The celeb culture vicarious
we imitate in limp ballet
as our own talents but scarious
we ape in mawkish cabaret
A hapless homily
but no anomaly
+)
scarious = thin, dry, and membranous; chaffy
edited 05/14/25 0940
Elites stir up the howling storm
amidst mellow middling calm
as their interest in us lukewarm
causes them not slightest qualm
Drawn in to empire’s slipstream
amidst paralyzing suction
Another gut-wrenching scheme
inescapable the ruction
As long as the elites aspire
us common people shall expire
+)
ruction = the act of making a noisy disturbance
edited 10/10/23 0810
Sounds so demoralizing
her verbal ritual
Weighed down immobilizing
her yack perpetual
Her dear husband enlisted
for reasons simplistic
Their lives by Empire twisted
yet feel chauvinistic
They’re human raw material
to fill its hapless legions
on harsh campaigns Imperial
in to remotest regions
And so the War Machine
gobbles up recruits
Some eager to convene
to look sharp, salute
Empire’s goals & pursuits obscene
its glamor proves cosmetic:
To search out, destroy or demean
in violence frenetic
Carrying out command: ‘Fire!’
jingoistically
sets in motion outcome dire:
Blow back predictably
+)
-‘blow back’ = poorly anticipated consequences suffered by an aggressor, typically manifesting as ‘random’ acts of violence without a discernible cause because much of the public being oblivious of how initially provoked
-her = here: disheartening what keeps happening to her. She’s the ill wife of a soldier who returned from Afghanistan with serious physical & mental wounds
edited 01/03/24 0805
In these so called ‘debates’
we’re fed thin gruel
while opens all floodgates
to base & cruel
Those scripted ‘debaters’:
Mirage creators
in-the-wings dictators
slick myth narrators
Discombobulated
populace fretful
seen our hopes deflated
by priors fateful
Even so we keep up our drool
the sure fate of the hapless fool!
+)
priors = here: as in prior betrayals
edited 02/24/24 0950
Am craving solitude
Platitude detracts
as likewise certitude
when flimsy one’s facts
While I try allay
compunction’s millstone:
“Don’t linger, go away
leave me to bemoan!”
Am trying to atone
for my turpitude
trying scrounge some backbone
but lack rectitude
Leaves me fending off despair full-blown
by keeping my nose to the grindstone
edited 04/19/24 0840
Came across these lines from a late-Elizabethan era madrigal ‘Now is the Month of Maying’:
“The Spring clad all in gladness
doth laugh at Winter’s sadness”
which inspired the following verse – though pretending that ‘Madrigal’ is the last name of a woman called Elizabeth, who is rather the one feeling gladness & sadness:
While flawless crisp days did excite
on frozen fields bucolic
since then worn thin Winter’s delight
in melting snow to frolic
Patient, fickle & demure
thus arrives next season
to brim with its own allure
clouded from all reason
Dear Elizabeth Madrigal
clearly the most innate thing
for such a thoughtful lovely gal
to join in laughter with Spring!
edited 04/03/22 1510
Picked flowers in a vase
through phototropism
still reach for light with grace
in short struggle, schism
A servitude bouquet
its buoyancy endeavored
for just another day
after their roots got severed
Each stalk struggling upright
trying its shoulders pulled back
corolla may look tight
but soon too in grieving slack
Gently drops each petal
knowing not of haste
bounces softly, settles
demise calmly faced
In a few days all die
serene in their goodbye
edited 05/03/24 0835
While out this day crisp & clear
in late Winter sun bleak
while squinting in light austere
fleetingly caught a peak:
of Spring Herself, behold
in season preview
impervious to cold
Hope now springs anew
It is She, Spring Vernal
bubbling brook blithely!
Her return eternal
enlivens sprightly
While smile evanescent
she’s still sheer delight
as well effervescent
heart-heating & bright
Her advent demure
hemline proper
still wondrous allure
a crowd stopper
With wide eyed gaze unblinking
I sneaked another peek
imagined She were winking
then pecked me on the cheek
Elated about this ‘fling’
with the now approaching Spring!
edited 01/31/22 1010
Spent its vitality
winter’s worn dulled paws
scratching in rivalry
with Spring’s fresh crisp claws
Ushers warmth’s renewal
along roads drying
Blossoms in accrual
while snow melts crying
Spring’s playful winds so tender
have now begun to blow
sweeping that budding splendor
where hope & flowers grow
edited 01/27/25 1745
We found our mailbox crammed
brimmed with discontent
Poor thing been stuffed & jammed
pouring out lament
Her plastic sides bulging
while overflowing
readily divulging
sad contents showing:
Though a lonesome magazine
found no private letter
Advertising byzantine
‘how to stay a debtor’
Gushingly touted
quite breathlessly!
All restraint flouted
quite fecklessly!
The box didn’t gorge itself
instead invaded
its just a lidded elf
pounced on, degraded
edited 02/05/22 2120
