Category Archives: POETRY

MAMA

Angela Abbruzzi (Abbruzzese) Annarino, high school graduation at age 16

Let’s start a new movement in America.

It is not too late to start anew.

I know I can count on most of you.

We shall call it MAMA,

Make America Motherly Again.

We have had our fill of paternalism.

Let us try maternalism.

We can feed every child meals 

to feed their bodies, hearts and souls.

We can tenderly listen to ease the loneliness

of every grandparent, taking on their former role

as caretakers and dream-makers.

We can heal the sick and ease the way

of those whose minds are different so

all of us can live, love and laugh together.

We can build solar and wind energy makers

to ease the threat of out-of-control weather.

We can offer a living wage to those who labor

on behalf of every family, everywhere.

We can lead our children in private prayer,

within our own homes, and leave to others

whatever prayer, or none, they choose.

We can teach our children well, and if we do,

they will also learn to be good, for the common good

of every person on the planet, like me and like you.

Are you ready? Mothers’ Day will soon be here.

MAMA is on the march to a loving place

of freedom and peace, absent all fear.

We can wear hats, aprons and gloves in blue

A blue hat to block out the heat of hate on any face,

a blue apron to protect the garments of democracy we sow,

and blue gloves to protect hands worn thin by our work

to make our need-to-be renewed nation grow.

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MAGA LESSON 1

AI created image “Trump”

The most difficult words to say

without reason nor rhyme

are “The failure is all mine.”

Even when failure brings such relief,

as the end succeeds the means,

it destroys our firm belief

in our omnipotence and grief,

and makes victims of us all

But victimhood is no more true

than the lie we tell ourselves

that we are better than you.

An un-truth we gleefully claim

to avoid our deepest shame

that we are not enough to win the game.

Shame is at the heart of every false start.

To admit we are in need leads 

to greed and every evil deed,

while self-care falls aside

to save our wounded pride.

Shameful hurts grow in number day by day.

We build walls to keep them, and shame away.

Walls become our gaol as we hide ourselves inside.

Then, we blame those left behind and locked outside.

We are alone in our togetherness; together in our aloneness.

And the rest of the world marches on by.

Shame never takes a break, nor rests

while we destroy what and who we know are best.

That is the only way to win, and then we whine

with shrugs and say, “The failure is not mine.”

One cannot shame a bully more 

than a bully shames himself.

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DADDY DEAR

ANGELO ANNARINO,SR. WITH DAUGHTER LOUISE

Sitting at my young Dad’s knee

with thoughts swirling all about me

I had to know what the larger world

was trying to tell me, and help me see.

Daddy, daddy, daddy dear,

lend this little daughter your ear.

Why do they call Japanese people Japs?

Why do they call German people Krauts?

Why do they call Italian people Dagos?

Why do they call Arab people Towel Heads?

Why do they call women Cunts?

Why do they call Viet-Names people Gooks?

Why do they call African-American people “N”?

Why do they call Jewish people Kikes?

I do not understand, but it feels bad.

Sweet girl, my Daddy replied 

with a glance and shrug quite mortified.

In the military I learned the reason why.

It is enough to make a grown man cry.

But, I shall tell you the reason why.

It is hard to kill a fellow human being.

It is easier to kill someone you do not see

is as human and wonderful as you and me.

It makes it easier to harm, and wound, and kill.

It is easier to demean, and hate, and impose our will.

Undocumented refugees become “Illegals.”

Asylum seekers become “gang member criminals.”

Confucius said presciently, “The ordering of society

begins with the rightness of words.”

Republicans 2025 say, “The destruction of society

begins with the wrongness of words.”

FOX “news” is not news at all; 

yet, keeps too many in its thrall.

Karoline Leavitt tries to make us believe

good questions allow her answers to deceive.

Pam Bondi investigates her own untruths,

accusing her accusers of being uncouth.

Kristi Noem prances and dances before the gates

of concentration camps, seeking a date?

Such liars are pretty, dainty and sweet.

Americans, especially young men, fall at their feet.

How do truth tellers compete?

The jousters of old travelled from court to court,

making jokes of despots’ overreach without harm.

No dungeons for jousters in the good ole’ days.

Now, the jesters are banished from dinners to honor

newspersons dedicated to uncovering liars and lies;

and Amber Ruffin’s scheduled comedic performance

is suddenly, fearfully, cowardly cancelled.

Truth now lives in the dungeons, walking there

willingly, and blind. Such willfulness rankles.

When the words are removed and truth set aside,

it is easier to harm, wound and kill 

without losing one’s pride.

How proud will we be when we realize 

we killed our country to save our pride?

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REPLANTING DEMOCRACY

Leonoras Widow’s Tears, from Breck’s bulbs, planted 4-24-2025

The Holland roots arrived today.

They still need to soak

before I can plant them

deep enough to grow.

What Leonora’s tears will bring

to the garden yet this Spring,

I do not yet know.

The soil is as dark as ever.

This is no reason to fear.

It does not mean it lacks

the ability to accept seeds that grow

into new ideas, new joys, new hopes

beyond our current capacity to know

what wonders in freedom’s garden

will seek light, grow upright and glow

amid the new plantings we start today,

across new paths and waterways,

across neighbors’ fields 

on new roads and byways

joining the others we already know.

Together we continue to sow

new seeds of freedom, perhaps hybridized

alongside the naturalized and native plants

that make our yards, our streets,

our neighborhoods, our nation states,

our very planet come alive again

in even more fruitful and beautiful ways.

I plant with hope this day and every day.

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DOUBLE DEALING DOUBLE MEANING

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-exposed-in-hot-mic-moment-planning-further-abuse-of-power-237422661695

The ordering of society begins 

with the rightness of words, you see.

Their inside and outside meanings

do not always concur in transparency.

Two meanings obscure our sight.

Twisted thoughts create fear 

and we ask “Could this be right?”

Disordering of society begins

with the wrongness of words you see.

Especially when those words are heard 

on hidden mics with no transparency.

Explanations then abound 

with double meanings and falsities

to lead astray the citizenry.

The rightness of words become criminal

when dictators try to hide their true meaning

and freedom is reduced to the minimal

truth allowed, aloud.

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IT IS ALL TRANSACTIONAL

Photo by Guilherme Rossi on Pexels.com

I lifted the blind, closed against the heavy weight of darkness.

But, the darkness lingers still in a world where the ability to see

has become transactional instead of factual.

It is all about the money, we now see.

Truth is no longer able to set us free.

The heavy weight of lies shackles and chains us

and keeps us in our place, where lack of opportunity

now extends beyond those once enslaved.

Too many blindly bow to the oligarchs who stole a nation’s wealth

and put the blame not on themselves, but on everyone else.

It is the people of color, women and homosexuals;

the immigrant and refugee, asylum seekers, librarians,

historians, veterans, unions and universities…

the truth-tellers the upper 1 percent would hide

to save their greedy selves, and tame their shame

behind a white Christian nationalism’s false pride.

Resentment has been nurtured over decades of time,

hardened into stone and fossilized, with guns loaded and primed.

Do not shoot the messengers who only try to lift the blind

and tell the truth you need to hear, about those who put you in this bind.

The sun shouts in voices of students and grandmothers,

unionists and progressives who only want to remind

the leaders still in place, but powerless as institutions crumble,

that we the people will never give up the freedoms  so hard-won.

We will not allow the tyranny of the greedy few to rule 

over  the nation and world we love, never over me and you.

Have we become what we fear most ? A nation of cowards and bullies?

Are we strong enough to lift the blinds and see the truth, finally?

Are we asleep at the post, we guardians of freedom’s hope?

Has greed brought us all to our knees before those who wield wealth

as a cudgel, a chain saw and a weed whacker 

to root out those who seek equal opportunity to build wealth, and be free?

Are we willing to worship the new gods of control, corruption and greed?

It is always about the money; transactional, not factual; selfish, not loving.

Has our beloved community and country been brought to its knees?

Is our ability to love now simply and blindly transactional?

Is no one left to hear our heartfelt, truthful pleas?

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NOT QUITE SILENT

Photo by Karl Byron on Pexels.com

I listened for the voice today.

This is all it had to say. 

My teacup is filled only 1/3 of the way.

Too little water to boil in the pot.

I shall brew my tea and keep it very hot. 

Then add cooler water to the cup.

No harbor will see tea fill it up.

Not exactly as I had willed.

Seeing my beloved democracy killed.

But who am I your will to sway.

My cup does not “filleth over” this cold day.

The half-empty cup seems a blatant warning.

I refuse to name and bring to life

fearfully expected wounds and strife.

The sun blares and cuts the cold air,

melting frost gathered everywhere.

It lies on every surface it seems.

In schoolrooms, libraries, museums,

in corporation and university board rooms. Next,

on airwaves  and in chat rooms and texts. 

In law firms hallowed conference rooms,

and in SCOTUS decisions which seal our doom.

Hard to find a place where the cruelty of iced hearts 

has not settled in, stopping hopefulness at its start.

Hard to know how this day should begin.

Hard to see how we might win.

No birds gather in the yard to eat, drink and sing.

Worms like words stretch frozen on cement pathways.

Hard to stand and walk boldly, or to see our way.

May will bring flowers in graceful bouquets.

But, June, I think, will have the final say.

May summer be full of grace, I pray.

I listened longingly for the hopeful voice today.

But, this…this is all it had to say,

as I watch sunshine melt the frost away.

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LIGHT UP

Photo by William Melvin, April 2025

I am made of stardust

lit by sunlight.

Like lilies of the field

I dig deep into earth

with my toes.

Like birds of the air

I soar on currents stirred

when heat meets cold.

I seek. I soar. I laugh out loud.

I raise my face to the sun.

I dance in moonlight.

My spirit takes flight.

I grow strong.

My beauty abounds.

As earth, my earth

turns round and round.

Time has no meaning

I have found

except to tether my hopes

that change comes around

when most desired,

bright with sounds

of laughter, and courage

unleashed and unbound.

Rejoice in the day,

the month and the year

but stay in the moment.

Have no fear.

Photo by William Melvin, April 2025

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DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

photo by W. Melvin, April 2025

Time Springs forward

dragging darkness 

behind the lines

sketched on icy nights,

chilled by winds of change

blowing against the heat of sunlight,

marching tentatively 

amid the raindrops

on hardened feet,

with tender hearts,

and fretful minds.

Where will this end?

wonder insects, birds and bees.

Will flowers and gardens of delight

ever bloom in peace again ?

Books, plays, trans, 

people of color and women,

Jews and Muslims banned.

Libraries and museums shuttered.

Voice of America and PBS silenced ?

Knowledge buried with past misdeeds

and hidden gems of wisdom covered

by the mulch of indifference and lies. 

How fast time flies

while truth is shattered and put asunder.

Forgotten history betrayed and bended,

despite our promise, “Never again!” has ended.

Now is the time to save the light.

Daily, now, again and again.

Spring into the light and fight.

Again and again and again

until the darkest days of winter

are overcome by a freedom summer’s light.

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COLUMBUS,OHIO 4-5-2025

Thousands gathered in pouring rain

that fizzled to drizzle

before again filling drains

in a deluge of tears shed from the sky

for all the cruel MAGA plans in 2025.

Cars in parade drove round and round

filled with those too weak or sick to stand

letting the blare of horns shift feet off the ground

as protesters lifted signs and waved

in true solidarity, camaraderie and pride.

Every viewpoint, every age, every gender

straight or pride, every religion; all differences aside.

Small towns, big cities and rural hamlets,

countries all around the globe 

joined together, lifted signs with epithets

and reminders the people run this country

not oligarchs, nor despots, nor traitors, nor kings.

Enough is enough and this is too much

as it silences the Liberty Bell’s ring.

And, best of all, this is just the beginning.

Soon, MAGA will fall.

Still, local and national news ignores

the true message sent today

to save our beloved USA.

Media moguls saw no need

to shoot themselves in the knee

and tell the story of our glory

as we gathered to redress grievances

and demand our government comply

with federal laws and court orders

lest we watch our nation die. 

We are here, and here we shall remain.

We are our own best hope. We refuse to lie.

Fascists now rule over the home of the brave,

supported by Republican cowards

whose complicity credulity strains.

And the news media offers no discourse

to educate and explain

why millions of Americans stood so  resolute,

so long, in such  drowning rain.

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