waiting for the cream

coffee spot posted by Char Jones

 

Pity the Beautiful
by Dana Gioia

Pity the beautiful,
the dolls, and the dishes,
the babes with big daddies
granting their wishes.

Pity the pretty boys,
the hunks, and Apollos,
the golden lads whom
success always follows.

The hotties, the knock-outs,
the tens out of ten,
the drop-dead gorgeous,
the great leading men.

Pity the faded,
the bloated, the blowsy,
the paunchy Adonis
whose luck’s gone lousy.

Pity the gods,
no longer divine.
Pity the night
the stars lose their shine.

“Pity the Beautiful” by Dana Gioia from 99 Poems: New and Selected. © Graywolf Press, 2016.

Catherine Johnson’s Tongue Twister

Trains of thought
and thoughts of trains
and strands of hope
and hope of strands
of love and kindness.
Kinds of things
and things of kind
and kinds of peace
and peace of mind
and minds of trucks
and dolls in trees
and journeys in trains.

Catherine Johnson