Monday, May 17, 2010

Didn't get the memo



I don't think the point
Is that there is less stress
In the AARP crowd.
But rather the stress
Bothers us less
Because we know
That stress, indeed, passes;
And that any life messes
Eventually get cleaned up.
Why worry? 

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The homely here of Indiana

The homely here of Indiana,
Beaten, drowned, buffeted,
Labeled by some as country
Best seen from above--
You know, as the crow flies.
And on days like these
Even from above, you'd see
Only clouds, and more clouds.
And yet--
Some blustery front will blow
Those clouds away, soon,
Then look out the windows, frequent fliers:
Ah, the lovely green checkerboards
Fringed by full wind-rows
Laid on the grid of county road
And interstate.
And down below, the beauty's
In the details, so look close:
The pear, the dogwood, the lilac
The tulip, iris, peony,
Green on loan from 
Some Irish aerie, maybe:
The Midwest flatness a sudden canvas,
Cubism and Impressionism thrown together,
Unexpected art in a plain Hoosier gallery.

Monday, May 10, 2010

She's just not good enough for you

Who would make people happy?
Not even this announcement:
"Today, President Obama nominated
"Christ for the Supreme Court,
"Stating that the Savior's hands-on experience
"In judgmental situations
"Makes Him particularly well-suited
"To the nation's highest court."
Give it half an hour,
Let the talking heads loose:
"Christ for the court?
What kind of judge
Will He make?
He forgave everyone!
An elitist radical socialist!
A left activist!
An anti-military loon!"
O friends! Judge not,
That ye might be judged
By the right of heart.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Imma B Immigrated

If she raises her hand in greeting
To the poor, the tired, the multi-hued
In New York harbor--
In Arizona she whacks them
On the head.
"We won't judge you by your skin--
We'll just stop you, and card you,"
And perhaps, deport you.
Give up the mothers, the fathers,
Your yard man, your pool guy,
Your hotel maid, your nanny.
By bus, train, boat, or boot,
Just show them the door
Don't let it hit them on the way out.
And don't miss them when they're gone.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Throwing numbers at the wall


Take these numbers;
Hold them in your hands
Shake them up like Yahtzee dice,
Throw them at the wall;
See if they stick. Or bounce.
(Like a bad check.)
Digits fly by everywhere--
Miles on the odometer,
Minutes on the clock,
Line score at Wrigley Field.
Don't blink; you might miss
The roller coaster ride on
Wall Street. If some say
It's veering around Greece,
Others blame it on the rain.
Oh wait; I mean, bad typing.
Hey, Austin Powers? Was that million
...Or billion? Neither applies
To my 401(K)--not anymore.
They're all only numbers,
Thrown onto screen or spreadsheet,
Overhyped on CNBC and Bloomberg.
Honestly, more like a merry-go-round,
Without the merry.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

A Black River Runs Through It. Again

Maybe you've seen the headwaters of this black river,
It's there in Prince Williams Sound,
Where dark puddles linger, decades later--
Here's where it began, with
Death and death and mess.
Floating booms can't restrain stupidity
and bad planning--
Nor can fire burn away carelessness.
If the bitch, Katrina, wreaked anarchy,
Howling for attention,
 Then here is a quiet, black anointing, insidious,
Slinking into the Gulf waters,
Threading through the delicate lace
Of estuary and delta,
Like a Dementor ready to 
Suck the life from us. Again.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Laughing at Letterman

David, you old Hoosier:
Every night you
Open your chest
And let us laugh at your heart.
What goes on in the green room
Doesn't stay there.
Behind even open hearts
Are closed doors. If winsome disclosure
Brings forgiveness,
Memory brings caution.
Our laughter, fed by empathy
(Indeed, we all screw up)
May turn quickly--
As quickly clicked
As a button on a remote.

May 4: I was going to write, but Neil Young did it better

Four dead in Ohio>>

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio. (Neil Young)

Pictures>>
Kent May 4 Center>>
Fire in the Heartland>>

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Dooming history, one tweet at a time




Obama wrestles with growing stack of crises
While Michelle kickboxes with dandelions;
George Bush proclaimed while New Orleans drowned,
And Iraq collapsed upon itself.

Tweets today may be yesterday’s tomes,
Yet, books or pixels, it’s only time’s perspective
That gives fair judgment. I’ll wait,
And see how tomorrow’s news arrives.

Nashville -- no stranger to the rain

After all the songs about rain,
The rainy night, the rain on the roof,
The rain in your blue eyes--
Hey Nashville, remember
What Waylon said -- Storms never last;
Yet from Ft. Wayne experience,
The mud lingers for weeks.


Monday, May 3, 2010

Note to BP: Your oily avoidance roils my sense of responsibility




If, by chance, oil should spew from Earth's dark mantle

Without the intervention of God, or Jed Clampett--

Then, indeed, British Petroleum, sans Transocean, or not;

With your oily avoidance, or not;

This ecologic nightmare IS "your accident."


Yours in responsible drilling, C.