The Boy Who Cried Wolf, 2017 Edition
Month: March 2017
Titles Without a Tale
Every now and then I have a flash of an idea that turns into a title for a poem or story or expository piece for this blog. Sometimes these ideas pop fully blown into my head leaving me to type as fast as my fingers will allow. Sometimes I have to coax them along to fruition. Sadly, often these ideas go no further than the title stage.
I’m still suffering from some mental lag brought on by a combination of travel stress and daylight savings time. Nothing other than the desire to nap, snack, and repeat has manifested itself into my brain in the past two days. So I went to the place where titles go to percolate or expire–the dreaded “draft” folder.
Here’s one. What was I thinking? Wine must’ve been involved. And maybe paddles. Wink, wink.
Well, I guess this next one might’ve gotten a bit sticky….
And the age old question didn’t awaken my muse.
Here are a couple of ideas that so far have gone nowhere.
And maybe I could combine these next two.
Fellow bloggers, do you do this? Keep a file of “might work” titles?
Some of these need to go in the trash file. But not today. Today I’m feeling desperate.
Peace, people!
Mourning
Come, bring your flowers,
Your condolences, the
Awkward and the eloquent.
Bring offerings of food,
And sincere expressions
Of loving concern.
Those I love have lost
A husband, a father,
Grandfather, and friend.
A life well lived,
A loss deeply mourned
With grace and faith.
Early on Friday morning our son, Jason, texted us the sad news that his father-in-law had passed away. We’d known that “Jamie” had been battling terminal cancer, yet the news still hit us hard.
We never had the opportunity to meet Jamie, but Jason loved him, so as soon as we heard of Jamie’s passing I hurriedly packed a bag and headed west towards the town of Hemphill, Texas.
Even in the midst of her grief Jamie’s wife, Fran welcomed me into their home. She and her daughters, Pam and Liz (our daughter-in-law) are, separately, forces of nature–strong, beautiful, and independent. Together they are the best kind of formidable. I went thinking I could be of some help, but soon learned that these ladies had everything in hand.
I know they will have hurdles to overcome in the days ahead, and they are in my prayers. But I won’t waste any time worrying about their coping abilities.
My brain keeps trying to formulate a tale around Jamie. While I didn’t know him I feel like I have an idea of the kind of man he must’ve been. Maybe one day I’ll have the right words. He deserves the right words.
Peace, people.
The Salary and Vacations of Donald Trump
Read!
Last week 46 U.S. attorneys were fired by Donald Trump’s administration because they had been part of the Obama administration. I’m not worried that these 46 highly skilled and well connected professionals will starve without Donald Trump signing their pay checks, but I have an idea for how they can keep busy until their next gig.
This is America, a country where anyone can sue anyone for anything. Consider the following:
- A campaign promise is a promise or guarantee made to the public by a candidate or political party who are trying to win an election. Election promises may be instrumental in getting an official elected to office.
- Fraud is deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage, a person who makes deceitful pretenses; a sham; a poseur.
- In a common contract, one agrees to surrender a…
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Senate (Tritina)
Brilliant piece by Robert Okaji.
Senate (Tritina)
Not imposition, but welcome. The way
cooperation welcomes coercion, turning the
tenor of the intended phrase, opening
the statement to interpretation, opening
a point without dissension, in the way
of politics, agreeing which fact will shape the
morning, which truth will determine the
next word and the subsequent, as if opening
the issue, claiming to have found the way,
one way, the only, but never actually opening.
* * *
A Tritina might best be described as the lazy poet’s Sestina, consisting of ten rather than 39 lines, with the end words of the first stanza repeating in a specific pattern in the subsequent two stanzas. The last line includes all three end words.
The patterns:
abc
cab
bca
The last line uses the end words in sequence following the pattern of the first stanza.
Pardon the Interruption
I am way behind in writing fresh material for this blog. Normally there are two or three pieces queued up and ready to go, but I’ve spent the past four days driving to and from the Texas hill country. I don’t know about you, but I find it difficult to drive and write simultaneously.
Briefly I toyed with dictating posts into my iPhone, but apparently I do not speak distinctly. Eliza Doolittle in her pre-transformation period might’ve fared better than I. The “Rain in Spain” refrain should become part of my daily repertoire. Or not.
Not only have I fallen behind on writing, but my inbox is chock full of unread emails from bloggers I follow and also from Nigerian princes who wish me good health and promise great financial rewards for just a moment of my time. Hopefully I’ll get to catch up on all the opportunities now that I’m home.
I look forward to getting back into my groove, but for now, I’m just going to rest.
Peace, people!
In the Garden
Good and evil
The two of them
Eve and Adam
Original sin.
Who lured whom
To taste the fruit?
And does it matter?
The point is moot.
Nodding heads,
Blame assessed,
Pointed fingers,
Get ye dressed!
While they both tasted
Eve bore the blame,
Adam too weak
To fight her chains.
Away the snake slunk
Victorious and smug
His job of sullying
Woman’s place was done.
Justify
Justify your greed
Your corruption
Thinly veiled
Aid for the wealthy,
The young and the
Healthy.
Screw the poor and the
elderly.
Dine out on
Their misfortune,
Throw kickbacks to
The CEOs.
Surely foulness and
guilt will follow
You all the days
Of your rotten
Existence.
Making America Russia
A pattern has emerged: a member of Trump’s team is found to have previously undisclosed ties to Russia, or some equally disturbing foreign entanglement, and Trump feigns ignorance.
Roger Stone, former Trump campaign advisor, admitted on Friday to having had private conversations with the Gucifer 2.0, a hacker who is believed to be the Russian operative responsible for leaking information from the DNC during last years campaign. Stone used the words “innocuous”, “banal” and “perfunctory” to describe the private twitter conversations he neglected to mention before this time. Why bother bringing up something so inconsequential?
Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security advisor, who resigned over ties to Russia, we now know also had been an agent on Turkish payroll, drawing an annual salary of $500,000. He disclosed this information to Trump twice, telling him he might register as a foreign agent, yet Trump claims he did not know.
Tillerson’s Russian…
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Fan Base
Surreal,
Pre-apocalyptic,
Post-industrial,
Oscillating fan,
Occupying the
Passing lane
Midway
Between Biloxi and
Baton Rouge.
A swerve and a miss.
Batting a thousand.
The crowd went wild!
Praying for Eyebrowz 