I wouldn't learn to whistle
In the halcyon days of youth
"That's a boy's trick" I explained
Unwilling to be uncouth
"Boys have it all" I exclaimed
It seemed the saddest truth
With their right to choose the girl
And now I'm long in the tooth
Octogenarian Mary F. Bunker inspires us with her wise and wryly humorous perspective. In this collection she considers the beauty and foibles of birds, skewers politicians who aren't doing their jobs, and ponders men, women, and their relationships. She poignantly reflects on growing old and living alone after four decades of marriage, and makes fun of her lifelong exasperation with new-fangled contraptions.
Edited by Emily Bunker
Illustrated by Tim Joyce
http://www.emilybunker.com/learningToWhistle.html
MAN VERSUS WOMAN
A man wants a woman to stay as she was
When he married the girl of his dreams
No aging or growing or changing at all
With diet pills, face lifts, and creams
Conversely, a woman has other ideas
For the man she has chosen to wed
She'll try to reform him, conform him, inform him
Voila! The relationship's dead
MEDICAL TESTS
Doctor like to order tests
X-rays, ultrasound
They keep the money flowing in
And the patients hanging 'round
TIPSY ROBINS
When the pyracantha has fermented
Robins act as though demented
They seem to be the sole variety
Not noted for temperance or sobriety
For no matter how many bird decals
Diving down with fork-like tails
Are glued to my picture windowpane
The effort always is in vane
Like Hitchcock's Birds, with great exuberance
They crash against my glass protuberance
LAST WEEK
Last week I bought the nicest toy
It soothes my nerves and gives me joy
I hold it close to me each night
It helps to ease my lonely plight
It's softly curved to fit my hand
And does whatever I command
Why did I wait so long to dote
Upon a fancy new remote?
BEAUTY
The more I think about beauty
The more I think about truth
The dire need
The desperate need
To reverse the trend of lies
Corporate lies
Political lies
Lies for power and greed
We've lost the motto "Dare to be True"
We've lost beauty
http://www.emilybunker.com/whistleTextBook.html
Mary Franklin Bunker spent her childhood in Dedham, Massachusetts, and graduated from Milton Academy. Not only a poet, she is also an artist, pianist, and former competitive tennis player. This mother of four, grandmother of four, and great-grandmother of one lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her daughter Kathy Black. Her poetry is edited by her daughter Emily Bunker.
Illustrations:
Tim Joyce is an artist and high school English teacher.
http://www.emilybunker.com/