The whistler

I used to know

the happiest guy

in the world.

***

He was always whistling

a happy tune. He’d say,

“Whistling makes the gloomiest day seem bright”

***

And he whistled while he worked.

***

He whistled while he ate.

***

He whistled while he rested.

***

And he whistled while you

were trying to talk to him.

***

In fact—

I only knew him not

to whistle one time.

And that was when I

slapped the whistle

out of his dumb mouth.

.


A Merry Christmas, A Chairful Holiday, A Blithesome Trefmas, and a Happy New Y’ar to Some of You!

 

Hall of presidents

I remember the

Christmas I

asked for

Lincoln Logs.

***

That’s all I wanted

***

Lincoln Logs

***

But my folks were

practical people,

***

and instead of Lincoln Logs,

***

they got me

some Eisenhower

artificial

wood-paneling.

***

So, on

Christmas morning,

while my friends

were playing with

their Lincoln Logs,

building

forts and cabins

***

I was re-doing the den.

.

Stories for after dark

Once, a beautiful woman

agreed to marry me

— on one condition.

I must never ask her

to remove the ribbon

from around her neck.

***

Naturally, I agreed.

And for years, we

were happy.

***

But I could not

stop thinking about

the ribbon. The very

thought of it began

to drive me insane.

***

So one night,

as she slept,

I reached over and

carefully eased

the ribbon away from

around her neck.

***

And for a moment

everything

seemed OK ..

THEN HER HEAD ROLLED OFF!

***

I gasped and watched as

her head rolled across

the bed. Our eyes met

for the last time in this

life, and she said,

***

“I am sure this raises far more questions than it answers.”