TEEN KISS

January 30, 1999

Wisdom asks a valid question:
“If one sheep sticks his head in a hole,
Should all sheep make the same their goal?"
The obvious answer is my suggestion.

Teen-age girls in a middle school
Saw on the mirror in the “little girl’s room”
Lipstick prints, and I presume
That they thought that was really cool.

The custodian soon left his note,
Not too harsh, and not too gentle,
Not naive, and not too mental;
And this is what he wrote:

“Please don’t kiss the rest-room glass.”
We were in the middle school;
We had somehow to break the rule,
If we the teen-age test would pass.

Red, purple, pink; yes, even black!
Large lips, small lips and in between,
On that rest-room glass were seen,
Where “mimic-maidens” left their smack.

The custodian came to his wit’s end,
Then called upon a favorite teacher,
A kindly, loving, much loved creature,
Whom all the girls called their friend.

She summoned him and all those lassies
To meet with her right at three-thirty,
To watch some one do something dirty,
Down at their favorite looking-glasses.

He slowly swirled a long brown brush
Round and round in the commode;
From there to mirror he slowly strode;
How loud the sound of their quiet hush!

He brushed that glass ‘til it was clean,
No word was said by her or him,
Nor exclamation from one of them:
But lipstick prints no more were seen.

TATER TALK

January 28, 1999

The big potato; we’ll call him Dad;
Three little girls were all he had,
But came the time for them to wed,
So one by one, hear what they said:

“Mr. Russet wants me to marry,
A load of care I’m glad to carry.”
“Oh, Yes”, said Dad, “indeed that’s great;
With such a name - an ideal mate!”

The second loved an Idaho,
And Papa said, “The way to go!
This marriage indeed will do quite well,
The way Idahos are known to sell.”

Then spoke the third, a tiny child,
With trembling voice, so meek and mild,
“Dan Rather is the man I love;
I’m sure our love’s from God above!”

“Heaven, forbid,” the father cried,
“With such a thought, I’m horrified!
I’ll not agree, now or later;
Dan Rather is a common tater!”

Then quivering lips spoke words profound,
In phrases with a heavenly sound,
“Aren’t we all just common taters,
Trying to be God’s commentators?”

I LOVE MYSELF WHEN I’M WITH YOU

January 11, 1999

I never really understood;
Perhaps no one actually could,
Why children say, out of the blue,
“I love myself when I’m with you!”

I wonder if she likes my gifts,
Such as, perhaps, enabling lifts,
When tasks I show her how to do
Become, for her, no longer new.

Could it be, after all,
When for some lad, we “take the fall”,
That he might think, “I love you too;
I love myself when I’m with you?”

If children know just how we feel;
When love for them is really real;
They just might say, out of the blue,
“I love myself when I’m with you!”

If we are loved, in our own eyes,
Then we're prepared always to rise
Above vain thrills that end in ills,
And works of love our schedule fills.

So parent, teacher, pastor, friend,
Let’s work together toward this end,
That every child may say, “It’s true,
I love myself when I’m with you!”

THE LORD'S SECOND MILE

January 1, 1999

It’s New Year's Day of Ninety-Nine,
And there is time to write a rhyme.
The earth is white with falling snow,
I can’t work out, so here I go:

The grain in bins, the hay in ricks,
The wood stacked straight in firewood sticks,
The pantry full of food we’ve canned,
It all makes New Year's simply grand!

The cows bunch up around their shed,
Waiting there until they’re fed,
The poultry sounds are not to beg,
But just to announce they’ve laid an egg.

Some would say that our life style
Is way behind; at least a mile!
We’re seldom seen down at the store,
But healthy food? Who has more?

The clothes we wear, we’ve worn a while;
They have to go that “second mile,”
But they are warm, and they look nice;
We tell ourselves that they’ll suffice.

Our car is old, but it is good;
It’ll last a while; or, I think it should.
We’re neither rich, nor look that way,
But give ear, 99, to what I say:

High dollar missiles don’t keep the peace;
Dollars we invest in the poor’s release,
To teach them to earn a better life style,
Will clothe us in the “Lord’s Second Mile”.

No nation rules the earth by force,
So God has portrayed another course:
Let’s deny ourselves and take up His Cross,
Before our pride turns us all into dross.

Of all God’s gifts, I’ve found not another
That thrills me like the love of a brother!
Let’s reach out as long as there’s life,
And by so reaching, decrease human strife!

When neighbors ask, “How goes 99?”
We don’t want to say, “The World is Mine,”
But “Heaven’s hosts behold with mirth,
And exclaim aloud, ‘PEACE ON EARTH’!”