CAE tagged me!

You cannot be a cuttlefish
And hide in pixels, or in ink,
While still appeasing those who wish
To ask about the stuff you think.
And so I turn to camouflage
To hide a little—or a lot.
I write a verse that’s part mirage—
Some of it’s true, but some is not.

8 Passions

I’ve a passion for food, and a passion for snow
(I will go out for ice cream at twenty below)
I’ve a passion for poetry—also, for Greeks
(The Odyssey’s best in the words Homer speaks)
A passion for travel, but also for home
(A place to come back to, and places to roam)
A passion for language, a passion for culture
(Both living and dead—I’m a bit of a vulture)

8 Things to do before I die

First, eat some of every food in the world;
Then do that again, one more time.
To learn to play bagpipes, and then mandolin;
Find someone who’d pay me to rhyme.
To act, as Iago, and Caliban, too;
Learn a language, start a new trend.
Or trade all of these for the chance to go back
And start over again with [my friend].

8 Things I often say

“That’s a really great question”,I often will say,
And of course, “I do not know the answer”
“You know that a horoscope’s nothing but lies”
“Well, of course I think that—I’m a Cancer.”
“In my humble opinion—which also is right”
And yes, “It’s my job: I’m a Dad.”
To my dog: “what, again? Hey, I just took you out!”
And though it seems dated, “Egad!”

8 books I recently read

Fabulous Females and Peerless Pirs;
Of course, Eats, Shoots and Leaves;
Frans De Waal’s Our Inner Ape;
Shermer’s How We Believe;
Towing Jehova; Dr. Tatiana’s
Sex Advice To All Creation;
Magic In Theory; and last but not least,
Behavior Modification.

8 Songs that mean something to me

All of Tom Waits, or just “I Want You”
Elvis Costello and “Almost Blue”
“Wake Up And Dream”, If I may be bold,
And “Ghost” by the Indigos never grows old
“Grand River Lullaby”, by Alex Bevan
“Once In A Very Blue Moon”—sheer heaven
There’s Lucy Kaplansky’s “Guinevere”
And “The Promise” the last, not the least one here.

8 Qualities I look for in a friend

I’ve never really looked for friends,
Held tryouts or auditions;
The people whom I love the most
Seem random acquisitions.
For every stand-out quality
(Believe me, those are ample)
Another friend is there to act
As opposite example.
With so many people whom I love,
So many I hold dear—
Although the question’s very good,
You’ll find no answer here.

8 People whose blogs I enjoy

Of course, there’s the people I list to the right,
So don’t neglect them, although this poem might.
I’m choosing some others to list in this verse,
Like Moon River, Dienekes, and The Head Nurse;
One I read from years ago, one I found today,
One you probably know about, but I’ll list anyway
One that needs poking, to get him to speak
And one that I love, though it’s written in Greek.