I belong to an organization called the Tanka Society of America to which I submit a few poems each time they publish their magazine. Tanka poems are based on a Japanese form written in five lines. The magazine asks for a poem to fit a theme and last time it was "Changing Your Mind." They printed this one of mine:
when young
I planned to change
the world
blackened eyes and broken bones
made a new man of me
... ... ... ... ... ...
Our friend Ole changes his mind from time to time, too. Take this one for example when he and Lena decided they didn't want to be married any longer. They went to a lawyer to see about a divorce. "How old are you folks?" he asked. "Vell, I'm 96 and Lena is 92," said Ole. "How come you are getting a divorce now?" Ole said, "Vell, ve vanted to vait until all da kids were dead."
... ... ... ... ... ...
One more will be all I can stand - - -
Ole lived across the river from Clarence who he didn't like at all. They were yelling at each other all the time from their sides of the river. Ole would yell to Clarence, "If I had a vay to cross this river, I'd come over dere and beat you up, you betcha."
This went on for years, til finally the state built a bridge across the river right by their houses. Then Lena said, "Now's your chance, Ole, go over dere and beat that Clarence up like you've wanted to."
Ole said, "OK, by gosh, I think I'll do dat." He started for the bridge but sees a sign on the bridge and stops to read it. Then he turns around and comes back. Lena asked, "Vhy did you come back?"
Ole said, "Lena, I changed my mind about beatin' up dat Clarence. You know dey put a sign on da bridge dat says, 'Clarence is 13 feet, 6 inches.' He didn't look dat big ven I yelled at him from across the river."
