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Questions To Ponder
1. What did Bob Hope for?
2. Did Hopalong Cassidy ever walk?
3. Why was Zane Gray?
4. Was Henry Fonda Jane?
5. What was Jane Fonda?
6. Was Ellery Queen?
7. Is Stephen King of anything but fiction?
8.What did Reese do Witherspoon?
9. Was Johnny’s Carson a bicycle?
10. Why did Maine Maritime?
11. Was Veronica Lake Superior?
12. When was Robert Preston?
13. Did Alan Lad ever become a man?
14. Did the Smothers Brothers smother folks?
15. Was Thomas actually Edison?
16. Did Margaret Chase Smith ever catch up?
17. How high was Phillip Marlow?
18. Who did Lucky Strike?
19. Did Albert collect Einsteins?
20. What grows in Chesterfield?
21. Was Maine Gov. Baldacci a comic book character B/4 he went bald?
22. What species of tree was Robert Wood?
23. Did Alfred actually Hitchcock?
24. Is a housewife married to a house?
25. Why did Paul “Newman” become an “old man?”
26. Do skyscrapers ever scrape anything?
27. What did James Garner?
28. How much is Rita’s Hayworth?
29. Can everything Julia cooked be labeled Child’s play?
30. Are libraries gathering places for lies?
31. Does Martha’s stew have warts in it?
32. Did Hal’s Holbrook ever run upstream?
33. Gene’s Wilder than who?
34. Was Benny really a Goodman?
35. What did Freddy Freeloader load for free?
36. Do “sugar free” labels mean no charge for the sugar?
37. What kind of Gersh did George and Ira win?
38. Where did Vincent’s Van Gogh?
39. Who lives on Earnest Hemmingway?
40. Did Sidney Greenleaf ever turn brown and fall off the tree?
41. Was Clark’s Gable on the house with six others?
42. Should Bugs become a Playboy Bunny?
2. Did Hopalong Cassidy ever walk?
3. Why was Zane Gray?
4. Was Henry Fonda Jane?
5. What was Jane Fonda?
6. Was Ellery Queen?
7. Is Stephen King of anything but fiction?
8.What did Reese do Witherspoon?
9. Was Johnny’s Carson a bicycle?
10. Why did Maine Maritime?
11. Was Veronica Lake Superior?
12. When was Robert Preston?
13. Did Alan Lad ever become a man?
14. Did the Smothers Brothers smother folks?
15. Was Thomas actually Edison?
16. Did Margaret Chase Smith ever catch up?
17. How high was Phillip Marlow?
18. Who did Lucky Strike?
19. Did Albert collect Einsteins?
20. What grows in Chesterfield?
21. Was Maine Gov. Baldacci a comic book character B/4 he went bald?
22. What species of tree was Robert Wood?
23. Did Alfred actually Hitchcock?
24. Is a housewife married to a house?
25. Why did Paul “Newman” become an “old man?”
26. Do skyscrapers ever scrape anything?
27. What did James Garner?
28. How much is Rita’s Hayworth?
29. Can everything Julia cooked be labeled Child’s play?
30. Are libraries gathering places for lies?
31. Does Martha’s stew have warts in it?
32. Did Hal’s Holbrook ever run upstream?
33. Gene’s Wilder than who?
34. Was Benny really a Goodman?
35. What did Freddy Freeloader load for free?
36. Do “sugar free” labels mean no charge for the sugar?
37. What kind of Gersh did George and Ira win?
38. Where did Vincent’s Van Gogh?
39. Who lives on Earnest Hemmingway?
40. Did Sidney Greenleaf ever turn brown and fall off the tree?
41. Was Clark’s Gable on the house with six others?
42. Should Bugs become a Playboy Bunny?
LEGAL LOGIC??
As I sit me down and ponder,
I’m just now led to wonder
Why men go to war?
There’s a law against killing
Each other, but we’re willing
To generate a war!
Then we ignore legal hassle
And off we go to wrastle...
To kill and what for?
How silly it is to manufacture
Weapons to maim and fracture
People like we are.
But an idea that got me going,
That I’m writing for showing,
Is just another law.
We can’t make warring illegal,
But might be some legal beagle
Will grit his jaw.
And to whit: make it unlawful...
For soldiers when out in battle
To get wounded or die!
It’s just about as efficient as
Some laws already passed....
I wonder why?
I’m just now led to wonder
Why men go to war?
There’s a law against killing
Each other, but we’re willing
To generate a war!
Then we ignore legal hassle
And off we go to wrastle...
To kill and what for?
How silly it is to manufacture
Weapons to maim and fracture
People like we are.
But an idea that got me going,
That I’m writing for showing,
Is just another law.
We can’t make warring illegal,
But might be some legal beagle
Will grit his jaw.
And to whit: make it unlawful...
For soldiers when out in battle
To get wounded or die!
It’s just about as efficient as
Some laws already passed....
I wonder why?
Ode To Autumn
I really enjoy writing poems in the Haiku style, which is a discipline demanding three lines of verse with the first and last having five syllabels and the middle with seven syllabels. They most frequently stand alone, but I like stringing them out several at a time with a single point in mind. This one(see the 1st reply)is my first attempt at creating a Haiku that rhymes....
The Swan
In fascination
my eyes observe the motion
of a graceful swan.
It drifts slowly by
with scarcely a rippling wave
to mark its passing.
While, clumsily, I
cannot but stumble away
with tears on my cheeks.
Stricken by beauty
unsurpassed by humankind,
though we keep trying.
my eyes observe the motion
of a graceful swan.
It drifts slowly by
with scarcely a rippling wave
to mark its passing.
While, clumsily, I
cannot but stumble away
with tears on my cheeks.
Stricken by beauty
unsurpassed by humankind,
though we keep trying.
Possible Answers To Questions That Need Answers
Q. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
A. That would have been Adam soon after the creation of Eve, and shortly after partaking the forbidden fruit. When their first child nursed on mother Eve, and Adam saw calves nursing on Mama cow’s dangly things, he soon got the “hang” of it. Real men have had fixations on breasts ever since. Perhaps subliminally considered another source of sustenance during seasons of famine.
Q. Who was the first person to say "See that chicken there....I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes out of it's butt."
A. That would not have been Adam, who had better sense than to eat excrement. Perhaps one of his children saw a chicken giving birth to those thin-shelled globules and threw it at a hot rock, whereon the stuff that turned white from the heat turned out to be good for a hungry tummy. Lo and behold, the yellow stuff was pretty tasty, too!
Q. Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?
A. This is not rocket science after all, and because toaster rheostats are made to adjust to the consumer’s taste, it’s necessary to make them adjustable from untoasted to thoroughly burnt to a crisp. Not all carbonated toast is used for eating; it also provides an excellent blackening agent for Halloween makeup, etc..
Q. Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
A. Since refrigerators with freezers above the fridge are normally found in the kitchen, and most kitchens have an overhead light of considerable brightness, there’s no need for additional light in the freezer, whereas the fridge is at a lower level and in deep shadow, so additional light is required.
Q. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
A. Note that the song is more specific, stating that “I” don’t care. It follows that the song was written for others who did care.
Q. Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
A. Not without a driver! It would be quite legal if the corpse were driving with other passengers in the vehicle.
Q. If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?
A. It’s called the suspension of reality...besides, he tried gluing a patch of palm fronds, but lacked the constituents for making proper glue...it dissolved in salt water.
Q. Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?
A. My suspicion is that it could be considered a highly offensive gesture given the variety of interpretive options.
Q. Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
A. Oh, come on, is anyone really so self-centered as to think he hasn’t one or more patients waiting attention? Them doctors are busy people whatever their specialty.
Q. Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
A. Two reasons: 1) artist’s license, 2) Goofy is more intelligent than Pluto...dresses better, too.
Q. What do you call male ballerinas?
A. Guys in skin tight clothing are called “dancing dudes” or “bouncing buddies” depending the gender of the observer. I find ballerinas much more attractive and to my liking...so I don’t “call” the males...ever.
Q. If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
A. That wouldn’t have been comical...besides, the real challenge is in the chase, because, “Once you get what you want, you don’t want it anymore.”
Q. If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
A. Much longer, and far more difficult!
Q. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
A. Stuff that won’t cause damage to babies, and might possibly be of some benefit to chafes and rashes.
Q. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
A. Nope...it comes from constantly obeying your conscience even when you’d rather not.
Q. Isn't Disney World just a people trap operated by a mouse?
A. Definitely a people trap, but it’s likely operated by other people who rake in lots of “cheese” by pretending to be mice.
Q. Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
A. It was easier than trying to create a new melody, or the new one got ripped off and used with other lyrics.
Q. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
A. Only when the letters are well distributed, they could mistake them for words if bunched up...might cause indigestion of the mind and migraine of the belly if not well stirred.
Q. Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your ass?
A. Ever try treating as asteroid with Preparation H? I believe the H stands for hole, not asteroid.
Q. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he can't wait to stick his head out the window into the wind?
A. Simple logic...he’d rather breathe fresh air just like everyone else.
Q. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
A. Maybe not, but it sure absorbs a lot of impatience.
Enjoy............Urban
A. That would have been Adam soon after the creation of Eve, and shortly after partaking the forbidden fruit. When their first child nursed on mother Eve, and Adam saw calves nursing on Mama cow’s dangly things, he soon got the “hang” of it. Real men have had fixations on breasts ever since. Perhaps subliminally considered another source of sustenance during seasons of famine.
Q. Who was the first person to say "See that chicken there....I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes out of it's butt."
A. That would not have been Adam, who had better sense than to eat excrement. Perhaps one of his children saw a chicken giving birth to those thin-shelled globules and threw it at a hot rock, whereon the stuff that turned white from the heat turned out to be good for a hungry tummy. Lo and behold, the yellow stuff was pretty tasty, too!
Q. Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?
A. This is not rocket science after all, and because toaster rheostats are made to adjust to the consumer’s taste, it’s necessary to make them adjustable from untoasted to thoroughly burnt to a crisp. Not all carbonated toast is used for eating; it also provides an excellent blackening agent for Halloween makeup, etc..
Q. Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
A. Since refrigerators with freezers above the fridge are normally found in the kitchen, and most kitchens have an overhead light of considerable brightness, there’s no need for additional light in the freezer, whereas the fridge is at a lower level and in deep shadow, so additional light is required.
Q. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
A. Note that the song is more specific, stating that “I” don’t care. It follows that the song was written for others who did care.
Q. Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
A. Not without a driver! It would be quite legal if the corpse were driving with other passengers in the vehicle.
Q. If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?
A. It’s called the suspension of reality...besides, he tried gluing a patch of palm fronds, but lacked the constituents for making proper glue...it dissolved in salt water.
Q. Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?
A. My suspicion is that it could be considered a highly offensive gesture given the variety of interpretive options.
Q. Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
A. Oh, come on, is anyone really so self-centered as to think he hasn’t one or more patients waiting attention? Them doctors are busy people whatever their specialty.
Q. Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
A. Two reasons: 1) artist’s license, 2) Goofy is more intelligent than Pluto...dresses better, too.
Q. What do you call male ballerinas?
A. Guys in skin tight clothing are called “dancing dudes” or “bouncing buddies” depending the gender of the observer. I find ballerinas much more attractive and to my liking...so I don’t “call” the males...ever.
Q. If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
A. That wouldn’t have been comical...besides, the real challenge is in the chase, because, “Once you get what you want, you don’t want it anymore.”
Q. If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
A. Much longer, and far more difficult!
Q. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
A. Stuff that won’t cause damage to babies, and might possibly be of some benefit to chafes and rashes.
Q. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
A. Nope...it comes from constantly obeying your conscience even when you’d rather not.
Q. Isn't Disney World just a people trap operated by a mouse?
A. Definitely a people trap, but it’s likely operated by other people who rake in lots of “cheese” by pretending to be mice.
Q. Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
A. It was easier than trying to create a new melody, or the new one got ripped off and used with other lyrics.
Q. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
A. Only when the letters are well distributed, they could mistake them for words if bunched up...might cause indigestion of the mind and migraine of the belly if not well stirred.
Q. Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your ass?
A. Ever try treating as asteroid with Preparation H? I believe the H stands for hole, not asteroid.
Q. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he can't wait to stick his head out the window into the wind?
A. Simple logic...he’d rather breathe fresh air just like everyone else.
Q. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
A. Maybe not, but it sure absorbs a lot of impatience.
Enjoy............Urban
The Nature of Thought
Pondering the dual nature of a person,
Led me to think about original thought;
Whether it springs from the thinking one,
Or from another place s/he long forgot?
No eye can see thought, nor ear hear,
Only those who think are of it aware,
Until they manifest and make it clear.
Even then...it’s scarcely all of it there.
Pondering the dual nature of a person,
Each being both spiritual and physical,
May have intangible contacts beyond...
That contribute thoughts quite logical.
Wherefrom the origin of a man’s spirit?
Do we ever see the spiritual half arrive?
For surely we see those who’ve lost it...
When those we love grow old and die.
Wherefrom come workings of thought?
Is it from the physical or the spiritual?
Can science factually trace it or not?
Or do scientists theorize it as electrical?
How great is the learning of mankind!
Hasn’t it found the means of its demise?
Yet still it lacks the ability to ever find,
A way to see intangible thought arise.
Can incomplete knowledge of electricity
Lead to a full, complete understanding of...
The origin of thought and its capability...
Of imagining ideas so complete thereof.
Pondering the dual nature of a person,
I suspect that much of thought comes...
Spiritually from another place, and one
That feeds our minds with pleasant puns!
Led me to think about original thought;
Whether it springs from the thinking one,
Or from another place s/he long forgot?
No eye can see thought, nor ear hear,
Only those who think are of it aware,
Until they manifest and make it clear.
Even then...it’s scarcely all of it there.
Pondering the dual nature of a person,
Each being both spiritual and physical,
May have intangible contacts beyond...
That contribute thoughts quite logical.
Wherefrom the origin of a man’s spirit?
Do we ever see the spiritual half arrive?
For surely we see those who’ve lost it...
When those we love grow old and die.
Wherefrom come workings of thought?
Is it from the physical or the spiritual?
Can science factually trace it or not?
Or do scientists theorize it as electrical?
How great is the learning of mankind!
Hasn’t it found the means of its demise?
Yet still it lacks the ability to ever find,
A way to see intangible thought arise.
Can incomplete knowledge of electricity
Lead to a full, complete understanding of...
The origin of thought and its capability...
Of imagining ideas so complete thereof.
Pondering the dual nature of a person,
I suspect that much of thought comes...
Spiritually from another place, and one
That feeds our minds with pleasant puns!
THE THREE-LEGGED MILKING STOOL
In memory of the three-legged
milking stool,
I now take up my ever trusty
writing tool,
To express those feelings of
painful distress,
That afflicted my bottom after
a night of rest.
Though the pain was great, it
was my fate,
To rest on that iron hard stool
my weight,
Til the milking was done and I
had breakfast,
Until such time my poor butt got
agony at best.
I’m reminded, too, of stools of
another kind:
The, foot, step, and bar-stools
come to mind.
Yet still, tis that milking stool’s
bodily pain,
The early morning milking and
sitter strain,
That brings me to write of a new
age wonder,
A wonder that led my agile mind
to ponder.
Do we not all on occasion pause
and think,
Of concepts that cause others to
sometimes blink?
There’s yet another stool to bring
bottom duress,
That’s found a cure to a suffering
sitter’s distress.
What if the milking stool just had
a mouth,
Like each of us has north of that
place down south?
Could I not feed it that marvelous
new softener...
To cushion my butt more gently
than before?
Alas, milking stools lack mouths
to consume...
“Stool Softeners” to soften them,
so I’m doomed!
Guess I’ll just have to heavily pad
it with furs,
Then hope when my butt sits down
it just purrs.
Heaven forbid if my stool softener
takes hold...
And sends me running to the shack
with two holes!
milking stool,
I now take up my ever trusty
writing tool,
To express those feelings of
painful distress,
That afflicted my bottom after
a night of rest.
Though the pain was great, it
was my fate,
To rest on that iron hard stool
my weight,
Til the milking was done and I
had breakfast,
Until such time my poor butt got
agony at best.
I’m reminded, too, of stools of
another kind:
The, foot, step, and bar-stools
come to mind.
Yet still, tis that milking stool’s
bodily pain,
The early morning milking and
sitter strain,
That brings me to write of a new
age wonder,
A wonder that led my agile mind
to ponder.
Do we not all on occasion pause
and think,
Of concepts that cause others to
sometimes blink?
There’s yet another stool to bring
bottom duress,
That’s found a cure to a suffering
sitter’s distress.
What if the milking stool just had
a mouth,
Like each of us has north of that
place down south?
Could I not feed it that marvelous
new softener...
To cushion my butt more gently
than before?
Alas, milking stools lack mouths
to consume...
“Stool Softeners” to soften them,
so I’m doomed!
Guess I’ll just have to heavily pad
it with furs,
Then hope when my butt sits down
it just purrs.
Heaven forbid if my stool softener
takes hold...
And sends me running to the shack
with two holes!
MY FIRST TV SET
It was in the late months of fall in 1952 that we newlyweds, my wife and I, bought a television receiver set from a traveling salesman whose route we were on. (I’d gotten an engagement ring and wedding band for my wife from this same man...all on the installment plan, of course.) The TV set was useless for a while, because there were no broadcasting stations close enough for us to receive any signals. Before very long, though, the snow and static gave way to a test pattern from WABI Channel 5 in Bangor, 19 miles north-northwest of where we lived in Bucksport, Maine.
The test pattern was interesting for a while, because I could make adjustments to alter its shape, and get it to roll over and swish sideways. But that soon became as boring as the flickering, hissing snow. Come winter and we got a variety show called “Omnibus” and a few other comedy programs. On Saturdays we got movies, mostly westerns, and that was exciting! Movies in our home! Wow! We didn’t have to walk a mile into town for a movie. We could watch images of people walking and talking and doing silly things in a box on a bureau right in our very own private little home!
It didn’t remain private for very long, though, because some of the neighbors would stop by in the evening to borrow this or return that and leave when the national anthem finished and the test pattern came on at midnight. Also, of course, ours being the only TV in the family that winter, our relatives would show up, especially on Saturday evenings, for TV watching. Our private little home became quite the entertainment center for neighbors and relatives, most of whom failed, at first, to bring their own munchies and drinks. We served soda crackers and water! But most visitors in those early days of TV in central Maine, were too interested in that new-found magic box to care much about eating or drinking!
The test pattern was interesting for a while, because I could make adjustments to alter its shape, and get it to roll over and swish sideways. But that soon became as boring as the flickering, hissing snow. Come winter and we got a variety show called “Omnibus” and a few other comedy programs. On Saturdays we got movies, mostly westerns, and that was exciting! Movies in our home! Wow! We didn’t have to walk a mile into town for a movie. We could watch images of people walking and talking and doing silly things in a box on a bureau right in our very own private little home!
It didn’t remain private for very long, though, because some of the neighbors would stop by in the evening to borrow this or return that and leave when the national anthem finished and the test pattern came on at midnight. Also, of course, ours being the only TV in the family that winter, our relatives would show up, especially on Saturday evenings, for TV watching. Our private little home became quite the entertainment center for neighbors and relatives, most of whom failed, at first, to bring their own munchies and drinks. We served soda crackers and water! But most visitors in those early days of TV in central Maine, were too interested in that new-found magic box to care much about eating or drinking!
AUGUST OBSESSION
Give me water...
watermelon!
I want my water,
watermelon!
Not just a melon,
watermelon!
Not just water,
watermelon!
Deep, dark, pink
watermelon!
With black seeds
watermelon!
With green shell
watermelon!
Like a half moon
watermelon!
Oh so very sweet
watermelon!
In my mouth oh,
watermelon!
Over my cheeks,
watermelon!
Let me just eat
watermelon!
All thru the week,
watermelon!
We all just love
watermelon!
Give us all water...
watermelon!
watermelon!
I want my water,
watermelon!
Not just a melon,
watermelon!
Not just water,
watermelon!
Deep, dark, pink
watermelon!
With black seeds
watermelon!
With green shell
watermelon!
Like a half moon
watermelon!
Oh so very sweet
watermelon!
In my mouth oh,
watermelon!
Over my cheeks,
watermelon!
Let me just eat
watermelon!
All thru the week,
watermelon!
We all just love
watermelon!
Give us all water...
watermelon!
AN UNLICENSED DRIVER TO MAINE
Twas in the summer months, a day
when the plan was formed to travel
away...
from Hartford, Connecticut, to arrive
in North Penobscot, Maine in the year
1955.
A 6 or 7 hour drive at best, you see,
it would be an evening and nighttime
trip for me.
The car, prepared as I, (suspense)
the licensed driver was yet to make
an appearance.
I, an unlicensed driver, not very...
familiar with the roads that would
take me...
From Hartford to my young wife, and,
to that distant State in northern New
England.
But I was game and lonely for her;
when no driver came, I got in that
Pontiac car,
and began the trip to cross, so late,
four state lines on roads before the
“Interstate!”
Barely into Massachusetts and all
in darkness...a driving rain began
to fall.
Blinded by the downpour, and alas,
at a loss for confidence, I stopped
under an overpass.
“What have I done?” I heard me say,
feeling cold distress and unsure of
the way.
But I kept driving alone, flowing in
the northbound traffic through city
and town.
When the bridge to Maine showed,
(A Turnpike went 48 miles), the rain
slowed.
A toll road was finished to Portland ,
the roads from there often being dirt,
mud, and...
But the worst was behind, you see;
I had come to conditions familiar to
me.
Twas still cloudy; no moon or stars
lit the dark on roads between towns
for cars.
The headlights stabbed at darkened
road; Portland to Bath; from Bath to
Camden.
Towns/hamlets; street lights but one,
as I continued driving north on ME
Route 1.
From Camden to Belfast; Belfast to...
Bucksport, where I’d been born in
1932.
I knew the way to my love without
luck; I’d courted her in Dad’s GMC
logging truck.
But I still drove with caution, having
no valid license to be driving in New
England.
I delivered the ‘41 Pontiac to her Dad
late that night when I got to my wife’s
family pad.
We were reunited, after weeks astray,
in the home where I courted her a few
years at bay!
My 8 hour driving ordeal was over;
I’d driven 400 miles on roads I’d not
covered.
I haven’t heard since, nor met the man
who was supposed to drive the Pontiac
to Maine.
I’m surely glad it didn’t break down,
Or strand me for any state trouper to
have found!
© Urban R. Coombs 2009
when the plan was formed to travel
away...
from Hartford, Connecticut, to arrive
in North Penobscot, Maine in the year
1955.
A 6 or 7 hour drive at best, you see,
it would be an evening and nighttime
trip for me.
The car, prepared as I, (suspense)
the licensed driver was yet to make
an appearance.
I, an unlicensed driver, not very...
familiar with the roads that would
take me...
From Hartford to my young wife, and,
to that distant State in northern New
England.
But I was game and lonely for her;
when no driver came, I got in that
Pontiac car,
and began the trip to cross, so late,
four state lines on roads before the
“Interstate!”
Barely into Massachusetts and all
in darkness...a driving rain began
to fall.
Blinded by the downpour, and alas,
at a loss for confidence, I stopped
under an overpass.
“What have I done?” I heard me say,
feeling cold distress and unsure of
the way.
But I kept driving alone, flowing in
the northbound traffic through city
and town.
When the bridge to Maine showed,
(A Turnpike went 48 miles), the rain
slowed.
A toll road was finished to Portland ,
the roads from there often being dirt,
mud, and...
But the worst was behind, you see;
I had come to conditions familiar to
me.
Twas still cloudy; no moon or stars
lit the dark on roads between towns
for cars.
The headlights stabbed at darkened
road; Portland to Bath; from Bath to
Camden.
Towns/hamlets; street lights but one,
as I continued driving north on ME
Route 1.
From Camden to Belfast; Belfast to...
Bucksport, where I’d been born in
1932.
I knew the way to my love without
luck; I’d courted her in Dad’s GMC
logging truck.
But I still drove with caution, having
no valid license to be driving in New
England.
I delivered the ‘41 Pontiac to her Dad
late that night when I got to my wife’s
family pad.
We were reunited, after weeks astray,
in the home where I courted her a few
years at bay!
My 8 hour driving ordeal was over;
I’d driven 400 miles on roads I’d not
covered.
I haven’t heard since, nor met the man
who was supposed to drive the Pontiac
to Maine.
I’m surely glad it didn’t break down,
Or strand me for any state trouper to
have found!
© Urban R. Coombs 2009
