Playground turf or nation
must always be defended.
Best always to win.
Category Archives: POETRY
HOPE STREET
Where does hope begin or end?
Hope is not a one-way street, I know.
Hope folds back upon itself and those
who travel its streets come and go.
Hope gets caught up in the dark fold
and holds its breath until the street unfolds
where freedom lights and warms the soul
and breath can find its rhythm again.
Wins and losses racing down these streets
means little on this stretch where war has taken hold.
the streets of Harkiv, Cherniv, Chernobyl,
Kyiv, Lviv, and Mariupol and the many towns
and villages along the way show us hope
passed this way on its way to war and back again.
Bodies lying twisted on Ukrainian streets
executed and abandoned show hope passed through
on its way to our own streets, to our own end.
Hope folds back again and again and again
until our streets meet Ukrainian streets,
util our humanity meets in the streets everywhere,
until we discover all streets meet end-to-end.
Our hopes fold and unfold together on the road
to war and peace, to evil or good, to hatred or love.
Where does hope begin or end?
With each of us.
NEGOTIATION
Eyes in the back of the head.
Negotiations with liars.
False flags of intent.
Time ill spent?
Honor builds trust.
Honor’s cup was emptied.
Not so long ago we forget.
Chechnya, Syria,Georgia
Ukraine.
Fill the cup with honor first ,
Else we drink
from a poisoned cup.
Do not wait, nor hesitate
to defend against war
delayed not ended.
Eyes wide open.
Filed under POETRY
SIGHT UNSEEN
Meaning hides behind the curtain of words
strung on steel spines laid across windows
open to the view of curiosity seekers
walking the borders of meadows
where secrets are held in shallow graves.
I watch their progress across the land
mined with traps of grammar and rhyme,
their trampling feet raising dust to obscure
whatever truths they might find
should their path be more certain, more sure.
Discoveries are few and far between.
They wander and look everywhere but
where the treasures lie sight unseen.
Makes me wonder why poets write,
what they expect others to glean
from meaning hidden in plain site.
Filed under POETRY
POETS
A spirit guards this space
placing a soft touch on the hand
which holds the pen
disclosing its presence
where ink marks the page
in a language known
if not understood
except by poets.
The poet is the reader of
Spirit’s words, not the writer.
Filed under POETRY
GAWKING UKRAINE
Gawkers run to scenes
which stir the blood.
Existential fear draws them on
and eases their souls.
For a moment they
forget they are always
alone.
Always, in all ways.
Finding companionship
wherever they may,
they push loneliness away
and hide their fear
in jeers and cheers.
Sincerity is often lost
in their witnessed strife,
so much a part of life.
Watching without charity
while claiming solidarity
with those who suffer
is never enough to unite us,
to overcome our aloneness.
Those who suffer await more
than witnessing and words.
Action speaks louder than words.
Weapons speak louder during war.
Zelensky clearly explains
“I need ammunition, not a ride.”
He humbly sets aside pride
to admit what we all know.
He is alone,
like all Ukrainians,
like each of us.
Opening boundaries
among nations and hearts
is a good start.
We will remain alone
no matter how much we gawk
unless we do more to atone,
more to end suffering and war
we will always stand alone.
Filed under POETRY
ONLY A MOMENT
Children count the years in minutes.
Teenagers live in the moment.
Middle-agers count the years in decades.
and the aging count the minutes in a year.
Time is of no real moment until the final one.
Counting time bears momentum
only if we overthrow its end.
Like plants dormant in winter soil
we push against the darkest hours
not counting time but striving upward
into the light where we can grow.
Never say you are getting old.
Say, instead you are growing older.
Then stop the watch. Stop the calendar.
This is the only moment that counts.
Live this moment until its end.
Filed under POETRY
BRAVE ACTS
Brave acts brave histories make
of men and women, and nations
united untidily, unrepentantly
but bravely.
Too seldom we see such as this
in nations guided by bliss
following trade’s path
toward profit and math.
Adding up cash into power is not bad.
What one does with such power can be
if labor and neighbor are pushed into slavery
because leaders lack bravery.
Ukraine is but a symptom of harm
long passed on to the poor and powerless
in whatever nation they reside.
We need more bravery and fairness
and less cowardice
before we move on
to tomorrow’s news.
Filed under POETRY
HOTHEADS AND HOT PLANETS
Temperature dropped fifty degrees.
It snowed last night, to pansy’s surprise.
Such cold stills connections
among the creatures of this earth.
How much colder is space beyond
this planet we are on.
Billions of suns, most yet unknown,
leave dark space frozen,
dark matter hidden from our view.
What connections are possible
between planets, when those on earth
are few and far between?
How do we reach each other
beyond the coolness and disdain
for others we see as not the same?
How do we warm up the atmosphere
to allow friendships to form and hold
us safe from violence and war?
How do we share warmth
without setting fires to enflame
nations, planets, universes?
Time to figure it out.
The clock is ticking.
Hotheads are rising
despite the falling snow
trying to cool tempers
and temperatures.
Filed under POETRY
