Another Hypatia

Flayed again
in the marketplace
for flaunting knowledge

repudiated
for female overreach
almost two millennia later

ascent denied
by same, fiendish misogyny
a never-ending, human plague.

"I Approve This Message"

Me, me, me at the center
of my hate-filled universe

giant among minions
of anti-empathetic class

only white folks matter
others merely for servitude

women in degraded status
simply for sex or decoration

cheers for greedy economics
much more not ever enough

throw out foolish compassion
solely for liberal stooges

bah humbug on book learning
useless in bullying brawls

rally round fellow gun nuts
with ammo at the ready

hello to shameless America
without justice and liberty for all.

Fall Foliage #18

Gilded pine trees
before relinquishment

outshined easily
by fall's full regalia

stately evergreens
momentarily not

golden-needle drop
lost in leafy display

quickly thatched
into brown, ground mat

unnoticed role
in Autumn's mythic show.

New Life Zone

Recent initiate
into everyday pain

whether upright or down
embraced by lower back ache

little relief from
alleviating drugs

repetitive stretches
or heating-pad plasters

eventual cure
most likely to happen

with patient doses
of therapeutic time.

Capacity Limits

Smart
analytical
but not brilliant

poet
insightful
but not mind-bender

thinker
synthesizer
but no quantum-leaper...

not permitted
to grasp any piece
of the infinite.

In Praise of Aspirin

It's David versus Goliath
in battle with pharmaceuticals

acetylsalicylic acid
nature's soothing analgesic

in chewable willow bark
brew of meadowsweet

ubiquitous, bargain pill
preferable to costly elites

relief from achy anything
with fever-fighting prowess

one-a-day defense
against heart attack and stroke

antidote for insomnia
even cancer prophylactic

efficacious for millenia
with anti-inflammatory magic

all-purpose healing remedy
prescribed by Dr. Hippocrates.

First Fall Offering

A golden branch
herald of change
amidst the verdant haze

seasonal start
in overwhelming greenscape
toward blazing color feast

most leafage in patient wait
not anxious to satiate
the hungry, autumnal gods.

Wren Friend

Familiar tweet
at dawn

insistent
in his welcome

long absent
from around

bit unkempt
upon return

yet song
at happy pitch

in gratitude
for reunion.

2016 Existential Election

Primal this battle
truly Manichean

fairy-tale telling
in fascistic mix

shared commitment
under siege

charitable values
out of fashion

loss of hope
for equal chances

divisive chorus
of anger, fear, and hate

lemming-like descent
into bleakest fate

unless Thoughtful Reason
vanquishes the campaign beasts.

Random Impressions of Genius

Van Gogh in green-lit room
living among bold, black lines
on dark, starry nights.

Sam Twain's scarcely disguised
humorous, satirical rage
unsettling to customary mores.

Fluent in metaphorical speech
Emily D. inventing peerless verse
waiting for Immortality.

Exquisitely inclusive
Lincoln knowing best how to lead
with humanistic resolve.

Eternally young femme fatale
Millay the classic Grecian nymph
romping with lyricism.

Explorer, artist, lamenter
of vanishing wilderness
birder Audubon superior.

Never daunted Elizabeth
primo of Peabody trio
reformer with transcendental zeal.

Emerson with his turgid prose
a guru of enlightenment
philosopher to humankind.

Epic oeuvre of imagined lives
dissected, penned-down truths
by abyss-gazing J. C. Oates.

Diva extraordinaire
with musical gifts beyond divine
Streisand, Streisand, Streisand!

Voltaire's Madame du Chatelet
pre-Einsteinian theorist
deducing light not matter.

Mythic sage Will Shakespeare
prolific weaver of words
unraveling the human heart.

Candide aka Voltaire
witty, iconoclastic
for civil rights and reason.

Societal, gender shackles
crux of Edith Wharton's works
au plus maxime in words and deeds.

Ego-trumped morality
in Tom Jefferson's world
himself above human rights.

William Maxwell the editor
empathetic, unsung author
in literary firmament.

Artistically-driven O'Keeffe
from New York to New Mexico
post-modern best with desert motifs.

Big chip on writing shoulder
Nobel-prize-winning Naipaul
still craving Olympian status.

Lillian 'Hellwoman'
complicated person
at war with her many selves.

With cleverness and conscience
Frances Perkins the architect
of FDR's domestic successes.

Visionary Frederick Olmstead
striver for human betterment
from army logistics to spacious parks.

Emerson's transcendental ally
unconventional Margaret Fuller
with more action-oriented intellect.

Intrepid, desert explorer
in pre-feminist world
Mideast-mapmaker Gertrude Bell.

No armchair, best-guessing scholar
globetrotting collector von Humboldt
catalyst for fact-finding, field science.

Never Nobelized Vera Rubin
discoverer of dark matter
cosmic riddle still to be unraveled.

Madam President Ought-To-Be

Ages-old load
of gender bias
she carries

always uphill
over stony fragments
with knife-sharp edges

she's been toughened
ready to serve
right for this moment

with relentless focus
against non-stop scoffers
she perseveres for all

time to unite
to dispatch her campaign
across the winning line.

Quiet II

I met Quiet again today
nestled in every cranny
of this boreal wilderness

a long-missing friend
swamped by modern static
of absent noiselessness

elusive portal
for privileged entry
into keener sensibility.

Extravagant Art

Stunning artistry
on colossal scale

explosion of colors
pastel some, vivid others

impressionist's dreams
on ephemeral canvas

every evening exhibit
with free-admission moments

newly unveiled masterpiece
compliments of the firmament.

Tree of Climb

Easier to find
climbable trees
among old live oaks
and grand magnolias

balance-beam limbs
extended far beyond
inviting a walk-up
in acrobatic style

ladder-like branches
simpler to scramble
beneath shaded green
of thick, shiny leaves

joyous enterprise
at increasing heights
seeking communion
with the kingdom of sky.

"These Gardens are Entrusted to the Courtesy of the Visitors" (engraved on stone at entrance to Brookgreen Gardens near Pawley's Island, SC)

No explicit forbidding
of touching
smelling
picking
walking
in the gardens

or rubbing
clambering up
nearby sculptures
or trying to climb
outstretched live oaks
draped in gray

no hostile prohibition
of picnicking
wine-drinking
jogging
hopscotching
on grassy premises

just polite entreaty
for shared stewardship.

Southern Ghosts

From roadside view
wisteria-enshrouded shack
barely standing witness
to a hard-scrabble past

        but rich
        in unspoiled places
        pieces of the sacred
        attached to the soul

        yet unharmonious
        among human denizens
        riven in opposing groups
        privileged white and second-class black

in silent reprise
flower-smothered ruin
haunting vestige of back-when
its beauty and its brutishness.

The Land of Must-Return

Winter reunion with enchanted land
of high-desert touchstones and totems

wrinkled, dusty-pink foothills, mesas
juniper-studded in cedar-green

mazes of gouged-out arroyos
dry except when deadly wet

ghostly clumps of cottonwoods
standing at faithful, river vigil

squat, adobe, earth-spawned houses
hid behind coyote fences

ravens squawking raucous welcome
golden eagles in soaring gear

never-ending plains in varied grays
of rabbitbrush, cholla, and sage

distant, purplish snow-capped peaks
cresting against an infinite blue

uncompromised, expansive beauty
with its siren song of peaceful calm.

Impolitic Citizenry

Reckless mischief
by lazy electorate

angry mad hatters
in campaign wonderland
readily seduced
by pied piping media

wishful thinkers
for fairy-tale kingdoms
far over the rainbow
with gold for worthy all

simple-answer seekers
easy prey for promise-makers
warily contemptuous
of orchidaceous others

such kamikaze voters
in a consequential election.

Love Order

Husband
child
grandchild

husband
daughter
son

son
grandson
granddaughter

daughter
grandson
granddaughter

love overrides
whatever the order.

Blue-Collar Bondage

Progress along
up to a point
but not beyond

herded within
ordained limits
to attainment

goaded to stay
inside tribal cage
not to fly away.

Local Drought

Multi-storied, tall
forest of many straws

powerful forces
sucking dry the soil

scattered raindrops
greedily imbibed

minuscule drizzle
efficiently siphoned

no hydration
ever wasted

miraculous sipping
for sky-scraping existence.

Simple Contentment

Appetite dispatched
cravings satisfied
with well-savored morsels

intriguing book
awaiting attention
with its splayed-out pages

a riddle poem
cavorting, pinballing
inside my own cosmos

everything else
rather complex
beyond simplest bliss.

Natural Cultivation

Serious weeding
in cohort garden
beginning

occasional
premature losses
concluded

merciless harvest
of post-flower lives
now in earnest

reaper's yield
reverberating
through the grapevine news.