{"id":264,"date":"2013-12-31T17:16:03","date_gmt":"2013-12-31T22:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=264"},"modified":"2013-12-31T17:29:05","modified_gmt":"2013-12-31T22:29:05","slug":"the-elder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=264","title":{"rendered":"The Elder"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m flabby philosophically.
\nI’ve joined a cigar band.
\nWe smoke while playing tubas.
\nThe bland must lead the bland.<\/p>\n

I cater now to no one.
\nIt’s later than I think.
\nI’d rather\u00a0read than eat, alas,
\nBut can’t give up the drink.<\/p>\n

I’ve watched in sheer amazement
\nThe dear departed leave,
\nThen come back just to decompose
\nEach tenet I believe.<\/p>\n

The history of progress
\nHas doubled back, it seems.
\nWe’re raking leaves from long-dead trees,
\nAnd piling them on dreams.<\/p>\n

At night, I disassemble,
\nRe-gather in the morn.
\nTwo times of three, I favor glee.
\nBut sometimes I’m forlorn.<\/p>\n

It helps to have good friendships.
\nA pet is handy, too.
\nThis ‘elderly’ is new to me.
\nWe do what we must do.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m flabby philosophically. I’ve joined a cigar band. We smoke while playing tubas. The bland must lead the bland. I cater now to no one. It’s later than I think. I’d rather\u00a0read than eat, alas, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[3,4],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem-2","tag-poem","tag-poetry-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":813,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=813","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":0},"title":"Spare Ramparts","author":"Rick Young","date":"December 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Kind castles create bland rulers. The harsh flag scoffs at victory. Prepare to die by poison ideas. The armor of the future is speed. Pure evil is the fulcrum of doubt. Get over it: forget the Alamo. Loose troops sink ships' shapes. Bomb patterns make lovely quilts. A nation of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":663,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=663","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":1},"title":"Crime of Dispassion","author":"Rick Young","date":"January 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm ice cold and my hands are blue. I feel the wind right through my shoe. I've got no roof or home to shelter me, the human discard of society. I'm a homeless man in a heartless time. I've got no money. That's my crime. Once I had friends and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":809,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=809","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":2},"title":"He’s Makin’ A List","author":"Rick Young","date":"December 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh Santa, please bring me some nukes for Christmas. Just leave some megatons beneath my tree. My Russian pen pal asked you for the same thing. And I don't want him to have more than me. The game we play is mutual destruction. And I don't know, dear Santa, if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1388,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=1388","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":3},"title":"More Chess Records","author":"Rick Young","date":"May 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I moved my king two squares and he fell off the world. The queen did scream, of course. She'd just had her hair curled. It was a shocking scene of gravity, a startling moment of depravity. Bishops, knights in castles, all pleaded with their pawns: keep attackers off the middle,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1242,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=1242","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":4},"title":"May Day 49","author":"Rick Young","date":"May 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Forty nine questions. The croaker croaks. The tweeter tweets. The garden of heathens is showing its colors. In the weeds predators huddle. Seeds of democracy are scattered. We must be active gardeners to insure truth must flower. And spring may clean our great distress.","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":928,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=928","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":5},"title":"Retirement Blues","author":"Rick Young","date":"August 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm looking for some glue, but all the tubes are empty. In the kitchen, aerosol cans hiss and try to tempt me. I've stolen vodka from next door. I've smoked a pipe of stems. I feel like meaning's matador. I need some M&M's. If I were in Ecuador, I could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}