From 2018, revised a bit just now.




Menotomy Rubaiyat

Menotomy! Pleasant monotony!
Who'd call you dreary? Certainly not me!
     I've lived here now for over thirteen years,
And hope to stay until my RIP.


'Course, nowadays you're known as Arlington:
A place of tame excitement, low-key fun,
     Bookstores and libraries and restaurants
And bike-paths for a morning ride or run.


You have a church or two. No temple, though!
Your residents will sometimes clear the snow.
     You have two high-schools (public, Catholic) and
Five grade-schools where the younger children go.


I like it here. Your climate's rather nice.
Sometimes there are extremes of heat, of ice!
     Your politics tilt leftward. Fine by me:
Progressive souls abound in Paradise!


I have a two-room flat on the first floor.
The jocks' athletic field sits just next door.
     I've got a parcel of amazing friends:
Sweet Arlingtonians whom I adore.


Mass. Ave. plays host to some homey cafés
Peopled with cyber-wise habitués
     Who sip espresso as they surf the web,
Busily idling through their slow work-days.


The Bible Christian and the questioning teen
Live here in peace---and everyone between!
     You're like a quiet Cambridge, welcoming
And placid, fringed by Mystic Valley green.


Menotomy, you're such a laid-back town!
You seldom greet me with a troubled frown.
     I'd rather live here than in ancient Rome
Or in loud Boston. ("Turn that music down!")


I bless you, with your shrines and shrubs so dear!
I cherish your suburban atmosphere!
     Hope flourishes amid your flowered lanes
Unstained by hatred, and untouched by fear.





Poetry by Uncle Meridian The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 264 times
Written on 2023-07-14 at 16:45

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D G Moody The PoetBay support member heart!
When you write about your home town, it always comes alive, in all its quirkiness - nice one again Thomas.
2023-07-16


one trick pony The PoetBay support member heart!
P.S. Especially: "a parcel of amazing friends:"
2023-07-16


one trick pony The PoetBay support member heart!
Sounds like a bit of heaven on earth. I say that with some jealousy!
2023-07-16


Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
A fine paean to what sounds like a delightfully dull place.
2023-07-14