Those who voted “Trump”
are jail-breakers, criminals
in their sad way, too.
Category Archives: POETRY
POETRY FUN
I cannot wait to write a poem.
Let thoughts begin to roam
across the blank spaces
where I see only faint traces.
Whatever lurks beneath the surface
is always a surprising surfeit
of what has passed and is to become
a new creation time rolled into one.
Nothing it seems is ever lost.
Experience is the cost
of facing new challenges sent
across the waves of time unbent.
Around and round again I go.
Where I shall end up I never know.
And where I have been becomes new.
And where I go is merely a clue.
When I arrive I shall share with you
the route I took to be renewed.
I hope you will join me on the route.
That is what companionship is all about.
Knowing I shall return at the end of the journey
to your company holds me firmly
upright and focused with eyes wide open
to the beauty of words never-before spoken.
I play today to remind myself in this space
that there is always a time and place
to relax and let go, and just have fun;
to remind myself, I have just begun.
Filed under POETRY
SPRING WILL COME AGAIN
It has always been
understood and too often
forgotten. Spring comes.
BY THE WAYSIDE
Yesterday I fell
by the wayside
where hopelessness dwells.
The journey upward felt
like a forced retreat,
no longer a climb
on confident feet
to reach the summit
where love presides,
where ego lives above false pride.
Instead, the slope had become slippery
and I,
and I,
and I
fell to my knees
my hopes subsided.
There is no time for this
I have decided.
I may slip again
and all my hopes fail
but, I will stay on freedom’s trail.
The climb ahead
becomes more rugged.
And I become stronger
the longer
I climb.
And I,
And I,
and I
will always go up
where skies are blue,
to reach others
willing to climb
up
from the other side.
This I promise myself
and I promise you.
SPEAKING CREATION
What is now does not have to be.
Speaking up is an act of creation
in this a darkening and frightening nation.
Speaking out is creativity as life may be.
In this way we are always free
to see the world much differently
than when we are told to bend our knee.
It need never be what others see.
We can create our own reality.
The act of creation is the greatest act of love,
overcoming destruction from above.
Speaking out lifts not only voices;
but lifts unlimited possibilities and choices.
Those who try to close the gates
and scare us with threats of hate
to block us in and push us down
cannot handle creativity’s frown
upended when we discover
that we can create a world of lovers.
Speak up. Speak out. Speak so loud
creators join and form a crowd
that laughs in the face of hate and greed
and creates a new and loving creed.
Speaking out is an act of creation.
Speaking out will form a new nation
conceived in liberty
and dedicated to the proposition
that no one can force us to take their position.
Filed under POETRY
WE ARE NOT GREAT BRITAIN
The United Kingdom once was not
united
until its great power overcame a world
unprepared
for invasion
and domination.
Britannia ruled the world
once.
In some ways
it still does.
The power of its language
built upon diversity
and linguistic mergers
still rules the world.
The power of its ideals
from Runnymede
through Parliament
and Native American nations
created an American Ideal
which carries its very being
across every continent and sea.
America was once united
until it was not.
It struggled to become
what the western world dreamed.
It got close
until the powerfully wealthy screamed.
Diversity is not all it was meant to be
in The United States, as hate arose
to fill the gaps of middle class needs.
I could stand the loss
of global power by my country,
As Brits have done before me.
But, I cannot stand the loss
of democracy to fascism and greed.
Great Britain is still a great nation
which defended its democracy.
The USA accepted fallacy
as truth to sacrifice all
who would remain free.
It is not the loss of an election
which hurts; but, the defection
of citizens who once claimed
a nation proud and free.
We may never be free nor great again.
We are not another Great Britain.
EVERYTHING IS TOO SWEET
The tongue becomes numb
to raw truth’s reality
in America.
Filed under POETRY
PARTING WAYS
Duty.
Honor.
Country.
Fear.
Cowardice.
Submission.
The first three I claim
The last three I disdain.
No more need be said.
A national honor now dead.
Killed by those who fled
their duty to country,
a brilliant democracy.
I cannot shake the hand
of one unwilling to stand
by my side and claim
a nation fighting shame.
Pretense has no place
in a nation ruled by truth and grace.
Ignorance is no excuse for surprise
by those who choose to close their eyes
to crimes and fraud and hate
until it becomes too late
to grasp and seize and save
Duty,
Honor,
Country.
Parting ways.
UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS
Ugly Christmas sweater season has begun.
Americans seem to think it is fun
to dress themselves not in the season’s finest,
but in the ugliest sweater they can find
to celebrate together a sacred date
forgetting the solemnity of Advent’s long wait
to share with us a love divine.
Trees go up lit by flames to give us warning
that climate change may soon end
the faithful earth upon which life depends.
A cabinet full of ugly sweaters fills,
worn by those who think they are better
than faithful civil servants whose only goal
is to keep America safe and whole.
Executives dodging background checks
don the ugliest sweaters they can find
hoping to make a buck or two
off the game pitting us against each other,
me and you,
against all hope that we can survive
a very dangerous political ride.
The party which once celebrated
freedom and patriots’ pride
donned ugly sweaters when it realized
white control was on a slip and slide
with the rising hopes of women
and people of color’s growing pride.
The uglier the better the saying goes,
for Christmas sweaters worn by those
who forget the reason for a season,
forget the principles of a constitution,
forget the laws and regulations
which hold together a flawed nation
and allow democracy to thrive.
The time of ugly sweaters has arrived.
CIVILITY
Civility is not servility.
Civility ends when aggression begins.
Civility ends when sexism begins.
Civility ends when racism begins.
Civility has no place
when legislation threatens harm.
Civility has no place
when incitement threatens harm.
Civility has no place
when lawlessness threatens harm.
Civility has no place
when disinformation and lies threaten harm.
Servility cannot become an excuse for civility.
Are we to be lead by uncivil hate and greed?
And should we then be civil and agree to bend a knee?
Servility must never be mistaken for civility.
Civility must not become servility.
No bending knees before hate and greed.
No bending knees at the death of democracy.
No bending knees at any man above the law.
No bending knees at freedom’s last straw.
No servility for me.
I resist any suggestion to show civility
to those insisting upon my servility.
annarino writes 