Extensively: Growl!

All worn out
By a blizzard of activity
And a gale of bad tidings,
Both at home and abroad

And to top it all
Woke up too early,
With such pain in my shoulders
I could barely move

But up I got
And moved around,
Moved around,
Achy and cranky,

Stumbling to the kitchen
For a cup of coffee,
Infuriated by the news
And ready for a fight,

With a, “how dare they?”
And a flurry of curses,
For the untimely demise
Of the greedy and the miserly;

The folks in these parts
That run the government,
Who seek to short-change the public,
While adorning themselves in gold nuggets!

But, what did I expect?
I saw this coming
But sometimes I wish
I wasn’t so accurate!

Prognosticating bad news
In a way that is so exact,
So matter-of-fact,
Making Nostradamus
Seem like a mere crackpot.

Extensive: Doubt

What to say,
What to say?
I’m in such a rush today
And on the way out the door,

I have to work,
Which is something of a perk
When so many others
Have to keep looking,

I’m grateful for that
And it gets me out
From under the bed,
When I’m feeling bad or just fed up,

I’ve been listening
To the news
And looking for clues
About what’s coming up,

Not sure what’s happening,
Whether fair weather
Or foul
Is about to arise now,

Everybody’s a’jitter
Awaiting the next twitter
About what’s going on
And where we are all going;

Trying to see
Our destiny,
While carrying on
With what we need do;

Makes a big headache
Which no painkiller can reach,
Standing o’er the breach
And holding one’s breath,
Thinking, “what’s next? What’s next?”

Extend: Backing Up

Little fish, little fish
Pretending to swim
Like this,
Underneath
My paternal Grandmother’s chair,

Little fish, little fish,
Sometimes I wish
I could go back to
That imaginary aquarium,

For those were happy times:
She looking out for me
And me loving her for it.

She watching me at play
And enjoying it too,
Playing along with my games
And loving it and little me.

But ‘tis so long ago,
I barely recognize
That little one,
Where did that all go?

Is that little one still there,
Underneath that chair,
Peering out from underneath
At Grandma’s loving smile?

Is Grandma still there,
Looking down from the chair
At the little child
Looking up lovingly,

Playing eternally,
Joyfully participating
In infinity’s unfolding,
Marveling at everything,
Never minding anything?