(Light Verse for Mark Maxwell's 40th Birthday)
Poet, Punker, 'Giver, Goop
Mark.
Hacker, Tracker, Drinker, Smoker,
Hiker, biker; A Player of Poker.
A swimmer, a Spelunker,
With his car, a Ca-thunk-er
(I've been in 3 accidents with the man, they were all on snow)
Flutist, Artist, and a Chaser of Dulcina.
Don't know who I mean?
Take a look over at Tina.
A Husband, A Homeowner
An Alaska viewer:
A Porker, a Puker and a Pollywog Spewer
A Skier and a Snow-queen quester
A Boatman, a salvager and a chicken jester
(Ask me about " > Chicken ! <")
He dances with himself and
Drinks ice tea alone in the sun
Okay, Okay, I'm almost done,
Mark calls himself ONE MAN
But I see in him a lot more
so far by my count
We're at about thirty four
Marathon runner and father of three
Forty? Mark? How can that be?
I've left room for others to fill up two score
But I want to add, well, only just one more
I think you'll see why
I've saved it for the end
What I call One Man the most
Is, quite simply, "Friend".
Here's a couple clues: " 'Giver" refers to Indian Giver, we used to
tease each other about giving the other person stuff and then wanting it
back, not sure how it started. "Goop" is a mildly derisive term akin
to "nerd" or "geek" but it specifically implies moping around and
scrounging for things to investigate that most people would find boring
and obscure. It's Pre-Web. The "Pollywog spewer" is explained
in one of my web site's Current Thoughts:
Spewer;
the "chicken" story needs sound effects. Do you remember Mark running
for Snow Queen of the Winter Festival in 1980?