What time is it?

  I
Katydids come out as darkness arrives, what time is it
Their da da da, back and forth, da da da, asks what time is it

The rain falls knowing nothing of the concern it causes

Because the runoff now requires payment, what time is it

A raindrop in Flint delivered as clean water costs more 

Than a raindrop delivered in most other places, what time is it

The grasses rise, reach for the sun, bend with the breeze

Until they're trimmed or not, do they ask what time is it

Late May frost caught blue hydrangeas buds, most failed

To bloom, now in August, we get a few, and ask what time is it

Tree branches reach up, and over, along the trail, making a canopy in search of the sun, so we ask what time is it

  II

There is a cycle to life, most things within it, and around us

A question we tend is miss is when, what time is it

There are best times of day for creative work and also

Respectfully, for required grunt work, what time is it

There are best times to start new patterns, new habits

New challenges, to succeed not fail, what time is it

There are best times to make big decisions, times to avoid

That dental visit, times to take a napaccino, what time is it

There are best times to start school for middle and high schoolers,

too bad 80% of districts don't do that, what time is it

Coming off the pandemic, with uncertainty, and tight budgets

Wouldn't it makes sense to adjust the start time, what time is it

Katydids, larks, and owls seem to know about cycles

They don't need technology to live, what time is it

Written in response while reading https://www.danpink.com/books/when/

Updated Labor Day weekend when I realized it was the sound of katydids, not tree frogs, that I was referring to.  https://youtu.be/TjM9tZE_bDg

"Once upon a time"

  I

Many written works start with "Once upon a time" and

Life changing events can be traced to once upon a time

The middle school substitute teacher approaches the entrance 

running the gauntlet of students eager-faced once upon a time

Greystone Social Club was the site of the 50's themed party

I got her phone number in good taste once upon a time

Apartment living had our landlord watching over her

while I was business trip placed once upon a time

The mindset matters, ask "Where were you when … " then

fill in the blanks, and find out post-haste once upon a time

As new homeowners in Linden, NJ we brought home  

Our two daughters as life was fast paced once upon a time

  II

The Clamshell Award was coined to recognize challenges opening containers after Tylenol was laced once upon a time

Corporate moves took us briefly to Illinois, then back to Jersey, before arriving to become Mass-based once upon a time

Traffic comes down the exit ramp, focused on vehicles from the left, pedestrians from the right were only misplaced once upon a time

Home search found a prime spot, and after the kids adjusted, 

determined to set our 10 year plan as events raced once upon a time

Her grandfather's garden and work in the canning process, 

turned her off fresh garden tomato paste once upon a time

Kudos to the Woosox for honoring the legacy of the Pawsox, 

without one, the other could not be placed, once upon a time

Forty-one years, some things forgotten, some things forgiven,  

This Sherlock frequently said "I love you," and embraced, once upon a time

For DS, for whom each day with is "once upon a time"

The poetry game

  I

Some don't read poetry, they don't understand the poet game

So this is my chance, maybe I can explain the poet game

This forces me to begin; welcome to my front porch, relax

We can sit, and laugh, toast champagne to the poet game

An image or a object is where I'll start, what do I call it, name it

To conjure the same in your brain for the poet game

Green grass is a good one, what kind of green is it

My grass grows, as does yours, when it rains in the poet game

Celtic green, evergreen, lime green, thousands of shades yet

Shades don't matter when you're filling the grassy plain for the poet game 

However, to complete the knit pattern successfully, you

need yarn from the same batch of color skeins for the poet game

  

  II

So we're back to a specific shade of green grass 

Conjured in both our brains for the poet game

In agreement, we move along, another image adds to our

Thinking, another car joins the freight train in this poet game

We continue on the same track, adding images

Building them like a block chain in the poet game

The length of the poem depends on the train of thought

To be shared to avoid a migraine in the poet game

The line length and punctuation are chosen by the poet

Important to refrain from eyestrain in the poet game

It may be work but not impossible to follow along, find

ourselves comfortably riding the airplane in the poet game 

When successful, we're gliding along, admiring the greenery, 

Together above the tree-lined coast of Maine in the poet game

for Matt