SIGNAGE FOR SUE

What rhymes with “signage?” . . . We wonder
We’re searching all over. . . and under

Searching in vain
For signage’s twain —

And so we begin . . . with a blunder*

Sue is the Queen of Interior
Surely she has no superior

East west south and north
She’s bliss zooming forth —

We ask you: name someone who’s cheerier

Sue has the say-so, we see
The expertise, all would agree

From planning your place
To arranging your space

The best in the business? It’s she

She cartooned for Hansel and Gretel**
While evenings she tended the kettle

She’s sweet, soft, and steady
With her, it’s all ready***

Sue, you deserve a large medal

She’ll bake up a mean enchilada
Invite an entire armada

If you haven’t tasted
Your life has been wasted —

All we can say is, “You gotta!”

Now Sue is not so-so at sewing
She knows where each sutra is going

Stitch after stitch
There’s never a hitch

She turns out a garment that’s glowing

I say, there’s no seesaw with Sue
Without even trying, she’s true

This skier, this biker,
This seer, we like her —

If she has any equals, they’re few

Superb, superlative, super
Insuperable — yes, she’s a trouper

Supernal, sublime
Suprising (this rhyme):

She is a little deuce couper****

She loves being helpful to you
And there’s nothing this lady can’t do

Whatever the task
She’s glad when you ask —

Just ask her, “Oh say, can you, Sue?”*****

This being who knows how to be
Already so favored, so free

Her star’s climbing higher
A sight to inspire!

It’s climbing! — Oh, Sue, can you see?*****

Her awareness is calm, clear, and deep
And evolving in leap upon leap

We love being near her
Our motive gets clearer:

As we Sue, Sue shall we reap

Who’s Who should know who to choose
There’s clearly no shortage of clues

With Rock as her anchor
Think how we thank her

This Sidha who’s known as “The Suz”

You see, Sue, we sigh when we say
You make all our life seem such play

Your sweet smiling face
And your radiant grace

Enlighten us day after day

* Rick and Sue spent a year in Iowa City, where Rick was a graduate student at the University of Iowa. Sue got a job in the design department of an architectural firm called Hansen Lind Meyer. They placed her in their signage department, where she spent her days helping create new interior signage for the University of Iowa Hospital. As a talented interior designer, she was way overqualified for this — but this job provided a great source of amusement (for me, at least).

** Hansen Lind Meyer — this name was an easy target to turn into Hansel and Gretel.

*** Rick would sometimes say, slowly and with deep appreciation and satisfaction, that, thanks to Sue, when he comes home for dinner, It’s all ready.

**** References a Beach Boys song.

***** Riff on the Star Spangled Banner’s first line, “Oh say can you see. . . .”

THE SIDHA NAMED SUZ

There once was a Sidha named Suz
Just meet her — you too will enthuse

Few hoppers are lighter
Few faces are brighter

Her birthday’s today — heard the news?

The boundless with boundaries she’ll fuse
Displaying the brightest of hues

From mail to graphics
To gardens she traffics

En route to the goal she pursues

With needle and thread she’s a master
No pattern could e’er flabbergast her

The resident queen
Of the sewing machine —

Few people have ever surpassed her

She’s travelled this land for her school
She’s gardened with hardly a tool

The USS Olds
Is a carriage that holds

A sparkling and radiant jewel*

So Suz is the one that we pick
If Sue is there, things will just click

Our strongest recruiter
There’s few that are cuter —

Especially when she’s with Rick

* When Rick and Sue arrived at MIU/MUM in the late ‘70s, their car was a large blue Oldsmobile they dubbed “Big Blue.”