Monday, November 09, 2020

Let Time Heal Our Distant Visions

 
—Poetry by Joseph Nolan, Michelle Kunert, 
Caschwa (Carl Schwartz)
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy of Joseph Nolan



AT SEASHORE BEFORE DAWN
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA

We have wandered, amiss,
In the fog, in the mist,
That has drifted
In from shore.

Beauty, in the early dawn,
Escapes the ones
Who linger on,
In bed, after the sunrise.

Meanwhile, down by the sea,
Things are always happening.
Sea lions and seals
Brave the waves
To find some fish to feed
Their early-morning’s hunger.

Come, the ones who wonder,
What the sea might mean to thee,
When sun has not yet risen,
When waves drift to eternity,
Unburdened by the brilliance of our
Mother star!
 
 
 
Wave: 1/1000 of a second
 


COWBOYS IN SALOONS
—Joseph Nolan

It’s time for us
To rendezvous
With the ghosts of
Saloons past,

Drinking shots
We buy
With gold dust,
As long as
Gold dust lasts.

And when all the
Gold is gone,
We’ll saunter to the street,
Winking at some honeys
We cannot pay to meet. 
 
 
 

 

FAMILY DIASPORA
—Joseph Nolan

In a desperate scramble to avoid each other,
A cacaphonous concatenation of
Discordant harmonies
Stumbled over each other
In a rucksack rhythm,
Seeking escape from the bag,
A variation on a theme
Of a consistent meter that said,
“You are no better than me!”
We all fell from the same tree!
You can’t get away
From what we all are.
You’ll never be free from the tree!”
 
 
 

 

ROWING OVER SILKY POND
—Joseph Nolan

The contentment of
A broken dream
May be resignation—
Quiet sighs, unheard.

Whispers follow
Spoken words
To try to pull them back
Down stifled throats.

If wishes were boats
The poor would sail the open seas
Wherever they might wish to go,
But we all know
Reality’s not that easy.

Still, you can’t deny,
Even over a silky pond,
How sweet it is to row!
 
 
 

 
 
I couldn’t stand the T.V. news presidential election coverage this year
       I mean it could be like, “War has broken out among ‘red’ and ‘blue’ states",
       where people would even be shooting at each other.
       Then they would say, “But here is the weather…”


—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento, CA
 
 
 
Transition Team
 

 
SUDDENLY DISQUIET
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA

the Chihuahua disappears on the
doggy run
soft paws touching clipped lawn
having fun

head craning upward to scout the fence
no squirrels to chase
pausing, waiting, as if in a long line
this is not a race

and then something happens
with all four feet
the quiet disappears in a crackle
then a repeat

over and over and over and over
big crunch times four
every little step is as loud as can be
and then there’s more

the dry leaves of Autumn
have gotten underfoot
right around the waste can
into which they will be put
 
 
 
No, this is not a Chihuahua...
 
 
 
DOG DAYS FOREVER
—Caschwa

just imagine the size of the uproar if an
increasing number of dog owners who
shouted orders at their dogs, took out a
gun and shot the dog dead right there
for failing to comply with the order

now consider if the police did that with
suspects, making it the overriding priority
to kill a disobedient soul above bringing
them in alive to face charges…

in this land of liberty and justice for all,
there should be no problem whatsoever
securing ample funding for law enforcement
departments who use their incredible
powers to advance the cause of justice,
and not just to beat the drum of obedience
 
 
 

 

THE NEED TO HEAL
—Caschwa

open
heavily salted wounds
will not quickly heal; no matter
how softly we speak, our chatter
is arrows to balloons

***

because
you and I don’t support
the same approach to leadership
what mine includes, then yours will skip,
where mine’s long, yours is short

***

don’t try
to test me on a book
that you have read and digested
and know which parts are protested
just to give me the look

***

let time
heal our distant visions
of how we want this country run
there’s room on Earth to let the sun
highlight each of our decisions


(Argonelle Chain poetry form) 
 
 
 

 


YOU’RE OUT!!
—Caschwa

the season-ticket holders luxuriated
with food and drink and good seats
as the players and officials took the field

high in the grandstand broadcaster’s
booth was Mike Pence, who noted,
“We think there is a miracle around the corner.”

home plate umpire Lindsey Graham insightfully
stated, “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal,
I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to
pretend to be a fair juror here.”

the first baseman was old Mitch McConnell, the
Grim Reaper, minding the Senate graveyard and
eager to preserve his reputation for not letting
anything get past him

the pitcher with his famous orange-peel skin took
the mound and readied himself to fascinate the
crowd with a bevy of slick, swift, sales pitches

then rain clouds blew in, buckets of rain fell, and
all those players, officials, and broadcasters melted
into yesterday’s headlines 
 
 
 

 
 
BUT IF…
—Caschwa

We love the game of baseball,
the teams, the players, the action

but if a professional, major league
pitcher intentionally throws a fast
ball straight to the head of the batter,

there should be severe consequences
for that misdeed, and if the organization
encourages or enables such actions,
there should be severe consequences
for them as well

We love our law enforcement, the
skill, the sacrifice, the contribution

but if…
 
 
 

 

Today’s LittleNip:

THE DUNCE CAP PHILOSOPHER
—Caschwa

he thought himself quite worldly
when in fact it was only
from experience
gained most narrowly,
sophistication
self-praised verily
which served to taper
the sphere of knowledge he’s known
into the shape of a cone


(Sandwiched by Sevens poetry form)

____________________

Monday thanks to Joseph Nolan, Michelle Kunert and Caschwa (Carl Schwartz) for starting off another autumn week for us here in the Kitchen! Speaking of Carl, I messed up last Friday's posting of two of his Form Fiddlers' Friday poems—got them jumbled up, dang it. I corrected them later that day, but I'm sorry for the snafu.

Several events are coming up in our area this week on Zoom. For more info about those at Sac. Poetry Center, go to www.sacramentopoetrycenter.com/. Area online poetry events this week include:

•••Mon., 6pm: SPC Annual Meeting to elect a new Board of Directors. If you’d like to “attend”, the Zoom link is us02web.zoom.us/j/7638733462. Meeting ID: 763 873 3462. Passcode: spcsdv2020.

•••Mon. 7:15pm: SPC Monday Night Socially Distant Verse online. Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/7638733462?pwd=YVltWXFFa2Rid2pZQ3pWaVordmZ5UT09/. Meeting ID: 763 873 3462 ("P O E T R E E I N C”); password: spcsdv2020.

•••SPC Tuesday night workshop hosted by Danyen Powell. Bring a poem for critique. Contact mostoycoff@gmail.com for availability and Zoom info.

•••Wed., 6pm: MarieWriters workshop (prompts) hosted by Ann Michaels: zoom.us/j/671443996

•••Thurs., 7:30pm: SPC Literary Lecture Series features Dr. Steve Cirrone on Shakespeare’s Sci-Fi, Macbeth. Info: www.facebook.com/groups/literarylectures/. Registration required prior to attending your first session of Literary Lecture Series; go to us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYldOCrrTIsGd3zdcXdxMayV4fVqsEXFc8Y. Zoom ID: 828 3933 9639.

•••Fri., 4pm: Writing from the Inside Out workshop led by Nick LeForce. Reg. in advance at: zoom.us/meeting/register/upwkde-opjkpnyQECAVBKolY4hKCdl61uA/. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. (If you have registered before, use the same link.)


* * *


Also this week:

•••Wed., 7:30-8:30pm: Poets’ Theatre of No. Cal. presents An Evening of Poetry with Tzynya Pinchback, Neil Silberblatt, Diana Medina. Info: www.facebook.com/groups/1904641973008289/.  

•••Fri., 7:30pm: Video poetry reading on Facebook by Davis Poet Laureate James Lee Jobe at james-lee-jobe.blogspot.com/ or youtube.com/jamesleejobe/.

•••Sun., 3-4:30pm: Lincoln Poets Open Mic through a Zoom Room. If you wish to read or just listen, RSVP David Anderson, dcajla80@gmail.com/.

•••For more about El Dorado County poetry events, check Western Slope El Dorado poetry on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry/.

__________________________

—Medusa
 
 
For more about the platypus, go to 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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