Giant Technicolor Squirrel
—Poems by Len Germinara, Elk Grove, CA
—Anonymous Photos
SUNDAY 2pm
We are live outside the home
Police and investigators
Are on scene
As the world mourns
The death of Kobe Bryant
On every media outlet
World wide
100 yards from where we stand
Someone who should not have had a gun
In one last rage against
Which
His wife
Could no longer cope with
Shot his son
Then himself
The news this night will
Lead with the details
Of a legend’s death
The sad passing of all
On the helicopter
Flowers
And cards, pictures will be left
Father and son
The mother’s grief
A brief mention
Tomorrow comes quietly
Skunk’s silhouette slinks
Through the shadows
While a white dot van
Its occupants
Begin the work
Needs doing
Without any fanfare
We are live outside the home
Police and investigators
Are on scene
As the world mourns
The death of Kobe Bryant
On every media outlet
World wide
100 yards from where we stand
Someone who should not have had a gun
In one last rage against
Which
His wife
Could no longer cope with
Shot his son
Then himself
The news this night will
Lead with the details
Of a legend’s death
The sad passing of all
On the helicopter
Flowers
And cards, pictures will be left
Father and son
The mother’s grief
A brief mention
Tomorrow comes quietly
Skunk’s silhouette slinks
Through the shadows
While a white dot van
Its occupants
Begin the work
Needs doing
Without any fanfare
BUCKLEY HIS NAME HAD WE KEPT HIM
Found a blue black Labrador retriever
Abandoned on the New Year
Huddled around a garbage can
In a dog park
Obviously shell-shocked
Howling terror and WTF in woof
I shared a look with my dog
Said let’s help this poor
Son of a bitch out
It took some doing
Fear like that
Requires caution
My dog Swegen knows what to do
Never seen him falter
In a touchy canid social encounter
A true Tick Not Hound
He wags
They wag back
This will be an understanding
Forged in urine
Licks and sniffs
The obligatory
Submissive roll
Every move I make
Reminds him of the
Night just passed
So I sit at a slight remove
Wait for this puppy
To return from the hell of
Being thrown away
The dogs
Tentatively at first
Begin to play
While the morning doves ask
Who who who
He comes around
Quick as any infant
Terror already forgotten
Sidles up to me
In the hope that I’ll
Pat him and tell him
It’s OK, it’s ok, it’s
PORTRAITS
1.
I’ve read they’re
Told beforehand
You’ll find your host
Something of a dick
I did
In some dim and dusty
Gin Joint in Gloucester
He made quite a show
Continued it back at his uncle’s house
Insulting his friend
In ways I could only marvel at
Ways I never would have thought of myself
Dick really doesn’t begin to describe him
2.
The poet famous for his irascibility
Didn’t discriminate the year we met
Survived his salvo
His dear wife
Standing behind him
Cheering me on
My ham handed compliment
He took wrong
He called me late one night
Said you get it
I’m sick
This isn’t an act
Ever the optimist
I invited him back
MOU (MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING)
The glacial outwash
That formed
Sconsett Bluff
Faces Open Ocean
Even if
You could build a wall
Strong enough
To hold her back
The force at either end of the structure
Will rend
The flanks
With catastrophic effect
Force has to go somewhere
So, the question
Preservation or mitigation is moot
The beach that would become an industrial zone
In this dubious battle
Fragile as porcelain
Can’t survive the rich
Their money
All too often
The engine that moves Us to act
Skewed by the desire for an answer that’s acceptable
Against all good reason—MOU
In reality
It means
Mou ve aside
You can’t stop us
SIEGE
Dust-up at the bird feeder
Bastogne redux
A fuzzy furor
Shoots me a Zieg Hiel!
And what passes for
A middle finger
Squirrel I thought male
Two rows of angry red
Swollen nipples
Look that says lock-jaw
Jackass
Gird your loins
itititititit
Terms were discussed
Pretty sure promises
Were made
Can’t say I’m confident
She’s appeased
I’m an old fart and
I’m way past indifferent
This is not about
Gender identification
Or whatever it is
Put the bug up her bushy butt
and
Pardon me
I’m just getting up to speed
on they and them
always have been
a step or two behind
I’m compelled to ask
What does
itititititit mean
Them never saw this coming
Best case scenario
She’ll/they’ll go on about they day
Them will wander away
On second thought
You know what
Ititititit me
Nuts to you
____________________
Today's LittleNip:
Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during the moment.
—Carl Sandburg
____________________
Welcome back to Len Germinara, and thanks for today’s fine work! He says these poems are not from his recent book, Back Story; you can see more about that new book at www.amazon.com/Back-Story-LEN-GERMINARA/dp/1734137800/.
Today, Wellspring Women’s Writing Group meets at Wellspring Women’s Center on 4th Av. in Sacramento, beginning at 11:30am. Then tonight, from 8-10pm, Love Jones “The Swoon Effect” features love poetry and music inside Strikes on Laguna Blvd. in Elk Grove. And Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Cafe and Juice Bar meets at 8pm with open mic and featured readers Terryl Wheat and Sam Jensen, 1414 16th St., Sacramento (info: www.facebook.com/events/117579563019602/). 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.
For more about giant technicolor squirrels, go to www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/yes-giant-technicolor-squirrels-actually-roam-forests-southern-india-180971886/.
___________________
—Medusa, who is plenty squirrelly herself ~ (is that one “l” or 2?)
Welcome back to Len Germinara, and thanks for today’s fine work! He says these poems are not from his recent book, Back Story; you can see more about that new book at www.amazon.com/Back-Story-LEN-GERMINARA/dp/1734137800/.
Today, Wellspring Women’s Writing Group meets at Wellspring Women’s Center on 4th Av. in Sacramento, beginning at 11:30am. Then tonight, from 8-10pm, Love Jones “The Swoon Effect” features love poetry and music inside Strikes on Laguna Blvd. in Elk Grove. And Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Cafe and Juice Bar meets at 8pm with open mic and featured readers Terryl Wheat and Sam Jensen, 1414 16th St., Sacramento (info: www.facebook.com/events/117579563019602/). 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.
For more about giant technicolor squirrels, go to www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/yes-giant-technicolor-squirrels-actually-roam-forests-southern-india-180971886/.
___________________
—Medusa, who is plenty squirrelly herself ~ (is that one “l” or 2?)
Cover of Len’s new book!
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