morning, and I don't scrape it off until I go to bed at night.  Yet, I never seem to get ahead.  Never.

Instead, I'm displaced from one job.  Told I'm not "good enough" to play the organ at church.  Accept a reduction in salary.  Work longer and later hours.  In the fall, I'm barely going to see my kids because I have to teach late afternoon and evening classes at the university.  I'm going to have to phone in my father duties.  And the bill collectors will still be calling my phone every day for past due notices.

If you can't tell, I'm a little pissed off tonight.  I'm tired of finishing last or second-to-last all the time.  I'm tired of being the good guy, because good guys always seem to get stepped on or taken advantage of.  (Yes, I just ended the sentence with a preposition, and I don't give a shit.)  From now on (or at least for the foreseeable future), I'm going to stop caring about other people.  I'm going to stop being happy for other people's successes because, frankly, I don't care.  I'm going to stop being nice.  Period.

There's going to be no happily ever after in this post.  Sorry.  I'm not a big believer in happily ever after right now.

Saint Marty is having trouble believing in anything tonight.

Insert jaded comment here...