My Gang of 3

The liberty bell
(with a real small "l")
finally rang to set us free
the summer waited (more patient than us)
for my gang of 3 and me

Our bikes
were our spoke-wheeled passports
to a constant to and fro
that filled our mornings, noons and nights
with what we'd lost in the snow

To lakes,
to ponds, and rivers
we'd fly early every day
fishing, wrestling, skinnydipping
then home again to play . . .

. . . baseball,
hockey, soccer
rough and tumble fun
bumps an' breaks an' scratches
kept our parents on the run

Some nights
we'd sit and whisper
bragging softly of our sins
truth or lie, it didn't matter
the one with the best sin wins

And rainy days
didn't stop us
we'd find a small dry spot
and share our dreams of growing
what we'd do and what we'd not

Nothing, alas,
lasts as long
as it seems it should to a boy
chilly nights and school supplies
soon chased our summer joy

But then
we pondered what's ahead
old friends, new teachers, new books,
and perhaps this year that beauty
would return my lustful looks

And hey,
my gang was still all here
just not as loose or free
and we'd wait each day for the liberty bell
my gang of 3 and me

(c) Harvey Grund    7/24/98

Growing Pains

why oh why do i have to grow up
growing up hurts so bad
i know it does because i see
what its done to my mom and dad

my mom has a mouth with a permanent scowl
her eyes always puffy and red
my dad only smiles in the middle of the night
"after the kids are in bed"

im really not sure what it is that causes
their nasty moods and faces
It must be just their growing pains
hurting some sensitive places

oh no, i don't want to get big like that
and live a life of gloom
or yell and scowl at MY kids and say
"Damn it, Go To Your Room

(c) Harvey Grund    1996

An OverBAREing Life

As a child, I remember
being shy about bare feet.
Removing shoes and socks
was punishment, not a treat.

Why then today do I choose
to loll among the masses,
bare feet, bare chests, bare legs and arms
and many round bare . . . derrieres.

Why indeed? It has to be
some sort of recompense.
An overcompensation for
a childhood misspent.

And what a lovely way to live
the way I do today.
Without a need for clothing
my inner child can play.

And never does a wicked thought
intrude on warm hellos.
We claim no shameful defects
to hide beneath our clothes.

Oh what a lovely way I live,
in the natural state I’ve been
Without a stitch of clothing
I’m just swinging in the wind

(c) Harvey Grund    7/28/98

A Birdsnest Balcony

In a quiet wood behind a house
that was empty for a time
there grew a tree
a special tree
a tree a boy could climb

One summer day
a truck arrived
in the drive of the lonely house
behind the truck a family
a boy, his mother and her spouse

The very next day
while exploring the wood
in a moment quite sublime
the boy came face-to-bark with the tree
the tree that he could climb

And climb he did
a bit awkward at first
but a boy will just not stop
soon he was there where he wanted to be
by a birdsnest near the top

In another day
the boy was back
with hammer, nails and saw
in two more trips he had the wood
for the castle he foresaw

In a fortnight of toil
the little king
hid his castle in the tree
A castle fit for royalty
with a birdsnest balcony

 (c)Harvey Grund    5/7/99 

An Angry Lady Named May

There once was a lady named May
who was jilted on her wedding day.
She became enraged
at being upstaged
and for 30 years stayed that way.

We need to applaud her narcissism,
her sheer will when facing this schism.
To embrace an emotion
with such devotion
must clearly be a form of heroism.

Now compare, if you will, my tenacity
with this heroines outrageous audacity
I stay mad for one day,
then my anger will stray,
after two I’ve reached my capacity

Is this some type of affliction?
Does it show a lack of conviction?
Or . . . is my ego’s so immense
that anger makes no sense;
and becomes a pointless contradiction?

Ah yes, that must be the fact,
it was ego that poor May lacked.
With her poor self-esteem
she vented her spleen
for three decades till she finally cracked

(c) Harvey Grund    8/1/98

Negative Pressure

Life
it seems
when all should be going well
like me on the fast track
SUCKS!

My wife
deems
to enhance her personality
with bottles of clear potent liquids
SUCKS them dry!

My son
screams
a victim of pre-teen angst
he's discovered nicotine
SUCKS habitually!

Negative pressure
it seems
is not after all a force of nature
its just a family thing
But IT SUCKS!

(c) Harvey Grund    8/3/98