Don Eckles

Zelienople, PA

Anxious to see what was going on out there, I quit school and joined the Navy. Did stints on Guam, (Seaman Guard in a fleet hospital), on Midway Island (In communications, logging in frequency variances, on radio transmitters), and on a destroyer escort, in the South China Sea (Radar Shack, Sea Air Rescue). Opted out of the Navy in 3.5 years. Got a job in Pipe Shop, fabricating components for nuclear and other power facilities. Opted out in 25 years - retreated to my log home in the pines. Am I through contributing? I think not. I have just paused to contemplate my direction.

Ozone

The ozone is depleting,
Better beware.
The sun is going to scorch you,
Mainly the fair.
Why is it going?
You might wonder in awe.
Refrigerant and spray cans
Are the current saw.
The rockets blasting through,
Are not to blame.
Especially when money
Is the name of the game.
Your family vehicle
Is the culprit too.
Remember that, as an another rocket
Blasts through.
Yes, we, are responsible for the depletion,
You and I.
Oh Look! Yet, another rocket,
Blasting into the sky.

Canines

Dogs are a pain
Dogs are a drain
Dogs stink when wet
Dogs give you affection
Dogs give you direction
Dogs make a fine pet
Dogs embarrass you
Dogs harass you
Dogs are so base
Dogs will lie for you
Dogs will die for you
Dogs know their own place
Dogs are a contradiction are they not?
Dogs seem right out of fiction
Tis their lot!

The Centurions

They at times walk unsteadily
They also nod off so readily
But you have to admire their tenacity
Their outright audacity
They have out lived all their fears
They have shed most all their tears
The future worries them not
Today, is all they got
They are the centurions
Captains of one hundred years