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Home Poetry Forms Blank Verse

‘The Automated Phone System’ and Other Poetry by Russel Winick

July 13, 2022
in Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry
A A
11

.

The Automated Phone System

I called up a business
But no person answered,
I got a phone system
With multiple options
Some rather confusing;
I kept getting transferred,
Spent most time just holding;
Then after ten minutes
I got disconnected.

.

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.

He Thought He Was Charming

You sure could tell the man thought he was charming,
He plainly loved the sound of his own voice.
No doubt encouraged by the warm reception
Of store clerks who did not have any choice.

.

.

Root Cause

Hundreds of thousands stream in at the border
While powers that be are untroubled.
Inflation unchecked, supply chains in disorder,
With gas prices now more than doubled.

There’s crime running rampant all over the land,
Men beating women in sports is OK.
This might not be happening, is how I stand,
If Joe Biden was living today.

.

.

Correct as a Matter of Law

The Dobbs case, overturning Roe
Will cause crime, I suspect,
By people who don’t care or know
As law it was correct.

.

.

Russel Winick recently started writing poetry at nearly age 65, after ending a long legal career. He resides in Naperville, Illinois.

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Comments 11

  1. Roy E. Peterson says:
    3 years ago

    Russell, all four of your poems are pithy and direct hits on present day societal ills. “The Automated Phone System” has perpetually plagued me. I love your twist on the “Root Cause,” if he were alive! Living in Texas, I know how these scum are causing havoc not only on the border, but in other states, as well. SCOTUS applied the Constitutional principles, finally, in the Dobbs case, but many will turn to any crime using the overturning of Roe as an added excuse for their misconceived behavior!

    Reply
    • Russel Winick says:
      3 years ago

      Roy – thanks for commenting. I’m glad you liked them.

      Reply
  2. Sally Cook says:
    3 years ago

    Russel, I enjoyed your wry poetic comment. What a world, and you have caught the flavor of it.

    Reply
    • Russel Winick says:
      3 years ago

      Thanks Sally, for your delightful comment!

      Reply
  3. Adam R Swinford-Wasem says:
    3 years ago

    “Root Cause” is gold, Russel. Sort of a Baby Ballad of Joe Biden. It is something to ponder, what would Joe Biden think of Joe Biden if he were still alive today? As a lifelong fellow Illinoisan (soon to depart) I wish you the best of luck. May the collective insanity not force you out as it has me.

    Reply
    • Russel Winick says:
      3 years ago

      Thanks Adam. It is amusing to see how the Left is shocked – shocked! – to discover that Biden has dementia.

      Reply
  4. Margaret Coats says:
    3 years ago

    Fun for everyone, as we all recognize the situations. Thanks for applying rhyme and meter to them. I like best the simple iambic of “Correct as a Matter of Law,” all the more effective because it demands a touch of complex thought in the reader.

    Reply
    • Russel Winick says:
      3 years ago

      Thanks Margaret. It means a lot when a superior poet praises anything of mine.

      Reply
  5. Susan Jarvis Bryant says:
    3 years ago

    Russel, I love your bite-sized poetic morsels of wisdom – they bring an artistic flourish of sanity to an ugly and crazy world. Keep them coming!

    Reply
  6. Patricia Redfern says:
    3 years ago

    Hi!
    The auotomated phone system hit me. As the incredulous practice has been adopted by home owners. I am pronably weird…but my friends are retired, stay at home people and I loathe answering machines. Here in the US, many have that terse, inhuman voice of a robot, instead of their own human. voice…Worse, people do not return calls. The internet has swallowed our voices!
    We live in an age of FOT..,fear of telemarketers? Who really are not people, but recorded voices calling our homes. Phones have caller ID.. no need to answer. Seems simple to me. Thank you…)))
    Patricia

    Reply
    • Russel Winick says:
      3 years ago

      Thanks Patricia. I’m glad this poem resonated with you.

      Reply

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