Two Poems: Lord Canary (1962) & Common Sides (1981)

Lord Canary
((Unnoted History) (No: 9, poem; 1962, written while in Como Park Junior High School, St. Paul, Minnesota))

Never before published, found in 1980, and misplaced until now, the authors 9th poem,
Written at the age of fourteen years old (Written during classroom time)


Lord Canary—
a teacher by trade,
Taught of mirrors
and acted insane.

He never made sense—
all us students proclaimed,
He just talked on reflections from
mirrors, everyday.

But came the day,
he saw in the mirror:
Everyone laughing
with faces of jeer!

“Oh my gosh, my gosh”
he yelled in terror,
“what have I got here!”
and we all laughed—Mirrors!



Common Sides


Youth has its age
And age its pride;
One thinks he knows
The other thinks why;
But youth and age
With separate ties—
Have common sites:

Life, death, and quest,
And a hope chest
That never rests.


Note: written May of 1981, No: 69/review by Poetry North, Anchorage, Alaska, by D.A. Sterling, Editor: “(the poem: Common Sides)…very smooth and conveys real feeling….”