Strictures
By Ed Ahern
Habit morphs into compulsion when we can
no longer consider an alternative way of living,
Take, for example, the wearing of underpants,
or the psychic Velcro of our cell phones,
or relying on the consciousness altering
of hot caffeine and cold, malted barley,
or cohabitation only as formal duality,
or belief in one set of gods and demons.
How provoking it would be if we could
for even one day let go of the self-inflicted
strictures that foot-bind our beings.
Running Out of Gas
One of the few blessings of getting old,
aside from survival, is that I got choosy.
With shriveling horizon and waning energy
I jettisoned almost all the preoccupations
meant to display status and advertise worth.
What was left were homely, comfortable
diversions, only sometimes helpful to others,
but always interesting to what was left of me.
I am the sun in my emptying solar system
Bio: Ed Ahern resumed writing after forty odd years in foreign intelligence and international sales. He’s had about 700 stories and poems published so far, and fifteen books. He works the other side of writing at Bewildering Stories where he’s a review board editor and at Scribes Micro, where he’s the idle figurehead.
Author’s Note: Both of these poems reflect octogenarian bemusement at what I thought was essential and important. Aches aside, I’m much more comfortable with myself
