No Fry List

No Fry List

A few days ago

I went to the grocery store

Just to pick up items for a quick supper

As I was wheeling my menu to check out

A person who identified themselves as a dietitian

Gave me unsolicited feedback

Don’t eat the food you have in your cart

Leaving the store two FBI (Federal Bureau of Ingestion) agents

Questioned me

What was I going to do with the food in my cart

Meanwhile my ice cream melted

The T.V. dinner thawed

And gulls flew away with my Pop Tarts

The next day ATF (Appropriate Timely Food) Agents came with a search warrant

They left with six large garbage bags

My pantry and fridge were empty

Yesterday I received a notice

I am now on the No Fry List

© Thomas Bergum 2017

I Like Short Poems

Due to a personal condition

I can only write short poems

More than 20 lines

And I forget

What I was writing about

Sadly

I also am limited to reading

Short stories

And yes

Short poems

College text books

Were taxing

Lectures

Brought lethargy

Shorthand is better

Than long hand

It is a given that I always draw

The short straw

So I am the master of the unwanted task

And made my living as a short term sub

©Thomas Bergum 2017

Live In The Wonder

As I was holding my infant
Grand daughter

A truth entertained me

This is a wonderful

Horrible world

How can this world be both

I asked

It is large enough to hold everything

Was their reply

But I don’t want the world

To be such a place

Then live in the wonder

But what of the dark

And hideous side

“The light shines in the darkness

And the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5 NIV)

Was their reply

© Thomas Bergum 2017

Upside Down Living

To find significance

One needs to know

One’s position

Insignificance

If you did not exist

The world would be just fine

Now that you accept

Such a truth

You can get on

With your life

And make a difference

© Thomas Bergum 2017

Don't Do This

I am watching

A national report

Regarding Hurricane Irma

Reporters out in pelting rain

Furious winds

They are telling people

Stay inside

It is too dangerous

With debris flying

Why are they out

When trees are falling

And 2X4’s have wings

My mother warned me

About people

Who say one thing and do

Another

“Stay away from them”

I turned the TV off

© Thomas Bergum 2017

  

Freedom

Freedom is found in the wind

Let it carry you where it may

When it is calm be patient

Do not fear when you are swept away

With people and places coming

You have never known before

Confusion can be common

When nothing is the same

You need not be light hearted

But filled with self delays

So gently you may find it

You scarcely realize

It’s taken you to places

It’s loosened where you were bound

I know not where it comes from

Nor where it will bring me to

But it fills my life with purpose

And has led me to You

©Thomas Bergum 2017

Faith and Science

Faith and Science

Two titans

Both have been around

Since mankind’s first question

They seemed to get along just fine

Until religion was threatened

I don’t see them as adversaries

To me they are wondering siblings

Exploring the world

Looking to the heavens

Wanting to know how things fit together

Questions fuel both of them

They are not rivals as many claim

Just wondering children

Wanting to understand their world

© Thomas Bergum 2017