POETRY BY RUSSEL WINICK

Russel Winick studied poetry for two weeks at age fourteen as part of a high school English class, and then decided to try writing poetry a short fifty years later, at age 64, after concluding a long career as a business attorney and litigator. Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Robert Frost are among his foremost poetic influences.

He and his wife Vicki reside in Naperville, Illinois.

MAYBE SOMEDAY

His kids show zero interest in his work.
They’re happy he likes writing, but that’s it.
Examples do not even get a smirk,
They don’t like poetry one little bit.

But he keeps on with faith his poems are good,
In pleasing styles, he aims to publish more,
For there’s a chance that sometime someone could
Review his poems and want them in a store.

His kids therefore might someday be approached,
And asked if they’re related, and be glad –
Though poetry was never something broached –
To say with pride that:  “Yes, he was our dad.”

SOCIAL SINCERITY

He saw me at a birthday party,
Came right by and spoke a while,
Then spied somebody else and took off,
As if I’d gone out of style.

Throughout the night we made eye contact,
But there was no indication
He had even slight desire
To finish up our conversation.

Then he texted me the next day,
I knew not what it was for,
He said that he was very sorry
There’d been “no chance” to talk more.

WAITING FOR A DREAM DENIED

When something that we’ve always yearned for seems
Increasingly unlikely to transpire,
How can we cope with such elusive dreams—
The type that happiness seems to require?

It’s shattering to feel we’ve played our role,
Done everything we always planned to do,
With scant response from those we can’t control,
A woe for which we do not have a clue.

The experts all prescribe mind frame reboots,
First grieve, but then accept reality,
Note positives, and channel new pursuits,
But does that square with our humanity?

Take certain foremost goals throughout the years—
Like warm relations or career success—
How feasible is it to just switch gears,
Can we for such dreams be content with less?

Each time the disappointment is renewed,
When all our hopes get pushed back yet again,
How can we block diminishment of mood,
Keep peace of mind no worse than it has been?

We must ensure morale does not implode,
Take care that our self-pride will still abound,
As we continue on our finest road,
Employing what should only get us crowned.

Some dreams require that others come around.