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
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…