Contributions (HA 83 Meter 7/5)

House Arrest

The country’s not on fire and I don’t play violin,
and certainly I’ve never been in charge.
But health and trade are dire and catastrophe might win,
for autocratic attitude looms large.

I wish that there was more I could contribute than a poem,
but I got old while waiting for this time,
and though I can’t be sure it’s best to hunker in my home,
as long as I’m confined, I’ll donate rhyme.

I don’t expect to earn a dime composing poetry,
but I collect a living here and there.
Alone each day I turn away from shopping currently,
and thereby have some dollars I can spare.

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Time to Quit (HA 82 English Madrigal)

House Arrest

The leader of the Party is an ass;
they don’t come any worse than DJT.
Conservatives should quit the GOP.

There’s nothing Grand (or Gallant) in the class
that lies and foments gross conspiracy.
The leader of the Party is an ass;
they don’t come any worse than DJT.

His alchemy converts our gold to brass,
and silver turns to toxic mercury.
We’re almost swamped in his dishonesty.
The leader of the Party is an ass.
They don’t come any worse than DJT.
Conservatives should quit the GOP.

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Skeptical (HA 81 Interlocking Rubaiyat)

House Arrest

I used to trust the scientists and press
to separate the careful from the guess.
I saw the politicians who abuse
the truth, but thought the scholars would address

the subjects with strict discipline, and choose
the rigors of the lab and peer reviews.
But now I know that bias was naive,
for capital concerns corrupt the news,

and scientific sycophants believe
that funding means the published must deceive.
Too many trade good work for cash and fame –
they flock and grab and gossip, and then leave.

I think a lab mistake may be to blame,
and metabolic illness must inflame
the tragic situation we endure.
I’m salting every bureaucratic claim.

A safe effective shot? I’m not so sure.
The process of prevention is obscure.
The quoted seem corrupt or immature.
Republicans are hiding in manure.

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The Forever Virus (HA 80 Chanso)

House Arrest

Of course I don’t want anybody scared.
My rhymes are never meant to channel grief.
But if you have an urge to feel prepared,
then watch for facts instead of hot belief.

It may be vain to vest in a vaccine
the means to stop this virus in its tracks.
Attacks on respiration tend to mean
there won’t be shot protection: look at facts.

Somebody put a “warp” in front of “speed,”
and overlooked the meaning of the word,
for even if each citizen agreed
in ways, to rush the testing is absurd.

They told us statins didn’t carry risk!
They demonized cholesterol and salt.
Avoiding fat, our food got sugar-kissed,
and though our nation’s sick, we’ve yet to halt.

Perhaps the virus wins this dire race.
Our best protection’s good immune response.
It cannot hurt to give each other space,
but let’s give natural health a renaissance.

We’re not lost yet. The wisest will resort
to foods and use that give our cells support.

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Disrespect (HA 79 Huitain)

House Arrest

I understand your feelings have been hurt,
but I don’t think there’s anyone to blame.
I see you tremble and I hear you blurt
of disrespect. I think another name
pertains, for carelessness is not the same –
in “disrespect” there has to be intent
to wound. But maybe “disrespect” became
a different word than what my parents meant.

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Drafts on Scraps (HA 78 Ottava Rima)

House Arrest

Composing daily now lets me realize
I tend to set my pen to paper waste.
I’m using pages used to list supplies
I need, and positing iambs in haste.
It’s like I don’t expect much from my tries
until I see the fruit and have a taste
of draft, until I’ve edited enough,
and then I grant good paper to my stuff.

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When the Shit Hit the Fan (HA 77 Spenserian Stanza)

House Arrest

A year ago I bought a ceiling fan
as part of the remodel. Ever since
I’ve loved it, but five days ago a man
who’s dear to me exploded. I’ve had hints
he’s overstressed, but that was evidence
of someone reeling far out of control.
The shit will need more washing than a rinse.
The cry for help is obvious and whole:
I have to clean my walls; he needs to cleanse his soul.

Fan

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Dental Debacle? (HA 76)

House Arrest

Near 14 years ago, my dentist said
“You need a root canal,” and touched the spot:
“though nothing hurts, before this tooth is dead,
before the pain explodes. I kid you not.”
By then I understood my gum disease
(though I don’t own a perio diploma).
I saw my guy – he peers and disagrees,
and says “That’s actually a cementoma.”

I didn’t need that endodontic cure.
Since then I’ve undergone much gum repair,
extractions, implants, brushes, rinses, pills.
Now recent swelling makes my dentist sure
I need a root canal. Is this a flare
of gum disease? They have to run their drills.

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Overloads (HA 75 Limerick)

House Arrest

The virus invaded our city.
The federal fuckup’s not pretty.
Germ load’s now our mess,
Aggravated by stress,
And everyone’s outlook is shitty.

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A Scurry of Squirrels (HA 74)

House Arrest

A month ago, the music of the birds
was serenade from dawn to nearly noon.
Today to put the garden sound in words,
I hear the insect buzz and squirrel zoom.
The bees are drinking salvia and flies
are bumping window glass. The whine
of a mosquito makes me slap my eyes
and box my ears. The most disruptive sign
of spring is squirrels in the eucalypt.
A half a dozen spiral up the trunk
and down again, dislodging branches tipped
with twigs to clatter on the deck. They bunk
above, they piss from high in darting hurry,
and earn their term of venery: a scurry.

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