eric sundin

Southern California:
One seeming seamless mall
with roars ‘cariphonia’
and merchandising gall

Of this consists its essence:
Ever fleeting new thrills!
Where to escape its presence?
High up in dusty hills!

The clear-eyed who wisely topangued
won’t so easily be harangued

+)
-‘cariphonia’ = the sound of cars in heavy traffic
-topangued = to move up in the hills of Topanga, away from LA

edited 06/16/22 1125

He had it right, Amerigo
though he hadn’t sailed a ship there.
While Cristobal, of lesser(?) ego,
just didn’t know he had been where?

He or she who endures travails
struggles hard & risks it all
perhaps rarely do they prevail
for lack of elbows & gall?

In life what one plans seldom follows.
Cristobal hoisted heavy sails
in his departure port of Palos
and returned to tell tallest tales.

The conquest remains Cristobal’s claim.
While for hapless Indigenous
now henceforth by (East) Indian name
now treated as vermiculous.

(+)
-Amerigo Vespucci = (1454-1512) was an Italian explorer, navigator and cartographer who first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia’s eastern outskirts as initially conjectured from Columbus’ voyages, but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass hitherto perhaps unknown to Afro-Eurasians. Nevertheless, the Indigenous People were henceforth referred to as Indians. Referred to as the New World, this continent came to be termed America, deriving its name from Americus, the Latin version of Vespucci’s first name
-Palos de Frontera = port in Southwest Spain, near Huelva, from where Columbus set sails
-vermiculous = wormlike

edited 04/24/17 0835

Images of their lives short & wretched
then slaughter’s horror for animals
indelible impressions sizzle etched
From where springs our human animus?

Aren’t we bereft of compassion
raising them as mere food ration?

Clearly meat eating replete
with daily cruelty?
Mustn’t chewing ‘factory meat’
place hearts in truancy?

Which goes for swilling dairy
if on human behalf
should we not all be wary
unless a nursing calf?

“But we like meat & dairy!” Good grief!
Won’t you grasp animals aren’t our beef?

Instead thrive on flowing wheat
lustrous, delectable
and the fresh & brimming sweet
fruit & vegetable!

edited 06/29/24 1115

People wobbly, down weighted
munching on escapist diet
bodily temples sated
stuffed they’re suffering disquiet

Out on shopping paths cutthroat
for latest jolt quick fix
while can’t be bothered to vote
no time for politics

Shall they ever see themselves
as with manners oafish?
Unwittingly pushy elves
so utterly foolish

To instant gratification
they feel divinely ordained
In inane alienation
must always be entertained

What do folks so disconnected
think if they hear climate ‘change’?
Might their response be expected:
‘No exchange policy? Strange!’

These are observations not lies
watched most of them with my own eyes

+)
-elves = here: ace consumers, living out their acquisitive dreams, their pointed elf ears (antennas actually) honing in on best deals on the most popular items

edited 12/30/23 0940

My dental hygienist told me that one of her patients did, when getting their teeth cleaned by water pressure, actually exclaim:

“Teeth cleaning like water boarding!”
provides a dental chair glimpse
of sample comment affording
by ignorant ‘First World’ wimps

Sense of compassion unformed?
Oddly non-reflective?
Aren’t they sadly uninformed
so lacking perspective …

but that must be hard to see
when all revolves around ‘ME’?

edited 06/14/24 1000

Walking the bike up hill
did you get too tired
legs too weak, lacking will?
No, a flat acquired!

Tire went ‘bang!’ at a juncture
deprived of p.s.i.
Instantaneous puncture
spectacularly, why?

When by rusty nail pierced
where ever the hole
airflow won’t be reversed
pointless to cajole

When inner tube does burst
like a snake wheezing
Air rushes out head first
soundly displeasing

Every molecule on its own
in elbowed escapes frantic
Solidarity pretense blown
by weak deflating antic

edited 09/10/25 1115

Below the cold pale moon
out in space unknown
on planet trashed, junk strewn
easy feel alone

Then sky gets swept clean
by morning bright
and stars’ dimming sheen
yield to sunlight:

Stands up, as the night stands down:
The ‘Nation Indispensable’:
Empire with red, white, blue frown
violent, reprehensible

To dominate the Globe in disquietude
while She slides unbeknownst to decrepitude

+)
She = ‘The Nation Indispensable’ = The USA, proudly dubbed the ‘indispensable’ nation by its national security managers, is the nation most enmeshed in conflicts across the globe. It has, as suggested by Martin Luther King Jr, become “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world”. How different from the words of John Quincy Adams, its sixth President, that the U.S. would provide a shining example of liberty as long as “she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.”

edited 09/15/24 0900

These days it seems too much work and/or there ain’t enough time to untie the laces before removing one’s shoes at night. If so – here’s for those of you who struggle with putting them on the next morning:

Hope eternally springs
for AI laces made right:
Self-loosening shoestrings
opens up shoes with foresight!

But til such time here’s a cue:
Must it cause much outcry
if you don’t remove your shoe
until first you untie?!

Or do sneakers get tight
just resting over night?

edited 06/21/22 0705

Drawn on my years of observation of how my spouse has perfected this artful undertaking, viz.:

“Do not rush me, Time!
I need you to slow down
right now on the dime!
Just pulling on my gown!”

“I need you to wait!”
Her cheeks all flush
“I’m lavishly late
in frantic rush!”

By now Perfected Exit
after starting out slow
builds momentum til hectic
Now that’s a fire works show!

Steadily recurring drama
mere minutes til dressed from pajama
While to others would cause trauma
mere swift smooth routine for Grande Mama!

Plays out like a scorcher
with dashing deporture.

+)
-deporture = deportment: demeanor; conduct
-Time = to others inexorable while to my spouse time ought to instantly expand or contract perfectly synchronized to her shifting needs. Now that can’t be too much to ask for, can it?!

edited 10/19/22 1340

The Empire of Denial
continues to beguile
By propaganda’s vial
clicking heals, shouting ‘heil’

U.S. lost in winless warring
yet still keeps persevering
Think by ‘doubling down’ they’re scoring
pretending to hear cheering!

The Elite keeps us Populace stirred
Reality & Fantasy blurred

edited 04/28/24 1610