‘It Isn’t the World — It’s You’
The skies are grim and grey,
The night has lost its quiet,
You fear the coming day?
Support Local Journalism
The world is what you make it,
The sky is grey or blue
just as your soul may paint it;
It isn’t the world — it’s you!
Clear up the clouded vision,
Clean out the foggy mind;
The clouds are always passing,
And each is silver-lined.
The world is what you make it —
Then make it bright and true,
and when you say it’s gloomy,
It isn’t the world it’s you.
— Unknown poet
Jere Rood, spoken from memory
Aspen
‘Whenever You Can’
There’s a place we all have to go
For a task we all have to do
And we know it by many names
The bathroom, the toilet, the loo
Now whether you squat
Or weather you sit
We all have to go there
To that place to … do it
And whatever it’s called
The can, the latrine, some say the john
There’s a potty in there
For us to sit on
It’s a place to conduct important business
A task to start your day
In the restroom, the toidy … some say the head
That where we get the day underway
But whatever you call it
From outhouses to privies
There’s an essential task to do
Before you pull up your skivvies
It’s a simple chore we all sort of abhor
But it’s necessary in the end
And the tissue required … well, you know
That’s certainly your very best friend
But today, all the toilet paper is gone
Because there’s a global emergency
And people are hoarding it all
In case they should feel that … urgency
Now these are terribly serious times
The world’s confronting a deadly disease
So help lighten your neighbor’s load
Share a role of TP pretty please
Greg Lewis
Woody Creek
If the coranavirus and stay-at-home orders have moved you to reflect on the global pandemic through poetry, send your work to rcarroll@aspentimes.com.