Author: Ian Hunter

I retired from the energy business in 2014 and started writing poetry. At first I shared my writing with family and friends. Then I set myself a challenge to write a poem every day for a year. After meeting that goal I just kept going and started this blog in 2021. I hope you enjoy reading my poems. Remember happiness is just a state of mind and poetry is great nourishment.

Food for thought

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Food

Thoughts

Food for thought

Thought for food

For thought food

For the love of food

For the food of love

Love of the food thoughts

Thinking about the food you love

Thinking about the love you feed with food

Feeding your thoughts about your lover and food

Knowing that your food will be loved forever in your thoughts

Forever thinking of your lover feeding your loving food thoughts

Your thoughts of love can be everlasting just like your appetite for food

If you don’t eat you get hungry for food but you can still love somebody

If you stop loving you might lose your appetite for for food without feeling hungry

If you and your lover share the same love of food then you will never go hungry for food or love

Cell phones come with a free bad manners App

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Somebody knocks at your door

They know you are home because they can see you inside your house

You go to the door and see a man there but decide not to open it because you do not recognize him

You are now both looking at each other through a window next to the door

He points to the door gesturing a request for you to open it, you write down a note

“what do you want?” and hold it to the window

He reads it and writes a note back “I am your new neighbor”

You write another note “hi nice to meet you” and he writes “can you do me a favor please”

You make him wait ten minutes and hold up another note “what do you want?”

He writes “your car is blocking my driveway, is there any chance you could move it please”

To be sure he is genuine you go back inside and look up home sales to verify the house next door recently changed hands

Then you go upstairs to take a look if your car is indeed blocking his driveway

All this time the guy is waiting outside your door

You eventually go back and write him a note “ I need to find my keys, I will be there in a few minutes”.

Forty minutes later you open the door and introduce yourself to your new neighbor.  

This all sounds ridiculous but we do it all the time with cellphones

Screening the caller ID before we decide whether to answer or pausing before responding to a text

Remember the good old days when you always tried to answer a call before three rings?

Before smart phones, If you called somebody on a land line you had a very high expectation of actually talking to a person at the other end

Today everybody has a smart phone in their pocket but its so much harder to speak to them

Imagine how it feels for somebody to see you posting on Facebook while you ignore their calls and texts

Perhaps we consider paying a thousand dollars for a smartphone a worthwhile investment because it comes with a free bad manners App

Tears chasing raindrops

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her face was at the window

watching the rain gently fall

counting the raindrops on the glass

watching them slowly slide down

she wished you were inside one

wondering why it all went wrong

wishing she could turn back time

suddenly your face appeared in a raindrop

pressing her hand to the window

hoping you would feel her love

praying you would stay a while

she watched you slip away

her tears chased after you

you never looked back

she had lost you forever

The escape

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He woke up in a cold sweat

It was pitch black

He did not know where he was

Frantically searching his memory

Unable to recall anything of the evening before

He felt slightly groggy

Concluding he had been drugged

He stepped out of bed

Stumbling around the room

Eventually finding a light switch

The blinding light hurt his eyes

After a few moments he could see

Bloodstains all over the wall

Dark red blood on the bed cover

Blood stains on his hands and shirt

He went to the bathroom to clean up

Discovering a lifeless body in the bathtub

A large knife embedded in her chest

He ran to the door but it was locked

The windows were all bolted shut

Shutters outside prevented him looking out

He broke the legs off a chair 

Binding them with strips torn from the bedsheet

Wedging the bundle between the handle and door frame

The bedside table was heavy enough to smash down onto the wedge

The door frame exploded open allowing him to step outside

He came across man in a white coat holding a clipboard and a stop watch

The man looked up and said you set a new record James at 2 minutes 42 seconds

He realized it was all a training exercise for his new job in MI6

The fake corpse walked out of the bathroom and winked at him

Nature won

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Beautiful lake

Still waters

Resting in peace

Boy despises calm nature

Intent on disruption

Launches a pebble

Ripples race to the shore

Reflected mountain shimmers

Wind woken up

Waves melt reflected mountain

Mountain unimpressed

Boy throws another pebble over the surface

Bouncing over the waves

Hopping smaller distances with every rebound

Pebble swallowed by a wave

Lake is not amused

Mountain fumes

Pebbles annoyed

Clouds get angry

Boy picks up another pebble

Sky turns black

Raindrops fall in an angry hiss

Lake surface boils with rage

Soaked boy clutching pebble

Thunder roars

Lightening crackles

Wind howls

Boy afraid

Suddenly the rain stops

Empty clouds drift away

Wind dies down

Setting sun glows red

Spilling its blood into the lake

Boy hesitates

Decides not to toss pebble

Fearing more retaliation

Discarding pebble on shore

Smiling sun sets

Mountain shrugs

Clouds giggle

Wind sighs

Pebbles chuckle

Lake snores

Soggy boy trudges home

Nature won

Useppa

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Useppa Island

Fancy name

Near Sanibel

Sort of

Sandbar origin

No bridges

Too far

Boat required

Inhabited today

Nobody local

Money required

Mostly humans

Private island

Exclusive club

Not public

Members only

Costly join

Invited guests

Feel grateful

Paradise found

Previously lost

Small houses

Expensive land

Hideaway homes

Seasonal occupants

Some manicured

Preppy owners

Others secluded

Off grid

Pretty flowers

Ugly leaves

Big trees

Small paths

Secluded beaches

No roads

Golf carts

Walking trails

Breathtaking views

Tiny museum

Tennis court

Helicopter pad

Collier Inn

Harborside bar

No nightclub

Cute place

Been there

Got T-shirt

Very expensive

No return

Useppa unzipped

RIP pistons and cranks

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The internal combustion engine

Once the king of traveling machines

Is soon to be an old relic

Replaced by electric motors

Overtaken by hydrogen fuel cells

Future generations will look back

At the golden era of pistons and carburetors

With the same nostalgia we hold for steam engines today

We will remember the glorious roar of the V8

The throaty exhausts of open wheel race cars

Yearn for the sweet smell of hot oil

Marvel at the skills of those who maintained them

We will no longer be driving cars or piloting planes

Vehicles will become autonomous taxis

Hailed by your smart device

Taking you to your destination quietly

Without polluting the planet

Or plundering its fossil fuel reserves

Cars will morph into driverless pods of all sizes

Either flying or speeding along designated tracks

Small ones for a couple of people

Medium sizes for families and groups

Mass transit will take the commuters

Drones will deliver to your door everything you need

Cars buses trains and planes will all integrate

Nobody will ever have to steer or hit the brakes

You will engage in work or entertainment while traveling

Perhaps watching movies about old combustion engines

Wondering how people ever controlled those relics

Children will study the history of transportation

Flipping through images of horse drawn vehicles

Watching videos of hissing steam trains

Turning the page of the internal combustion engine

another day another ride

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A middle aged man in banner painted lycra walks the halls

Wheeling his bright red bicycle to the elevator

His lumpy cleated shoes tap dance 

Announcing his presence loudly

He leans on his two wheel walking stick

This crazy walker is like a fish out of water

Speeding downward in the elevator

Emerging at ground level into the parking lot

Anti covid mask is bagged and stashed into a back pocket

Nestling with keys and sugar laden snacks

A strong leg is thrown over the cross bar

Straddling the tamed beast for a ceremonial moment

Adjusting the visor on his helmeted head

Cranking the left pedal backwards

Till his foot is near the ground

A resounding click welds his shoe to the pedal

A slight crank primes his muscles for takeoff

Man and bicycle are now welded together

The beast lurches forward as his right shoe clicks in

Hands push down on the odd shaped bars

Palms resting on the hoods of the infrequently used brake levers

Padded shorts rise skyward to meet the ridiculously high razorblade seat

Arms stretched out into the wind

A small computer on the handlebar displays his progress

Speed and heart rate rise in unison

Whilst pedal rpms stay constant

Gear changes are fully electronic on this high tech machine

The skin tight costume refuses to flap in the wind

Every nut and bolt on his bike has been trimmed for weight

The featherlight carbon fibre frame mimics airplane wings

Slipping through the reluctant air softly

The middle aged man flies low at 25mph

It will be a short 30 mile ride today

The computer reminds him to hydrate every 15 minutes

He pedals hard up the bridge to Key Biscayne

Rolling back down at 40mph

He meets a group to ride in formation

Pulling hard at the front for a mile

Before dropping to the back for a tow

He takes a rest stop at Virginia Key beach

A long gulp of coconut water washes down the sugary energy gel

Snapping a photo of his ride to share with his friends in the frozen north

One more loop with the group at maximum effort

Then its a gentle cruise back home

Click clack down the halls of the high rise

Wheeling his red machine back to his condo

The beast rests while he showers and recuperates

Another day another ride

Last night I saw 1897

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last night I looked into the dark sky

bright stars and planets abound

the big dipper caught my eye

I wondered how far away it is

Google told me 125 light years

the light from the big dipper takes that long to reach earth 

I suddenly realized I had discovered time travel

if I was on the big dipper today

with a really powerful telescope

I would see life on earth back in 1897

horses are the main form of transport

cars are very rare and only travel at 10mph

the radio has not yet been invented

the most popular source of music is the piano

the majority of people live or work on farms

households typically have three generations under one roof

cocaine is sold as a cure all medicine

life expectancy is less than 50 years

my parents are not yet born

life was so different back then

to see our life today from the big dipper

you will have to be living in the year 2147

horses could be extinct by then

life expectancy might well be infinite

but the night sky will look the same as today

Manatees

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Manatees meandering in the bay today

Gentle giants gracefully grazing

Mother and baby drifting together

Occasionally surfacing for air

Boating battle scars on their backs

Proof that the manatee boating warning signs don’t work

Can we ever live in harmony with this harmless seacow

Threatened by red tides and loss of habitat

10% of the Florida manatee population died in 2021

Mostly from starvation caused by destruction of seagrass

They have no natural enemies

Except humans who are progressively developing the shorelines

Carelessly running boats over them

Or discarding fishing gear to entangle them

So sad that these creatures are mostly hidden from view

Most people are unaware of their presence or their plight

Manatees meandering in the bay today

But for how long?