Micro-aggressions
destroy the soul achilles
cutting equal stride.
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
WORLD WAR AGAINST DEMOCRACY
Putin is winning his war against America
even as he loses in Ukraine.
Tucker Carlson, FOX News
and the Freedom Caucus
of The US Congress
plight their troth to Putin’s cause
while their citizen supporters
cheer Putin on to defeat
not only Democrats and the Democratic Party
but democracy itself.
Americans focus on the war abroad
where Ukrainians who refuse to be conned
by Trump and his MAGA cons
fight for their freedom.
The war here at home rages on.
Putin wins without a shot,
funding the NRA and lobbyists instead,
for guns to wage war on our children
gunned down in city streets.
Drugs fund his efforts and continue
the blight of Putin’s fight
in every city in every neighborhood.
The World War is hidden behind
institutions meant to guard freedom.
But when they do, Putin’s army
of the American right takes flight
and drops word bombs
to destroy the weapons reason wields.
Americans must take to the fields
to defend SCOTUS appointments,
election officials and elections themselves.
the Republican Freedom Congress raises funds
and pledges support to candidates
who will tunnel inside the only defenses we still have
to defeat the enemies of our democracy.
The Russian War in Ukraine is one of many fronts.
The war is worldwide. It has already begun.
Filed under POETRY
SEND IN THE PLANES
It is uncomfortable.
It causes pain.
Is it insane?
or, is there a good reason
to refrain
from sending in the planes?
Watching a fight
from the sidelines
is no way to win the bout.
Democracy must win.
Never doubt.
Planes sit on tarmacs
as children die
in the arms of the wounded.
It is uncomfortable
to watch their pain.
Send in the planes!
Filed under POETRY
SPREAD THE WORD
Be bold. Be brave.
Small efforts
small victories make.
Be curious, not furious.
Distill solutions
from confusion.
No regrets is a sign
you left your life behind.
Be bold. Be brave.
Small efforts
small victories make
until you add yours to mine.
Spread the word.
Be bold. Be brave.
Together,
larger victories await.
Filed under POETRY
AMERICAN HYPOCRISY
Don’t talk to me of hypocrisy.
I am an aspiration,
not an ideology.
I am American democracy.
Like the people who bear my name
I sin, repent, then sin again.
My faith is in future possibility
of behaving with greater civility.
My hope is that together we
can find more equity and equality.
My love is for those like me
who strive to create a better reality.
Perfection is not my goal.
I am prepared to bare my soul
with all its failures and deceits
and courage to hand out receipts
to those I have failed or freedom denied,
determined to atone for unworthy pride.
I am an aspiration. I can say I tried.
I can believe in a future yet untried.
I believe in myself with you at my side.
I am an aspiration,
not an ideology.
Do not talk to me of hypocrisy.
Filed under POETRY
Angel Prayer
Do angels fear to tread
Mariupol‘s streets
lined with the dead?
Who else will guard
the skies that bled
upon her living souls ?
A single prayer is said,
asking skies to close
and ease the dread
of more to fall and fail
than bodies.
Listen well, angels of Ukraine.
Speak to angels everywhere
and pass along the prayer,
lest dictators leave their stain
on centuries of despair,
on the streets of Ukraine
and elsewhere.
Filed under POETRY
Wheat and War
Bread is life.
Ukrainian wheat
Feeds the world.
Fields plowed.
Seed sowed
While bombs fall
On fertile earth
Watered now
By chemical rain?
War kills.
Not for hours,
Nor days and weeks;
But, for months and years
Or even decades.
Another Chernobyl looms
Over wheat fields
And their children,
Young and old,
Hungry and waiting.
I grow cold
Fearing more, contemplating
Famine and war.
Filed under POETRY
JUST BREATHE
Wiser heads than mine
Form a summit line,
G-7, EU, NATO.
Titles matter not.
Nor names.
Smiling nods in greeting
Begins their meeting
While phosphorous bombs
Drop fires no one can put out.
Ukrainians await the word
Which assures they can endure.
Europe holds it breath
On the front lines of its defense.
Do not hold your breath too long.
That way lies death; not just
For Ukraine, but for all of us.
Hopes rise and once again
We fear the lateness of the hour
As Russia tries to devour
Ukrainians holding tight to freedom
On the outskirts of Western Democracies.
We plead, just breathe!
Breathe support and protection.
Stop holding your breath.
Just breathe!
Just breathe!
Filed under POETRY
