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a little after seven a m

a man of seventy-one

the day after groundhog day

the year of their lord twenty twenty-six

put his phone to his face

arrived at an expression on his face

and with his right index finger

touched the screen

..

some whom he knows are us some them

he wants another year and more before he is done

he loves a woman born in tennessee one fine fine day

he’s packing up to be with her for true love & for kicks

she has given him her heart and her grace

so quietly silly and amazing, that grace

making memories fresh that add to those that linger

the engine revs the light is green

snapshot

so this is after
a bowl of stewed carrots
and a cup of coffee
and before a shave and shower

that indeterminate time
when my drawing and i have a tussle

“redeeming love” is the name of the movie
that i watch and then pause to draw more
it is about gold-strike times
and a dirt farmer and a luscious prostitute
he is bound and resolute to marry her
she is scarred from abandonment
and the ugliness that goes with the life

it’s impossible to say
what influence watching the movie
has on my drawing
except that watching the movie is strangely soothing
because despite the tawdriness and pain
the title promises glory by the end
and i need that hope right now
for my drawing
(notice the word DEFEAT in lower right)
and my day
(seems like yesterday i did my laundry
and not four days ago
and i go out of town tomorrow
and haven’t booked a room yet
and i want to finish this drawing
and another more important drawing
and and and and and)
and my life

old guy getting older
full of stewed carrots
coffee
and redeeming hope

2022 0322 snap shot stage 40001
I hope it’s evident by now that “snap shot” as an acrostic has many different solutions. This one’s Snap is a Ginger Snap, and its Shot is the Ball Shot used in antique weaponry. Conjoin them and you get a Snapshot.

snap shot

slung projectiles do impress
nailing bone and hapless flesh
all too soon we both must go
piorrette et piorrot

Once again the French language comes to my rescue to rhyme a word that ends in o and a word that ends in t. I’m especially grateful for the David Bowie quotation “I am Piorrot. I am Everyman.” So the “we” the poem refers to is Everyman and Everywoman, and Everyone else. You and I, Friend. Though we must go all too soon, we are here in the eternal Now. May we use Now to the kindest advantage.