something to show (a poem)

Don't eat elderberries raw off the bush
Unless you want to risk a stomach ache
But do eat them They are very good for you


I cut back the elderberries
Way back in the Fall
Or they shade the solar panels


Solar panels pay for running the hot-tub
The hot tub gives me a rash
But sometimes I just need the heat


The deck needs work Paint peeling
I have to sand it before the snow
I don't know if I'm going to get to it


Also on my list: Talk to plow guy
(No more plowing the end of the drive
Into the lawn)


I always say I will talk to him
But I know how he is going to look at me
So I always put it off 6 years running


Next spring there will probably be a monumental pile
Of frozen gravel when the snow melts
That doesn't fully thaw until the end of May


When I should be mowing I'm listening to
Bonnie "Prince" Billie's Ballad of Joe Hill.
"In his letters he was always doing fine


"When Joe looked back at the sweat on the tracks
He had nothing to show but his age . . .
In the dark of the night he would lay awake and write."


Maybe I will confront the plow guy this year!
I've been getting more assertive
With mixed results


Sadly, as I get older
I have less to be assertive about
But I don't care if people like me which helps


This poem is playing-hard-to-get
I had a dream last night
About being in a tight group of activists


We were camping None of us lived in a house
We were peripatetic
We pitched tents in backyards and fields


Going around educating people
With talks and discussions We were off-line,
We would announce ourselves with posters


We would make stone soup with local stones
The taste of local stones is best
With carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks


Garlic, basil, onions, parsley,
Turnips, kale, broccoli, barley
Celery, cabbage, salt and pepper


But you can't make stone soup without stones
Otherwise it's just soup
But throw a few stones in and people start salivating


You see how much I am doing
In my dreams, yes, in my dreams
I have more to show than my age