Dieting in a Pandemic/Retirement

Get on the scale
Read the newspaper
Eat

Clean out drawers
Sort through junk
Make a pile for Good Will
Eat

Write a letter
Write a poem
Write an email
Record calories eaten
Eat

Do some yoga or
Online aerobics
Walk the dog
Ride the bike
Eat

Cook
Open the wine
Drink
Watch the news
Eat

Watch a movie
Read a book
Record calories eaten
Eat?

I think you see the problem.

Frame of Reference

On this morning’s walk
We happened upon
Moonset
The full grey disc
Rapidly disappearing
Behind the trees.
For a few moments
I felt the earth turning
Tipping me backward
Off-balance
Then it was gone and
My reference frame
Readjusted
Returned me to
Dependence on earth’s stability,
Immobility, tranquility
Even though I know
We are hurtling through space

Poetry took Karen Havholm by surprise when she retired after 27 years at UW-Eau Claire. Poems began to insinuate themselves and insist on being written down. Karen’s prior publications are articles about geology or about the benefits of undergraduate student research.