Numerology

I thought this was appropriate for the Olympics.

Numerology

Who doesn't connect with certain numbers?

All of us, fearful and favored alike, make

                                          digits into omens.

In Mandarin the numeral 4 sounds similar

to the word for death. Floors numbered 4

are absent in China, and those having

license plates ending in 4 will suffer unduly,

                                             or so they believe.

On the flip side, the numeral 8 remains

auspicious for Asians because this symbol

echos the tone for prosperity.

We Americans, not immune to superstitious

integers, cling to the awfulness of Apollo 13,

cringe when Friday the 13th unfolds, and often

discover the 13th story skipped in buildings.

The Chinese deliberately chose the 2008

Olympics to start on the 8th month and the 8th

                                                     day at 8:08PM.

They scored the most gold at those games.

No number prevails comparable in the Western

world. To us it represents a personal choice.

Typical of our individualistic culture.

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Toll

This "rang" true previously as it does today.

Toll

Winter weather drives

the hefty bell in nearby trees

as I hang a tray of seeds

in stinging pre-dawn darkness.

The filmy veil of sunup reveals

a swirl of snow burying the mix.

I tell myself descendants

of dinosaurs know how to dodge

the blows of Borealis.

The frozen buffet bothers me

more than it does the birds.

Or maybe guilt over my neglect

of their dwindling numbers

stabs like extinction.  

And in the air, a muffled knell

for a ripple turned tsunami.

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor