For Carolyn

The large painting above the couch

Is missing. Where did it go? I didn’t move

It but it’s obviously gone missing. Ouch!

There’s pain in my chest. I’ve lost my groove.

My sense of balance has me stumbling

And staggering about. Where did my astrolabe

Go? It’s gone, too. I hear me mumbling

With ill-formed words and thoughts that are frayed.

Happiness Depends Partly On Grammar

[The following is an excerpt from Gwynne's Grammar by N. M Gwynne, in which the author makes a case for the importance of proper grammar: Here is a step-by-step proof (yes, a proof that really is valid!) that happiness depends partly on grammar.]

Step one. For genuine thinking, we need words. (By “genuine thinking” I mean as opposed to merely being conscious of feeling hungry, tired, angry and so on and wanting to do something about it; in other words, anything that animals cannot do.) Thinking cannot be done without words.

Step two. If we do not use words rightly, we shall not think rightly.

Step three. If we do not think rightly, we cannot reliably decide rightly, because good decisions depend on accurate thinking.

Step four. If we do not decide rightly, we shall make a mess of our lives and also of other people’s lives to the extent that we have an influence on other people.

Step five. If we make a mess of our lives, we shall make ourselves and other people unhappy.

In summary of the proof: grammar is the science of using words rightly, leading to thinking rightly, leading to deciding rightly, without which -- as both common sense and experience show -- happiness is impossible. Therefore, happiness depends at least partly on good grammar.

I could show you photos

I could show you photos of places

I’ve visited, like exotic spaces

On Travel-TV. But truth to tell

I haven’t been anywhere. I‘m not well

Enough for a trip. Further, I have

No ticket stubs from shows that gave

Us pleasure. My collections don’t include

Teaspoons, stamps, butterflies, or food

Notes cribbed from cookbooks or menus.

My collections are seen in other venues,

Like books I’ve bought from amazon bargains

And all the notes I’ve written in the margins.