50+ Lifestyles

A Pause for Poetry

By Gary Heath
Poet in Residence for 50+ Lifestyles.

 

 

 

Iowa’s Edible Roads

In Iowa we drive roads paved in

Corn. As bumper harvests over-

Flowed our silos and asphalt ran

Low, we opted to pave in corn. On

Our roads you need not pack a lunch.

Just decamp your vehicle and eat

Your fill of delicious road. You are

Welcome to dine on our roads. We are

So Iowa friendly. We not only feed the

World, our famous edible roads feed

Our motorists. You can eat your way

Over our highways and byways in all 99

Counties and never pay for lunch. We

Only ask you keep an eye peeled for

Traffic as you bite into our roads. Road

Kill is a big problem. Heed our Do Not

Litter signs in all their nuanced meanings.

Enjoy your Iowa friendly free lunch and

Please eat to arrive.

 

Rings Back Home

The phone rings back home. It rings

And rings and rings. I love to hear the

Sound in my wistful memory, the sound

Of the ring back home. Mom and Dad

Both pick up in different rooms, and we

Catch up on our lives, a lot to talk about

In a week. Bought a fridge, took a walk

In the park, saw cousin Joan and brother

Joe, read a good book. We talk an hour

Plus, Mom does most the talking, till at

Last Dad says, this is costing a lot, to end

Our weekly catch-up. They expect my call

And I look forward to it. Now the phone

Rings only in memory as they are no more.

I miss them more than I thought, though I

Thought I never would. I never dreamed

They’d never be there, the deep denial of

Deep love, ringing back, ringing far back

Over the years, ringing back home, the home

I used to go, now only ringing in fond memory.