Poetry

Eolo Perfido

By

I.B. Rad

Atmospherics

Some say

the world to come

will function

on wind or solar,

others nuclear,

still others, natural gas…,

I say it’s gas

for the world ever has

and always will

run on hot air and flatulence.

Truly, if “money’s the mother’s milk of politics,”

mendacity’s its oxygen

and whether misinformation’s propelled

by paper, TV, radio, blog, or tweet,

passing gas is passing gas,

so no matter how it’s framed

it smells

just the same.

Why Lions are “The King of Beasts”

One day a circus trainer

was prodding lions and tigers

to jump through hoops

when they began quarreling.

Peering out from behind a pedestal,

the trainer watched the lions rally

then boldly stride toward the loudest tiger

who bellowed disdainfully “I can lick any of you.”

“That may be true,” rumbled the foremost lion,

“but fortunately we know how to band together.”

At that they leapt on the tiger

who, struggling furiously, howled to his fellows,

“Friends, help me oppose our common foe!”

But the other tigers, being of a different stripe,

offered fine sounding advice

touting individual responsibility

and that in an indifferent universe

‘fortune smiles on those who help themselves.’

So, one by one,

the lions vanquished every tiger;

until finally, as their last adversary lay dying,

the head lion triumphantly boomed,

“Though we may better ourselves individually

 we also know our best self-help

 often comes through working with others.”

With that, the leading lion yawned, licked his chops,

and gazed steadily at the trainer.

I.B. Rad

I.B. Rad lives in New York city with Mrs Rad and their valued canine companion. He is widely published with much of his work available on the internet. His book, “Dancing at the Abyss,” was recently published by “Scars Publications.”