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I also am a musician. Check out my post about my first single on my music blog.

I need a rhyme
But not just to pass the time.
I need word play
To say I wrote today.

Installed a new app on my smartphone;
I have many skills I need to hone,
And talents too long
Under bushel banished.

The app tracks goals.
Completed all but one today.

Practiced banjo,
Trumpet,
Marching baritone,
Euphonium;

Road several miles
On a road bike;
Lifted weights
When I couldn’t repair the flat.

And all I lacked was this,
And had but a quarter hour
Or the day would get a red x.

“Take five of these three times a day”
The instructions say.
I try to comply,
But some days boundaries are merely implied.

The doctor wanted to give me
A powder for my wound,
But he, his supplier, and the grocery—
Out of stock, all three.

Lacking the powder, made from Chinese herbs,
I use what I have: Swedish Bitters,
Good for healing wounds of flesh;
I use a dropper to keep it fresh.

But my patience is tried,
So many gorgeous fall days passing me by:
Infection reduced, wound improving but still open.
I want control, if but a token.

I like to grow my own herbs,
Or buy them whole and grind myself,
But these herbs I’m taking are unfamiliar,
And I would need a guide to find them.

I picture myself wandering the Chinese countryside
With someone who has been there;
A basket over each shoulder
To collect what we should find.

We look for Cha Chi Huang,
We seek some Xian Feng Cao.
Eyes peeled for Liu Zhi Huang,
And don’t forget the Feng Wei Cao.

Returning with herbaceous treasures,
Some we plant, some we dry,
Make a tisane with standard measures;
I’m on the mend, and my heart could fly!

But now, against my joints’ complaints,
I must return to sleeping on the couch:
The friendliest positions
To protect my wound are on its cushions.

© 2017 H.K. Longmore

I’ve decided to participate in the 8th annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale, which starts today, July 1 and runs through July 31. (Don’t ask me why I didn’t participate last year, because I don’t remember.) This means you can get my poetry book “Vain Imaginations” https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/481054 for 50% off! There should be a coupon code on the page when the sale goes live.

That is all for now. Oh, and the official hash tags: #Smashwords and #SummerWinterSale2016

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for my blog. If you are or were following me, or read the full report, you’ll notice I haven’t posted anything in a long while. I’ve been pursuing other creative outlets for a time; I need to learn to balance them. I will work on what that means before making any promises about how (in)frequently I post.

As for the report, here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 340 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

My first book, Vain Imaginations, is now available on Smashwords. Several poems you may have read here are included, as well as several that I have not posted here.