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Cat & Candle
Not much older
than a cat sitting on your bar
swatting tentatively at the flame
of a candle
Swatting, then licking
its pain, trying again
and more licking to soothe
the burn
The candle is all we are,
the temptation to test it
is all we will be
October has a dappled sun
October has a dappled sun
low-slung and far south, light
filters onto our lawn through leaves
of old maples The grass
is a patchwork of dark and brilliant
green, welcome mat to the oranges
and reds of Fall
October is the last good month
we love its final night Soon
the wind picks up, turns on us northwise
and blasts every tree black Furnaces
come on and stay on Streets empty
of people, lights are flicked on, music
grows solemn and the rich fly south
October is a cleaning up month
of garden vines and patio chairs
Potatoes and apples are stored by the bushel
Wine bottled for Christmas and beyond
Lawn mowers worked one more time, then
drained of their oil and gas Cereal
boxes are cleared out of the oven
because baking begins again
October is the change-over month
and whether we admit it not, most
of us are ready to change
Life as a Radio Cough
Like the assorted muffles and breathings
coughs and clearances
of the congregation
during a pause in the service
that you hear on the radio
broadcast as you lie still in bed
maybe too ill to attend
or guiltily viewing Coronation Street on mute,
life is brief and uncoordinated,
soon forgotten
as the Programme drones on.
Whose hacking cough was that?
is all that may be inquired
about any one of us.
Math Quiz #2
1
Hans berated me for not lining up desks
perfectly in the gym prior to exams.
He was Math teacher, I was Music.
plus
2
Hans had BO so bad
the girls on the curling team
he was driving to a bonspiel
had to roll down the rear window,
make excuses to have him stop the car
so they could go into a store
and buy Airwick that they
surreptiously hung behind his seat.
One curler bought a tube ofVicks
Vapour Inhaler and stuck it into her nostrils.
Hans never caught a scent of this flaw.
plus
3
Hans set up a computer program
for his Math students so they could communicate
with one another. Two bozos pasted pornography
into the system and threatened to tell police
that he was trying to seduce them, unless
he paid them blackmail.
=
5
Hans went home for lunch
and didn’t return. The principal
sent his Grade 12 son home
to see what was wrong.
What was incorrect was
there were not six bullets in Hans’ gun.
One was in his head.
Barry Butson
Email: Barry Butson
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