And the heat rolls on - poems - Aretha Franklin died today at her home in Detroit, 76, pancreatic cancer

Don't interrupt me. Am eating a King-sized Hershey with Almonds.

Very fresh and delicious from the Giant.



OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

We never tire of their tiny fluttering shapes
Unafraid, they perch outside even when
larger birds appear
like those squwalking crows
sparrows or chicodee

All are welcome here
We love diversity
Makes for a better
neighborhood.

GARBAGE NIGHT

I admit it. I can barely
keep my eyes on the road
as I drive to the grocery store,
past glorious throw-aways,
mostly crap that of necessity
besmirches one's home or basement.

Then, like the Aleph,
I see it! (The Aleph is a
short story by Jorge Luis
Borges. My daughter
would know it.)

Wedged between the
forest green recycling
can and the telephone pole
is a terribly faded rocking
chair.

They must have loved it
to wait so long to dump it.
Perhaps it was a gift after
the old grandmother was put
in a home for the aged.

Or maybe they found it
on the side of the street
awaiting a new home.

At midnight I'll tiptoe
over, under the light
of the crescent moon,
and sit there.

Oh no! It's the rocking chair
of Norman Bates in - egod! -
Psycho!

GIANT SUPERMARKET

Shhh! This is goood!
Stuffed cabbage from
The Hot Bar.

What a day I had.
Speeding to finish
Short Stories by
Haruki Murakami
so I wouldn't
pay no fine.

Don't look at his
photo unless you're
prepared to answer
the question: What
are you doing with
your life and why!

Forever dissatisfied
I took to my diary
to see into my heart.

Then signed up for
piano lessons from
a graduate of
Cairn University. She
signs her emails
Blessings.

I'm of the opinion
I'll be alive in
10 years and at that
time will take to the
stage in a shimmering purple
chiffon dress playing some tunes
of my own.

We'll have
flowers on the tables
in the audience and
I can look Haruki
in the eye and say

Well, I didn't get a
hummingbird to land
in my hand but being
a budding pianist
ain't half bad.



Just requested Kafka on the Shore from the library.

***
Just got home from Affinity Toastmaster's. Enjoyable. I spent $75 at Lands End, owned by Sears and wore my new pink and white checkered shorts and a roomy V-neck black shirt

Next week my role is to tell a joke.

Bought African Violets at the Giant and gave em to Zora, a nice woman from Paris.

More than half our folks are non-native American citizens who are determined to learn to speak better English.

The phone's ringing now. The last time I got up from Red Couch it was a hang-up.


***
Gonna write a short story based on this $6 million party given by the Shah of Iran. Watch here.

He started out as a good man but as his riches grew - oil country - he hired 10,000 Secret Police who finally tortured suspected dissidents.

All of Persia hated him. He had no idea.



How the hell will I think of a story?

Ah, I'll write about it.

Dear Pinkie, I'll start out in my pink diary from Linda Barrett.