Well done, Greg! “Everything the vow of poverty buys.” I was born in Nicaragua. My father, educated by Jesuits, railed agains the greed and corruption of the Roman curia when he saw priests selling scapulars necklaces to the very poor.
Greg, if you feel unloved as a piano player during quarantine, imagine how us despised drummers feel? There is never no one home here, therefore the drums are never played. As for the poetry, you are terrific. I hope you can adapt the Louvre one to say how I feel about the Uffizi Gallery. “Madonna and Child” served up a thousand ways!
I wish I knew how to play drums. The closest I came was bass drum in marching band my senior year of HS. The teacher was like, Don't play so loud, and I was like, Fuck you. Never been to Uffizi but I'm sure it's the same. Yawn.
Delightful and insightful. Big Ben reminded me of the light verse of Richard Amour, a professor of English at Scripps College whose work was often published in the Saturday Evening Post. He loved to point out absurdities, such as “Why reeks the goat upon the hill, who seems to dote on chlorophyll?” Thanks to you, I’ll never look at the Sistine Chapel again (god willing) the same way.
Little epigrams like that deserve more attention. Poetry is more accessible than prose because it comes in snack-size, discrete pieces and so is convenient to fit into busy Life. Great stuff 👍
You are a very brave man. I would never in a million years dare to share my poetry. And like you, I play my piano when the coast is clear. Same with guitar and drums. The drums are a little harder to hide though.
Love these! The first one, with its recitation of church income sources, reminds me of another: the income from annulments! (One of my brothers has an ex-wife who called him some thirty years after their divorce and asked if he would agree to getting an annulment retrospectively because her current husband wanted to go back to the church and they couldn’t do that without getting properly married in the church without buying an annulment, which would declare they had not been in their right minds when they had their church wedding. My brother declined the request.)The price tag for an annulment was outrageous.
Whenever my mother says, "I found this old thing you wrote," my first impulse is to cringe.
Oh my, these poems are good, Greg. They're very good. And I bet your piano playing isn't so bad, either. Play it again, Sam...
Thank you. My piano is eh. I'm better at guitar, but I'm very rusty.
. . . where angels fear to tread. You have more courage than I do!! Greg they’re delightful, all of them. Big Ben is my favorite.
Thanks, Roland!
Well done, Greg! “Everything the vow of poverty buys.” I was born in Nicaragua. My father, educated by Jesuits, railed agains the greed and corruption of the Roman curia when he saw priests selling scapulars necklaces to the very poor.
Thank you. The hypocrisy of the Church is astonishing.
Greg, if you feel unloved as a piano player during quarantine, imagine how us despised drummers feel? There is never no one home here, therefore the drums are never played. As for the poetry, you are terrific. I hope you can adapt the Louvre one to say how I feel about the Uffizi Gallery. “Madonna and Child” served up a thousand ways!
I wish I knew how to play drums. The closest I came was bass drum in marching band my senior year of HS. The teacher was like, Don't play so loud, and I was like, Fuck you. Never been to Uffizi but I'm sure it's the same. Yawn.
Keep sharing those. Love them.
Thanks!
Delightful and insightful. Big Ben reminded me of the light verse of Richard Amour, a professor of English at Scripps College whose work was often published in the Saturday Evening Post. He loved to point out absurdities, such as “Why reeks the goat upon the hill, who seems to dote on chlorophyll?” Thanks to you, I’ll never look at the Sistine Chapel again (god willing) the same way.
I love little poems like that. Thank you!
Terrific, very fun to read, thanks for sharing!
Thanks!
Little epigrams like that deserve more attention. Poetry is more accessible than prose because it comes in snack-size, discrete pieces and so is convenient to fit into busy Life. Great stuff 👍
Thanks. And yes, I love all that Ogden Nash-y stuff.
These are just terrific. Thank you.
Thanks!
"... Everything the vow of poverty buys." Sums it up succintly, sadly.
It does, alas.
How did you get inside my head!??!
Left nostril. ; )
And I thought it was seasonal allergies! All that aside, the poetry really is very good. Keep going.
You are a very brave man. I would never in a million years dare to share my poetry. And like you, I play my piano when the coast is clear. Same with guitar and drums. The drums are a little harder to hide though.
Drums, you just need to wale on.
Very good! Glad to see that the incisive wit carries over into your poetry!
Thank you!
Love these! The first one, with its recitation of church income sources, reminds me of another: the income from annulments! (One of my brothers has an ex-wife who called him some thirty years after their divorce and asked if he would agree to getting an annulment retrospectively because her current husband wanted to go back to the church and they couldn’t do that without getting properly married in the church without buying an annulment, which would declare they had not been in their right minds when they had their church wedding. My brother declined the request.)The price tag for an annulment was outrageous.
They thought of everything, those original mobsters!
Ogden Nash would admire you Big Ben verses, wishing he had thought of the same. 😂👏👏
Thanks, but I got nothing on that guy. Love him.