Poet Profile: Otto Mond

USELESS

On the way to work one day

The radio announcer chanced to say

The winner of the Useless Contest has been selected

And the winner is…

“As useless as a staple on a one-page memo.”

It sounded good, very clever,

No arguments whatsoever.

Until

In the office one day the stapler jammed

I pried, shoved, pushed and rammed

Cleared it out then wanted to test it

Grabbed a memo sheet, and pressed it.

The stapler was fixed, worked very well

Everything was fine, nothing more to tell.

Suddenly a thought crossed my brain

The Useless Contest winner had lost his claim

Something useful had been found for a useless thing

There’s a message here, give your mind a fling.

************************

NOISE

Trains roaring, airplanes soaring

Sirens screeching, children screaming

Music loud, drivers uncaring

Volume very high, deafening, blaring

Rock concerts, earsplitting beat

If it isn’t loud, it’s not a treat

Motorcycles roaring, noise not muffled

Drivers make racket but ride by unruffled

Construction sites all over the city

Booming and pounding, what a pity

Structures aren’t built without noise overbearing

What’s to be done to save one’s hearing?

Move to the country that’s far away

Or buy yourself earplugs, and stay, stay, stay.

Otto Mond was born in New York City on September 4, 1932, the youngest of three children. He graduated Yeshiva University with a BA in mathematics in 1953, Hunter College with an MA in math and education in 1956, and New York University with an MS in applied math in 1965. He worked over forty years as a computer programmer and systems analyst for major corporations.

After retirement, he started producing poems and showed great strength in writing rhymed verse. He wrote on various themes with subjects such as homelessness, nostalgia, the nature of dreaming, sonnets of love, noise in the city, and the pleasures of reflection and contemplation. His poems have a wry, amiable, gentle, and optimistic way of looking at the world. Most have a touch of humor using unexpected word play and witty conclusions and commentary.

Some of his poems have appeared in The Lucidity Journal of poetry and in several senior citizen newsletters. He resides with his wife in Manhattan in the upper west side of New York.