The I'ds of March

mescalito’s horse—in the realm of two suns, 
two realities, one world

—Art and Caption by Dave Boles, Grass Valley

____________________

Caesar:
    Who is it in the press that calls on me?
    I hear a tongue shriller than all the music
    Cry "Caesar!" Speak, Caesar is turn'd to hear.

Soothsayer:
    Beware the ides of March.

Caesar:
    What man is that?

Brutus:
    A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.

—Wm. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar: Act 1, scene 2, 15–19


Soothsayer warned Ceasar, "Beware of the ides of March"
Today in English that would be the contraction, "I'd"
Often when it comes to the spring season
it comes to "I'd rather be, or I'd like to..."
rather than dull tasks and deeds that need to get done
One thinks how soon one can go instead to many outdoor recreation activities
preferably the kind that distract rather than exercise the mind
After struggling and surviving storms of winter, we might think we deserve such rewards
But we also might feel too comfortable
and say "whatever" and let things happen as they may
and carelessly not look out for the "Brutus" holding a knife in our own lives
When we think "I'd", we often forget others
and then, when we least expect it,
get stabbed in the back with the blade of reality


—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento

____________________

caveman
—charles mariano, sacramento

ran into a friend
this morning
who asked where i was going
“Starbucks,” i told her

“why don’t you save money,
brew at home?”
she asked

“i like to go out and get it,
plus, grab a newspaper,”
i added

“nobody buys the newspaper
anymore,
it’s all online” she said

“i know,
but i like to unfold it,
put my feet up,
smell the ink”

she looked at me,
like i was from outer space,

“you know,” she said
“you can read the newspaper,
even watch movies, on your cellphone”

“don’t have a cellphone,” i said

she looked at me
a long,
mournful gaze
to a dying friend,

then shook her head
disconnected me
from life-support

_____________________

last leg
—charles mariano

remember back
way back,

when i walked in a room
turned heads
no, not like a
fine-looking babe

i’m a dude
a guy,
one of those

it was more like
who’s that?
intrigue, mystique

all eyes
on me
while i
played it cool

now
no one notices
i’m there
and if they do
it’s like,

“who let that creep in?”
or,

“i thought he was dead”

____________________

Capturing the esoteric and magical world of Yaqui Knowledge, 
birds fly by, antelopes prance and nature blooms under the 
watchful eye of a rising Nagual Phoenix. 
Be careful of the knowledge you wish for, 
it might just be the knowledge you need.
—Art and Caption by Dave Boles

 ____________________

NORCO #14
—Michael Cluff, Corona, CA

If I were
a member
of the large people,
the Brobdingnagians
from Gulliver's Travels,
I could easily ride
the smiling rocking horse
on Third Street
just outside of the shadow
of Interstate 15 South.

But of
course,
I can't
being the mature adult
I have now achieved
at least on the outer shell

but after work
one day....

I would not mind
riding away
even if stationary
all the while.

___________________

ANOTHER DREAM OF BEING ELSEWHERE
—Michael Cluff

Cornell refused to leave
his internal nightlife behind
waking up
on the Ides of any month
was just too much
for his Elizabethan soul
but March was always much worse.

Madame Trickeono
at the shabby sideshow
on Besthoff Place
plied him so well
so minutely
she finally had him
move to New England
to escape Shakespeare
and shadows from a shifting set
of nightmarish prophecies,
portents or placebos.

She and Lulu the Lion Lady
moved into his bungalow
on St. Patrick's Day
since luck appears
in many formats
and appearances.

____________________

PI DAY: 3.14.12
—Caschwa, Sacramento

Birthday greets
To
Albert Einstein

***

Just trying
To
Be rational

***

Not only
Nerds
Can enjoy this

***

Nothing will
Stop
PiDay poems

____________________ 

Today's LittleNip: 

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

—Bill Cosby

____________________

—Medusa, who suggests you go to www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/beware-ides-march for more about the Ides

in the heart of the lotus can be found the magic of all things. 

listen to the vibrancy of the colors as they dance across your mind

—your spirit knows the way.

—Art and Caption by Dave Boles