Appalled at power plundering for purse,
as civics catalyze calamity –
Astounded at pandemic’s climbing curse
and how deficient all our remedy –
Attacked by fires every year grown worse,
with acres scorched and sick air quality –
Our lust to breathe outside is nothing strange;
the superseding ill is climate change.
(Ottava Rima)
She entered here and stated as she sat,
“You need to add some color to your bed.
This area is fine, but look at that –
all wood and white – it wants a pop instead
(or in addition) – that’s my point of view.”
“I disagree,” I said. “I like the look.
I want no bed attention that’s undue.
That spot’s my private sleep-and-reading nook.”
I meant no argument – how could there be
a right or wrong for how my bed is dressed?
But she shut down. She didn’t disagree
but wouldn’t talk, as if she were distressed.
I thought we were describing different taste,
but I got read “aggressive.”
For my haste?
We’ve suffered half a year of quarantine
(which comes from ‟40” days, so it’s extreme).
But last night I bought
a pizza, and brought
it home – then my meal was supreme.
As far back as my memory extends
regarding socializing with my peers,
in classroom desks with elementary friends
or high school intermixing several years,
I tended to compare myself with all,
but not in terms of popularity.
I always questioned, as I now recall,
if they were happy, and to what degree.
I never tried to copy someone’s test
or pass another’s homework for my own;
I always found it too much work to lie.
But I liked sideways spying – I assessed
the signs of satisfaction I was shown.
I wonder: are you happier than I?
My garden stalks now with anemone,
the daughter of the wind in purple dress.
I never planted it. Love’s deity
anointed ground with tears of her distress
around the mortal she could not possess.
She made a monument of mauve and gold
that cools my heated eyes like a caress,
and forms a border soothing to behold.
(Huitain)
When I was young, I wondered what I’d be
when I grew up, but never for how long.
Perhaps I’d write or learn philosophy…
When I was young I wondered what I’d be:
a master of marine biology?
My passions were diversified but strong
when I was young; I wondered what I’d be
when I grew up, but never for how long.
(Triolet)
The weather is the first thing on my mind
when I get up, if no catastrophe
demands attention urgently from me.
I peer outside and read an app to find
what’s needed and what I can leave behind,
to venture out. The main concern for me?
The weather.
But I’m a short-term creature. Humankind
has not evolved to think on history,
anticipate, divert adversity,
or plumb the ways our customs have designed
the weather.
(Rondine)
I always thought I’d marry and give birth,
but didn’t know I’d wed at 22.
And though we didn’t plan, one New Year’s mirth
produced a Virgo girl with eyes of blue
and ash-blonde hair, like no one in my clan.
When 5 years passed we had our little man,
and then divorced, and mostly after that
I balanced like a frantic acrobat.
I never worked a harder job. At last
both kids were launched to work and love and strive.
Each married well and seemed to learn to thrive,
returning love to me. Their ways surpassed
my expectations. Glad to be alive,
next year they’ll introduce grandchild 5.
(Pushkin Sonnet)
Encountering evisceration of a hummingbird
(its guts a ruby hue, its head apart),
in less than half a second, half a step, the thought occurred:
the neighbor’s cat had stopped a tiny heart.
And then I spied that feline beast of ebony and black –
he crouched and peered beneath an SUV,
and almost looked ashamed (it might have been a cheap attack –
too easy to build notoriety).
I nudged the parts to join some plants that acted like a berth
(the severed head was light as lint, and slow).
A grave seemed inappropriate: recycle in the earth
could help a scavenger or blossom grow.
I mourned a bit and questioned if the corpse should be interred,
until my yard received, alive, another hummingbird.
The at-home exercise began when I
was 35, recovered from a spell
of injury, and gave I can’t deny
some benefits I never felt so well.
Increasing time and changing how I moved,
I went from half an hour in the eve
to twice that every morning, and improved
my stamina and attitude. Believe
me or dispute what I assert – I won’t
attempt to sell my way or counsel you.
I exercise as gift to me, and don’t
desire that you share my point of view.
(Some mornings I’d prefer to skip a day –
I’m always glad I did it anyway.)
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| sputterpub on Master of Destruction |
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