We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

2.10.26

Accentuate the Positive


The peace talks with Iran have broken down again –

but the President is sounding confident and looking well.


Predictions promise the hottest summer on record yet –

but at least my little cat didn’t live to suffer through it.


The rising prices can’t be stopped or even slowed –

but I exercise less these days, so my appetite is smaller.


See, it doesn’t matter how bad things are – 

you can ‘always look on the bright side of life!’


Though the world is breaking down in front of our eyes – 

I’m already 86. With luck, I’ll be dead by then.




Written for Friday Writings #247 at Poets and Storytellers United, where we are invited to take a negative concept and turn it into something positive. This jaundiced little piece is not at all what Magaly had in mind! Normally I would  applaud , emulate and endorse her commitment to genuine reframing, but – apologies, dear readers – this time I was caught in a despairingly cynical mood.