November 26, 2025
A Pause for Poetry
By Gary Heath
Poet in Residence for 50+ Lifestyles.
Volatile Iowa
Buffeted by currents of corn markets,
We are all volatility’s prime targets,
Of wind, rain, ice, hail, and snow,
All forces we would like to forgo.
This is a volatile prairie terrain,
Sown with many hybrids of pain.
Yet we push on through every day,
No matter what the elements say!
Sunrise in Iowa comes and goes,
And here come the tornadoes!
At Life’s Galley’s Oars
To take humankind’s measure,
Work should hold real pleasure,
No laboring at life’s galley oars,
Suffering painful psychic sores.
We work all our lifelong days,
To amass so many birthdays.
So it’s nice to find good work,
To avoid literally going berserk.
Work should never be a steel cage,
Where stone people pace and age.
