Ugly Beauty Contests

Seniors in high school,
class of 1963

we voted most likely
to succeed

best looking/dancer
smartass, etc.

but did not consider
last to die

wise life well lived,
really generous

still energetic —
even dearly beloved.

Here on the verge of
beginning July

when we’ll reconvene
for a mini-reunion

I cannot help
worrying if and why

few of us might show, that
holding off till our sixtieth

(unseized carpe diem
be damned)

is by far
our less doleful plan

so each has enough time
to gain/lose

weight or mind —
maybe just die.

Recovery Haiku

If you’d rather live
than die addicted, forgive
or starve your monsters.

Gerard Sarnat has won the Poetry in the Arts award and the Dorfman Prize, been nominated for various Pushcarts, and authored four collections: HOMELESS CHRONICLES (2010), Disputes (2012), 17s (2014), and Melting The Ice King (2016). His work has been widely published.

Harvard/Stanford educated, Gerry has worked in jails, built/staffed clinics for the marginalized, and been a CEO and Stanford Med professor. Married for a half-century, Gerry has three kids and four grandkids, so far.

gerardsarnat.com