DIMES AND TIMES

Editor's note: A couple of days ago I spent close to an hour counting and packaging accumulated dimes and nickels that finally filled up our "piggy" banks. It's a chore I hate, but in the end we got enough to pay for one night's stay at a motel on our trip to Maine this fall (and maybe even a meal). It proves that little things count, of course, but they sure don't seem to go as far as they used to. I guess Dad would agree.

I remember well the time,
When I was in my teens,
I often didn't have a dime
In the pocket of my jeans

But I fit in the common run,
Accustomed to co-mingle
With many other farmers' sons
Who had no coins to jingle.

But also, I can recollect
How much a dime would buy,
Like a Danish roll and coffee,
Or a king-size slab of pie!

Five pennies bought a candy bar,
A milkshake went for ten;
A guy who had a dollar bill
Was sitting pretty then.

I realize we can't return
To the so-called good old days;
We have to take it like it is,
And bow to modern ways,.

But anyhow, I'm keeping up
With these inflated times;
For I am short of dollars now,
Instead of short of dimes!

--Acres of Verse (1994)

OF BIRDS AND WORMS

The early bird catches the worm, they say,
Most everyone knows it is true;
Maybe that's good, and maybe it's bad,
Depending on your point of view.

The worm might tell you, if worms could talk,
That being early's absurd,
Why should a worm be in a hurry,
To be grabbed by a mean old bird?

Our feathered friends, on the other hand,
Would be very likely to say
That getting up early, for a nice fat worm,
Is the best way of starting your day.

The more you study the question, it seems,
The less the issue confuses,
In Nature's design, when somebody wins,
There's somebody else who loses.

The moral resulting from this little rhyme,
Good common sense will confirm,
Whether it's best to be early depends
On whether you're a bird or a worm!

--Autumn Acres (1982)

THIN ICE

"There comes a time in every person's life when some inner sense says, 'Be careful,'" Dad wrote as the introduction to this poem:

Man is never perfect,
And, as far as I can see,
With all his warts and foibles,
He was never meant to be.

We all have had our moments,
And we all have seen a day
When scruples were forgotten,
And we went a bit astray.

Temptations come so often,
To the restless and the young;
They listen to the Devil,
And a little fling is flung!

I know it's human nature,
When our years begin to fade,
To think about our failings,
And the record we have made.

There'll be a day to settle,
And it comes to everyone;
We'll have to pay the fiddler
For the dancing we have done.

I'm tempted very seldom now,
My errant ways are few;
I walk the straight and narrow,
Like a person ought to do.

I guess I'm not too different
From any other sinner;
We skate with less abandon
Where the ice is getting thinner!

--The Buckeye Poet (1991)

NO COMPLAINTS

Some folks are always complaining,
And never content with their lot;
Too concerned with what they are missing
To appreciate the blessings they've got.

Recalling their errors of judgment,
And dreaming of what might have been,
And how their lives would be different
If they could start all over again.

Reliving our past is a privilege
That Providence will never allow;
The past is no part of the future,
But the future is part of the Now.

I intend to enjoy the remainder
Of the race that's yet to be run,
And looking back over my shoulder
Isn't my idea of fun!

The march of time is relentless,
And life is dwindling too fast
To be spending half of my future
Lamenting half of my past!

--Autumn Acres (1982)