Purposely starving people,
sadly praying for good health.
Leaders gone astray.
(c) Rick Wyman 11/12/2025
family
Haiku, Plans
The top of the stairs,
Beckons my ascent each night.
Plans for tomorrow.
(c) Rick Wyman 10/20/2025
My Years Had Less Worries.
The cool breezes of fall,
Chill me just enough,
To make me wish for a jacket,
And make me thankful,
For the sun today.
My memory has colder Octobers
When my years had less worries.
The times of challenges and fun.
Today sees my hope for warmth.
I welcome my days with family,
Sharing closets of future.
(c) Rick Wyman 10/20/2025
Poem, The Makings of a Memory
Classic notes on the piano,
The rumble of the furnace,
Background steady beat.
Music lessons propel
My daughter’s fingers.
Outside above the city skyline
The full moon takes a bow,
The bright disc shape looks down
As clouds provide curtain calls.
Meanwhile notes fill the air
And my heart fills with warmth
Another memory being made.
©Rick Wyman 11/16/24
Poem, Look For Tomorrow
Concentrating on my life ahead
As I look through photos from the past
Reminders of happy times and faces
Today those people have struggles
Those people have dimmed lights
Some have disappeared altogether
Others have one hand on death’s door.
At times I have a glance at optimism,
Determination to live a long future.
My family to make it clear
That they are helping me to look ahead
They will make today worth being present
And tomorrow, even better.
©Rick Wyman 8/21/24
Poem, Loves of My Life
Sometimes I hear my breath turn cold,
From behind I think I’ve gotten too damn old.
But then there’s a ray of bright warm sun,
That takes my memory on a run.
The days replay upon my mind,
My life’s truly one of a kind.
Drawing a line across the sky,
More than just clouds drifting by.
Those dreams are seeping out in my words,
Carried from my heart by singing birds.
Love keeps me in this worldly space,
The need for warmth shows on my face.
I’ve never hoped for anything more,
Than those with me now I adore.
A half century of empty years,
Turned to love, happiness and cheers.
I’ll live the rest of my life,
With the love of my daughter and wife.
© Rick Wyman
Bow Hunting Expedition Turned Manufactured Accident
It was a beautiful fall day in Vermont, and the bow and arrow season for deer had just started the weekend before. It was a week day and there was no school that day. I hadn’t had my drivers’ license for that long but I had quite a bit of experience driving back roads and standard shift vehicles. A neighbor was anxious to go deer hunting with me and we decided to ride around looking for a good place. Due to the fact there was no school, my little brother was also home. I was 16 and he was 10, and I didn’t particularly want to have him ride along or go hunting with me at the time. I felt that I was older and shouldn’t have to babysit him when I wanted to go out in the woods, but he insisted on coming along.
Somehow I came up with the idea that if I scared him with my driving he’d want to stay home and leave us alone. I told my neighbor friend, David, that I was going to drive in a wild stunt to scare my little brother into wanting to be brought home. He grinned as if he thought it was a fun idea and was ready for it. We were a couple of miles from my house on the dirt road, and headed toward Cavendish and in third gear. The car was a 1964 Chevy station wagon, 3 speed standard on the Continue reading
Major Mini Wreck
My little brother was a creative and mechanically oriented person. He was good at fixing just about any engine or vehicle. He worked on keeping his toys running and fixing things to use. In his younger years, one of his teachers in junior high, decided that the best way to work with a bunch of unruly adolescents was to bring in a bunch of non-functioning small engines and let them have at it. Evidently, that was an approach that worked well and kept them focused for a little while. Then as opposed to now, it was more common to have hands on experience during the early 1970’s, teachers could get a little more creative with their teaching methods! My brother was often getting excited about riding snowmobiles and two wheeled vehicles. He was a good outdoorsman. He did a lot with my father and they frequently hunted together for deer and turkey. I’m sure he kept Dad’s lawn mower running smoothly.
When I was in college and working on a teaching degree I would come home periodically to see my folks. My brother and sister, both younger than me, lived at home. During one visit that I remember, Jeff was a teenager building a mini bike as he called it. It was a gasoline engine from a mower and a few metal rods welded together to make a frame. He made a nice throttle on the handlebars and it looked reasonably balanced for speed and comfort. He was proud that he made it himself, taking time to find the parts and piece it all together.
On this visit of mine, he invited me to take a ride on it. I thought about it for a minute and decided to oblige him. I mounted the seat and he gave me a couple of lessons on how to operate the controls he had fashioned for it. I sped out of the driveway and up the dirt road a half mile or so. I turned around up near the intersection at the “Y” that went up over Densmore’s hill.
My ride home was a fast and furious one. While I tried to Continue reading
Big Brother, Big Help
When I was six years old, I was blessed with a new baby brother. My new brother’s name was Jeffrey. Back in those days no one under 12 years old was allowed to visit in the hospital. My sister and I waited in the car for Dad to come back each time he visited Mom. One time, he returned to the car and told us to look up. Continue reading
A Rough Ride…Heed Mom’s Warning
Parents are full of advice as their child grows. My mother was full of advice, and full of superstition and scare tactics. She had a variety of fears and she wanted me to adopt them. She was well meaning and often the lessons were valid, but sometimes it would have been good to add a few exceptions to the rules.
One of the things she told me time and time again was that if I ever got into a stranger’s car I’d never be seen again, and Continue reading
mind salvage 