Men, Women and Sex

What strange bedfellows
Men and women really are,
Each sex to beats of different drummers
Keep their paces, with likes and tastes
And attitudes hitched to a different star,
Their nature more divergent
Than the most opposite of races,
Man, just like a dog, with great big, trusting eyes,
He's noisy and gads does he ever bark,
While woman, slinky, stealthy, twisting, turning,
Feline, luscious, clean, adorable, a real cat,
When those two get together, one thing is sure,
Mixed is the fire with the fat,
And when a man, finally, does take a mate,
He does it not only to honor and to copulate,
But also, as the occasion arises,
Zestfully to love and hate,
And battles often fought inside the boudoir
Are far, far worse
Than any Bolshevic did ever fight with any czar,
And the big joker who sits up high above,
He slaps his knee and laughs like hell,
At what he wrought - this thing called love.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Society in Decline

'A Great Society'
Which has neither food
Nor room for its artists,
Whose poets, painters
And musicians
Dwell in the Village,
On the borderline
Of the nether world,
Neither living nor starving,
In a society of externalisms,
Supporting empty-headed
Bureaucrats,
Led by a swarm of legally
Authenticated shysters
Or petty administrators,
Whose gods are ostentation
And crass materialism,
A society which waters down
Its silver and its soul,
Where morality and hope
Rot in shambles,
Where the bitter bread of Welfare
And the circuses of commercialism
Are provided for the multitudes,
While crime stalks the streets,
Such a failing society
Reminds me very much of Rome,
Being swallowed up
By the Dark Ages,
In its final decline...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

From Outer Space

It's strange how men
Subconsciously so deeply yearn
To travel into outer space,
As if to some far distant past
They would return,
A dimly remembered galaxy,
Some long ago familiar place;
Could it, perchance, be,
That some travelers
From an other world
Once landed here eons ago,
To perish, yet to contaminate
This world with life's first glow?

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

A Noble Race

After civilization
And this human adventure
Has run its course,
And a silent emptiness
Pervades this earth,
Long after man is gone,
In the memory
Of some infinite spirit,
The thought will there remain,
With all their weaknesses
And faults mankind was,
Oh yes, it was a noble race...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Corruption

Special interests
Spreading money
Amongst officials,
Who, with tongues of honey,
Steal slyly public money,
Private sector seduction,
Facilitating government corruption,
Wars, supposedly fought for flag and soil,
Are really started for profits on the oil,
And young men die - but don't know why,
Debts are way up - employment down,
The voters at fault - they elected this clown.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Why Write?

To cope with all the
Idiosyncracies of daily life,
The constant struggle
And the constant strife,
The intervals of joy,
Moments of absolute delight,
My thoughts
On paper do I write,
Though be my mood
As black as coal,
My graphic recollections
Purge my soul.......

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Normal?

To be considered normal
In today's society,
From an objective
Point of view,
There must be something
Very wrong with you.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Thoughts

If it is the nature of time and space to be curved, it
follows that infinity, as a function of time and space,
must also be curved. Based on this premise, a
hypothetical conclusion may be drawn that the nature
of infinity must be circular or elliptical. Therefore,
any point or event on the infinity circle must recur
again precisely as it has occurred before.

The affairs of the world are run by lawyers and
politicians, people skilled in semantics, not in
philosophical thinking, planning and logic. Their
mode of operation predisposes them to externalisms,
resulting in most of our difficulties.

A society which concerns itself a great deal with the
public discussion of sex and pornography has usually
hidden problems in its bedchambers.

We cannot blame our leaders for their immorality.
They are only reflecting the shortcomings of the
people who put them there.

Our programs of specialization are creating 'learned
ignoramuses' who know more and more about less
and less.

The level of our dialogue will not rise unless we
buckle down and bring some Renaissance men
into this world.

In a world where big fish eat little fish there can be
neither justice nor morality.

The creative spirit is the leper of our conformist
society.

The neurotic tries to cope with a seemingly impossible
reality, while the psychotic has given up. In a way it
can be said that the unreality of psychosis protects
the organism, tensed beyond the limits of endurance,
from biological damage to vital organic functions.

Welfare and television are the bread and circuses,
which keep the poor masses of our society quiet.
By the way Rome tried it - it didn't work.

Colleges are becoming dipolma mills. The level
of development for the incompetent rises - the
level of development for the competent falls.
Thus, we lose our technological advantage.

Faces in the subway during the morning rush hour
- bland despair with a dash of indifference mixed
with apprehension

Today's sanity is unhealthy.

My idea of happiness - hearing the news that all
politicians are now working for the sanitation
department.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

We've Wandered the Globe

We've wandered the globe
For thousands of years,
Starting with Abraham,
Who took our Hebrew wanderers
Out of the deserts of Sumeria
To Egypt, where we were enslaved,
Till Moses led us for forty years
Through deserts to the Holy Land,
Where our Kingdom was finally
Ravaged by the Romans,
Jesus, our rabbi, crucified,
And then, through the Middle Ages,
Jews were restricted to Ghettos,
Forced to wear a yellow star,
Then came the pogroms in Russia,
The Jews killed, the women raped,
Followed by the German Nazis,
Who gassed and burned
Six million of our brethren,
Till, finally, our Jewish people
Returned to our Holy Land,
Our former kingdom,
Fulfilling a dream,
Dormant for thousands of years,
Where they wanted to live
In peace and friendship
With their Semitic Arab cousins,
But the fascist Imams and agitators,
Who kept their own people in bondage,
Wanted a war to drive the Jews into the sea,
But this will never, ever happen,
For Jehovah, terrible in his wrath,
Will with Israel's modern technology,
Turn the cities of our enemies
Into green glass and the inhabitants
Into radioactive vapors,
And for ten thousand years,
All life in their lands will cease.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The Painted Raven

A scientist painted a raven white,
His own flock killed him - while in flight,
Just as the Jews were persecuted, slain,
Because they were of a different strain,
Their great contributions to society,
Disregarded - as made in vain,
Their gifts of the Bible, monotheism,
Moses, Jesus, Spinoza, Heine,
All added to humanity's gain,
Freud, Einstein, Chagall, Bernstein,
Salk, Gershwin, Berlin and many others,
Gifts of the Jews - held in disdain,
In light of this, one just can not explain,
Why six million Jews were sacrificed,
Poisoned in camps by gas and burned, they died,
Even Jesus Christ,
A great and noble Jew, was crucified,
Were he to see what was done in his name,
He would most certainly be horrified,
And hang his head in shame...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Old Love Letters

A bundle of old, faded love letters,
Tied with a blue ribbon,
Found in the attic of grandmother's
Home in Vienna,
Revealing a summer's passion
In an alpine village,
Long, long ago, forgotten,
A dried edelweiss
Pressed between the pages,
A story of lovers - long dead...

Wonder if grandfather ever knew
Of this hidden romance,
When the edelweiss
Still turned its petals
Towards the sun...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Sunrise

When the sun's first golden light,
In early morn,
Chases the darkness of the night,
Nature awakening
To a new day, fresh and bright,
With birds' sweet songs
Preceding their morning flight,
And flower petals open up,
Turning towards the early light,
The world arising in the morning glow,
Will always be the very best of times
I'll ever, ever know.......

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Sunset

When the sun's fading rays of light,
Precede the darkness of the night,
The golden globe aglow, a reddish light,
Birds taking the last evening flight,
And flowers close their petals tight,
Impending sleep for all,
Except the creatures of the night,
Who then awaken by the moonbeams' light...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Lost Values

In a world
Which cherishes utility,
Much common sense
And sensibility,
Material values, money,
Social mobility,
I am a modern Don Quixote,
A lost soul from another time,
I value beauty,
A noble spirit
And gentility...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Nothing Bothers Uncle Moe

Uncle Moe is ninety years old,
He drives his old car
Even on ice in winter's cold,
Nothing ever bothers him,
No stop signs, signals red or green...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Polish Sausage

"I want a Polish sausage,
Sharp, peppered, red",
Mister Putzky
To the store clerk said.
The clerk asked:
"Are you Polish, sir?"
Replied Putzky:
"Why ask, this is not your affair."
"Look at the sign on our door",
Ventured the clerk,
"Sir, this is a hardware store".

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Chinangle

There are no friends,
Just interests about;
Promises of a new Chinese market,
Pushed our old friend Taiwan
Right out,
A lack of business
Started the Vietnamese war,
And instead at its conclusion,
We'll sell each Chinese a new car,
If this does not work,
We'll start a new war.

Pearl Harbor is forgotten,
Its treachery kindly explained,
The fried kids of Nagasaki
Have been quietly drained,
As long as there is business,
The friendship is great,
If Japanese imports
Should hurt us too much,
We'll arm to the teeth,
And then light a match,
Japan will then fight,
And happily lose,
And some more golden eggs
Will be laid
By the American goose.

The German, today,
Is our best friend,
But if business goes sour,
This also will end,
And millions will die,
And mothers will cry,
And profits will rise.
I ask you, my friends,
Will fools ever be wise?

No! We still play the same game,
Now, Iraq is its name,
While China is getting our honey,
While we're losing trade
And devaluating our money.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Changes 2006

Purr, purr purred the macines,
Computing and writing
Programs and schemes,
And the cars and the subways
Were rushing along,
And the streets were all filled
With machines like throngs,
And every single soul had to conform
In order to be part of the norm,
And they hustled and jumped
In mechanical ways,
And their souls and their minds
Were in a perpetual daze,
When suddenly came a man
Who loudly yelled: "FIRE",
And he filled their souls
With human desire,
And he lit a spark
To start conflagrations,
And they burned their machines
All across the nations,
And spirits destroyed
For past generations
Began to feel some
New human sensations,
And there were songs and flowers
And love 'cross the lands,
And strangers met on the streets
Shaking hands,
And eyes looked up
Full of joy at the sky,
And men felt so good,
They thought they could fly.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Question?

Have you ever stood
On top of the mountain,
Breathing the fresh, clean air,
Unpolluted and invigorating,
And then gone down into the valley,
So full of stench, dust and corruption,
And with your very heart and soul
Longed to return to the mountain top,
But found that you did not have the strength?

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Gwen

There is a gentle tapping
At my door,
A sound I've heard
So many times before,
When Gwen was still alive,
Sunny and bright,
Life but a dream, a happy flight,
And all my days
So filled with light.
I slowly opened up the door,
And there was Gwen,
Just as before,
My heart was filled
With joy and fear and love,
But with a hollow voice she said:
"They want you up above,
The master told me
That your time is up,
Tonight, my love,
You'll drain your final cup,
You'll join me in the angels' dome,
Where we'll hold hands
And call it home,
And nevermore you'll walk
This lovely earth alone,
But in your life's end,
There is another birth..."

Next day,
They found the old man
Lying on his bed,
And on his face
A gentle smile,
But he - quite dead...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2005 Alfred Charasz

Merry Widow's Tale

She was quite young,
When first they met,
John was her first,
She ever bed,
And six months later,
They were wed,
And lived together thirty years,
When John dropped dead.

Four weeks later,
She ran into Mike O'Toole,
A good, old friend,
She knew from school,
With Mike she spent
A single night,
It was an absolute delight,
Soon they were wed,
And she'd reflect,
John was a burger,
Quite nice,
But Mike,
He was filet mignon,
God - what a price!

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Misbegotten Marriage

John was extraordinary tall,
Bridget exceptionally small,
But deeply in love,
When they first met,
But six months later,
Their marriage was dead,
Till one fine day,
John told Bridget,
Her epitaph should be:
'BRIDGET A FRIGID MIDGET',
And she replied, furious and fast,
His should be: 'STIFF - AT LAST'.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Dreams and Reality

Let dreams be our reality,
And let reality be our dreams,
They give our lives the quality,
For life itself is but a dream,
A passing fancy, so it seems,
We're here today and gone tomorrow,
We are born in joy and die in sorrow,
We never own but only borrow,
Make life only a play of joy and song,
For when that final curtain falls,
We have to move along,
From dust to dust goes our way,
Live fully, grasp each blessed day...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Snake

She twists and she turns,
She squiggles and wiggles,
She slides and she hides,
She strikes and bites,
Were she turned human
By a magician,
She'd be a lawyer
Or politician.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Religion and Nationalism

Religion is the opium of the people,
A superstition, evermore in fashion,
It's an addictive and combative passion,
Based on premises - quite irrational,
Creating a society - divided, fractional,
In addition, flag waving 'patriotism',
And other chauvinistic
Values of nationalism,
Turn into obscenities,
With humans its fatalities.
All these 'values' are promoted
By predatory profiteers,
Politicos, imams, preachers,
Corporate raketeers,
Dictators, Fascists,
And 'Compassionate Republicans',
Or corrupt members
Of some other well-connected clans,
Who are all compelled by greed,
While we, the people, starve and bleed,
Not realizing that for religions
And nationalism there never was a need.
Without these burdens,
We could live very well,
The world could be a heaven
Not a veritable hell,
On this unique blue planet,
With six billion people on it,
Home of our blessed human race,
Endowed with intellect and grace,
Brothers and sisters all,
Regardless of the hue of our skin,
Living in one world as one people,
Realists, sharing the scene,
But divisive religion
And aggressive nationalism,
We'll turn humanity
Into the 'might have been'.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Nostalgia

On nights like these,
Sweet scent of jasmine in the air,
And moonbeams dancing
On the silvery palms,
With crickets chirping
Through the night,
I think of you, my love,
And wonder if you
Sometimes think of me...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Wanted

Although, my dear,
You're wanted,
Do not take me
For granted!

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

To Nathaniel from a Survivor

Little fellow - all of two years,
Cautiously playing with words,
What is your future - little man,
Where are you going, who will you be,
Will fate be kind to you?
There's a rough world out there,
But you'll cope, you'll cope,
You have the survivors' blood in your veins,
Those tough, old birds who survived
The pogroms, the wars and the Holocaust,
I know, I know - I'm your grandfather.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

To my Grandson AJ

My sunny boy with golden hair,
A sparkling personality - so rare,
A ray of sunshine in a somber world,
Warm image, loving and courageous - fair,
Flesh of my own flesh,
For you with all my heart I care,
You'll be my heritage - my clone,
The only part of me that will be living on,
Long after I am dead and gone,
Let luck always shine upon your face,
And may you make this world
A better place......

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Darwinian Law

It's not the province
Of the weak and meek
To forge ahead,
And thus this world's
Spoils to reap,
For it's incumbent
Under nature's reign,
That predators will always
The advantage gain,
From justice thus
We must abstain,
When sharks the lives
Of little fishes claim,
And under Darwin's law,
Morality is preached in vain.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

To Ben - Prosecutor at Nurnberg

Assisting all my people
In their agony,
Avenge with retribution
All their misery,
A soldier with his sword
Of law in hand,
At Nurnberg did he prosecute
That murdering Nazi band.
It's men like Ben,
Devoted to his brethren
With his very life,
Who stays their darkness
And helps them to survive.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Harmony of the Spheres

On quiet, moonlit nights
My eyes are heaven bent,
To that great harmony of spheres,
Traveling their routes
Across the firmament,
And then in silent wonder I reflect
On powers shaping this event,
What divine intellect there be,
Creating galaxies and even me...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Renaissance Man

The Renaissance men are no more,
Gone - the men for all seasons,
The creative giants from before,
No more Da Vinci, Mozart, Freud, Einstein,
Those geniuses close to the divine,
Gone - the poets Homer, Dante, Shakespeare,
Never, ever again will they appear,
Gone - Socrates, Plato, philosophers who last,
The venerable masters of a glorious past;
We now depend on specialists for our progress,
Who know more and more about less and less,
And all our creativity is now confined
To a more pedestrian, moderate kind...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Man Eater

She is a human
Venus Flytrap in disguise,
A certified nymphomaniac,
Don't go near her if you're wise,
She's a spider
Who will catch you in her net,
Her appetite - ferocious,
She'll sex you to death,
But while you relish
In love's sweet glow,
Enjoy it to the hilt, my friend,
It's a delightful way to go.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Purpose?

Generations come,
Generations go,
All destined
To graves below;
The purpose?
Only gods may know...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Lest We Forget

Through somber days
And lonely nights,
I see them yet,
Beloved family and friends,
My long gone, honored dead,
The Holocaust gave their lives brevity,
While I survived due to longevity,
And often do I ask the reason why
It was my luck not to die,
Perchance, to tell their story,
A sad tale - bloody and gory,
Lest the world ever forget,
What the Nazis did
To my honored dead...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Wishes

Take care of what you wish for,
You may get it - friend,
The wish fulfilled,
May have a bitter end,
You fervently wish
For your son's return
From battle in Iraq,
You get your wish,
He's sent back in a body bag,
You wish and vote
For a Republican Administration,
You get your wish,
Lose freedom and prosperity,
And live in a ruined nation,
You wish your wife
Would show more get and go,
You get your wish,
She runs off with a tennis pro,
So friend, carefully choose
Your wishes for tomorrow,
Fulfilled - they may turn into sorrow...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

First Love

First love's passion
Is the very best,
Never again will love return
With such burning zest,
First love, first love
Brings greater joy
Than all the rest,
Remembered forever
As the best, the best;
If there be gods,
By them first love
Is the most blessed.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The New Police State

If to the new police state's rules
You do not perfectly conform,
Read the wrong books,
Deviate from the norm,
Or, god forbid, you're a liberal,
Federal spies will raise a storm;
So, better get ready, mate,
To watch your step
In the new fascist state.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The New Republicans

Hail, for the new conservative autocracy,
Down, with the liberal democracy,
Eliminate Medicaid, Social Security,
Entitlement programs which are free,
Let's stop all foreign immigration,
Those spongers will ruin our nation,
The rich industrialists shaped our land,
Let's cut their taxes,
Give them a helping hand,
Let's rid the country of those Welfare thieves,
- we'll do it promptly,
We are the Compassionate Conservatives,
Let the Republican elite show us the way,
The lumpen proletariat has had its day.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Summer Loves

When the last rose of summer
Does its petals shed,
And the colors fade
In the wilting flower bed,
And the leaves on trees
Turn into blazing autumn red,
Then fall is just around the bend,
And summer loves are at an end...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Neither Devil nor Angel

Beyond the intricacies
Of the human soul and mind,
Opposing tendencies I find,
The chap who gives a lot to charity,
May in his shady dealings show disparity,
The robber who threatens an old lady with a bat,
May love and relish his small pet - a cat,
While I cannot ignore his action with the bat,
This man can be converted from a rat,
To a more caring, decent chap,
By emphasizing his feelings for his cat,
Thus, one maybe inclined to see,
That man neither a devil nor an angel be,
Yet, in the most evil soul some love I see,
Seek it out, then subject to molding is he...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The Play

All of us are actors
In the tragic-comic
Play of life,
We play our part,
The curtain falls,
And we depart,
Some call the play obscene,
Yet, others call it art,
It all depends,
Who plays what part,
And as the scenes go by,
We laugh, we wonder
And we cry,
And in the end,
We all ask why,
After performing,
We must die...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Shadows of the Past

The shadows of the past
Pursue me yet,
Nightmares of Auschwitz,
The six million dead,
Haunting dreams,
Tossing, turning in my bed,
Waken in the morn,
Drenched in a cold sweat,
Those shadows of the past,
I can never, ever forget...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Agnostic

If there be gods,
We know them not,
To invent imaginary ones,
Is our selected lot,
Yet, we cannot persist
To follow the atheist,
And claim gods don't exist,
For up to this very day,
Whether they'd be or not,
We cannot say,
For god forbid,
There is a god,
His holy blessings,
We have not...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Jazz

Jazz, jazz, you pulsing rhythm,
Mad, mad beat,
Electrifying, basic id,
Swinging, filled with passion, heat,
The primitive, the earth,
The devil's pit,
Expression of the life force,
Puts all creation in a fit,
My body is shaking,
My heart beats wild,
You rob me of my quietude,
You make me nature's child!

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

The Goldsmith

Like a fossil, a relic of a long past time,
I ply my trade in tedious ways,
Create my precious jewels, lovingly and fine,
While automation slowly does my trade erase,
Yet, till my dying breath will I battle the machine;
For the conformity and artlessness of modern times,
I simply do not have the spleen.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

'Compassionate Conservatives'

They talk of 'Honor, Country,
God and Values,
Of Justice and Integrity'
Or other righteous platitudes,
While deep within
A dark and decadent abyss
Holds evil and corruption
Of the most vicious kind,
Shaping a society
Whose sickness grows
With every passing day,
Till no return is possible...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

My Sister Rose

Clumps of earth falling
On the Star of David
Of my sister's coffin,
Like the final thump, thump
Of a dying heartbeat,
A fine woman,
A part of me - gone,
Diminishing my world and me,
My family growing ever
Smaller and smaller,
Till we are all memories
In some eternal scheme of things.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Friend

A ray of sunshine
In dark moments,
A helping hand,
When trouble
Lies around the bend,
The best there is
- a friend -

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Death of a Soldier

Death be no stranger
To my mortal coil,
When in some foreign land,
I lie beneath the soil,
And soon forgotten,
All of me,
My life, my love,
My death, my misery...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Beyond our Poor Philosophy

Amongst the trillion
Burning stars and planets,
On that small, outlying planet, earth,
There lives the specie - man.
Shaped of such clay
As dreams are made of,
Whose intellect and creativity
Served him to dominate his globe,
And may expand his horizons
Throughout the universe,
Were it not for his petty fights,
Wars, chauvinism,
But most of all,
Those opiates - religions,
These simple-minded
Conflicting superstitions,
Which may destroy man yet,
Perchance, like previous species,
Similar to man,
Who perished in their wars
On other planets,
For there's a scheme of things,
Which runs this universe,
Prescribes the path of sun and moon,
Whose nature is far, far beyond
The poor philosophy of mankind.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Come Dance With Me...

Come, dance
The very last dance with me,
Before the music will end,
For shadows on the wall I see,
It's death around the bend,
If heaven be more than a dream,
We'll dance there forever,
Beyond life's scheme...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

A Grand Dame

She was a grand dame,
Who lived in style,
She married rich men,
Who were worth her while,
She left with their money,
They remained with their bile.

Now, she's the richest matron
In the Palms,
Her former husbands?
They subsist on alms.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Ghost Ship

A ghost ship on a moonlit, silvery sea,
It rides the waves, waiting for me,
The Penland was the phantom ship,
Saved from the Holocaust was I,
On its very last trip,
For it was sunk on its return,
Left in mid-seas by subs to burn,
Sometimes in dreams I see my ghost
Sailing the moonlit, silver seas,
The Penland as my host.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Beta Gamma Sigma

National Honor Society for MBA and BBA students and alumni

Beta Gamma Sigma
Selects the brightest and the best,
To be a beacon for the rest,
For scholarship and dedication,
And leadership in business
Or administration.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Great Poets of the Past

Where are they now,
Great shadows of the past,
Are they eradicated, gone?
Not so, not so,
Their noble poetry
Lives on and on,
Will be remembered
As the music
Of the spheres,
Long after man is gone...

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the latest rage,
Avoids paying a US wage,
Thus, predatory industrialists are pleased,
To have cheap work done in the Far East,
While US workers are now unemployed,
Outsourcing profiteers are overjoyed,
Most work is now done overseas,
And soon all US work will cease,
The only problem with employment
Turning from hot demand to cold:
To US workers products can't be sold.
While CEO's still get their honey,
This will all soon dry up,
For US folks will have no money.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

What is a Man?

What is a man,
A bit of skin and bone,
A pitiful bundle of frailties,
The slightest blow of nature
Condemns him to oblivion,
Yet, within him dwells a spirit,
A soul, an intellect
And a heroic quality,
Which may some day
Make him the ruler
Of the universe.
If there be gods,
Man is in their likeness.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz

Speech

Much to the House of Millionaires' delight,
The great man gave a speech last night,
Parroting platitudes of great dimensions,
Written by speech writers
With flowery pretensions,
Proposing to fix (kill) Social Security,
When baby boomers reach maturity,
While cutting taxes for the millionaire,
Which seemed to him an action - fair,
And to the attending mobs' great cheers,
He promised energy problems
To be fixed in distant future years.
Nothing was said about
The failing war, inflation
Or rising unemployment in the nation,
But claimed, spying on our people is his right,
A first step into a totalitarian night;
On 'values, god and country' he had praises,
For he is a master of the empty phrases.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz