TOYING WITH TANKA
Been taken as a fool
A two-hundred dollar school,
Burning with laughter
Their laughter–smiling at me
Smilingly to the bank vault!
–J.E.C.
–
Successful robins
Pulling worms out at their will
Feeding generation
Filling nests of happy broods
Serenading the damp woods!
–J.E.C.
CHRISTMAS TREE TIME!
In our Community Room.
Women prepare to groom…
A tree with laughter
And joy thereafter,
The task that guys don’t assume!
(Unless the girls do it!)
–Jonathan Caswell
GETTING CROWDED!!
A cribbage game in the corner
Overflows into the hall…
Kibitzing is a natural thing,
And glee at a team’s fall.
–
People can barely walk through the door,
Such a popular place this is…
It’s good to hear laughter among elderly
Folks on a day-by-day tour.
–Jonathan Caswell
PLEASANT CONVERSATION
He stops at her office about once a week,
Ostensibly to chew the fat…
This week they both mentioned weight issues
For a while then, they talked about that.
–
Once he had a thing for her
But it was exceedingly wrong…
He thinks she knows that he’s backed off
So they choose to get along.
–
She has cleavage that wows the old men,
He looks away when he must…
Watching each detail, proper gentlemen
Try to avoid eyes-on-the-bust.
–
Pleasant discussion with breaks from her job,
Easily discussing most things…
Tries to leave her in laughter most times
‘Cause that’s when her young voice takes wing.
–Jonathan Caswell
A WEARY TEACHER/PARENT FIGURE
Who does not cry and I cry,
Who does not have a question to try…
But the same a dozen times
Tends to make me inclined,
To refuse to be the fool another time.
–
I’ve learned ‘though we make look adult,
Secret hurts from the past catapult…
Their way into the present
In ways that are not pleasant
For the ones who have to field the results.
–
What secret hurts would prompt questioning faith,
As though the answers would make one safe…
Demanding pin-point accuracy,
An impossibility,
But the spark of God you cannot erase!
–
So I sit fielding questions day-by-day,
From one who always wants his own way…
He is like a teen able
To push against a stable
Person who reassures him he’s okay.
–
Despite the man’s laugh he hurts,
Having to give up his dreams, put family first…
I know about that summons,
We have that in common
But he is the only family member for whom it works.
–
So in love and ministry I stay,
He needs help with his spelling anyway…
We help each other
Remember client druthers,
But sometimes I wonder if it’s worth the pay!
—Jonathan Caswell
A CHRISTMASY COMPANY LOBBY
Tasteful ornaments everywhere
With life-sized nutcrackers guarding there….
These “employees”
Wear real I.D.’s,
Showing someone really cares!
–
In one corner is a snow-white tree
Partly obscuring what a camera sees…
Receptionist
By request,
Is sheltered from any winter breeze.
–
Garland white, feathery and lit,
Winds up stairway to the top of it…
Along the top of a second level,
Mini-nutcrackers stand in revel
Extending a theme proper and fit.
–
In the midst of all this grand affair,
Wreaths on the glass doors rustle in air…
From the outside
Where cold abides,
When it’s warm and cozy inside there.
–
Inside these enchanted grounds
Warm professionalism abounds…
Business done
With aplomb,
Laughter among the muted sounds.
–Jonathan Caswell
By the Mighty Mumford 