The Old Lady and Four Guys

My son and his three good friends have known each other since childhood. They all hung around our house so I know them well too. One has a Doctorate of the Musical Arts degree and teaches violin. One has a metal fabricating business. The other is a corporate jet pilot. They text each other frequently on what I call a circuit. My son read a funny exchange to me one day and I threw in one of my poems. From then on, I was a certified member of the five-person circuit. Now, whenever I get something published, I send it out to the other four. The musician often comes back with a poem of his own, the iron man is full of smart remarks and the pilot regales us with beautiful ariel photos and has let us tag along, figuratively, on some of his worldwide trips. The text can go on for hours--whenever anyone feels like sharing a laugh or an interesting thought. Since the old lady is listening, these men are very careful about their language and their references. (I may have threatened to wash their mouths out with soap at some juncture.)

One day, after the musician produced a funny poem, the iron man came back with the accusation that the musician had sent him a poem that started with, “I once knew a man from…” The pilot chimed in with, “Oh, please don’t say Nantucket!”

I pondered this interaction a bit and decided that the issue needed resolution. People sometimes ask me how poems get started. Well, it’s like this:

AN INSPIRATION

I once knew a man from Nantucket

Who stashed all his cash in a bucket.

He hid it from thieves

And so, now he grieves

Cause he can’t recall where he stuck it.

This photo of Pat D’Amico, longtime contributor to Northwest Prime Time, was taken the day of her 70th high school reunion. “I kept my mom’s house in Bellingham and the renters are wonderful. My daughter snapped the picture while I was looking around with great pleasure,” says Pat