Dolphins

Ever notice
how a school of Dolphins
will sometimes
race along
with the bow of an
ocean liner
under full steam
leaping fifteen feet
straight into the air
at 21 knots
just for the
glorious fun of it?

Fun!
Yeah that's what
I'm talkin about!

Sometimes it
takes a dolphin
to know one!

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

When I Die Remember Me

When I die remember me
hang my balls
on a cherry tree
oh honey
oh baby mine-
(A bawdy parody 
of the song lyrics of
a pop tune of the late 50's)

It is a very strange feeling
standing over one's own
prospective grave site
after making final
pre-arrangements for
one's own prospective funeral

No
I am not terminal
at least not yet
and
G-d willing
not too soon

The bible promises
(or at least offers the possibility)
of three score years and ten
as the likely life span
of a human being

For some
three score and ten
is more than enough
for others
it is too short
not enough time
too brief a span of time to
accomplish all that
the human heart desires

I am sixty-six years old
four years to go
if the biblical injunction
holds true

Some might think of this
as a death sentence
without reprieve
others as an opportunity
to finally be able to
lay down the burdens of life
to enjoy eternal rest or
to participate in further
adventures yet to come

We do not know the answer
as no one has yet
returned from the grave
(not even Harry Houdini
though he promised to try)
to tell us (the still living)
what life (or after life) is like
once we have made
the final crossing

Some say that Jesus
returned from the dead
to speak to his disciples
(I think that the jury
is still out on this one)
others say that Jesus
was able to raise
Lazerus from the grave
only to see him
murdered for a second time
(Some say that Lazerus'
nick name was Lucky
but I think the were
just trying to be funny)

I have made provisions
to have my body cremated
(dust to dust)
and to have the urn
buried at a grave site
with a small plaque to
mark my final resting place

Now that all of the
pre-arrangements
have been made
I find myself in no
special hurry
to shuffle off this mortal coil
just yet

I have many more things
that I would like to do
more places to see and
more people to meet
before I finally go
to meet my Maker

And when that final
judgement day does come
I hope that I am able to make
a good impression
and a good accounting
of the life that I have lived
for better or worse
for good or for ill

For I agree with the bard
Robert Browning
who wrote that
a man's reach should
exceed his grasp or
what's a heaven for? 

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

My Ever Aging Home

Whenever I get discouraged
at the present condtion of
my ever aging home
so much in need of repair
and general sprucing up
I try to see
my homestead
through the eyes of a
homeless man and
my gratitutde for
having a simple roof
over my head
overwhelms me

I have lived
in this house now
for the past thirteen years
I see my humble abode
as a tall masted ship
on wind tossed seas
and as her captain
I am pleased to walk
her battered decks
and to chart her
a steady course
as we sail from
port to port
into the shrouded future

She is a good ship
full of the booty that
I have gathered
through hard work
and blood and sweat and tears

She has lasted
more than half a century
though today she has a
harder time
not showing her age
but I wouldn't trade her
for a newer model
so long as she
continues to stay afloat
and I have no doubt that she
can last
another fifty years
so long as her captain
doesn't lose heart
in his ever faithful
landlocked boat

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

The Kool- Aid Drinkers

Between yea and nay
lies the no man's land
of maybe
and that is where
the possibility
of possibility begins

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

What If I Were To Tell You?

What if I were to tell you that
TheTwilight Zone
was a real place
would you live your life
differently?
How hard or how easy
is it for you to accept
radical change?
Are you more inclined to
go with the flow or
more inclined to
take up arms against
a sea of troubles?
To sleep
perchance to dream
are you more afraid of
what dreams may come or
would you prefer to have
no dreams at all?
Would it matter to you
if your ex-wife
suddenly dyed her hair purple
and covered her body with tatoos
and body piercings?
Would you ride in the same car
with your ex at the wheel if
you knew for a fact
that she/he was feeling both
homicidal and suicidal
and that she/he had just smoked
a rock of cocaine?
What if your entire marriage had
been like that car ride?
How much adversity are we
programmed to endure?
Have you ever watched
inner city kids have
fake bull fights with
the rush of oncoming traffic?
Would you choose to
drive through them or
would you pull to the
side of the road
until they tired of the game
and went away?

Over there
see that sign post up ahead
don't look now
but you've just crossed over into
the Twilight Zone

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

In Some Alternate Universe

In some alternate universe
I hear the laughter of my grand kids
as they climb all over my head and
hang on to my legs and back as
I struggle to cross
the living room goal line
before my daughter
their mother
calls the family
to a sit down dinner of
turkey with all the trimmings
this being Thanksgiving after all

In some alternate universe
I feel the warm body
of my wife of many years as
she crawls in beside me
exhausted but happy
from a day of doing
a pile of household chores and
a thousand small
favors for her loved ones
and that would include me

In some alternate univrerse
the daily news reports
would not bring word
of elementary school children
being shot dead by
a psychotic teen
whose mother apparently
gave him access to
battlefield fire power
but who could not
be bothered to take
the time to notice
that her beloved son had
become a menace to society

In some alternate universe

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

My Uncle Morris

The older I get
the more I become like
my venerable uncle Morris
he who loved to sing
on the board walk in
Brighton Beach
to all the
multi-ethnic
crowds of
Jews and Pollacks
Greeks and Russians
while his audience
sunned themselves and
spread the latest gossip about
their families and neighbors

Uncle Morris was the neighborhood
Frank Sinatra with a Yiddish accent
He would often serenade the
divorced and widowed matrons of
Brighton Beach
Sea Gate and
Coney Island
in five languages
competing with the
chorus of seagulls
who were on the constant
lookout for a free meal
and scraps from
Nathan's famous

My uncle morris
was something
of a hotshot
a local casanova of sorts
although his alley cat days
were long behind him
still he could get
babushka covered heads
filled with romantic fantasies
that reminded them
of earlier times
when they were young women
in the full blush of their youth
back in places like
Ukraine
Brest Litovsk and
Bucharest
long before coming to
Brighton Beach
(America's Little Odessa
by the sea)

And the gathered fan club
would shout out requests
Morris!
Sing Tumbalalaika!
Sing Hava Nagila!
Morris! Sing!
My Yiddishe Momma!
And he would oblige them
singing out his heart
until he was so hoarse
he could barely speak
let alone sing another note

And after a long afternoon of
performing for his devoted public
my uncle Morris would take me to
Brighton Beach Avenue
to eat hot freshly baked knishes at
Shatzkin's World Famous Knishes
and to shop for delicacies from the
dozen or so delicatessans that
dotted the shopping district.
I loved the smell of the pickles and
the hot pastrami
I loved the display of every variety of
salami known to mankind
that hung above the counters and
in the display windows;
I loved the feel of the fresh sawdust
under my feet and
the cornucopia of
dried fruits and candies and sweets that
filled the counters to overflowing

Every kid in America
deserves to have
his very own
Uncle Morris

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013