Red,
Inhospitable,
Waterless,
Sand full,
Storm-ridden,
Planetary
Neighbor.
Visible,
Identifiable
Even to an
Untrained eye,
225 million
Kilometers
Distant.
Yes, I’d go
In a heartbeat.
Explore placid
Acidalia Planitia,
Marth Crater’s
Western edge, and
Ares Vallis.
Alas, I am
Old.
Not astronaut
Material.
Perhaps, though,
In twenty years
Or so,
Top-rate
Extended care
Facilities for
Elderly
Dreamers
Might open up
On distant
Mars.
Sign me up.
Peace, people!
Daily Prompt: What do you find more unbearable? Watching a video of yourself or hearing a recording of your voice?
The lie I tell myself:
“Darling,” (that’s my pet name for me),
“Your disembodied voice
Grates. (That’s as polite as I can be.)
“But darling in your favor,
A natural grace and sweet disposition
Compensate for failings
In your whiny intonational exposition.”
“So, what you’re saying,”
I nod to myself, no nicknames embedded,
“Is that the camera loves me
And video is where I should be headed.”
“Darling, no,” I laugh,
“You’re not camera ready, either!
Avoid both at all costs,
And forget we had this conversation.”
only a fervent belief
in the right to
free speech
and a strong sense
of self-preservation,
prevented my
thoughts from becoming
harsh words upon
encountering this flag’s
presentation.
right out in the open
with their unearned
privilege in full
view of capitol’s stage,
they peddled their
hated rhetoric
making light of the
bondage and bloodshed
of America’s own
darkest age.
Studly and I had visitors from Indiana this weekend. While the men played golf I took my friend LeeAnn to tour the historic Florida capitol building.
I’ve been to the capitol several times now and had never before encountered armed policeman in the old capitol building that now houses a museum. But on this occasion there were two steely eyed officers warily stalking the foyer.
Before I approached the reception desk I asked one of the officers if there was cause for concern. He assured me all was fine, so LeeAnn and I embarked on our tour.
While perusing a second floor exhibit of Florida’s extensive state park system something outside the window caught our attention. There on the capitol grounds was a full-blown demonstration of Confederate flag waving yahoos.
Every molecule in my body called for me to walk down the steps and ask the demonstrators if they understood that the flag is perceived as a symbol of hatred by every fully evolved human. Sanity prevailed, though, and I resisted the urge. That first amendment is a powerful thing. Well, that, and my desire to stay out of jail.
Peace, people!
a door left wide open, perhaps a precipice.
step right in; leap heedlessly into
the dark abyss.
instead i demurred, chose the status quo,
and now we face the consequence, but how was i to know?
guarded portal closed, shut for all these years,
yet if it should swing wide again i’m bound to face my fears.
your progeny are ill behaved, i’ll say,
disrespectful to all but you;
the interest compounded throughout their lives steadily accrues.
or maybe i’ll just smile and nod, agree with all you say,
waiting there by an exit narrowed, and again, watch you walk away.
don’t tell me how
nice your
candidate is,
what a good
christian
he claims to be;
by his actions
he will be known:
does he care
for the sick,
the disenfranchised?
do his actions
help or hinder
the betterment of the
“least of these”?
does he threaten
shutdowns when he
doesn’t get his way?
do even members
of his own party
distance themselves
from him?
take a dose of
reality
look beyond
your own
narrow interests
and call me in
the morning.
old brother died
and who would pay
to send him on
his final way?
the cost of life
had been too dear
the cost of death
was dearer still.
oh who will come
to send him home
this man who lived
a life alone?
the fetishists have cried,
“leave our guns alone!”
when no one has called
for their removal.
paranoid fools who fail
to see or care, cry time
and time again that any
move breeds futility
while still more innocents
die and we offer up only
thoughts and prayers.
Peace, people.
I fell into your poem sideways,
not top to bottom as you likely wrote
it about love, and loss, and maybe
the taste of food.
A word stood out, midway through
your second stanza, so my brain followed
my eyes and without thinking
i read horizontally backwards.
Oddly enough, it made perfect sense and
I wondered, did you intend for me to
explore your words this way;
did you create a new form?
Only on my second pass did I find your
opening line and its nuances. Beautiful
rightside up and inside out.
A masterpiece.
the favor of her friendship,
forged in youth,
had strings attached.
acknowledge her privilege
accept her status
unwrap her gifts
or succumb to the vacuum.
it pains me to admit that
I once felt adrift
without her approval
the old habit of relishing
her other-directed
sarcasm, snideness,
an affliction of belonging.
heaven knows I cried some
in anger and loss;
who could I be without her?
my soul answered in a flourish:
you are nourished now
deep within, all your own
healthier, wiser, independent.
Revulsion therapy revealed to be
The secret to losing weight
No exercise or counting calories
Just eat while watching GOP debates.
It’s hard to keep one’s appetite
Or to hold one’s food in check
While Cruz prays like a Pharisee
And Trump spews racist rhetoric.
Bush’s bemused befuddlement
Plays havoc with digestion
Still Carson’s sonorous delivery
Works exactly like L-Tryptophan.
One caveat for those who choose
To suffer through this hell
Not only will pounds melt away
Your sanity might, as well.
Praying for Eyebrowz 