AD.


Monkey butt – foto by Smith

Rat Rut Race

Hi ho cheerio up and away
And so I begin another day

Another day of two less thoughts
Another play with two yes plots

Two yes plots, three of no
Turn the key and away I go

— Smith, 1965

That’s my 19 year-old me 46 years ago, when I was a Plebe in the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. My days did seem rather wind-up and mechanical in a military way, a state I always had trouble with, which is probably why I was kicked out two and a half years later for weed.

Now that I have a new Second Chance Dance at life with my new hip, I have to find a way to increase my yes plots, lower my no plots, rise above my old self — must not only learn and live, but relearn to live.

And that ain’t easy. Old inner tape loops and my previous exoskeleton are still trying to lead me down paths I no longer wish to walk.

New hip, new walk; new walk, new path; new path, new chance; new chance, new dance — new life to enhance both for me and those around me . . . and Mother Earth as well.


2nd chance dance – foto by Smith at Chiplis’ Studio

One Response

  1. Loved and amazed that you got thru 2 1/2 yrs. of Naval Academy…. wouldn’t have thought you’d ever be attracted to the military… your sensibilities run rather counter establishment.. 🙂

    Nice to know you were already writing poetry at that age…

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