READ ME NOW INSTEAD OF WHEN I AM DEAD

When I realize that

One must be dead

Before one’s read

Or recognized

For what one’s said

In one’s bed or

Inside one’s head

I shake my head.

FLYING FISH

Many an animal might wish

That it could be a flying fish

Swimming, Swimming

Swiftly, Swiftly

Upon the water

Then up and away

Into the blue air.

We watch and wonder how

It ever got up there.

Birds watch, too, and remember

Their watery past.

Fish have become birds fast

That once were just fish.

I sometimes wonder if

Men were once dolphins

Who left the salty sea---

To become you and me---

Homo sapiens?

Exocoetidae or flying fish are a marine fish family comprising about 50 species grouped in 7 to 9 genera. Flying fish are found in all the major oceans, particularly in the warm tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Their most striking feature is their pectoral fins, which are unusually large, and enable the fish to take short gliding flights through air, above the surface of the water, in order to escape from predators.

In some species the pelvic fins are unusually large, so the fish appears to have four wings. Most species reach a maximum length of 30 cm, though a few may be as long as 45 cm. Their eyes are relatively larger than those of other fish as well as flatter which improves visual acuity in the air. Flying fish live close to the water surface and feed on plankton.

Band-wing flyingfish Cheilopogon exsiliens, with large pectoral and pelvic fins

To prepare for a glide, the fish swim rapidly close to the surface of the water, with their fins close to the body. As they leave the water, they spread their fins. The caudal fin is usually deeply forked, with the lower lobe longer than the upper. The fish rapidly move the lower lobe to propel themselves forward once the rest of the body has already left the water. Eventually, even the tail leaves the water and the fish are airborne. They can even flap their "wings". In gliding, flying fish can almost double their speed, reaching speeds up to 60 km/h. The glides are usually up to 30-50 metres in length, but some have been observed soaring for hundreds of metres using the updraft on the leading edges of waves. The fish can also make a series of glides, each time dipping the tail into the water to produce forward thrust.

Flying fish use their unusual flying talent to escape predators such as swordfish, tunas, and other larger fish.

IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER'S STRONG HANDS

A resplendent stone twinkled.
But.
Man was dying.
In wars.

Turtles.
Still deposited their eggs into the sand.
But.
Earth was dying.

Bees.
Still found nectar in flowers.
But.
Bees were dying.

It was time.
To elect a new president.
In the soft
Colors.
Of
Dawn.

Intimations of Mortality

If I should live to be sixty-five

I would be thankful to be alive;

If I should live to be sixty-nine

That would be very, very fine;

But if I should live to be ninety

I'll marry Miss Aphrodite.

***

From Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth:

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;

We will grieve not, rather find

Strength in what remains behind…

The sunshine is a glorious birth;

But yet I know, where'er I go,

That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth.

bEaUTiFuL pULsAr HAIKU

iN tHe SkY sO HiGh

I tHiNk AbOuT wHaT yOu ArE

bEaUTiFuL pULsAr

pYrOmAniA's HAIKU

pYrOmAniA's
bRaiN-LiKe CLoUdS LoAdEd wiTh ThE
SHiNiNg VeiNs Of ZeUs

A Rhymed & UnRhymed Life

Just
A
Drop
In
This
Sea
Of
Man
Is
All
I
Am;
A
Brief
Line
In
The
Eternal
Poem
Of
Time.

On the Platypus

Although the platypus

Is a mammal like us

When it has its babies they

Come outside---But inside eggs!

Not like us who come outside

Without eggs---But with some legs!

The platypus looks like it might want to play
some ping-pong

With a paddle on its face that’s about a
mile long!

MAN OF THE FOREST

O

Orangu-tan

What

Art

Thou?

What

Part

Of

God’s

Big

Brain

Gave

You

Your

Reign?