Robert Demaree- Three Poems

SELFIE

It should not surprise us,

Navel-gazing nation,

Heirs of Narcissus,

That you can use your telephone

To take a picture of yourself.

Not a new idea, better people have tried it:

Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens

Spread oil over canvas

Pursuing this dubious premise:

What I look like to myself

Should be of interest to you.

Autobiographers may be on firmer ground,

Motives clearer, at least,

But what would an autobiographical

Symphony sound like,

What poem is not a snapshot of self?

TWO QUESTIONS FOR THE MEDICARE ADMINISTRATOR

Walking in the woods:

What happens when a connection

Fails

Between brain and leg,

Whatever, besides vision,

Keeps you from walking

Into trees?

The dean emeritus

Of the School of Engineering

Smiles vacantly, pleasantly

In the memory care lounge

While Andy Griffith episodes

Roll on in black and white.

Should we feel any sadder for him

Than for the plumber

Wandering the halls,

Electronically connected

Into the security system,

Muttering

Need some help,

Need some help.

Untitled

 

Canada geese on the road;

Old Buick approaches.

They fly off:

Motion detector.

Robert Demaree is the author of three book-length collections of poems, including After Labor Day, published in April 2014 by Beech River Books.  In 2013 his poems received first place in competitions sponsored by the Poetry Society of New Hampshire and the  Burlington Writers Club He is a retired school administrator with ties to North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, where he lives four months of the year. He has had over 650 poems published or accepted by 150 periodicals. For further information see http://www.demareepoetry..blogspot.com