Clipping Coupons & Sexual Freedom

—Photo by Carol Louise Moon, Placerville, CA

STUMPS
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA

I grew up as a stump
After my tree-self was cut down.
In a forest of trees,
They called me “shorty”
Or “stumpy”.

A stump is not a hump
Or mere lump or bump.
It’s perfect for an in-the-woods
Sitting-cross-legged-table,
Large enough for tea-for-two,
A place to set your hibachi-grill,
A game of checkers or chess
Or even changing a diaper.

So, don’t look down on stumps.
We started out as trees,
But had our trunks cut off.
It could happen to any tree.

_________________

ROYAL AND FINE
—Joseph Nolan

In search of god-like status
On the parapets of time,
Somewhere unassailable
Where I can drink my wine,

Look out across the valley,
Knowing it’s all mine.
Someplace I feel royal
And fine.

 —Photo by Carol Louise Moon

IF THE GALAXY DISAPPEARED
—Joseph Nolan

If the galaxy
Were to disappear,
We might still be here,
In some other space,

Trying to intersperse
All the desperate prayers
And pleas
That come from
Places of annihilation,
When there is
No chance of salvation,
And everything disappears;

Idle, so,
Are prayers,
And everything
That comes after,
But tears
Are shattered
By laughter
That rings into space
From a far-distant place
From light years away,
So no-one can say,
Where it came from,
Really.

 —Photo by Carol Louise Moon

AT THE END OF TIME
—Joseph Nolan

At the end of time,
One needs a good excuse,
An excuse for all one’s failings
And even one’s successes,
Obtained at the price of personal fouls;

One needs an excuse for even existing
Since existence requires
A struggle for survival,
Which presupposes some
Measure of aggression
Against one’s peers
And, of course,
There’s always the matter of
The mortgage in arrears,
That imperils widows
Left behind.

Nobody’s perfect,
Especially in hindsight!
Thus, the need
For good excuses
At the end of time.

And don’t even get me started
About how it will sound
When it’s not just personal
But universal,
When the planet reaches
Some sorry, tragic ending
And everyone
Is out of time
At the same time. 

 —Photo by Carol Louise Moon
 

TWO WORLDS, ONE HAIKU
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA

A few people in
the world have the option to
say “Spare no expense”

vast majority
clip coupons, hunt for bargains
even for health care

the Great Depression
left a permanent scar on
both of my parents

and created a
“cheaper is better” business
model we still have

the Electoral
College did its job for those
few people who paid

the high asking price
to have their wishes granted
Supreme Court is next

_________________

SHIFTING SANDS
—Caschwa

(inspired by Joyce Odam’s
“Stacks of Letters”, Medusa’s
Kitchen, August 20, 2019)


As stacks of bills rise taller we dig
more deeply into whatever shifty
resources we have to cover huge
expenses

A former proud castle that once
faced the tides and the winds is
now no more than a miserable
moat and dank dungeon

The Go-Cover-My-Ass cry for
funds didn’t quite make up for
years of excess, living the dream
now, paying for it later

Salty water rolls along with no
royal blueprint, no wish upon a
star, no happily ever after, and
erases sandy fantasies. Goodbye.

 —Photo by Carol Louise Moon

NO POINTS PLEASE
—Caschwa

No sooner does a
coins-and-currency student
master those figures

than points creep in
to stifle constructing a
usable budget

bonus points
rewards points
mortgage points
credit card points
etcetera, etcetera

thankfully there are
still brick and mortar stores which
post honest prices

no calculating
conversion values for points
real money welcome

_________________

NEGATIVES
—Caschwa

Old school:
black & white film
loaded into a camera
exposed to light
processed with chemicals
transformed to negatives
left to dry

loaded into an enlarger
projected through filters
image resized, cropped
photo paper put into trays
processed with chemicals
transformed to positives
left to dry

the end product is fodder
for critical review

New school:
black & white kids
loaded into a school bus
exposed to education
processed with bias
transformed to negatives
left to rot

the end product is fodder
for negative press

 —Photo by Carol Louise Moon

NOT FRIENDS
—Caschwa

Junior high school
I was not in the in-crowd
who would take me for a fool
nor did I particularly care
to invite a ho-dad’s stare

but there I stood in the alley way
facing a bad-mood dude
and I would not make his day
insolence high, resistance low
he saw me scared of my shadow

so we parted ways, he to find
someone better to fight
me, my own business to mind
if we were to meet up again
it would just be two old men 

 —Photo by Ann Privateer, Davis, CA

COORDINATE
—Ann Privateer

Sequels with oldies
Big with little
Vibrato with a whisper
On your computer
And in real time. 

 —Photo by Ann Privateer

SUPPORT
—Ann Privateer

A vigilant stanza break
Maybe a period
Maybe not
Reference your brain
Laugh, sigh
Ameliorate.
 

 —Photo by Ann Privateer

THE FEAST
—Ann Privateer

Is love annunciated
In present tense
Mumbo
Painted years ago
Yet on target today.

 —Photo by Ann Privateer

Today’s LittleNip:
 
SEXUAL FREEDOM
—Joseph Nolan

It’s all right
For us
To have
Sex,

Regardless
Of what
We do
Next.

______________________

Many thanks to our poets and photographers today for their diverse handiwork on this Columbus Day of exploration! Poetry events begin tonight in our area with Angela James and Russell Cummings at Sac. Poetry Center, 7:30pm. Then on Wednesday it’s Poetry Off-the-Shelves from 5-7pm in Placerville at the El Dorado County Library on 345 Fair Lane.

Thursday is a big day, with Wellspring Women’s Writing Group at 11:30am at the Wellspring Women’s Center in Sacramento on 34th Av. Thursday at noon is the deadline for the Jack Kerouac Contest in Davis (be sure to check the details on this one at www.facebook.com/groups/2290130152/?multi_permalinks=10162233083015153%2C10162232597320153%2C10162232063635153&notif_id=1570128387178883&notif_t=group_activity/).

Also on Thursday at 8pm: Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Cafe and Juice Bar features Jan Haag plus open mic. 1414 16th St., Sac. Host is Geoffrey Neill. Scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info about these and other upcoming poetry events in our area—and note that more may be added at the last minute.

Interested in workshops? Check the green box at the right for a listing of local ones which will be held this week and/or later.

—Medusa, celebrating poetry!

 —Photo by Carol Louise Moon

Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
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