My morning tea
Sipped with glee
On my balcony
Overlooking the sea
Can you see
What I see
As I drink
My morning tea
Boats still sleeping
Morning commuters creeping
Impatient horns beeping
Morning maids housekeeping
Waking babies weeping
Hungry food seeking
Party goers oversleeping
Tea drinkers peeping
1 squid = lonely
1+ 1 squid = a couple
2 + 1 squid = trouble
2 + 2 squid = double trouble
4 + 2 squid = sick squid
It was early morning
Low clouds blocked the sunrise
A slight chill in the air
Biscayne bay was calm
Too early for late sleeping Miami boaters
A mourning dove flew onto my balcony
He hopped onto the dining table
Cooing a proud message
A symbol of peace, hope resilience and love
I felt a strange connection to him
I needed to let him know I understood his message
To thank him for bringing calm to all the chaos around us right now
I stepped closer to the window and smiled at him
He saw me and stood still for a brief moment
We bonded over a few milliseconds of eye contact
Then he took off in a flash
Swooping over the balcony couch
Pooping all over the cushions
With the military precision of a fighter jet releasing laser guided missiles
Peace was short lived
Back to chaos
long line at the bank
guy shuffles along
gets to the front
pushes a bag on the counter
hands a note to teller
give me all the money
she hesitates but sees his gun
she fills it while pressing a silent alarm button
guy takes bag and calmly walks out
gets into a waiting car
they speed off into the suburbs
police sirens wailing
switch cars and ditch the stolen vehicle
no more sirens
they are safe now
drive to a lockup and park inside
high fives all round
we did it!
they look inside the bag
money is wrapped in plastic
ripping it open frantically
a dye bomb explodes
everything turns red
they open the lockup door
cops are waiting outside
money in bag had a tracking device
guy shuffles along
waiting in line
for prison food
bank teller did her job
cops did their job
robber is doing time
money is doing its job
life goes on
who’s side are you on?
I mostly live “off the grid” in terms of the news
Social media bubbles along without my participation
I have also chosen not to consult the news media
My self imposed news exile lowers my stress level
I believe that people will tell me if something important happens
I am blessed with the means to travel frequently
To view the world from a different perspective
Sample other cultures away from home
See how others live their lives
Break bread at the table of others
Get their opinion of my own homeland
I recently came back refreshed from a long voyage
Attending a Super Bowl party on my first day back
It was strange to see commercial TV
I normally only stream non-commercial programs
The commercials were less entertaining than I expected
What really struck me was the content
Almost exclusively for fast food and boozy alcoholic drinks
Perhaps not surprising for a nation that worships consumption
But something was different this year
In addition to the “lets all eat and drink ourselves stupid” mantra
Commercials appeared for weight loss by injecting drugs
Corporate America is tapping into the overweight guilt
Its OK to eat pizza and guzzle endless amounts of beer
Now you can buy expensive drugs to curb your appetite
Its a big fork in the road for many Americans
Stay addicted to fast food and booze
Or switch your addiction to GLP-1 injections
I suspect the more wealthy individuals will get a lot thinner
While those of lesser means will become more rounded
In both cases the drug companies will earn huge profits
Overweight folks with have more health issues and require medication
Slimmed down folks will keep paying for the “keep me thin” drugs
I observed that people in Europe simply eat much less
They appreciate the flavors more than the portion size
The culture divide is wider than the Atlantic Ocean
Eat well and eat responsibly like a good cheeky monkey
As soon as the dictionary closed
A huge word fight broke out
The adjectives were being hunted down for being politically incorrect
Adverbs refused to be connected exclusively with verbs and were demanding total independence
Pronouns were running around creating mayhem and beating up random words who dared to connect them to the wrong gender
Subjects were making violent attacks on objects while the nouns made futile attempts to keep the peace
Prepositions went on strike so nobody knew where anybody was at or where they were going to
The clouds have been aloof lately
Staying high in the sky
Not giving any shade
Refusing to rain on the dry ground
Last night that all changed
After a long meeting between the ground and the clouds
The clouds agreed to come down early this morning
So we could all wake up to a cloudy sky
Making sunrise a bit more entertaining
Some light party rain sprinkled on the dry ground
Damp patches of evidence
Cooler air swept in
Ideal weather for a run or a bike ride
Nice to wake up to a cloud party
Cheeky Monkey Poetry 