Here is an updated list of my Howling at the Moon poems, published on the wolf moon night. Quite a few have been published elsewhere.
Index
Just an unhinged lunatic howling at the moon
. Howling at the moon
lunatic howling at the moon
one crazy day
full moon lunacy
. The pink moon inspires lunacy
. Howling with the dancing moon
the pink super moon
howling at the pink super moon
Howling at the Moon Like an Escaped Banshee
The lunatic light of the blood super moon
The werewolf emerges
Wolves howling at the moon
Zombie wolves howling at the moon
Woman howling at the moon
Maria Lee’s balanced madness
Moonbeam
Howling at the wolf moon rising over the Chao Praya River
Howling at wolf moon Nocturna
The pink super moon tanka
Drunken old man howling at the moon
Howling with the dancing moon
Howling at the full moon in Bangkok
Moon over July
Howling at the strawberry moon
“Blame it on the moon.”
unhinged lunatic howling at the full moon
Sam Adams
sat drinking alone
in a bar
on the shady side of life.
Filled with strange creatures
fellow lost souls
drinking late into the night.
The lunatic light
of the blood-red moon
illuminates the bar.
He stands up
twenty drinks too sober
walks outside.
Looks at the full moon
begins howling at the moon
like an escaped banshee
released from hell.
The Lunatic Light of the Blood Red Super-moon
The lunatic light
of the blood-red super-moon
lights up the mad night.
The Werewolf Emerges
On the night of the super red full moon
Sam Adams set in a bar
drinking his way to hell.
As fast as he could
Sam Adams had a secret
he was convinced
that he was a werewolf.
On the nights of the full moon
he would shed his human form
and the inner werewolf would emerge
to howl at the moon.
As the blood-red moon
danced across the sky
the transformation began
as usual.
Sam gradually felt
the inner werewolf emerging
taking over his soul.
Sam dams stood up
the transformation complete
He ran outside
to howl at the moon,
The other drinkers
shrugged
Just another night
of insanity
in their din of iniquity.
Just an Unhinged Lunatic Howling at the Moon
man howling at the man
On a moonlit late-night
i sat in a bar
drinking drams of demented, fermented dream dew
just an unhinged lunatic
dreaming of howling at the full moon.
Watching the world walk by
looking at all the fine-looking babes.
Walking by the street
thinking wild, erotic thoughts
of endless wild libertine passions.
When into the bar
walked the most beautiful women.
In the universe
so wild, so free
so wonderfully alive.
I did not know what to do
as this vision of delight
sauntered through the bar.
In a skin-tight leather pants
looked so fine
that my eyeballs hurt.
And finally, i had to say something
so i gathered up my manly courage
and walked up to her.
And she looked at me
and instantly bewitched my soul
with a devilish grin.
I lost all reason
and became a raving lunatic
unhinged lunatic
howling at the moon.
Foaming at the mouth
a wild, free werewolf
howling at the lunatic light
of the full moon.
Howling at the Moon
I stood outside
between the trees
in a field
on the outside of town.
Beneath the lunatic rays
of the blood-red full moon.
The lunatic lights of the moon
casts a wild primeval glow
on me.
The hormonal chemicals are unleashed
the wild beast within
escapes it chain.
And i howl with delight
a werewolf
free at last.
howling at the moon.
To run amuck
free of its civilized restraints
throwing off its clothes
stripping naked.
Running wild
naked and free
a wild man
enjoying his freedom.
Lunatic howling at the moon
As i sit
under the lunatic light of the full moon
of the blood-red lights of the moon.
Full of wild passions
the lustful beast stirs again.
And starts running and running
howling at the moon.
Riding into the new dawn
on a demented harley davis cycle.
With two naked babes on his back.
Riding into the sun
90 miles per second
at the speed of thought.
He disappears
into the lunatic light
of the full moon.
And i wake up
alone in my bed
saying, man, that was quite a night
i better not go there again.
The wild beast
laughs
he has heard that before.
And i join him
in howling at the moon.
One Crazy Night
One crazy moonlit night
i could not get to sleep
at all.
I looked up
looked out at the window
at the full blood moon
saw by its lunatic light,
Your face
was on the moon.
And i looked up
at the light
that crazy light.
and dreamed
I was with you
again.
And I woke up
again
and I woke up
alone in my bed.
Dreaming dark dreams
of you
wishing it were
other than it was.
I stepped outside
and began howling
at the full moon.
All alone
all alone again
in this world.
Full Moon Lunacy
The full moon hangs
in the evening sky.
Huge, heavy, and full of mystery
it almost looks like it will fall
out of the sky.
The full moon brings out
the lunatics run amuck
howling at the light of the moon.
The full moon inspires lustful thoughts
and wild erotic imaginings
and dark secret desires.
As the lunatic light of the full moon
causes civilized people
to lose themselves
and embrace their inner wild child.
And so, I stare
at the lunatic light
of the full moon.
And howl like an escaped banshee
howling at the moon.
Howling at the Moon
On a moonlit late-night
i sat in a bar
drinking drams of demented, fermented dream dew
just an unhinged lunatic
dreaming of howling at the full moon.
Watching the world walk by
looking at all the fine-looking babes.
Walking by the street
thinking wild, erotic thoughts
of endless wild libertine passions.
When into the bar
walked the most beautiful women.
In the universe
so wild, so free
so wonderfully alive.
I did not know what to do
as this vision of delight
sauntered through the bar.
In a skin-tight leather pants
looked so fine
that my eyeballs hurt.
And finally, i had to say something
so i gathered up my manly courage
and walked up to her.
And she looked at me
and instantly bewitched my soul
with a devilish grin.
I lost all reason
and became a raving lunatic
unhinged lunatic
howling at the moon.
Foaming at the mouth
a wild, free werewolf
howling at the lunatic light
of the full moon.
Another Lunatic Howling at the Moon
Pink Moon
As I sit
under the lunatic light of the full moon
of the blood-red lighs of the moon.
Full of wild passions
the lustful beast stirs again.
And starts running and running
howling at the moon.
Riding into the new dawn
on a demented harley davis cycle
With two naked babes on his back
Riding into the moon
90 miles per second
at the speed of thought.
He disappears into the lunatic light
of the full moon.
And I wake up
alone in my bed.
saying, man, that was quite a night
i better not go there again.
The wild beast
laughs
he has heard that before.
And I join him
in howling at the moon.
Pink Moon Inspires Lunacy
On a moonlit night
the pink moon
shone casting a baleful light
in the world below.
A man sat drinking
in a depraved bar
in an evil part of the city.
Drinking up a storm
with his buddies
Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Mr. Evan.
Johhny Walker brothers,
And old granddad looked on.
Encouraging him to drink
one scotch, one bourbon, and one beer.
He looked up
at the naked dancing ladies
dancing up a storm
with an attitude
a z tude
that could kill.
He stood up
stepped outside
and howled
at the pink moon
who smiled at him.
Howling with the Dancing Moon
More Pink Moon
A man
sits drinking late into the night
on the night of the blood-red
super pink moon.
The lunatic light of the moon
inspires him
as he drinks
in that depraved din of inequity
on the left side of society.
Drinking with his buddies
Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Mr. Evan.
Johhny Walker brothers,
And old granddad looked on.
Drinking one scotch, one bourbon
and one beer.
Watching the naked woman
Dancing on stage.
He finishes drinking
20 drinks too sober
he walks outside.
And sees the naked moon
dancing up a storm
flying across the sky
ripping her clothes off.
Tap dancing
to the insane disco beat
of the bar.
He gives in
jumps into the sky
dancing with the naked moon
howling with the moon maiden.
Like an escaped banshee
from the lunatic bins
of hell.
The Pink Super Moon
The pink super moon
casts a cold baleful glow
over the sleeping world
inspiring the drunken men
to howl at the moon.
Howling at the Pink Super-moon
More Pink Moon
On a moonlit late-night
the pink supermoon
casting a baleful light
in the world below.
While inside
Sam Adams sat drinking
in a depraved bar
in a den of iniquity.
In an evil part of the city
on the left side
of society.
Drinking up a storm
with his buddies
Johnny Walker, Jack daniels
Jim Beam, and Mr. Evan
and old granddad looked on.
Encouraging him to drink
one scotch, one bourbon, and one beer.
He was just an unhinged lunatic
dreaming of howling at the full moon.
Watching the world walk by
looking at all the fine-looking babes.
Walking by the street
thinking wild, erotic thoughts
of endless wild libertine passions.
He looked up
at the naked dancing ladies
dancing up a storm
with an attitude
a z tude
that could kill.
When into the bar
walked the most beautiful women
in the universe.
So wild, so free
so wonderfully alive.
He did not know what to do
as this vision of delight
sauntered through the bar.
In skin-tight leather pants
looked so fine
that his eyeballs hurt.
Finally, he had to say something
he gathered up my manly courage
he walked up to her.
She looked at him
instantly bewitched his soul
with a devilish grin.
He lost all reason
and became a raving lunatic
unhinged lunatic.
Under the lunatic light of the full moon
of the blood-red lights of the moon
full of wild passions
the lustful beast stirs again.
And starts running and running
howling at the moon
riding into the new dawn.
on a demented harley davis cycle
with two naked babes on his back.
Riding into the moon.
90 miles per se.ond
at the speed of thought.
he disappears into the lunatic light
of the full moon,
Sam Adams woke up alone,
in his bed
the naked babes
having disappeared
from his demented dreams.
Saying,
“man, that was quite a night
i better not go there again.”
The wild beast
laughs
he has heard that before.
And joins him
in howling at the pink moon
in the fading light
of the lost last night
of the newly damned.
Wolves howling at the moon
As the night falls
The full moon
The blood-red full moon
Begins to rise
Carving a sign
Across the night sky
Now you begin to
To hear the pitiful sound
The thumping of the wolves
As they gathered together
Dropping from their hiding places
Gathering together
Revealing their lies
And in one breath
Snarling begin to howl
At the full red blood moon
Zombie Wolves Howling at the Moon
As the moon rises
Over the forest below,
Two wolves gather together
And with one breath
Begin howling at the moon.
Their awful din
Soon wakes up the dead
Zombies walk out of graves
Attacking the living.
The wolves continue to howl
Joined in the zombie hoard.
Woman howling at the moon
A madwoman
Drinking all night
At the Cosmos Bar
Twenty drinks too sober.
Looks outside
At the lunatic light
Of the full moon
Shines over the Chao Praya River
In Bangkok.
She jumps up
Running outside
To howl at the full moon
Like an escaped banshee.
Maria lee off balanced madness
Maria Lee looked up
From her perch in the Cosmos Bar
Looked out at the street
Under the petrichor umbrella
The elastic holding back the rain
It was a gusty early evening
She went out to the street
Looked at the full moon
She began to howl at the moon
Moaning with pleasure
As the pear-shaped moon
Rose overhead
Casting a purple hew
To the mad scene
She jumped overboard
Into the river
Suddenly struck voiceless
And began swimming
She was off balance
As the moon continued
To illuminate the scene
The scent of bad craziness
All around her.
Mad Moonbeams
Sam Adams went out drinking one night
ending up twenty drinks too sober
as the last call for alcohol rang
he looked up and saw
the lunatic light of the full moon
moonbeams beaming at him
he runs outside howling at the moon
dying when a drunk driver ran him over
Howling at the Wolf Moon Rising Over the Chao Praya River
As evening set in
On a typical Friday night
In Bangkok.
The denizens of the Cosmos Bar
In Soi Cowboy.
A motley crew from all over
The world, and locals too.
Lust for the common international language.
Began drinking
With their buddies.
Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Johny Walker, Evan Williams
Wild turkey, and Old Granddad
Drinking one scotch, one bourbon, and one beer.
As the destroyers
Sang on the loudspeakers
And porno played on the tv.
And naked women danced
With an attitude
That could kill
an elephant in heat.
The woman circling the bar
Looking for their eventual dates.
The scent of bad craziness
Hung in the air.
The wolf moon rose
In the sky
Over the Chao Praya River.
Casting its lunatic light
On the never-sleeping
City of lost angels.
The drinkers
20 drinks too sober
Ran out into the street.
The lunatic light
Of the full wolf moon
Transforming them
Into deranged lunatics.
They began
Howling at the moon.
Like escaped banshees
Freed from their alyssum
In hell.
They howled at the moon
As the moon continued
To overwhelm
The howling lunatics.
Howling at the Wolf Moon Nocturna
Drinkers in the Cosmos Bar,
Twenty drinks too sober,
Staring at the lunar star,
rising over the river.
on that night in october.
Running outside looking upriver,
Howling at the full wolf moon.
no longer stone-sober,
Will be very drunk soon.
Basset Puppy Howling at the Moon
In the late afternoon shadow
the red sunset darkening the sky
the basset hound puppy.
.
Stirs and gets up
hearing the distant sounds
of the train in the distance.
Scenting bad craziness in the air
the dog begins to howl in the night.
Howling as the moon rises
casting its lunatic light
on the mad scene.
Deranged lunatic dog
inspired to howl when he sees it
super blue moon
sits drinking late into the night
on the night of the blood-red
super blue wolf moon.
The lunatic light of the moon
inspires him.
as he drinks
in that depraved din of inequity
on the left side of society.
Drinking with his buddies,
Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker
Old Granddad,
Drinking one scotch, one bourbon
and one beer.
Watching the naked woman
dancing on stage.
He finishes drinking
20 drinks too sober.
He walks outside.
And sees the naked moon
dancing up a storm.
Flying across the sky
ripping her clothes off.
Tap dancing
to the insane disco beat
of the bar.
He gives in
jumps into the sky,
dancing with the naked moon
howling with the moon maiden.
Like an escaped banshee
from the lunatic bins
of hell.
The Pink Super Moon Tanka
More Pink Moon
The pink super moon
casts a cold baleful glow
over the sleeping world
inspiring the drunken men
to howl at the moon.
Drunken Old Man Howling at the Moon
A drunken old man down on his luck
was drinking in a nameless bar
in a disreputable forgotten part of town
where decent citizens and police feared to tread.
twenty drinks too sober
he was drinking his way to hell
surrounded by his fellow low-life bums
outlaw scoundrels one and all.
he looked outside
transfixed by the full moon
the lunatic light of the moon.
Blood red super moon
inspired him compelled him.
he stood up and growled
and ran out into the street
and started howling
at the full moon.
the other denizens of the bar
the derelicts, drunken bums, barflies
rushed out and joined him
in howling at the moon.
went back inside
and continued to drink
their way to hell.
Howling at the full moon in bangkok
sam adams was feeling blue, down on his luck. He went to his favorite watering hole, the cosmos bar in soi cowboy, bangkok, and began drinking up a storm with his buddies, jack daniel’s, johnny walker, old granddad, evans, and jim beam, telling the comely barmaid, kuhn lek, bring me one scotch, one bourbon, and one beer. Drinking it all down, barely noticing the naked ladies dancing on the stage. She smiled sadly, knowing that there was nothing that would change his mood. He kept drinking until, at last, he was twenty drinks too sober. Then he ordered fried fish thai style for his midnight dinner.
He looked up and out at the street, noticing the full moon outside. The full moon shed its lunatic light on the streets of bangkok. Sam adams stood up, and said,
“the moon is full tonight. Let’s go out and howl at the moon. “
he ran outside onto the road, stripping naked and dancing waving a feather, as he howled like an escaped banshee at the dancing moon. Inspiring others to join him in howling at the moon. He ran down the street and was run over by a drunk bus driver, ending his life as the moon continued to shine on the mad scene.
Moon over july
In the middle
of the summer
in july, midsummer madness
outside under the stars
the storm is abating.
The full moon comes out
the man recalling mad lyrics
starts howling at the lunatic light
of the wolf moon
like an escaped banshee
as the mad moon
stares down at them.
Howling at the Stawberry Moon
Big Daddy was talking
to his best friend Sam Adams
in the Cosmos Bar
in Bangkok, Thailand.
Sit down and listen
to me.
God,
i wish I had
my yarn and needles with me
that’s my latest hobby
helps me focus.
In the end
it is all about money
it is all about the benjamin’s
nothing personal at all.
Hey there is cool water in a jar
let’s drink some water
and a shot of mekong whiskey
it is cocktail time, my friend.
And as usual
they drank through the night
until o dark hundred.
Twenty drinks too sober.
When they joined
their fellow inmates
in their insane asylum
of a bar.
In going outside
howling like escaped banshees
at the strawberry super full moon
shining its lunatic lights
over the Chao Praya River.
Blame it on the moon
Pink Moon
“blame it on the moon.”
that is what Sam Adams said
to the police
after they picked him up
leading a pack of rabid “farang”
men and woman
running naked down the street.
They had met in front
of the infamous Cosmos Bar
in notorious bangkok
at o dark hundred.
They were heading to the riverbank
when the police arrested them,
for disturbing the peace.
They were all incoherent
just staring at the blood-red
full moon overlooking
the “Chao Phraya “ River.
Looking like escaped banshees
howling at the lunatic lights
of the full super blue moon.
The cops laughed
saying on full moon nights
they had a lot of such incidents
On the night of the blood-red super full moon
I sat in an evil, depraved godforsaken bar.
drinking drams of demented, fermented dream dew
washed down by endless rounds of whiskey
rum, tequila, vodka, soju and of course beer
drinking with my buddies the jack daniels gang.
drinking my way to hell and beyond
just as fast as i could
twenty damn drinks too sober.
just an unhinged lunatic
dreaming of howling at the full moon.
watching the world walk by
looking at all the fine-looking babes
walking by the street.
thinking wild, erotic thoughts
of endless wild libertine passions.
when into the bar
that din of cosmic depravity.
walked the most beautiful women
in the universe.
so wild, so free
so wonderfully alive.
I did not know what to do
as this vision of delight
sauntered through the bar.
in a skin-tight leather pant
looked so fine
that my eyeballs hurt.
and finally, I had to say something
so, i gathered up my manly courage
and walked up to her.
and she looked at me
and instantly bewitched my soul
with a devilish grin,
i lost all reason
and became a raving lunatic
unhinged lunatic
howling at the blood-red full moon.
foaming at the mouth
a wild, free werewolf
howling at the lunatic light
of the blood red blue full moon.
Every day there is a 40-word prompt posted on Express It 40 on Writing.com I have been participating for about four months and thought I should collect my 40-word poems and stories in one spot.
most of them are poems, a few are drabbling. Each has the prompt word followed by my submission for the day.
#93. pressure building
ID #1062520 entered on January 17, 2024 at 3:37am [Edit] [0 views]
#92. loft
ID #1062519 entered on January 17, 2024 at 3:34am [Edit] [0 views]
Darius Caesar Smith, V was a legacy Yale student whose father donated two million dollars. He became a bonesman and fraternity bro where he met Sam Adams, who was on a full-ride scholarship. It was hate at first sight for Sam, but Darius thought they were best buds. When they met Sam was determined to bring him down and his corrupt father as well. Many years later, Darius stole 2 million dollars from Sam and stole his wife as well. Sam plotted revenge with some of his friends who fromed the Wall Street Robin Hood Gang vowing to take revenge on the evil 1 percent Masters of the Universe.
Other Poems
#91. wrapper
ID #1062518 entered on January 17, 2024 at 3:31am [Edit] [0 views]
#90. Clinical
ID #1062424 entered on January 15, 2024 at 3:49am [Edit] [8 views]
Every day there is a 40-word prompt posted on Express It 40 on Writing.com I ahve been participating for about four months and thought I should collect my 40 word poems and stories in one spot.
most of them are poems, a few are drabbles. Each has the prompt word followed by my submission for the day.
I will update this once a month or so.
Enjoy
#90. Clinical
ID #1062424 entered on January 15, 2024 at 3:49am [Edit] [0 views]
#78. New
ID #1062412 entered on January 15, 2024 at 2:57am [Edit] [0 views]
#77. New Years Promise
ID #1062411 entered on January 15, 2024 at 2:54am [Edit] [0 views]
December – do not post free for publication
12/01/2023- ‘encouraging’
Encouraging Encouraging
Seen on a bumper sticker
“Don’t Vote”
It only encourages them.
12/02/2023-‘sweet’
Sweet for You Sweet
I have a sweet tooth
love candy, cakes, chocolate
Ice Cream, Pie
and your sweet kisses
the greatest sweet of all,
12/03/2023-‘melody’
Sweet Melodies Music
Sing me a sweet melody
a lullaby
a tune filled with love.
12/04/2023- ‘Allure’
the most alluring
most desirable
sexiest woman
on the planet
is you my dear,
12/05/2023-‘blood’
Bloodlines Family History
I have 20 nationalities
swirling in my tangled bloodlines.
from my father:
Basque, French, Danish, German, Jewish, Laplander
Mongolian, Italian, Norwegian, Russian,
Swedish, Spanish, Ukrainian.
From my Mother:
Cherokee, Dutch, English, Nigerian,
Scottish, Southern American, and Welsh.
Note: My mother is from the lost tribe of the Cherokee Indians. My DNA confirms I have native ancestry but traces amounts.
The Cherokee, North American Indians of Iroquoian lineage, played a significant role during the European colonization of the Americas. Let’s delve into their history and explore their efforts to gain federal and state recognition:
Early Cherokee Life:
The Cherokee inhabited approximately 40,000 square miles of the Appalachian Mountains, spanning parts of present-day Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and the western regions of North Carolina and South Carolina.
Their society was organized into a confederacy of symbolically red (war) and white (peace) towns. Red towns had supreme war chiefs, while white towns had supreme peace chiefs.
Cherokee dwellings were bark-roofed log cabins, with a typical town consisting of 30 to 60 such houses and a council house for meetings and sacred ceremonies.
An important religious observance was the Busk (or Green Corn) festival, celebrating firstfruits and new fires.
Colonial Encounters:
The Spanish, French, and English all sought to colonize parts of the Southeast, including Cherokee territory.
By the early 18th century, the tribe aligned with the British in trading and military affairs.
Cherokee Wars and Treaties:
During the U.S. War of Independence, battles and agreements significantly reduced Cherokee power and landholdings in Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and western North and South Carolina.
This opened up the territory for white settlement and speculation.
Trail of Tears and Sovereignty:
In 1831, missionary Samuel Austin Worcester sued the state of Georgia, leading to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized the Cherokee and other tribes as sovereign nations within the United States.
Despite this, the Treaty of New Echota (1835) ceded Cherokee land east of the Mississippi River to the United States, causing immense suffering during the Trail of Tears.
Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma:
In the early 20th century, Cherokee who relocated to Oklahoma formed the Cherokee Nation.
The tribal government and organizational structure faced challenges but made progress in the 1970s, culminating in the ratification of a constitution in 1976.
A tale of a gross injustice, forked tongues and casino money
| LITTLE ROCK
THE history of Native American tribes is rife with suffering and intrigue. Few however have as complicated an ancestry as the Lost Cherokees. Originally from Tennessee, they were shuttled into Arkansas by the federal government in the early 19th century. Desperate to hang on to their new home, the Cherokees went to Washington, DC, to plead their case; but in 1828 they were forced to sign a treaty giving up the Arkansas Reservation for a new home in what later became Oklahoma.
The tribe split. One group walked the “trail of tears” to Oklahoma. Those who refused to accept the treaty stayed in Arkansas—but at the cost of losing their sovereign status and hiding their ancestry. They were often known as the Black Dutch or the Black Irish. Now these Lost Cherokees, who number around 9,000 in Arkansas with several hundred more in southern Missouri, are fighting for recognition as a proper tribe.
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has been reviewing the Lost Cherokees’ case since 1999. The tribe has twice asked Arkansas’s attorney-general, Mike Beebe, to certify a question for the November ballot asking voters to grant them state recognition. Mr Beebe, the likely Democratic candidate for governor, pleads that this is a federal responsibility. This looks a little rum. Other states have recognised tribes, something that appears to help them with various bits of the federal government even if official designation as a tribe depends on the BIA.
Cliff Bishop, the Lost Cherokees’ headman, claims the 1828 treaty was illegal. Federal recognition would bestow millions of dollars in aid on Mr Bishop’s tribe. They need it, he says, for university scholarships, economic development assistance, protection of sacred burial grounds and for medical care. Critics, however, think the tribe has a hidden agenda.
If the Lost Cherokees were recognised by the federal government, the state might well have to grant them at least a slice of their original territory. The tribe could become an Indian nation within the state and open casinos. Gambling on Indian territory now brings in $18 billion a year. Arkansas would be a good target: only a few parts of the state allow limited gambling.
Mr Bishop adamantly denies any desire to set up casinos. In a sad twist of history, he blames the rumour on the tribes in Oklahoma who have a strong vested interest in luring Arkansans across the border to gamble in their own casinos. And to complicate things still further, this week the United Keetoowah Cherokees, who do have federal recognition, said they would open up a casino in Fort Smith on land claimed by the Lost Cherokees.
The federal government recognises 562 tribes. Out of the 150 petitions received since 1978, the BIA has granted recognition in only 15 cases and refused another 19. It says it treats each case on its merits, but Indians suspect that the cost of recognising tribes plays some role in the BIA’s apparent sluggishness. Even if a tribe is recognised, individual members have to meet certain ancestry criteria to get BIA money: in some cases being quarter Indian is enough to get the cash.
Petitioning-tribes moan that they have to send mountains of ancient documents to the bureau. They also often spend fortunes on lawyers (and sometimes lobbyists, as the Abramoff scandal showed). In many cases, the wait is so long that by the time a petition is granted the elders who made it have died.
On the other hand, it is often hard to tell who deserves what. For instance, nobody denies that the Lost Cherokees have been treated unfairly; but there are fierce arguments about who exactly is in the tribe, which also goes by two other names (the Arkansas Cherokees and Cherokees on the Arkansas river). Mr Bishop seems to head the main faction, but others call his lot a “wannabe fringe group”.
The Lost Cherokees still hope to be recognised by the Arkansas legislature by the end of next year—though it won’t help them if Mr Beebe becomes governor. It may take even longer to get anything from the federal government that treated them so harshly nearly 200 years ago.
Personal Note: at a State Department consultation meeting with Native American tribes, required under an UN Treaty on the Rights of Indigenous peopl e, held annualy with State and Interior trading hosting responsibilities every year. I attended the first meeting as I was working in DRL and one of my colleages was also Native American and invited me to the consultation meeting. at the meeting,. I met the Self-appointed Ambassador of the Cherokees. He confirmed that we were probably distant relatives – he reminded me of my mother’s brother. He also confirmed that the official Cherokee Nation did not want to share the wealth and casino revenues with the lost tribe who have largely lost their Cherokee culture and were a mix of other tribes, escape blacks and Irish settlers hence the other nickname the Black Irish.
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Brand new piece (15 August, 2017): Gary Noland, piano & narration, performs Fascicle No. 162, Part Six of his chamber novel Jagdlied Op. 20.
Brand new piece (15 August, 2017): Gary Noland, piano & narration, performs Fascicle No. 162, Part Six of his chamber novel Jagdlied Op. 20.
My PAEAN IN HOMAGE TO HIGH-MINDED MAGGOTS, UPSTANDING BOTTOMFEEDERS, AND OTHER MALIGNANT PARASITES OF UNIMPEACHABLE MORAL INTEGRITY performed by THE PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE (December 20th, 2022): https://soundcloud.com/…/paean-in-homage-to-high-minded
My latest piece: CONFUNKLED SNAFUBARBIES AND THEIR BIRDBRAINIAC CARBON COPIES CONFLABULATING AT THE FUNERAL HOME BEFORE THE FALL performed by THE PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE (December 18th, 2022): https://soundcloud.com/…/sets/confunkled-snafubarbies-and
Hey Jake, Zappenin? Nice to see you in FB. I’m living in Portland, Oregon these days. Love it here. Jim tells me you’ve visited him on occasion in the Bay Area. I go there once or twice a year. Maybe we’ll cross orbits again sometime. I’m composing a 90-minute set of variations on my own theme for solo piano, which I started in April, 2009. Hope to have it completed in about three months. At 39 variations, I’ve probably broken the world record in terms of length and scope. You’re in Alexandria these days? Nice! Hope all is well. Cheers, Gary
Enter
Dear Friends, I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE UPCOMING RELEASE OF MY NEW DOUBLE CD: 20 COVIDITTIES Op. 116—composed amidst suffocating smoke, impending conflagrations, destructive riots, politico-ideological turmoil, all whilst in the throes of a pernicious global pandemic. Available for purchase on Amazon for only $16.95 “… a most important work … molted out of a neo-romanticism into a completely postmodern reduction of elements (ad absurdum) … Sometimes that romanticism … provides a frame or narrative on which [Noland] builds around or elaborates other layers. This is a multi-tiered music … the tonal works providing the frame are exquisite in their own right … the Chopin/Strauss element seems to reflect the old bourgeoisie under attack from the culture that has arisen since … its deliberately loving, saccharine poesy seems unmoved … love and fine taste exist wherever the appoggiatura stabs the heart … impressive series … a highly sophisticated sonic cartoon …”—ERNESTO FERRERI, American composerD
I have a Yamaha Montage, which I started using in the summer but not in conjunction with Sibelius. As far as I know, virtually any MIDI keyboard ought to work with Sibelius. I haven’t tried it myself but I believe you shouldn’t have any problems with it. To be safe, ask the people at Sibelius and/or at Yamaha to recommend the right configurations. Best of luck with your new toys!
12/2/20, 5:40 PM
Gary
A musical memoir of 2020, this brand new double CD makes the perfect Xmas stocking stuffer! I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE OFFICIAL RELEASE OF MY BRAND NEW DOUBLE CD: 20 COVIDITTIES Op. 116—composed amidst suffocating smoke, impending conflagrations, destructive riots, politico-ideological turmoil, all whilst in the throes of a pernicious global pandemic. Available for purchase on Amazon. “… a most important work … molted out of a neo-romanticism into a completely postmodern reduction of elements (ad absurdum) … Sometimes that romanticism … provides a frame or narrative on which [Noland] builds around or elaborates other layers. This is a multi-tiered music … the tonal works providing the frame are exquisite in their own right … the Chopin/Strauss element seems to reflect the old bourgeoisie under attack from the culture that has arisen since … its deliberately loving, saccharine poesy seems unmoved … love and fine taste exist wherever the appoggiatura stabs the heart … impressive series … a highly sophisticated sonic cartoon …”—ERNESTO FERRERI, American composer
Hope all is well with you. I am writing to let you know about my latest double CD “ENTROPIC ABANDON: a Super-Psychedelic, Maximalistic, Decadissident Free-Wing Dog & Pony Circus Flextravabonanza of Blightgeisty, Neuromantic, Encore-gasmic Opuscula,” which is now available for pre-order on Amazon. The official release date is March 1st. Order your copies NOW!!!
My latest double CD “ENTROPIC ABANDON: a Super-Psychedelic, Maximalistic, Decadissident Free-Wing Dog & Pony Circus Flextravabonanza of Blightgeisty, Neuromantic, Encore-gasmic Opuscula” is now available for pre-order on Amazon. The official release date is March 1st. Order yours today!!!
RAND NEW PIECE: ORLAN DOY GLANDLY conducts members of THE PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE in a performance of GERTY MACDOWELL’S DRAWERS by GARY LLOYD NOLAND.
I am pleased to share this riveting performance by soprano Anna Haagenson and pianist Stephanie Thompson of the world premiere of my setting of Alexander Theroux’s poem “The Cabaret of Theresienstadt” (at 121:14), which was presented at the NACUSA 2021 Virtual New Music Festival on 18 April. This conference had originally been scheduled to take place in March, 2020 but was cancelled in the last minute due to the unfolding COVID crisis. I set ten poems of A. Theroux’s which I’ve been anxiously awaiting to hear performed (including one large choral setting for SATB, oboe, horn, bass & timpani). It is gratifying to finally hear this song interpreted by sensitive musicians. More performances of my Theroux settings are forthcoming. Anyone who is interesting in following the score may access it from my website in the “Scores 1” menu.
Although the recent double CD of my compositions “Entropic Abandon” (released on March 1st) is currently ranked No. 2 on the Amazon bestseller list of “Hot New Releases” in the “Special Interest” category, it is, unfortunately, going out of print come June 4th. All interested parties can take advantage of this last minute opportunity to order a copy from Amazon (two CDs for the price of one). https://www.amazon.com/…/dp/B08VXC9X5S/ref=zg_bsnr_35_2…
Hi Jake, I have a new collection (Volume 2) of my COLLECTED PIANO WORKS available for pre-ordering from most major, and many independent, book retailers worldwide. Thanks for asking! Hope all’s well with you and yours. Gary
I have known Gary Noland since high school. He is a very talented composer, piano player, and cartoonist who lives in Portland. His music is eclectic with a snarky sarcastic tone to it, somewhat like listening to Frank Zappa’s classical music scores. His cartoons are very Robert Crumpian in spirit. Take a listen and let me know what you think.
You can contact Gary Noland at nolandgary5@gmail.com
BIO
Introducing Gary Noland’s Music
Dr. Gary Lloyd Noland (a.k.a. author Dolly Gray Landon & artist Lon Gaylord Dylan), grew up in a crowded house shared by ten people on a plot of land three blocks south of UC Berkeley known as People’s Park, which has distinguished itself as a site of civic unrest since the late 1960 Dr. Gary Lloyd Noland (a.k.a. author Dolly Gray Landon & artist Lon Gaylord Dylan), grew up in a crowded house shared by ten people on a plot of land three blocks south of UC Berkeley known as People’s Park, which has distinguished itself as a site of civic unrest since the late 1960s. As an adolescent, Gary lived for a time in Salzburg and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where he absorbed many musical influences. Having studied with a long roster of acclaimed composers and musicians, he earned his Bachelor’s in music from UC Berkeley in 1979, continued studies at the Boston Conservatory, and transferred to Harvard University, where he added to his credits Dr. Gary Lloyd Noland (a.k.a. Author Dolly Gray Landon & artist Lon Gaylord Dylan), grew up in a crowded house shared by ten people on a plot of land three blocks south of UC Berkeley known as People’s Park, which has distinguished itself as a site of civic unrest since the late 1960s.
As an adolescent, Gary lived for a time in Salzburg and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where he absorbed many musical influences. Having studied with a long roster of acclaimed composers and musicians, he earned his Bachelor’s in music from UC Berkeley in 1979, continued studies at the Boston Conservatory, and transferred to Harvard University, where he added to his credits a Masters’ and a Ph.D. in Music Composition in 1989.
Gary’s catalog consists of hundreds of works, which include piano, vocal, chamber, experimental, and electronic pieces; full-length plays in verse, “chamber novels,” and other text pieces; as well as graphically notated scores. His award-winning chamber novel JAGDLIED for Narrator, Musicians, Pantomimists, Dancers & Culinary Artists was listed by one reviewer as the “Top Book of 2018.” Gary’s compositions have been performed and broadcast (including on NPR) in many locations throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Asia, and Australia. He founded the Seventh Species concert series in San Francisco in 1990 and, for 23 years, produced well over 50 concerts of contemporary classical music on the West Coast. He is also a founding member of Cascadia Composers. Gary has taught music at Harvard, the University of Oregon, and Portland Community College. His musical scores are available from J.W. Pepper, RGM, Sheet Music Plus, and Freeland Publications. Six CDs of his compositions are available on the North Pacific Music label at: www.northpacificmusic.com. He has well over 300 videos of his music and narratives available for listening on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJt_eNyJqOZBErG9McQ51nA and numerous other sites on the Internet. composition lessons Lake Oswego Beaverton
The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs STATE-OF-THE-ART EAR EXERCISES for MUSICAL COGNOSCENTI Op. 119 by GARY LLOYD NOLAND.
Featuring the composer and his five alter egos:
GARY LLOYD NOLAND: panda harmonium, malapropsichord, climaxophone, smorgasborgasmatron, bombasticordion, whoopeeboard, air cacophony or
The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs WAYWARD effects & AFFLICTIONS Op. 120 by GARY LLOYD NOLAND
Fever DREAMS Op. 118,
an Unequivocal Crustbucket List of Smexy and Sophistocratic Quarantunes for Perspicacious Connoisseurmudgeons, Trans melancholiac Insomniacs, Necromantic Misanthropes, Compulsive Transgress mists, and other Categorical Certifiable from the Psycho-Experimental Ward of Herr Doctor Noland’s Avantgarde-Boiled Cynic Clinic
“Gary Noland is one of those 21st Century composers seeking to forge a new aesthetic based on older models that do not traffic in serialism or minimalism. These dry, playful pieces pay homage to classical forms from various periods while gently satirizing them. Zany waltzes, ragtime riffs, chorales, toccatas, and much else romp and tear through these depictions of superheroes and villains from his ‘chamber novels’; other pieces spoof serial music (‘Ventured, nothing gained’) to grand operas (‘Meditative’) and Jewish guilt (‘Spikes’). The irreverent program closes with two serious, impressive, endlessly modulating memorials: one to George Rothberg, an allusive homage to an important neo-romantic who was himself a master of allusion; another to Jon Sutton, an artist Noland feels was wrongfully neglected by a corporate culture that promotes dreck and mediocrity, making it ‘possible to have a Brahms or Schubert next door and not even realize it. This is a culture that ‘confers towering soapboxes to impostors of all persuasions, all too often to the exclusion of first-rate minds who are less savvy about how to work the system to their advantage’.
North Pacific Music
Smaller labels like North Pacific Music represent a new way of working that system, a small means of saving what Noland regards as ‘an endangered (and fast becoming extinct) high culture’. I could do without the ugly cover art, but the piano sound is extremely vivid—and Noland plays his work with wit and conviction.”
—Jack Sullivan, American Record Guide, July/August 2007
“Yesterday, the first day of the year [2004], I opened your CD package—and could hardly believe my ears when I listened to your Venge Art and 24 Postludes for Piano, Op. 72—how magnificent!! I will include most [of] your works in our local shows, especially in the Art Block program Sound Sculpture—a program for visual and sonic art.… I listen to all arriving music and [respond] seldom as excited as I did to your music.… Have a terrific 2004. You made mine with your inspiring music, talent, and creativity. Thank you.”
—Brita Heisman, Executive Producer, KAZU Local Programming, Pacific Grove, CA.
Royal Oil works Music
January 2006: “Royal Oil works Music” (electro-acoustic). Duration: ca. 75 minutes. Includes: “Prelude in E Minor” (Op. 34), “Serial Lullaby” (Op. 80, No. 1), “Spray Taint” (Op. 80, No. 2), “Dog Duo” (Op. 66), “Rag bones” (Op. 11), “Grey Malignant Banks” (Op. 80, No. 3) “My Babe’s Gone Down to Do Her Glue” (Op. 80, No. 4), “Royal Oil works Music” (Op. 80, No. 5) “Prelude & Zoo trot” (Op. 22), “Something Rotten” (Op. 80, No. 6) “Music is Dead” (Op. 53), “Treadmill” (Op. 37), “Deformed Fugue” (Op. 17), “Insurrection of the Office Slaves” (Op. 80, No. 7), “Psycho-Bacchanal” (Op. 80, No. 8). www.NorthPacificMusic.com (NPM LD 024). music CDs original compositions Beaverton Portland Lake Oswego
“We recently received a CD [Royal Oil works Music] of Gary Noland’s here at WOBC. I must say that upon previewing some of the tracks and reading the program notes that all of us have never laughed so hard in our lives. We usually don’t play music as arrogant and docile as Gary’s but the ironic-postmodern-naive-pretension that this CD showed made me reconsider. I would like to get in touch with M. Noland and arrange a telephone interview for one of our classical radio shows.”
… his attitude is not subtly disestablishmentarian, and you’d better enjoy it.… Some of the sounds are amusing, but the music is sort of deliberately annoying, both in sonority and in the mood—deliberately uninspired, almost to the point of inspiration. From Bach to rags to whatever, Noland seems determined to annoy as many people as he can, in an amusing way. He is an angry guy but witty.
If the idea of deliberate lack of originality purveyed in an atmosphere of political incorrectness appeals to you, here, in no uncertain terms, it is. Titles such as ‘Spray Taint’, ‘Dog Duo’, and ‘Insurrection of the Office Slaves’ give the mood, while the title tune [‘Royal Oil works Music’] is the real purpose of the Bush administration, as explained in the notes.…”
—David Moore, American Record Guide
Seriously Odd Classical Tongue in Check Electro-Acoustic
“Seriously odd classical… Tongue-in-cheek electro-acoustic combines baroque harpsichord and cheesy electronic sounds. Funny like Satie is funny – zany and irreverent. Lots of serialism … but the bizarre collage of styles and periods is brilliant. Oh, it’s also like PDQ Bach/Peter Schickele in some ways. Absurd liner notes! Baroque-sounding … Serialist electro-acoustic … very refreshing, given how “ivory tower” this type of music often is. Cheesy synths, electronic percussion, and trumpets … up tempo and funky. Baroque harpsichord with pop and world music sounds going on in off-kilter, almost random rhythms. WTF? Very cool …Waa Waa synth, fugue-like … Zany … Cecil Taylor piano over drum machine breakbeats … Close to Dual (Ed Chang and Doug Theriault – crazy dense guitar and laptop processing), with national anthem-like moments?? And bird song?? Zany … Slow serialist/romantic … prelude to baroque trills to Richian/rag arpeggios to a Chopin breakdown to a jazz ending. Phew. This rocks … Bogy woozy synth with jazz percussion and serialist randomness. Lots of noodling, er, electronic wanking? Upbeat … Staccato baroque fugue on electronic choral sounds and pipe organ sounds … funny … Rhythmically interesting … Fugue for harpsichord … Some free jazz freak-outs … Great title for this … Squeaky sounds with sax and choral synthesizer—like if you played the Handel theme from the film A Clockwork Orange, Sonny Rollins, Tchaikovsky, and, well, a psychotic serialist all at once.”
—KZSU FM90.3, Stanford, CA
“A look at the head-note will alert you to Gary Noland’s very personal way with words. Not for Noland the lures either of Olympian detachment or lower case “significance.” No, Noland is full-on and takes few linguistic prisoners. Similarly with the booklet artwork, Noland’s own, which is an example of crazed Robert Crumb à Africanize. And his music is much the same, Deformed Fugue, his 1977 piece for harpsichord summoning up pretty nicely his compositional stance. This is an elixir brewed of Couperin and Rameau, Scott Joplin, Bach, free funk, free Jazz (Cecil Taylor?), the Fugue, and an unholy alliance of straight sounding neo-classicism and its subsequent assault by the forces of percussive militancy.
Noland may be a romantic but doesn’t want you to know.
His Prelude is baroque-convincing though attended by some sour-is off notes he follows it with Serial Lullaby, a synthesizer-rich free funk piece that mocks its title. Spray Taint gives us assaulted baroque, the percussion blizzards full of jazz offbeat and whoop-bang noises (plus telephone rings and disco inferno). He subjects Ragtime to the same souring procedures as he does to his off-note harpsichord baroque and evokes a drugs fix (in My Babe’s Gone Down to Do Her Glue) with some haywire free form. He writes an American fanfare for the title track and subjects it to anti-Bush assault by bird song and drum blister.
Quixiotic Sense
His quixotic sense extends to opus numbers – the bowels of Op. 80 are scattered throughout the disc, and to instrumentation as well. I assume he makes all the noises, both pianistic and harpsichord synthesized and vocalized. He’s a veritable one-man band of off-kilter influences, the procedural repetition of which sometimes got me seriously down, though I did like his Swingle Sisters take-off on Music is Dead: A Paradox in Fugue.”
—Jonathan Woolf, Music Web International
24 Postludes for piano, Vol. 1
August 2004: “Twenty-Four Postludes for Piano” Vol. 1 (Op. 72, Nos. 1–12), performed by Gary Noland. Duration: 72 minutes. North Pacific Music (PO BOX 82627, Portland, Oregon 97282-0627, USA, tel/fax: 1-800-757-7384, www.NorthPacificMusic.com (NPM LD 018). music CDs original compositions Beaverton Lake Oswego
REVIEWS/ENCOMIUMS
“As usual I have been fiendishly busy and during my last absence, our humidification system went bonkers, depositing condensation and mold all over the place so now I am trying to deal with that on top of my overload. Nonetheless, I have put on the postludes whenever I’ve been at the computer and found them up to your usual iconoclastic, stylistic potpourri standards of giddy humor, no holds barred soup to nuts and high spirits. They are balm to the grim state of mind in which I find myself.”
—Robert Levin, pianist (cadenza improviser extraordinaire), scholar, Professor of Music, Harvard University
“Many thanks for the CDs you sent me, which I have been listening to with great pleasure and fascination.… I am bowled over by the expertise of your music: you use certain elements from the 19th century and jazz, etc., and just at the moment when I am about to say, OK, what else is new? you do several things, such as speeding up, becoming wildly dissonant, modulating to a distant continent, stopping completely, and throwing some kind of total surprise. All of these things are possible, but you seem to know exactly when to do what and how much. I don’t know anybody else who can do it! And the brief electronic statements are spooky in the best and most extreme sense. They make my hair (what’s left of it) stand on end.…”
—Andrew Imbrue, composer, Pulitzer Prize finalist
“Mr. Noland’s Postludes are a collection of wild and crazy pieces for … piano. These are essentially parodying of various styles, set in a dizzying harmonic language that loops uncontrollably through a wide-ranging gamut of possible and impossible tonalities. He applies this procedure to the fugue, ragtime, German dances (Schubert), romantic waltzes (Richard Strauss seems to be a favorite), and virtuosic piano scherzos. There’s a Chinese polonaise, a whiff of pentatonic Debussy; and, like most composers after Berlioz, he can’t seem to keep his hands off the Dies Irae (though fortunately, the tongue is firmly in cheek). Both Peter Schickele and Conlon Nan arrow hover over the proceedings. I’d even throw in Mark Applebaum, another Californian … The opening fugue is dedicated to the late David Lewin, the prominent Harvard theorist. Lukas Foss gets a dedication, also (maybe his Baroque Variations had some sort of influence on Noland at some point).
The general effect is like watching wet paintings of 19th Century musical memorabilia drip into frazzled 21st Century oblivion. The comic-book grotesquerie that graces the jewel box pretty much says it all … these pieces are striking and entertaining … (Postlude 12, an interminable exercise in blues montage, is the most daunting.) The pieces all have funny titles … Mustaches on the Mona Lisa, but those can be interesting if you’re in the right frame of mind.”
—Allen Gimbel, American Record Guide
“Composer and pianist Gary Noland are into ‘ha-ha music’—that is, classical music played for laughs, a genre famously (or infamously, depending on your taste in humor) popularized by Peter Schickele, also known as P.D.Q. Bach. This collection of solo piano music, identified as postludes rather than the more traditional preludes designation, indicates that, despite occasionally forcing the musical jokes (and writing far too many tortured puns in his liner notes), Noland has both the writing and playing chops to compensate for his painful musical humor. Dedicated to the late music theorist David Lewin, ‘Philomathetique’ is a witty trope on the music of Richard Strauss, with characterful motives and abundant quick modulations. ‘Effete Singulations’ is a deft, splashy bit of ragtime, while ‘Pickthanks and Premediates’ is a light-hearted romp played at a dizzying tempo and ‘Psychonipptions’ (dedicated to composer Henry Martin) is a send-up of 20th Century French music. Overall, Postludes is a mixed bag, but when Noland focuses on playing the piano well rather than simply playing for laughs, his compelling artistry shines through.”
—Christian Carey, Splendid Magazine
“Gary—you continue to be one of the most original of the contributors to ‘The Classical Salon.’ And ‘Effete Singulations’ [Postlude #2] opens one of my ragtime shows.”
—David Rifkin, Host, “Classical Salon” and “The Ragtime Machine,” KUSF 90.3 FM, University of San Francisco.
24 Interludes for piano, Vol. 1
August 2004: “Twenty-Four Interludes for Piano” Vol. 1 (Op. 71, Nos. 1-12), performed by Gary Noland. Duration: 74 minutes. North Pacific Music (PO BOX 82627, Portland, Oregon 97282-0627, USA, tel/fax: 1-800-757-7384, www.NorthPacificMusic.com (NPM LD 019). music CDs original compositions Beaverton Lake Oswego
“… intriguing, irritating, … distinctive, inventive, … subversive, … [the music] is never what you expect. You hear all sorts of styles and influences—Beethoven, ragtime, Nan arrow, stride—often in very quick succession.… I had the strange feeling with many of these pieces [Interludes and Postludes] that, about halfway through, I had got fed up with them, but I was then sorry when they finished.… You can hardly be indifferent to Noland’s music and so I would urge you to try it. Despite my frequent irritation, I will certainly be returning to it and seeking out examples of Noland’s chamber works and multimedia compositions. Music aside, speaking as a cat-lover, I feel an instinctive sympathy with the composer depicted on the front cover of the Interludes fondly embracing his cat. Illogical? Well, yes; I think this music has got to me after all.”
—Roger Blackburn, Music Web International
“Gary Noland, a composer, and pianist with an impressive academic pedigree (including a Ph.D. from Harvard) and extensive performing experience, here presents an album of solo piano compositions, or ‘interludes.’ Actually, some of these pieces seem in no way transitory; instead, they present extended musical dialogues that call upon a host of musical styles and require the considerable technical facility to perform. Noland, a fleet-fingered, ebullient performer, is more than up to the task. Pastiche pieces like ‘Mumbo Gumbo’ and ‘Expresso Wagon’ evoke all manner of Romantic-era classical piano figurations; they gently lampoon some of the genre’s conventions, but always remain bright, witty, and engaging. ‘The Temptation of Saint Floyd’ also channels Romanticism, particularly the Strassman sort, demonstrating a more reflective demeanor and adding a dollop of schmaltz to the proceedings. ‘Push Button Fingers’ is prevailingly modern in construction, with syncopated rhythms and sprightly, angular runs creating a far more contemporary sound world. Noland’s work may be eclectic—sometimes even a bit goofy—but Interludes is cleverly constructed and consistently well performed.”
July 2002: “Gary Noland: Selected Music from VENGE ART.” Duration: 75 minutes. Cellist Hamilton Heifetz and pianist Victor Steinhardt playing “Fantasy in E Minor” for cello & piano (Op. 24), pianist Randall Hodgkinson playing “Humoresque” for piano (Op. 3) and the “Russell Street Rag” (Op. 5), Gary Noland performing three segments of “P*run*Music” (Op. 48), Violist Katherine Murdock and pianist Randall Hodgkinson playing “Romance” for viola & piano (Op. 10), a computer-driven Disklavier performance of “Grande Rag Brillante” (Op. 15), The Onyx String Quartet playing “American Bozo Dance” (Op. 32, No. 8), and Guy Tyler conducting “Septet” (Op. 43) with clarinetist Carol Robe, alto saxophonist Tom Bergeron, French hornist Ellen Campbell, violinists Tawana Nagahara and Anthony Dyer, double-bassist Forrest Moyer, and pianist Art Maddox. Released by North Pacific Music (PO BOX 82627, Portland, Oregon 97282-0627, USA, tel/fax: 1-800-757-7384, www.NorthPacificMusic.com (NPM LD 012). music CDs original compositions Beaverton Lake Oswego
“Mr. Noland writes as a ‘time traveler’ in styles long abandoned by most composers as well as styles so new as to not have been imagined but by him. This he accomplishes naturally, convincingly, with originality and true passion. His command of all musical languages and his ability to traverse musical time is nothing less than remarkable. Listen!”
—Donald Martino, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
“Composer Gary Noland is possessed of a rich musical imagination, whose technique distills the achievements of Roger, Strauss, and Schoenberg but also refracts their post-romantic/expressionist tendencies through the lens of twenty-first-century post-modernism, American style. Moreover, he fits Stravinsky’s definition of a great composer: one who doesn’t merely steal but knows what to steal. This Noland does with wit and aplomb unique to the music of our time.”
—Ira Braes, pianist, musicologist, Professor of Music, The Hart School
“Gary Noland’s Venge Art is more than just a collection of music.…inspiring. He walks with assurance through the treacherous landscape of late tonality and early post-tonality (e.g., Strauss).…a gifted composer.”
May 2000: “Player less Pianos: Virtual Music for Pianos Virtual and Otherwise.” Seventh Species Composers Series Debut Recording, Limited Collector’s Edition (NPM LCE 007—North Pacific Music). A compilation recording of works by various composers. Includes Gary Noland’s “Grande Rag Brillante” (Op. 15), which was recorded on August 19, 1998, on a Disklavier at SPARK Studios in Emeryville. music CDs original compositions Beaverton Portland Lake Oswego
Original Compositions by Gary Noland music CDs
1996: “Passion.” A compilation recording of works by composers Gary Noland, George Rothberg, Georges Enescu, Greg Steinke, and Jackie T. Gabel performed by violist Rozanne Weinberger and pianist Evelyne Lust. Includes Noland’s “Romance” for viola & piano (Op. 10). (NPM LD 003—North Pacific Music). Recorded September 1994 at MET Studio Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. In Schwann Catalog. music CDs original compositions Beaverton Portland Lake Oswego
Soprano HSIN YI LIN and pianist ASYA GULUA perform my setting of ALEXANDER THEROUX’S poem PRAYER OF A FAT MAN, Op. 104 (2019).
Acclaimed novelist/poet/essayist Alexander Theroux gave the composer permission to set as many of his poems as he wishes from his Collected Poems (published by Fantagraphics in 2015). Noland originally scheduled a recital of a number of these songs to be performed by soprano Hsin Yi Lin and pianist Asya Gulua on April 11th, 2020 at Classic Pianos in …
ALL FOOD IS POISON performed by The Pimpleton Procrasturbation Ensemble.
SOUNDCLOUD.COM
ALL FOOD IS POISON
The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs ALL FOOD IS POISON by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com
Jake Aller Hi Jake, I sent you some links last night in FB. I got an email message from you with a warning that it might be fake. It looked legit but nowadays I have to be absolutely certain that it is. Anyway, once again, here are the two links I sent…
Hi Jake, I just put this new album together (seven pieces comprising my Op. 152: DREAD MEETS DESIRE) which can be accessed at the following link: https://soundcloud.com/…/dread-meets-desire-op-152-nos. I can give you more, but I think th…
My TAINTED FORGETERIES, Op. 132, No. 9, performed by The Pimpleton Procrasturbation Ensemble.
https://youtu.be/qob63I6b2GQ?feature=shared I am pleased to present this performance by pianist Myrna Setiawan of the West Coast premiere of my Burlesque for piano, Op. 1, No. 20 (which I myself premiered over forty years ago at the Boston Conservatory). Myrna has a perfect understanding of the piece, as if she had composed it herself. This performance took place at the home of Sylvia Gray and Viktors Berstis at a soirrée hosted by the two of them in Portland’s Sellwood neighborhood on November 18th, 2023. Brava to Myrna—one of Oregon’s most extraordinary pianists!
Soprano Hayley Boggs and pianist Victor Hugo Morales perform my setting of Heinrich Heine’s poem “Aus Meinen Tränen Sprießen” from my FOUR HEINE LIEDER, Op. 19, No. 1.
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The Mean Streets of Bombay
One wild night in Bombay, India,
I walked into an evil bar
20 drinks too sober
on the wicked-wrong end of
a Friday night booze run.
On the bad side of the Moon
where Martian men drank,
ogling the Venus girls and leering
at Earth women in skin-tight pants
that made their eyeballs hurt.
I gave into the spirit
and decided to join them,
getting drunk on Martian whiskey and
smoking that good old-fashioned
Mars dust as well.
Next thing I knew,
I was on my way to Jupiter,
on a lark with a gal who
said she was from Saturn.
Didn’t learn she was from Pluto
until I woke the next day,
naked and in jail somewhere
near Alpha Centauri.
A million miles away,
a thousand years in the future,
with no money, no honey,
and no fucking way home.
Still 20 drinks too sober,
I just pissed away my time
with fine Pluto whisky
and cold-ass alien wine.
Then one day
I found myself outside that bar again,
enveloped in the miasmic mists
by the old Martian whorehouse,
down near the Gate of India.
Walked up to my Pluto babe
and said, man,
that was some bad shit;
let’s do it again sometime.
Knew the day
would come again,
I’d be drinking with
those Martian men.
Something bad
my way would come,
another night
of wicked fun.
On the wrong side of the Moon,
on just the right night,
in the mean streets
This is the third time I have entered the Writer’s Digest annual chapbook challenge. The challenge was to write one poem per day in November then select the best 20 for the chapbook contest. Here are my poems.
Index
November 1 Declaration Poem
Favorite Childhood Object
Problem Solvers Problems
Mike Johnson Ain’t No Christian, Jack
Dreams Of a Better World Problems
49-Year Love Story
Barbados Calling Me
Hometown Calling Me
Gun Ghosts Speak Up
Saga of Big Daddy
Attack of Neighbor Bob Terrorist
Back in the Old Days, Trump Would Never Have President
Big Daddy, aka Sam Adams
was the man
who always had a plan.
He was an ex-University of Arkansas
and Dallas Cowboy player
who had worked for the CIA?
The agency fired him
for murdering enemies of the state
at home in contravention of agency rules,
but they retained
his services from time to time.
He supplemented his CIA payments
And bar income from money laundering,
drug smuggling, human smuggling
and other assorted crimes, big and small.
Big Daddy had lots of enemies
Many people wanted him dead
Relatives of his many victims
Of the covert wars, he waged
On behalf of his nation.
He was hoping to stay out of trouble
But one day trouble found him.
He moved to Bangkok, Thailand
Where he opened the Cosmos Bar
With the assistance of his manager.
Kuhn Lek, and her uncle
The police chief and his cousin
The biggest drug kingpin
In the Northern Triangle.
The Cosmos Bar
Became world-famous
The spot to go to is Bangkok.
Located in Soi Cowboy
It was an after-hours club
Secretly owned by the Thai police,
One of the few places
They served alcohol 24/7.
It was filled with
Criminals, drug dealers, government agents
Journalists, prostitutes, pimps,
spies, counter-spies, sex tourists,
tourists, undercover cops,
and assorted other low-lives,
From all over the known world.
Had the best-looking woman
The best-looking travesties too,
The best beer, wine, and liquor list
In the city,
And the best burgers in town.
It looked like the Bar
In Star Wars
Filled with probable human life forms
And perhaps a space alien or two.
One day a mysterious Korean woman
Came into the bar asking for him
By his universal nickname
“Big Daddy”
Maria Lee was a Korean-American
Drop-dead gorgeous woman
Who was on the lam
from her rich Korean husband.
She had one question for Big Daddy.
“The word in the Korean community
is that you are a man
who knows how to launder money.
Can you launder 50 million dollars?”
“Hmm for a fee.”
“What’s the fee?”
“A night of wild sex with you.”
“Done, but only after the deed is done.”
She smiled sweetly.
He called his underworld contacts
and they laundered the 50 million dollars
and he gave her the bank receipt.
He had parked the money
in a Cayman Islands account.
That night
she honored her agreement with Big Daddy.
The next morning
while drinking his cup of coffee,
she revealed that she had poisoned him
because she did not want anyone to know
about the transaction
and her affair with Big Daddy.
She smiled,
“Thanks, Big Daddy,
I liked last night,
You are a real stud, Big Daddy,
Perhaps that is why you are called, ‘Big Daddy’
But hey it is nothing personal, Big Daddy.”
After all, it was just a business deal in the end.
And that was
how trouble found Big Daddy.
Attack of Neighbor Bob Terrorist
One day
A man fell.
A rabbit hole.
On his computer,
Lost in thought.
when an odd event occurs,
the event that led.
to his untimely death.
He did not hear.
The footsteps,
Of the white
Christian nationalist
Domestic terrorist next door.
Who took exception?
To Sam’s living there
As Sam was not white
And an atheist “libtard.”
And his neighbor
Was a white supremacist.
Christian Nationalist.
His neighbor Bob.
Came at Sam with a chainsaw.
And struck him in the heart.
Killing him instantly.
Then using a torch
To burn the body.
Before using dynamite
To blow up the house
Despite the rain clouds
Outside.
All streamed live.
On his wifi.
trump jpg
Back in the Old Days, Trump Would Never Have President
Back in the old days
when political decisions
were made by insiders.
White men of power
who gathered.
in the proverbial
smoke-filled rooms.
smoking menthol cigarettes
and cigars
drinking whiskey
martinis and beer
while enjoying a steak dinner
and plotting political plots
in such a world
Trump would not have been.
allowed to become President.
as the political elites
would not allow.
such a Buffon
from taking power
They would despise.
such a vulgar low-class
new money guy.
Lucky in love, unlucky in cards
There is an adage
That sums up my life so far
One can be lucky in love
But unlucky in cards
That sums it up nicely
I have been lucky in love
Met and married
The girl of my dreams
Dreamed of meeting her
For eight years
Then she came into my life
Became my wife
But I have never been
Lucky in cards
I mean I have played
Poker with friends
But always lost
Won a little bit of gambling
But usually lost more
Then I won
Eventually gave up
Just not fun anymore
As I lost the gambling fever
Yet to get a jackpot
But then I think
I hit the jackpot of love
And that has made
All the difference
President Trump on Vermin AI Poem
A leader of a nation, a speaker of lies.
A spreader of hatred, a divider of ties
A mocker of the weak, a lover of the strong
A builder of walls, a singer of wrong
A hater of the different, a scorner of the same
A caller of the vermin, a blamer of the blame
An ignorer of the facts, a denier of the truth
A creator of the chaos, a destroyer of the youth
A loser of the election, a claimer of the fraud
A refuser of the concession, a violator of the law
An inciter of the violence, a fomenter of the storm
I next encountered the divine
Many years later in Berkeley, California
I had gone home to be with my Mother
While taking leave from my job
in the Foreign Service
I had two weeks there by myself
My wife came later
near the end of the trip
Every morning I woke up
Had my coffee, and breakfast
Did yoga while listening to music
And looking out at the garden
Then spoke to my mother
Who was sliding into dementia?
Day by day losing her reason
Then I would go out
And explore the city
Go to a museum
Go to one neighborhood
And just be there
Rediscovering the Bay area
After years of being away
Having dinner with old friends
Seeing movies etc
Every morning a black cat came to visit
The cat was friendly and waited for me
And then would join me in my morning rambles
Following me to the bus stop
I started talking to the black cat
He looked at me with a spark of divinity
In his dark eyes
I called him the cosmic cat
He seemed to like that
He would look at me
And I opened up to me
Told the cat all my dark secrets
As I walked the streets
Of the old neighborhood
Every morning and every evening the cat
Would be there to greet me
And to carry out our endless conversation
Then I had to leave
And in our final conversation
I asked the cosmic cat
Say, Cat are you just a cat
Or are you a demonic cat
Are you possessed by God?
Or by Satan
The cat looked at me
And I realized that God
Was indeed residing in the cat
But that god was residing everywhere
All I had to do was open my mind
And the rest would follow
So I said Goodbye to the cosmic cat
And he purred and came up to me
And I felt the comforting presence
Of the divine spirit of God
As I said goodbye to the cosmic cat
And said goodbye to my mother
As this was the last time
That we would be able to talk
I told my mother about the cosmic cat
She smiled and said that the cat
was there for me and her
to comfort us both in our hour of need
and that the cat was indeed
a cosmic cat
Carrying the light
We must carry the light
It is not so bright
Embracing the light with my wife
Still the center of my life
We both fear the dark
Nothing more to avoid strife.
Carrying the light
until the end of time
chasing away
the darkness that haunts.
my soul.
Presidential Election Cycle
The U.S. Presidential election cycle
Is a long-drawn-out affair.
Starts the day after the last election.
And ends a month after the votes.
Have been certified,
and the winner is determined.
As usual
Twenty candidates are announced.
For the election cycle
A year or so before
The actual vote.
The most important part
The donors chose.
Which candidates will get?
Their money and support
In the so-called invisible primary.
By January of an election year
Five to six serious contenders
Have emerged.
Battling it out nightly on the news
As the pundits weigh in
And voters begin to choose.
on multiple Super Tuesdays.
The candidates race across.
The land
Offering their vision,
Their hopes and fears.
As the public begins
To wake up
And start to choose.
The game is on foot.
with almost weekly debates
where the candidates
try not to make fools.
of themselves.
It continues until the summer.
When the conventions nominate
Someone as the standard bearer.
The losers concede.
But the intra-party feuding
Does not end.
In the end
There will be one person.
Left standing.
At the end of the roughest
Most competitive race
In the world.
That determines.
The fate of nations.
Voters in the end
Making the final call
As the presidential election season
Comes to a final decision point.
Berkeley Time Travels
I grew up in Berkeley, California
In the turbulent fabled late ’60s
And in Berkeley in those days
Time seems to stand at a standstill.
On the corner of Dwight and Telegraph
Across from People’s Park
It seems to be always May 1969
With the man
Down the street
Oppressing the hippies
On the street
As they smoked their weed
Dodging the bored cops
Who looked the other way?
If they did not partake
And then I went to college
In the valley
As I drove into Stockton
I felt I was traveling again.
In time
Back to the fabled ’50s
Stockton was also.
Stuck in a time warp of sorts.
And as I left the Bay area.
And traveled the world.
I would come back.
To that corner
And just be there.
Stuck in May 1969
Again
Marveling at the changes
That had and had not occurred.
To the corner of the land
Forever stuck in time
And space
Last Night I could not
Get to sleep at all
Last night I could not
Sleep
As my mind wandered
Down dark rabbit holes
Of fevered imagination
At 0 dark hundred hours
The wild things came out
To play
Torturing me
Until the sunrise
Blasted them
Back into the dark
Corners of my mind.
And the nightmares
Faded away
With the dawning sun.
BIng AI Love Poem
Angela Lee, you are the light of my life.
You fill my days with joy and my nights with dreams.
You are the reason I smile and the reason I breathe.
i am again participating in the Poetry Super Highway Free E Book Exchange. My book, “Mozart Blues” will be available for downloading from the PSH web page on December 1 for 24 hours (from Mid-night PST time). Please consider downloading my book and others on December 1, 2023.
Acknowledgment
These poems have been published in the following journals and elsewhere and were written between 2016 and 2023. They were published in.
Down in the Dirt, Spillwords Poems, Ink Pantry, Synchronized Chaos, Former People Poems as well as on my website, The World according to Cosmos (https:/theworldaccordingtocomos.com) and All Poetry, Fan Story and Writing.com
This chapbook is part of the Poetry Superhighway’s Annual Poetry E-Book Free for All event.
The mission of the Poetry Superhighway is to expose as many people to as many other people’s poetry as possible.
What?
A project in which your poetry e-books will be freely available to all interested humans on Earth for 24 hours.
Throughout November we will collect e-books from poets and writers interested in participating.
Then on December 1st, for 24 hours, links to all of the e-books will go live. For 24 hours anyone can download, for free, as many of these e-books as they like…a poetry e-book free-for-all.
How?
To participate, read the guidelines below and then click on our Online Submission form. That’s it. It’s simple. By doing so, your e-book will be included.
The E-Book has to be written by you.
E-books should be in PDF Format for universal compatibility with anyone’s computer.
If you have an e-book in Microsoft Word or another format, please convert it to PDF. One way to do this (if you don’t know how) is to visit the website http://www.freepdfconvert.com/. From there you will be allowed to select the file on your computer which will be uploaded and e-mailed back to you in PDF format.
When creating your e-book file, please keep it smaller than 2 megabytes.
Once you’ve created your e-book (not before), click on our Online Submission Form to join in!
Do not fill out the form and then e-mail us your e-book later. Please fill out the form and use it to upload your e-book to us.
We do not accept e-books or submissions by e-mail. The only way to join in is by clicking on the Online Submission Form below.
On December 1 at Midnight (the evening of November 30), people will be free to download any or all of the titles and your poetry will be freely, electronically, traveling all over the world. This web page will go offline 24 hours later at Midnight on December 2nd.
We will also list your e-book and description on this web page along with the link to your website for all to see.
I finally made it back to California after a three-year absence. Overall, not too bad. Expensive as hell, crowded, too many homeless people, too many druggies, too much crime. But it is not the dystopian hell hole portrayed on FOX News and the right-wing media.
Here are my reflections, along with some photos and some of my Bay Area-based stories and poems.
I was traveling with my wife, her brother, his wife, and their 12-year-old Korean niece. First time for my sister-in-law and niece to visit the Bay Area. We stayed at Travis AFB near Fairfield because the hotel costs were so high in the Bay Area.
Berkeley
Berkeley 1975 Street Scenes
Berkeley Time Travels
674 Santa Rosa My Childhood Home
Free Roaming in Berkeley as a Child
As you may know, I grew up almost 55 years ago in the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood of Berkeley. Solano Avenue was the local commercial street lined with restaurants and called Berkeley’s Chinatown because of all the Asian restaurants and Asian residents living there. It was also along with the hills, the “white republican sector” of town. Now there are almost no Republicans living in the city.
Berkeley has a lot of nice new housing, mostly high-rise apartments all over the place, who knows one of them could be mine in a few years. Solano Avenue had a lot of new restaurants to check out and lots of my favorite old ones are there.
Sad to see some of the Movie places closed, I think that there are only two movies left in Berkeley except for a Bollywood Indian movie theater in little Bombay.
For those of you who don’t know, Berkeley is so much more than Cal. There are ten official neighborhoods according to the Berkeley tourism office. Demographically the city has about 130k permanent residents, with an additional 30k when school is in session.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Berkeley (/ˈbɜːrkli/ BURK-lee) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills. The 2020 census recorded a population of 124,321.
Berkeley is home to the oldest campus in the University of California, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is managed and operated by the university. It also has the Graduate Theological Union, one of the largest religious studies institutions in the world. Berkeley is considered one of the most socially progressive cities in the United States.
The 2020 United States Census[90] reported that Berkeley had a population of 124,321. The population density was 11,874 people per square mile of land area (4,584/km2). The racial makeup of Berkeley was 62,450 (50.2%) White, 9,495 (7.6%) Black or African American, 24,701 (19.9%) Asian, 253 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 226 (0.2%) from Native American, 1,109 (0.9%) from other races, and 9,069 (7.2%) multiracial (two or more races). There were 17,018 (13.7%) of Hispanic or Latino ancestry, of any race.
The neighborhoods are.
The Hills
The hills are mostly white and wealthy. Many people commute to SF or are affiliated with the University. At the top of the hills is Grizzly Peak BLD which features the best views of the entire East Bay. Behind the hills lie Tilden Park, Wildlife Canyon, and Inspiration Point. Favorite haunts of my growing up.
Tilden Regional Park is a regional park in the East Bay of California. It is between the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo Ridge.
Thousand Oaks/Solano
Thousand Oaks neighborhood, where I grew up, lies at the bottom of the hills, and is centered on Solano Avenue which is lined with restaurants and shops. It blends into Albany which was a white working-class enclave back in the day. It was known as Berkeley’s Chinatown due to the numerous Asian restaurants in the area, which are still there. I went to Thousand Oaks Elementary where Kamala Harris went a few years after I went there. The movie theater unfortunately closed.
North Berkeley
Has several sub-neighborhoods and has a BART station. It is also the location of King Middle School where I went as a teenager. There are several small restaurants and businesses throughout the neighborhood. Along Shattuck, the main street is Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto and the home of the original Peets Coffee – the best coffee shop in Berkeley and where the premium coffee revolution started in the late 50s.
Downtown
Downtown has been transformed with lots of high-rise apartments and a thriving Arts District. Sadly, the five movie theaters have all closed, leaving the Pacific Film Institute the only theater in town. There are a lot of restaurants and coffee shops downtown as well as office buildings. There are several rooftop terrace restaurants. We had dinner in the Study Room on top of the new Marriot. Great views, and decent though expensive food. We dropped $350 for seven people. Berkeley High School is located downtown as is the main public library. Downtown is a booming area filled with apartments, resturants and several live theathers including Berkeley Rep. It is also the site of the Berkeley Film Archives, the last movie theather in Berkeley, and the Berkeley Art Museum.
berkeley friends
Campus
the University Campus domiantes the city as is to be expected. there are three student districts near the campus known as Northside, Southside and College Avenue. Each features resturants, shopping and housing for student, faculty and staff. The northside is also called seminary hill because of all the religious seminaries there – Buddhist, Christian and now a Muslim seminary as well.
.The campus is huge and spreads out from downtown to the hills but most of the campus is the center of the campus a short block away from Telegraph on the South and Hearst on the North. Despite the banning of affirmative action, CAL has done a good job – lots of Asian students, international studies, some Hispanic and some blacks, and less than 50 percent white.
Lots of activities on Campus, music, and free lectures open to the public. About half the students live on or near Campus but housing students faculty and staff is a huge problem for the University community. Just west of the Campus is the new home of the Berkeley Art Museum and The Pacific Film Institute which screens classic, art, and international movies every night
“Gorgeous sunset from UC Berkeley!”
Telegraph Avenue runs south from the Campus and into Oakland. It is lined with services for students, and lots of restaurants. Lots of apartments nearby. Used to have a lot of independent bookstores, but a few are still there.
Dwight Street and Telegraph seems stuck in 1969. People’s Park is being torn down to be turned into more student housing although they are going to keep a small park there. Right now, it is a homeless encampment and has been an eyesore for years.
South Berkeley
South Berkeley lies between Telegraph, Shattuck, and Sacramento along Ashby Avenue where there is BART station. It also has lots of restaurants and places to go. Back in the day, it was also the unofficial heart of Black Berkeley as Berkeley was 40 percent black, now it is about 6 percent black due to the high cost of real estate in Berkeley where the medium price of a house is over a million and the average rent is over $2,500 per month.
College Avenue Elmwood Rockridge
College Aveue is just west of Telegraph and is lined with residential housing, including the fraternities and sororities. It also has the International House which is a dormitory for foreign students. Elwood is a residential shopping district as is Claremont and Rockrige which is just across the border in Oakland and borders on Piedmont, a traditional wealthy enclave independent of Oakland.
Elmwood is on College Avenue and is similar to Solano Avenue but a bit smaller. Nearby is the Claremont Hotel and neighborhood one of the wealthiest enclaves in Berkeley.
Gilman Street
Gilman is in northwest Berkeley and was a working-class enclave -still is to a certain extent. Nice neighborhood eateries, and live music spaces
Albany
Albany is a suburban neighborhood just west of Berkeley between El Cerito and Gilman district centered on Solano and San Pablo Avenues. It use to be mostly white working class, but is not close to 50 Asian American.
Lorin and North Oakland including Korean Town
To the west of South Berkeley is the Lorin neighborhood which is an up-and-coming neighborhood. To the south is North Oakland including the second-largest Korean town on the West Coast after LA.
This was the traditional heart of Black Berkeley. There are still a lot of blacks living in Berkeley but due to the high rent and housing costs, the city is only seven percent black, when I was a young lad, it was 40 percent black and Oakland was 60 percent black.
West Berkely/Marina
West Berkeley has been gentrified beyond recognition. Back in the day, it was 90 percent black. I spent my first few years there as that was the only neighborhood a junior Cal professor could afford. It is no longer mostly black and is a hipster neighborhood. Lots of brew pubs in the area. Lots of students live here too.
The marina is on the bay. The bay trail runs through the neighborhood. There are restaurants on the bay and the dock of the Bay which is the site of the famous song.
SItting on the Dock of the Bay
the dock of the bay
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Sittin’ in the morning sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
Then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh
I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the Frisco Bay
‘Cause I’ve had nothing to live for
And look like nothing’s gonna come my way
So, I’m just gon’ sit on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh
I’m sittin’ on the dock of a bay
Wastin’ time
Looks like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, listen
Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
2,000 miles I roam
Just to make this dock my home, now
I’m just gon’ sit at the dock of a bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh
Sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
Nearby are Albany, El Cerrito, Oakland, Richmond, and Emeryville. I heard good things about Alameda but did not have time to visit.
Berkeley poems
How Berkeley Can You Be?
Berkeley is what it is,
and sometimes
Berkeley is what it ain’t.
tell me.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Tell me
tell me.
if you think you know
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
How Berkeley can you be?
Berkeley is everything.
Berkeley is the center.
of the universe
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
and Berkeley
in Berkeley.
and you are Berkeley.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
You have a Berkeley thing going on.
You have Berkeley in your soul.
Berkeley has taken over your soul,
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
And you are Berkeley.
Born and raised.
Berkeley until you die, dude.
Berkeley until you die, dude.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is more than just the students.
Berkeley is more than that.
As you know
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is more than just weed and beer.
Which is all you need?
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is more.
That is the best food.
In the universe
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is more than the best coffee.
In the world
Peet’s coffee of course
Nothing else will do.
If you are true, Berkeley.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is more.
That Cal Football
Which rules?
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is Asian
Berkeley is Gay
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is white.
Berkeley is black.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is brown.
Berkeley is Jewish
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is free-thinking.
Berkeley hate
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is free to love.
Berkeley is rock and roll.
Until you die
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley if Funk
Berkeley is Hip Hop
Berkeley is hipness itself.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Berkeley is all of that.
And so much more.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
let your inner Berkeley out.
feel the Berkeley Freak come out.
how Berkeley can you be.
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Join the Berzerkly Vibe
Feel the Berkeley in your soul.
How Berkeley can you be?
Can you be in Berkeley,
Until you die?
How Berkeley can you be,
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Long live Berkeley
The best city
In the universe.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
And it is your city.
Your responsibility
To be as Berkeley
As you wanna be.
Until the day you die.
How Berkeley can you be?
How Berkeley do you wanna be?
Hark, I Hear the Spirits of Berkeley Calling Me Home. Berkeley
Long Version
Hark,
I hear the spirits.
Of Berkeley
Call me home.
The more I roam in this world.
The more I am drawn.
Back to the land
From whence I came.
Berkeley, California
Is what it is?
And sometimes
It is what it ain’t.
Berkely is a “how Berkeley, can you be vibe” town,
Home to CAL with 40,000 students who flood into the city nine months of the year, University professors, staff, and students,
Yet Berkeley is so much more the ultimate college town.
It is delicious food is everywhere around the corner sort of town, An artisanal craft beer, and spirits, coffee, herbal tea, Kombucha, and wine-drinking city, where coca-cola is seldom served, gourmet ghetto, inventor of the new American cuisine revolution, home of Chez Panisse, the French Laundry, and so many other restaurants, a place where you can find every cuisine of the world at a most affordable price, a town where there are more restaurants per capita than anywhere else, where if you wanted to eat dinner at a different restaurant every day it would take you years to do so, with new places opening and closing every day.
an anti-big box store vibe, yet with a lively small business sector, more restaurants and coffee shops per capita than almost anywhere else, lots of upscale groceries, used have a large Co-op (my father was the President), and ethnic foods markets, organic food markets, Berkeley Bowl market, farmers markets, plus usual corporate chain food stores.
MOES book rules, where Howl was written, where the Beatnik writers and culture types used to hang out, and their spiritual descendants still do.
Philip K Dicks hometown, (Philip K dick dated my mom before she met my father, end personal disclosures) Thornton Wilder and so many other great writers back in the day and here and now, Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg lived and loved there,
Craft beer paradise, the hometown of Peets coffee, still the best damn coffee even though they have gone corporate, the coffee revolution of the late 50s and 60’s started here in the Coffee mecca of the United States, where Café Med proudly proclaimed to one and all.
‘We Don’t Serve Establishment Coffee,
They invented the American version of the Latte” It seems there are more coffee shops in Berkeley per capita than almost anywhere else in the country,
Berkeley is also the home of vibrant tea, smoothies, artisanal spirits, craft beer, and wine culture with urban wineries and brew pubs everywhere.
a gluten-friendly city with the best GF pizza in the world the Berkeley Cheese Collective, a foodies delight,
a diverse although less day by day as it is now a very expensive city,
a very ethnic town, used to have the largest Finnish community in the U.S, lots of Russians and Eastern Europeans back in the day, a city with people, from all over the known world, where 250 different languages are spoken at home, an African-American town, used to be a very black town, 40 percent back in the 70’s now perhaps twenty percent, a middle-class suburb of Oakland back in the day, but with a black lower class, working class, who are still hanging on somehow, but still a lot of my African Americans brothers and sisters hanging on despite the high rents and housing costs, many properties rich but cash poor, joined by so many African immigrants and Caribbean African immigrants as well, an Asian American city, home of a vibrant Chinese-American community, Korean-American, Hispanic City, Ohlone Tribal city, Native Americans from all different tribes still around the city, Japanese-American, Indian-American city, an Iranian diaspora, and now Afghani diaspora as well,
French people, European people, Jewish people, but no Jewish space Lazers yet, Indian American little Mumbai community where you can get the latest Bollywood movies, food, and Indian political gossip,
an artistic city, a creative city, a Great art Museum at CAL, home of the Pacific Film Archives a real treasure for movie lovers, with more movie theaters per capita than anywhere else,
, same for bookstores, music stores,
Rock n Roll fantasy world,
A Motown-friendly city,
A funk lovers paradise
A Blues lover mecca
And there are even country fans.
a musical city -hometown to the Earthquake, Green Day, Jimmi Hendrix’s last high school, Smoke and Fog,
New flash for Tju Dave – hey dude, I loved your song, you ain’t Berkeley enough” just want to say I represent that remark, but I represent Berkeley worldwide dude and I am still as Berkeley as I wanna be, anywhere in the world, dude, end news flash.
the Psychotic Pineapple, Rubinoos, and so many others.
Tower of Power “East Bay Grease sort of town,
A Berkeley High School rocks place, (personal disclosures I was the BHS student body president in 1973-1974),
the home of the song, “Sitting by the Dock of the Bay,”
An anti-establishment sort of city yet filled with students studying to be part of that despised establishment, all vowing to change the world but the world always changes them into yet more high-price corporate drones.
with zany wacked-out politics, a city at times lost in 1969, or lost in the future, A city where being called a “conservative “is considered a vile insult,
a very progressive city, probably the most progressive city in the country, which in my opinion is a good thing, not something to be ashamed of,
a PC is a cool city that invented PC before it became a curse word of sorts, a city where there are real live Marxists, communists, and socialists but no one takes them seriously, and there are a few proto-fascist political science professors as well,
the spiritual home of the beatniks, the hippies, the yippies, and sadly the weathermen
the city that gave us “the Symbionese Liberation Army,” kidnapper of Patty Hearst,
(personal disclosure: the SLA briefly terrorized the Bay Area, and my family during the 70s calling my father “a fascist insect that preys on the life of the people, his offense = demanding that students and staff at the Peralta College be required to wear ID’s to combat a rise in violent crime on the campuses, my father not having a sense of humor did not like my joke when one morning I said,
“Good morning fascist Insect how are you today?” My mother loved it and spoke.
“Yeah, he is a fascist insect but he is our fascist insect” and laughed. My father merely glared at the two of us. End Personal disclosure)
a Political city up the Yazoo town, a one-party town but with two rival political factions, republicans and there are some of them in town, feel like they are an endangered species, (another personal disclosure, my Dad was Curtis Cosmos Aller, the President of the Berkeley Co-op from 1968 to 1985 when he died, the President of the Peralta board of Colleges, who ran for Congress in 1974 in the Democratic primary against the legendary Ron Dellums, end personal disclosure) very few Q nuts but I am sure there are some, just as there are no doubt people who believe in the lizard shapeshifter conspiracy,
(Personal note: I am a human being but once I took an online quiz to determine whether I could be part alien and the quiz said I was an alien, go figure)
A very anti-Q town, pro-science, rational type of town, filled with humanists and secular humanist types,
A hate bigotry town. Where Ann Coulter and her fellow right-wing followers are not welcome,
a town that proudly voted against Trump – 90 percent in 2016 and 2020) proud center of the “resistance” home of Antifa, BLM rules, the birthplace of the black panthers who met at the first African American high school history class in the US in the early 60s, at BHS of course, and home of the Gray Panthers, a city whose representative in Congress. Representative Barbara Lee, was the only representative to vote against the Iraq war in 2003, noting that Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11, to the rest of the country she was a dangerous left-wing radical, to the Bay Area, and me, a real American Patriotic hero.
a very marijuana-friendly city where the joke has always been pulling out a joint and it cool, pulling out a cigarette and everyone wants to send you to jail, smoking cigarettes being so uncool nowadays,
at times, a very joyful city but not enough joy due to the political disputes and anger as people in Berkeley are very into political discussions and are news junkies,
A very frank town where everyone has an opinion and is not afraid to speak up,
bike friendly, environmentally friendly city, a recycling mecca, renewable energy, friendly, where the university engineers are working to solve the world.
s energy problems and coming up with solutions to the climate change crisis, solar panels everywhere, transit-friendly, zip car friendly, uber/lift friendly, BART friendly, walkable sort of town.
at times hot city, living with the constant fear of the mega drought, fires and the big one, atmospheric rivers, polar vortexes, and another global warming phenomenon as climate change becomes nightmarishly real, but most days the same, foggy cool mornings, nice pleasant in the 70s afternoons, then more fog dipping into high 40s by midnight, used to be no rain between April and October just the cool morning fog, but nowadays with climate change, we get rain even in the summer, and they joke there are two seasons now in California the rainy season October to March and fire season April to October, all due to the non-existent climate change hoax,
To the rest of the world, a very “Berserkly place”
a Buddhist-friendly city, including a Buddhist Zen Center, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Buddhist temples a Buddhist Seminary, A Tai-Chi mecca, A centric, very zen attitude sort of town,
a liberal Christian city where fundamentalists are not welcomed, where atheists, free thinkers, liberal Muslims, liberal Hindus, new age types, and Wiccans are welcomed, home of several liberal Christian seminaries, a Buddhist seminary, and now a Muslim seminary all located on Seminary Hill)
A city where making fun of the street preachers is a fun game for the militant atheists of the city (personal disclosures that were me back in the day, I loved to heckle Holly Hubert joined at times by my old friend Julia Vinograd, the bubble lady who used to blow bubbles at Holly Herbert as he ranted about how we would all go to hell for our heathen ways, Holly Hubert is long gone by now as that was almost 45 years ago)
a crazy city. a cool city, and at times a cold city,
filled with the scent of good craziness, and sometimes very bad craziness as sometimes on a bad night things can go bad if you are in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people, or are the victim of a drug deal gone bad when the guns come out to play to settle disputes, or knives are drawn and people get very crazy or are just unlucky to be caught up in the crossfire, or on a bad trip on bad drugs, just too many damn drugs and too many people whose minds were fried by the same damn drugs, in short Berkeley does have a dark side to it,
a city of big dreamers, a fast-paced city,
but for the most part, it is a friendly town, but not too friendly, A freaky place filled with freakazoids, A funky vibe, a funny town all around,
and you can have fun there as well as get lucky and meet the woman or man of your dreams, as there are lots of young single men and women looking for Mr. Good, or Ms. Good as the case may be,
An Oakland A, and SF giants town, forty-niners (although some hate them for moving to San Jose, the Northern California clone of LA. And Golden States warriors but everyone now hates the Las Vegas Raiders, as much every person born in Berkeley must hate LA, sort of part of Berkeley and the Northern Californian DNA to be hating on LA, the LA Dodgers, and now the Las Vegas Raiders.,
A live and let live z tude, A loony tunes place, A happy go lucky sort of vibe city,
“Hella Berkeley “city, A historical city, A Hippie town back in the day, A hip hop center, A hip city where everyone knows what hip is but can say what it is, what is hip, yal? Do you know? Hipness, like Berkeley, is what it is and sometimes is what is not,
too many homeless people living on the streets city, panhandling, and becoming a nuisance, getting into everyone’s face, destroying everyone’s mellow, lonely at times city where many people have thousands of virtual friends but few real friends.
very LGBTQ-friendly, a feminist city, a very pro-choice town,
An only in Berkeley kind of vibe,
a city where people still read a lot, where newspapers have not died but are mostly read online,
home of a rich alternative press history, although sadly most have gone by the wayside, I remember the Berkeley Barb, the Berkeley Gazette, the SF Chronicle, the Bay Guardian, the East Bay Express, the Berkeley Voice, the great underground comics like Fritz the Cat, reading online Berkeley news outlets just not the same thing at all. And BHS used to have a daily newspaper, now a weekly paper although the CAL daily is still mostly read online.
A very sad town, a special city, A city that would welcome space aliens who might already be there, an OMG place,
a rainy blues sort of day place.,
Robots are a cool city where new robots are being developed every day, a city where people are building the singularity not fearing it,
A Mask Up follows the science town badly hit by the COVID pandemic, particularly the small business that took it on the chin,
the birth of NaNoWriMo, the November Write a Novel in a Month contest, (personal disclosure -I completed three of these)
A poet-friendly place where people get poetry,
rents are insane, housing prices too, the only people who can afford to buy are people with boatloads of money, and somehow there are lots of those types hanging out, and lots of people who don’t have money who somehow manage to get by, who can afford to live here? It takes serious piles of moolah, big piles of money, lots of cash, dollars up the yazoo, trust baby parents, or selling your soul to a start-up from hell, to be able to pay the rent or lots of roommates, yet people still flock to the city, how they can afford it is still a mystery to me.
a stand-up guy sort of city,
student-friendly, kind of a suburb of Oakland and SF, yet doing its own very Berkeley thing,
home of great city parks,
San Pablo Park (home
of the annual BHS alumnus picnic)
Indian Rock Peoples Park
Inspiration point,
Ho Chi Min Park in the 70s
the Rose Garden
Strawberry canyon,
Tilden Park,
Wildcat canyon
part of the Bay Area Ridge Trails and Bay Area Bay Trails which are almost complete, doing a thru-hike of both, the Appalachian, the cross-continental, and the PC trails are among my bucket list dreams,
too cool for school,
sometimes a traffic hell place, BART trains too crowded, pickpockets and other unsavory criminal types hanging out by the BART train stations, along with high school students, druggies,
a “west Coast Rap kingdom, wine drinkers paradise, the former home of the weathermen and other leftist domestic terrorists) a wonderful world for the young at heart, a unique city, a pro-vac place, vibrant, vegetarian, and vegan friendly, yet still offering enough meat options for the carnivores, and still the ultimate university town but as you can see by now, so much more than that, yoga is God kind of town where yoga is mandatory, Yuppie place, a zany city, a zestful town, and lately a zoom work by home town, Berkeley is all of that and so more in short. Berkely is a kind sort of place, unique in all the universe and it is my homeland,
But still, I am drawn.
And want to return.
Before my time is done,
As it remains
My spiritual homeland.
Berkeley Time Travels
I grew up in Berkeley, California
In the turbulent fabled late ’60s
And in Berkeley in those days
Time seems to stand at a standstill.
On the corner of Dwight and Telegraph
Across from People’s Park
It seems to be always May 1969
With the man
Down the street
Oppressing the hippies
On the street
As they smoked their weed
Dodging the bored cops
Who looked the other way?
If they did not partake
And then I went to college
In the valley
As I drove into Stockton
I felt I was traveling again.
In time
Back to the fabled ’50s
Stockton was also.
Stuck in a time warp of sorts.
And as I left the Bay area.
And traveled the world.
I would come back.
To that corner
And just be there.
Stuck in May 1969
Again
Marveling at the changes
That had and had not occurred.
To the corner of the land
Forever stuck in time
And space
San Francisco
We toured much of San Franciso and saw the Giants Lose at Oracle Park.
The neighborhoods are still vibrant but everything is too expensive.
We drove through South Beach, Mission District, Filmore, Haight-Ashbury, Castro District, Noe Valley, Presidio, Richmond, Sunset, North Beach, and Chinatown and walked through Union Square. Ran out of time to fully explore the city.
South Beach is a newly developed neighborhood west of downtown near Ball Park and the vibrant
Dogpatch neighborhood which was recently been officially rated the 17th coolest neighborhood in the world. An ethnically diverse community with and bohemian hipster feeling.
The Mission district is south of the ballpark and is the heart of San Francisco’s Hispanic district. Still mostly Hispanic but gentrifying.
The Filmore used to be the heart and soul of Black San Franciso. It has been heavily gentrified as has the adjacent Western addition but recently there has been a revival of the jazz scene in the area.
We walked through the famous counter-cultural neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury. It still has the 67 vibe and like Telegraph in Berkeley, it seems stuck in a time warp.
We drove through the Presidio which is now an urban national park based on the old Presidio military base which closed in the early 90s. I remember shopping at the commissary back in the day. Cristy Field is a
nice, restored beach.
We toured Fisherman’s Wharf and Piere 39. A bit of a tourist trap but still worth a visit, bought chocolate at Ghirardelli Square.
We also drove through Russian Hill and Nob Hill neighborhoods which are among the wealthiest in the city and saw the famous Lombard Street but did not drive down it.
We walked through Chinatown and North Beach. Chinatown has seen better days as has North Beach. Still work visiting and walking about.
Union Square was strangely deserted as many people felt that it was just too dangerous a place – there were homeless people everywhere in the city and there was a fear of crime. Everything is just so damn expensive.
We drove through the CIVIC center which was impressive from an architecture point of view. Did not see homeless people shooting up and defecating there despite the hysteria of Fox News.
We drove through the edges of the tenderloin. I think that the Tenderloin, the highest crime area in the city, is ripe for gentrification given its central location. We did see a lot of homeless people hanging about, but again no people shooting up or defecating on the street.
The sunset area is nice. We had a great Mexican dinner at Cecilia’s by the Beach which was not too bad. Ocean Blvd was great. The beach was great but a bit cold.
SF Time Travels
Visitng SF After Being Gone for Three Years
In the summer of 2023,
I found myself.
Back in San Franciso
My homeland.
Last visited pre-covid
2018
Touring the city
With my Korean -in Laws
We stopped in Haigh Ashbury
Took photos.
Wearing flowers
In our hair
Our video
Of our San Franciso adventures
Particularly our hiking
The seven hills
And having croissants
And coffee in North Beach
Became a surprise TikTok hit.
Note: grew up in Berkeley, visiting every other year since I left in 1979 Found San Franciso is still a fascinating city to visit, is not the dystopian nightmare that Fox News portrays, but too expensive, with too many homeless and too much street crime.
Use in your story or poem the following – bold these words for tomorrow’s judge:
after our tour of SF and Berkeley, we drove down to Standford and SIlicon Valley. We walked across the Campus and drove aroud Menlo Park saw the Google main Campus. Ran out of time to further explore San Jose and Santa Clara country which is the heart of Silicon Valley. Silcion Valley started near Standford as many of the engineers that started all the tech firms were Standford Computer science engineers including the founders of Google, Apple and HP. And Thomas Edison lived in Menlo Park where he came up with many of his revolutionary inventions in his labs located there.
Travis AFB/Fairfield/Vacaville
when I visit the Bay Area, we usually stay up at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield CA which is about a 45-minute minutes drive from Berkeley in light traffic, and there is a CAL Trans train nearby as well.
It is a typical Air Force Base with a commissary, PX, hospitals, and all the conveniences and it is a lot cheaper staying there than staying in the central Bay Area.
This time around I was staying with my Korean In-laws, and we decided to check out the neighboring cities while we were there. We found that the base had a very nice military aviation museum so it’s worth a visit but non-military-affiliated people may have a hard time getting on base to see the museum.
replica of Fat Boy the H Bomb dropped on Hiroshima
The nearby towns of Dixon, Fairfield, and Vacaville are all worth a visit, as are the Delta towns nearby.
Factoid
California is the rice basket of the U.S., growing most of the U.S. rice in the vast San Joaquin-Sacramento River delta communities which are just southeast of Travis. And they are also the biggest sake producers in the world exporting raw Sakae back to Japan!
These little towns are worth a future visit.
They have lots of outlet malls nearby, the biggest shopping malls in the Northern California region., Vacaville has the Jelly Bean museum which was worth a visit as well as hosting a nice wine and vine festival when we were there.
There are wineries nearby and there are regional parks nearby with lots of hiking opportunities. Most of the year it’s not too hot except for the afternoons when they can get into the hundreds occasionally. It is not a bad place to be based for a visit to the San Francisco Bay area, especially if you can stay on base.
Dixon
My niece lives in Dixon which is about half an hour from Sacramento, and Travis and 45 minutes to the central Bay Area. While I did not get to see much of the city, it seemed to be a nice community with a cute downtown. Reminds me of Medford, Oregon where we were spending the summer.
for more info see the following Bing AI Chat info
Here are some of the top things to do near Travis Air Force Base: • Travis Air Force Base Heritage Center: A museum that highlights the history of Travis Air Force Base and the United States Air Force. It has a collection of aircraft, engines, and other artifacts that are sure to fascinate aviation enthusiasts 1.
• Jelly Belly Factory Tour: A fun and interactive tour of the Jelly Belly candy factory in Fairfield. You can learn about the history of the company, see how the candy is made, and even sample some of the flavors 1.
Note: worth a visit. loved it,
• Western Railway Museum: A museum that displays historic electric railway cars and other artifacts from the early 20th century. You can take a ride on one of the restored streetcars and learn about the history of electric transportation 1.
• Lagoon Valley/Pena Adobe Regional Park: A beautiful park with hiking trails, picnic areas, and a lake. You can enjoy a leisurely hike, have a picnic, or go fishing 1.
• Brenden Vacaville 16: A movie theater that shows the latest Hollywood releases. It has comfortable seating, a large screen, and excellent sound quality 1.
• Wooden Valley Winery: A winery that produces a variety of wines, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Merlot. You can take a tour of the winery, taste some of the wines, and enjoy the
beautiful scenery 1.
• Suisun City Marina and Boat Ramp: A marina that offers boat rentals, fishing charters, and other water
activities. You can rent a boat and explore the Delta, go fishing, or just enjoy the scenic views 1.
• Vezer Family Vineyard: A family-owned winery that produces award-winning wines. You can take a tour of the vineyard, taste some of the wines, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings 2.
• Rockville Hills Regional Park: A park with hiking trails, picnic areas, and scenic views. You can enjoy a leisurely hike, have a picnic, or just relax and take in the scenery 3.
• Scandia Family Center: An amusement park with mini-golf, batting cages, bumper boats, and other attractions. It’s a great place to spend a fun-filled day with family and friends 2.
• Sonoma Harvest Olive Oil & Winery: A winery that produces high-quality olive oil and wine. You can take a tour of the winery, taste some of the products, and learn about the production process 2.
As some of you might know, I have been following a fitness regime for many years. I offer these tips to you because I believe anyone can improve their health through daily exercise, and a better diet. It is never too late to get in shape! Let me know your fitness tips and I will share them here.
Here are some of my tips for physical fitness and suggestions. It must be working. I am usually about 187 pounds and don’t take any prescription drugs, my cholesterol levels are good as are my blood sugar levels although they are a bit higher than I want them to be. I suffer from Fibromyalgia, arthritis, and hammer toes. I also exercise daily, riding on my exercise bike while looking at my emails, and FB feeds, studying Korean, and going for a three-mile walk at least four times a month. Lately, I bought a pull-up bar and installed it on the doorway, and I do it periodically throughout the day, squats, and swings, working my way up to doing pull-ups. I write in my journal every morning, and I also go for a walk every day and play the piano daily. I eat a lot of homemade food including Kefir, and Kombucha. and I am gluten-free.
here are my diet recommendations, my physical exercise regime, my daily writing regime, and my piano-playing regime.
I hope it inspires you to take charge of your physical and mental fitness.
Coffee
I start my day by drinking coffee and watching the news while writing in my journals.
The first two cups are fully loaded – coffee, decaf, with yoga detox tea, cinnamon, nutmeg, and milk.
perfect cup of coffee
greatest comfort food is coffee
snarling cup of coffee
The first two cups are fully loaded – coffee, decafe, with yoga detox tea, cinnamon, wormwood tea,. nutmeg, and milk.
Sometimes I add in protein plant superfoods from Costco containing the following:
When we moved to Yeongjong island, near the Incheon Airport, we found that we would be deprived of two of our three favorite miracle foods, Kombucha and Kefir. But we were pleasantly surprised to find we could order our third favorite health food item, wheat grass for home delivery. Have not seen it in the stores but have seen it in some smoothie places as well as home delivery. best to mix it in a smoothie. Wheatgrass juice does not taste that great!
Living in Oregon was great. Kombucha is everywhere. Costco carries Kombucha everywhere except in Korea. The best brand we found was Gingerade. But I liked sampling the kombucha everywhere, several bars brew it on-site and you can fill up a growler and take it home.
What is Kombucha, you ask? It is fermented tea, filled with powerful probiotics and it is so good for your health. It does contain 1 percent alcohol so that should not get you into trouble with the new draconian drunk driving laws here in Korea!
Since neither the Commissary nor Costco nor anyone else carried it, or even knew what it was, we decided that we had to brew it ourselves. The starter kit we brought with us had gone bad. So, we bought kombucha from Amazon and used that and the leftover starter kit to get started.
We used green tea as the base. Straight black tea and jasmine tea will work but not Earl Grey due to the bergamot oil in the tea.
We brewed up several gallons of tea, added sugar, the starter kit, and the cans of kombucha. Then we put it in a sprouted warmer kit ordered from Amazon and wrapped another gallon in an electric blanket. You have to keep the kombucha at about 80 degrees F (26.67 Celsius).
Then we waited for six weeks. Finally ready to go today and we bottled it and started our next batch!
Here’s what it looks like with the scuzzy taken out of the kombucha.
Making Kefir was easy, we’ve been making it for years. We had started kits we bought in Oregon before we left. Just got some organic milk and we were in business. If you have to use Korean milk, make sure it is full-fat milk, 2 percent makes watery kefir. There are recipes for using almond milk, coconut milk, and rice milk but we have not used them because we heard it would be pretty watery. Might want to try Goat milk sometime though. The Commissary’s organic full-fat Milk is perfect. You can also buy Kefir at the Commissary just to see if you like it but their Kefir has extra sugar in it and I am not sure it would be a good starter mix. Best to order the starter kits from Amazon (they will be delivered to a local address) and you should not have any problems. But with both be sure you sanitize your containers with hot boiling water before making either kombucha or kefir. Need to keep stray random non-cultured bacteria out of the mix.
See below for articles on the health benefits of Kombucha and Kefir, articles on how to make it, and where to buy it locally.
As a personal testimony a few years ago, I noticed that I did not have hay fever in the Spring. I used to have to make a trip to the urgent care/ER because I got so inflamed that I could not even open my eyes and I was sneezing so bad. The medicine they gave me worked a bit but I mostly just suffered. Then I started eating kefir for breakfast and drinking Kombucha and my hay fever disappeared.!
TEAZEN is another company that offers kombucha in powder stick form, which you can mix with water or juice. They claim to be the world’s first to introduce this convenient way of consuming kombucha. You can also order their products online from their website3 or find them in some supermarkets and convenience stores.
Homebrewing is an option if you want to make your kombucha at home. You will need a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), tea, sugar, and a glass jar. You can buy a SCOBY online or get one from a friend who already brews kombucha. Some online tutorials and recipes can guide you through the process of making your kombucha.
Make your kefir at home with kefir grains and milk. Kefir grains are a mixture of bacteria and yeast that ferment milk and produce kefir. You can buy kefir grains online or get them from someone who already makes kefir. You will also need a glass jar, a cloth, and a rubber band to cover the jar. Many online guides and videos can show you how to make kefir at home1.
Visiting a kefir cafe where you can enjoy fresh kefir drinks and other products made with kefir, such as smoothies, ice cream, or cheese. Some examples of kefir cafes in Korea are Kefir Lab in Seoul, Kefir House in Busan, and Kefir Story in Daegu.
Ode to Kombucha
kombucha
We have finally mastered the art of brewing home Kombucha and are enjoying a glass of this miracle drink every morning along with our homemade kefir and our power smoothies. If I keep this up, I will live to be a hundred years old. Only 45 more years to go….
Kombucha
Only drink it in the morning
Morning Delight
By the dawning sun
Up at the morning dawn
Can’t wait for my morning cup
Have to have my kombucha
At least once a day.
Ode to Kefir
Kefir
Everyday
Food of the gods
In every way
Radiant health will follow.
THE SIMPLE GUIDE TO KICKASS KOMBUCHA
It’s a big day everyone! The day your intestinal microbiota has been begging you for. The day you say goodbye to expensive store-bought kombucha. The day you become a brewmaster I impart to you the secrets of homemade kombucha!
The goal of this guide is to be your one-stop shop for homemade kombucha brewage, from SCOBY-less to fermented perfection. No hopping around the interwebs. No fuss. No confusion. Because making homemade kombucha is so simple (albeit a bit slow), and I hope after reading this you’ll give it a whirl! Let’s hope right to it.
This post will go into detail about each step in the process of making kombucha. For succinct instructions, scroll to the bottom where a recipe card lays out the basics of making homemade kombucha. The general order of things goes something like this (you can jump around this tutorial by clicking the links below):
Before we start, here are some general notes that are consistent throughout the whole homemade kombucha process.
No metal or plastic containers. Metal can react with the acidic kombucha and hurt your SCOBY, while plastic can house nasty bacteria that you don’t want sneaking in.
Cleaning is key. A recurring theme in kombucha brewing is that EVERYTHING must be CLEAN! We’re creating the perfect environment for good bacterial growth, but if a bad bacteria slip in, it could ruin your batch (and make you pretty sick).
Temperature plays a role. Fermentation goes a bit quicker in warmer temperatures, and a bit slower in colder weather.
No mold zone. If you see any mold growing on your SCOBY or in the tea (which I understand can be difficult to discern from the hideous SCOBY, but will generally be green, white, or black), then toss your whole batch.
Milk kefir is not only easy to make, but it is a delicious, probiotic-rich, versatile beverage your whole family can enjoy. Whether you are just exploring how to make milk kefir at home or have cultured dairy before, this video and instructions are here to help make culturing milk kefir at home easy.
If you have purchased our dehydrated milk kefir grains, please follow the instructions included with your milk kefir grains or watch our how-to video on How to Activate Milk Kefir Grains to get started.
If you wish to use raw milk to make milk kefir, be sure to activate your milk kefir grains using pasteurized milk first. You can then slowly transition them to raw milk.
To get started, first, gather your supplies and choose a variety of milk to use.
Transfer the active kefir grains into up to 4 cups of fresh milk.
Cover with a coffee filter or butter muslin secured by a rubber band or jar ring.
Place in a warm spot, 68°-85°F, to culture.
Culture until milk is slightly thickened and the aroma is pleasant. This generally takes 24 hours but can take less time in warmer temperatures, so keep an eye on your grains.
As your milk kefir grains grow in size, you may choose to remove the kefir grains by hand. Make sure your hands are very clean and well rinsed, but do not use anti-bacterial soap to avoid contaminating the culture.
Use a Plastic Mesh Strainer
Sometimes milk kefir can be a bit thick. If necessary, you can use a silicone spatula or plastic spoon (in a swirling motion) to help work the kefir through the strainer. Stainless steel can be used if necessary; just be sure it’s stainless steel and not a reactive metal.
Pour Kefir into A Shallow Bowl
This will make the grains easier to see. Using a plastic or wooden spoon, scoop the grains out. Once the grains have been removed, pour the finished kefir into a container.
While kefir sometimes turns out to be thin, it is also possible for kefir to over-thicken or turn into curds and whey. If this happens, you may need to strain your kefir grains with extra care. You can find tips in our Straining Over-Thickened Kefir tutorial.
Following the above process, you can make milk kefir at home regularly. If after making milk kefir for a while you decide you don’t need 4 cups every day, it is possible to make smaller batches. Just choose a method in our tutorial How to Slow Down Making Milk Kefir + Make Smaller Batches.
If you ever reach a point where you need to take a break from making milk kefir, there are a few ways you can put your kefir grains on pause. This includes refrigerating them for shorter breaks and drying them for longer breaks.
In either case, your grains must be activated and cultured kefir regularly for 3 to 4 weeks before you attempt either of these resting methods.
I am gluten-free since my wife has celiac disease.
Avoiding Junk Food
I limit my hamburger consumption to no more than once a month.
physical fitness regime
Most days I go for a three to five-mile walk, bike five K on my exercise bike, do three sets of pull-ups/swings, and do yoga and weightlifting. About two hours total per day. While in the park I do some pull-downs, twisting wheels, and cross-training as well.
I may sign up for a gym and join a Pilates or yoga club.
I also do ceregem massage bed, weekly massage therapy, acupuncture, and moxibustion at home.
I keep track of my fitness in my daily journal noting what I did the day before, including what I ate using the following format: (November 2 entry)
Health
Weight: 188
BM:
Symptoms: moderate pain levels
Doctor Visit: scheduled November 7th for follow-up re chronic leg pain
Results: TBC
Follow-Up Due: March 2024
Med News Items:
Diet:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch rice, soup, fish Korean side dishes
` Dinner GF Pizza
snacks:
Dessert:
Drinks: Alcohol nó Alcohol Day
blend decaf, kombucha, coffee, fake coffee, fruit juices, etc
Exercise
Actual:
bike seven k
pull up three times consisting of 3 sets of squats, and two sets of swinging.
New strategy
15 three sets of 50 reps per weight
15 minutes of Yoga
5 sets of 50-step reps
5k on the bike
3 miles walk.
Grip periodically 100 reps
Standing desk for two hours
pull up 5.
pull down 200.
wheel 200
Ceregem:
foot massage unit:
neck shoulder massage unit:
Moxibustion
Ceregeem
pulls up.
while walking exercise in the park
twisting 200
cross training
pull-downs
Acupuncture weekly
Massage weekly
Mental Fitness Regime/Alzheimer’s Prevention
I heard a long time ago that playing music, learning languages, and doing mental games like crossword puzzles every day is the best thing you can do to ward off the dreaded Dementia or Alzheimer’s. Since my mother died of Alzheimer’s I am at increased risk. I have been doing all three for almost a year now, playing the piano, studying Korean via Duolingo and watching K Dramas, doing daily writing prompts, writing three to five poems or short stories per day every day, and writing down my dreams and journal entries writing three to four hours every day, and weekly blog postings, instead of crossword puzzles.
Daily Writing in My Journals
I have been writing a daily journal since my 40s. I write down my dreams, my anxieties, my daydreams, and fantasies, and draft poetry and stories first.
then I write my journal including what I did the day before, major news items, things to note, goals for the day, what I ate the day before, and my daily exercise/health statistics.
I save my creative work at least once a week, including putting down my work on my creative writing spreadsheet to keep track of everything. I write anywhere from one to ten pieces every day.
I also keep track of books read, movie/TV shows seen and music played to and listened to.
I am currently reading the classics =Finishing Plato’s The Republic.
Daily Piano Playing
piano
I have been playing the piano almost daily now for a year. Usually between 5 and 6:30 pm. Due to noise restrictions can’t play after 7 p.m. as I live in a high-rise apartment building.
This time around I have started analyzing the music before I play it noting the music areas to pay attention to including key, key changes, registry changes, very high and very low notes which are hard for me to read, and repetition patterns. I found that this simple step has paid off in helping me play a lot better and I feel my skills are returning to where they were when I last played about seven years ago. I am sure I will achieve my lifelong goal of reaching semi-professional level playing within a few years.
I highly recommend this tip, playing each hand separately first when doing complicated counterpoint like in Bach, and listening, when possible, to the music you are going to play on YouTube while reading the score, to anyone returning to playing music.
I recently played my first Mozart Sonata and well I did not do badly. I will return to it next year after finishing other piano books.
Every day I write something following prompts from Pensively 101, Writer’s Cramp, and Fan Story.
here’s what I wrote on November 2, 2023
Journal Entry November 1, 2023
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Time To Go Joe Lewis
Joe Lewis was an old man.
sitting in his lonely room on his bed
up at 0 dark hundred, thinking about his life.
and the end game is coming soon.
There was a knock on the door.
it was the Grim Reaper, saying,
Joe Lewis, come with me,
it is time to go.”
bed in a lonely room
No Forgiveness Express in Eight
Issac was visiting Israel,
Went to a music concert.
There was a fierce fight,
When Hamas terrorists stormed the concert.
Killing his wife in front of him.
He managed to escape, vowing there would.
Be no forgiveness for the monsters,
That had murdered his wife.
Fierce
escape
forgiveness
Animal World
258 words
One day, about five months ago, I received a mysterious package, containing a pair of sunglasses and a cryptic note that read,
“Put these glasses on and see the world as it is. For Mad Men only.”
The incident reminded me of the movie, “They” in which a man puts on mysterious sunglasses that reveal that many people are, in fact, aliens from another planet.
Curious, I put on the glasses and noticed that everybody around me had been transformed into hideous creatures, straight from his worst nightmares. Everyone transformed into aliens, animals, demons, goblins, ghosts, monsters, wraiths, and zombies.
The soldiers at the base APO had become giant rats in uniforms. The local staff had become wild animals.
I turned on the TV and saw all the politicians on TV were now screaming monkeys screeching at each other the former president was an orangutang, the current president was a giant Kamona dragon, and the pundits were all mockingbirds screaming and screeching, mocking the politicians.
The taxi drivers were all wolves. The passengers on the buses and subways were bleating sheep.
His wife was now a tiger, and he looked in the mirror and found that he had been turned into a giant bear. He talked to his best friend during their weekly Zoom session and they were all bears too.
Finally, he had enough. He took the masses off and everybody reverted to their normal shapes and forms. Disgusted he threw the glasses into the trash saying,
“I have had enough of this false reality.”
The Taking of Train 967 bound for the Pentagon
“Listen up. I will only say this once. We have taken control of this train. You will do what we say or we will send you straight to hell. “
That is how I announced the first subway jacking in US history. We high-jacked a subway train in Suburban Virginia bound for the Pentagon on a Monday morning boarding the train at Van Dorn station, by high-jacking the computer control systems that control the movement of the train. The train flew through the stations and we ended it 15 minutes later.
My associates went through the train taking people’s phones, bags, and wallets. We were armed with the latest high-tech weapons and gear we had bought at a gun show where no one questioned us or did a background check as we all looked like ordinary working-class white people.
It went down so quickly but unfortunately, we had to shoot a few people to make sure that everyone knew who was in charge.
I went on the air and addressed the world.
“We are the voices of the forgotten people, the little people, the left behind. We are taking this train in the name of the people. We will take what we need to finance the revolution and then leave you your phones and personal items for you to sort out once we reach the end of the line. Cooperate and you will live, resist, and join your friends in hell. Any questions?’’
It was all over in ten minutes, as we had picked a train near the beginning of its daily run and it was crowded as hell. When we got to the Roslyn station, we threw out smoke bangs flash and disappeared into the crowd.
Then we went to my bar and watched the TV coverage of the hijacking. And sat in the back room and plotted our next target -while we went through the haul – over two million dollars in money, watches, and the like.
And we laughed. It had been so easy to do, that we wondered why no one tried it before.
October 6, 1866, saw the first train robbery in the U.S. when the Reno Gang stole $16,000 … A crime that likely inspired copycat robberies over the next few decades.
For tomorrow, write a story or poem whose setting is on a train during a train robbery. It can be any sort of train (historical, fantasy, supernatural, etc.) And the POV character can be a passenger, a train official, or one of the robbers.
However, to make the assignment useful practice that might push you a little out of your normal comfort zone, the tale must be told in first-person POV (so the POV character/narrator is “I”) and in the present tense.
The Pumpkin’s Evil Plot
A lonely farmer threw together,
His prized pumpkins are on a roadside cart.
The farmer getting ready to sell his award-winning
Giant pumpkins the day before Halloween.
The deranged, insane pumpkins,
Vowing revenge on the human race,
Attacked the hapless lonely farmer,
Yelling “Death to all Humans.”
Thanksgiving Puny Situation Writing com.
Many years ago
I had a traditional Thanksgiving
With friends in Korea
My fellow teacher said
He knew how to cook a turkey
My wife who was in the army
Got the turkey and we invited friends
Turns out he lied, he had no clue
We cooked the bird with the giblets
Inside the stuffing
Took it out and told our Korean guests
That was “American Stamina” food
Turned out and found that the giblets
Were all gone
That was a puny situation
And a memorable Thanksgiving dinner
What kind of pitch shall we make today? Are you having a ball going to bat with your New Year’s writing resolution? Or haven’t you left first base, yet? What’s the score? On to the contest. I’m game if you’re game.
For this contest, you are challenged to write an ABC poem. ABC poetry has five lines and often is used to express feelings. See the announcement for an example. Cash Prize.
MAGA Madness ABC Poem ABC
MAGA Madness
No longer a fringe right-wing group
On the way to take over the land
Politicians cower in fear.
Is Fascism coming to the United States?
this contest you are challenged to write an ABC poem.
Write a one-stanza, five-line poem.
The first letter of each of the first four lines follows the order of the alphabet while the last line can be any letter whatsoever. For example, a poet might choose to use the following letter combination: D-E-F-G-A.
The lines may be of any syllable length. Also, line length may vary from line to line.
The poem may be about any subject or topic.
Rhyming and meter are optional.
BING AI Chat Bot provides some additional background information on the MAGA movement for those of you who don’t follow US politics that closely. The MAGA movement does have parallels in other countries.
Q: can you tell me about the MAGA movement in the U.S.? Where did it come from? what are their goals and what are the links to other right-wing movements both in the U.S. and worldwide?
The movement is characterized by its populist, nationalist, and anti-establishment sentiments, as well as its strong loyalty to Trump and his agenda. Some of the core beliefs of the MAGA movement include:
America is in decline and needs to be restored to its former greatness.
Immigration and globalization are threats to American sovereignty and identity.
The political, media, and cultural elites are corrupt and out of touch with the common people.
Trump is the only leader who can defend and represent the interests of the American people.
The MAGA movement has links to other right-wing movements both in the U.S. and worldwide, such as:
The Tea Party movement emerged in 2009 as a conservative backlash against the Obama administration and its policies.
The alt-right movement, which is a loosely defined group of white nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other extremists who promote racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia online and offline.
The QAnon movement is a conspiracy theory that claims that Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of satanic pedophiles who control the world.
The Proud Boys movement is a far-right neo-fascist organization that engages in political violence and street brawls with left-wing activists.
The Patriot Movement is a collection of anti-government militias and paramilitary groups that oppose federal authority and prepare for a civil war.
The Brexit movement, which is a campaign that led to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2016
The Yellow Vest movement is a populist protest movement that started in France in 2018 against rising fuel prices and living costs.
When we moved to Yeongjong island, near the Incheon Airport, we found that we would be deprived of two of our three favorite miracle foods, Kombucha and Kefir. But we were pleasantly surprised to find we could order our third favorite health food item, wheat grass for home delivery. Have not seen it in the stores but have seen it in some smoothie places as well as home delivery. best to mix it in a smoothie. Wheatgrass juice does not taste that great!
Growing Kombucha and Kefir in Korea
Kombucha
Living in Oregon was great. Kombucha is everywhere. Costco carries Kombucha everywhere except in Korea. The best brand we found was Gingerade. But I liked sampling the kombucha everywhere, several bars brew it on-site and you can fill up a growler and take it home.
What is Kombucha, you ask? It is fermented tea, filled with powerful probiotics and it is so good for your health. It does contain 1 percent alcohol so that should not get you into trouble with the new draconian drunk driving laws here in Korea!
Since neither the Commissary nor Costco nor anyone else carried it, or even knew what it was, we decided that we had to brew it ourselves. The starter kit we brought with us had gone bad. So, we bought kombucha from Amazon and used that and the leftover starter kit to get started.
We used green tea as the base. Straight black tea and jasmine tea will work but not Earl Grey due to the bergamot oil in the tea.
We brewed up several gallons of tea, added sugar, the starter kit, and the cans of kombucha. Then we put it in a sprouted warmer kit ordered from Amazon and wrapped another gallon in an electric blanket. You have to keep the kombucha at about 80 degrees F (26.67 Celsius).
Then we waited for six weeks. Finally ready to go today and we bottled it and started our next batch!
Here’s what it looks like with the scuzzy taken out of the kombucha.
kombucha
Kefir
Making Kefir was easy, we’ve been making it for years. We had started kits we bought in Oregon before we left. Just got some organic milk and we were in business. If you have to use Korean milk, make sure it is full-fat milk, 2 percent makes watery kefir. There are recipes for using almond milk, coconut milk, and rice milk but we have not used them because we heard it would be pretty watery. Might want to try Goat milk sometime though. The Commissary’s organic full-fat Milk is perfect. You can also buy Kefir at the Commissary just to see if you like it but their Kefir has extra sugar in it and I am not sure it would be a good starter mix. Best to order the starter kits from Amazon (they will be delivered to a local address) and you should not have any problems. But with both be sure you sanitize your containers with hot boiling water before making either kombucha or kefir. Need to keep stray random non-cultured bacteria out of the mix.
See below for articles on the health benefits of Kombucha and Kefir, articles on how to make it, and where to buy it locally.
As a personal testimony a few years ago, I noticed that I did not have hay fever in the Spring. I used to have to make a trip to the urgent care/ER because I got so inflamed that I could not even open my eyes and I was sneezing so bad. The medicine they gave me worked a bit but I mostly just suffered. Then I started eating kefir for breakfast and drinking Kombucha and my hay fever disappeared.!
TEAZEN is another company that offers kombucha in powder stick form, which you can mix with water or juice. They claim to be the world’s first to introduce this convenient way of consuming kombucha. You can also order their products online from their website3 or find them in some supermarkets and convenience stores.
Homebrewing is an option if you want to make your kombucha at home. You will need a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), tea, sugar, and a glass jar. You can buy a SCOBY online or get one from a friend who already brews kombucha. Some online tutorials and recipes can guide you through the process of making your kombucha.
Make your kefir at home with kefir grains and milk. Kefir grains are a mixture of bacteria and yeast that ferment milk and produce kefir. You can buy kefir grains online or get them from someone who already makes kefir. You will also need a glass jar, a cloth, and a rubber band to cover the jar. Many online guides and videos can show you how to make kefir at home1.
Visiting a kefir cafe where you can enjoy fresh kefir drinks and other products made with kefir, such as smoothies, ice cream, or cheese. Some examples of kefir cafes in Korea are Kefir Lab in Seoul, Kefir House in Busan, and Kefir Story in Daegu.
I hope this helps you find kefir in Korea. Cheers!
Kombucha
Ode to Kombucha
We have finally mastered the art of brewing home Kombucha and are enjoying a glass of this miracle drink every morning along with our homemade kefir and our power smoothies. If I keep this up, I will live to be a hundred years old. Only 45 more years to go….
Ode to Kombucha
Kombucha
Only drink it in the morning
Morning Delight
By the dawning sun
Up at the morning dawn
Can’t wait for my morning cup
Have to have my kombucha
At least once a day.
Ode to Kefir
Kefir
Everyday
Food of the gods
In every way
Radiant health will follow.
THE SIMPLE GUIDE TO KICKASS KOMBUCHA
It’s a big day everyone! The day your intestinal microbiota has been begging you for. The day you say goodbye to expensive store-bought kombucha. The day you become a brewmaster I impart to you the secrets of homemade kombucha!
The goal of this guide is to be your one-stop shop for homemade kombucha brewage, from SCOBY-less to fermented perfection. No hopping around the interwebs. No fuss. No confusion. Because making homemade kombucha is so simple (albeit a bit slow), and I hope after reading this you’ll give it a whirl! Let’s hope right to it.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE KOMBUCHA: OVERVIEW
This post will go into detail about each step in the process of making kombucha. For succinct instructions, scroll to the bottom where a recipe card lays out the basics of making homemade kombucha. The general order of things goes something like this (you can jump around this tutorial by clicking the links below):
Before we start, here are some general notes that are consistent throughout the whole homemade kombucha process.
No metal or plastic containers. Metal can react with the acidic kombucha and hurt your SCOBY, while plastic can house nasty bacteria that you don’t want sneaking in.
Cleaning is key. A recurring theme in kombucha brewing is that EVERYTHING must be CLEAN! We’re creating the perfect environment for good bacterial growth, but if a bad bacteria slip in, it could ruin your batch (and make you pretty sick).
Temperature plays a role. Fermentation goes a bit quicker in warmer temperatures, and a bit slower in colder weather.
No mold zone. If you see any mold growing on your SCOBY or in the tea (which I understand can be difficult to discern from the hideous SCOBY, but will generally be green, white, or black), then toss your whole batch.
Milk kefir is not only easy to make, but it is a delicious, probiotic-rich, versatile beverage your whole family can enjoy. Whether you are just exploring how to make milk kefir at home or have cultured dairy before, this video and instructions are here to help make culturing milk kefir at home easy.
If you have purchased our dehydrated milk kefir grains, please follow the instructions included with your milk kefir grains or watch our how-to video on How to Activate Milk Kefir Grains to get started.
If you wish to use raw milk to make milk kefir, be sure to activate your milk kefir grains using pasteurized milk first. You can then slowly transition them to raw milk.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE MILK KEFIR
To get started, first, gather your supplies and choose a variety of milk to use.
Transfer the active kefir grains into up to 4 cups of fresh milk.
Cover with a coffee filter or butter muslin secured by a rubber band or jar ring.
Place in a warm spot, 68°-85°F, to culture.
Culture until milk is slightly thickened and the aroma is pleasant. This generally takes 24 hours but can take less time in warmer temperatures, so keep an eye on your grains.
As your milk kefir grains grow in size, you may choose to remove the kefir grains by hand. Make sure your hands are very clean and well rinsed, but do not use anti-bacterial soap to avoid contaminating the culture.
Use a Plastic Mesh Strainer
Sometimes milk kefir can be a bit thick. If necessary, you can use a silicone spatula or plastic spoon (in a swirling motion) to help work the kefir through the strainer. Stainless steel can be used if necessary; just be sure it’s stainless steel and not a reactive metal.
Pour Kefir into A Shallow Bowl
This will make the grains easier to see. Using a plastic or wooden spoon, scoop the grains out. Once the grains have been removed, pour the finished kefir into a container.
OVER-THICKENED KEFIR
While kefir sometimes turns out to be thin, it is also possible for kefir to over-thicken or turn into curds and whey. If this happens, you may need to strain your kefir grains with extra care. You can find tips in our Straining Over-Thickened Kefir tutorial.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Following the above process, you can make milk kefir at home regularly. If after making milk kefir for a while you decide you don’t need 4 cups every day, it is possible to make smaller batches. Just choose a method in our tutorial How to Slow Down Making Milk Kefir + Make Smaller Batches.
Resting Your Milk Kefir Grains
If you ever reach a point where you need to take a break from making milk kefir, there are a few ways you can put your kefir grains on pause. This includes refrigerating them for shorter breaks and drying them for longer breaks.
In either case, your grains must be activated and cultured kefir regularly for 3 to 4 weeks before you attempt either of these resting methods.
I also avoid Carbs at night, and I am gluten-free since my wife has celiac disease. and I limit my hamburger consumption to no more than once a month.
physical fitness regime
most days I go for a three to five-mile walk, bike five K on my exercise bike, do three sets of pull-ups/swings, and do yoga and weightlifting. About two hours total per day. While in the park I do some pull-downs, twisting wheels, and cross-training as well.
I may sign up for a gym and join a Pilates or yoga club.
I also do ceregem massage bed, weekly massage therapy, acupuncture, and moxibustion at home.
I keep track of my fitness in my daily journal noting what I did the day before, including what I ate using the following format: (November 2 entry)
Health
Weight: 188
BM:
Symptoms: moderate pain levels
Doctor Visit: scheduled November 7th for follow-up re chronic leg pain
Results: TBC
Follow-Up Due: March 2024
Med News Items:
Diet:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch rice, soup, fish Korean side dishes
` Dinner GF Pizza
snacks:
Dessert:
Drinks: Alcohol nó Alcohol Day
blend decaf, kombucha, coffee, fake coffee, fruit juices, etc
Exercise
Actual:
bike seven k
pull up three times consisting of 3 sets of squats, and two sets of swinging.
New strategy
15 three sets of 50 reps per weight
15 minutes of Yoga
5 sets of 50-step reps
5k on the bike
3 miles walk.
Grip periodically 100 reps
Standing desk for two hours
pull up 5.
pull down 200.
wheel 200
Ceregem:
foot massage unit:
neck shoulder massage unit:
Moxibustion
Ceregeem pulls up.
while walking exercise in the park
twisting 200
cross training
pull-downs
Acupuncture weekly
Massage weekly
Ceregem treatment
I first bought a cergem acupressure massage bed in 1996 and use it almost every day. the bed uses infrared heat and jade technology to provide acupressure therapy as the jade crystals move up and down your spine providing long-lasting pain relief leading to deeper sleep. I usually use it while reading before going to bed.
from Bing AI review
Ceregem massage bed is a therapeutic bed that uses a combination of massage, heat, and acupressure to provide relaxation and relief from pain. The bed is designed to provide a full-body massage that targets pressure points and helps to improve blood circulation. Here are some of the benefits of using a Ceregem massage bed:
Relaxation: The massage bed provides a relaxing experience that can help to reduce stress and anxiety.
Pain relief: The bed’s massage and heat functions can help to relieve pain and soreness in the muscles and joints.
Improved circulation: The massage bed’s acupressure function can help to improve blood circulation, which can help to reduce inflammation and promote healing.
Better sleep: The bed’s massage function can help to promote relaxation and improve sleep quality.
Detoxification: The bed’s heat function can help to promote sweating, which can help to eliminate toxins from the body.
Please note that while the Ceregem massage bed has many potential benefits, it is important to consult with a healthcare professional before using it, especially if you have any underlying medical conditions.
Moxibustion Treatment
I have been moxibution treatment for about a year now. we have a home kit which we do in conjunction with using the ceregem massage therapy bed. About two to three treatments per week are ideal. We also occasionally go to a clinic for treatment.
Moxibustion involves burning wormwood and applying it to your skin. It is an ancient Chinese-Korean medical treatment. for more info read the following from the Bing AI chat on moxibution.
Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy that involves burning dried mugwort on or near the skin’s surface to stimulate acupuncture points. It is believed to have several health benefits, including:
Pain relief: Moxibustion can help to relieve pain and soreness in the muscles and joints.
Improved digestion: Moxibustion can help to improve digestion and alleviate digestive issues such as constipation and diarrhea.
Reduced inflammation: Moxibustion can help to reduce inflammation in the body, which can help to alleviate symptoms of conditions such as arthritis and asthma.
Improved blood circulation: Moxibustion can help to improve blood circulation, which can help to promote healing and reduce inflammation.
Stress relief: Moxibustion can help to promote relaxation and reduce stress and anxiety.
Please note that while moxibustion has many potential benefits, it is important to consult with a healthcare professional before using it, Korean Charcoal Saunasespecially if you have any underlying medical conditions.
Korean Charcoal Saunas
charcoal sauna
;
I have been going to traditional Korean saunas for years. About two years ago I discovered Korean Charcoal saunas which feature charcoal sauna fires that are very hot and have a lot of health benefits. for more information see the following:
I heard a long time ago that playing music, learning languages, and doing mental games like crossword puzzles every day is the best thing you can do to ward off the dreaded Dementia or Alzheimer’s. Since my mother died of Alzheimer’s I am at increased risk. I have been doing all three for almost a year now, playing the piano, studying Korean via Duolingo and watching K Dramas, doing daily writing prompts, writing three to five poems or short stories per day every day, and writing down my dreams and journal entries writing three to four hours every day, and weekly blog postings, instead of crossword puzzles.
daily writing in my journals
I have been writing a daily journal since my 40s. I write down my dreams, my anxieties, my daydreams, and fantasies, and draft poetry and stories first.
then I write my journal including what I did the day before, major news items, things to note, goals for the day, what I ate the day before, and my daily exercise/health statistics.
I save my creative work at least once a week, including putting down my work on my creative writing spreadsheet to keep track of everything. I write anywhere from one to ten pieces every day.
I also keep track of books read, movie/TV shows seen and music played to and listened to.
I am currently reading the classics =Finishing Plato’s The Republic.
daily piano playing
I have been playing the piano almost daily now for a year. Usually between 5 and 6:30 pm. Due to noise restrictions can’t play after 7 p.m. as I live in a high-rise apartment building.
This time around I have started analyzing the music before I play it noting the music areas to pay attention to including key, key changes, registry changes, very high and very low notes which are hard for me to read, and repetition patterns. I found that this simple step has paid off in helping me play a lot better and I feel my skills are returning to where they were when I last played about seven years ago. I am sure I will achieve my lifelong goal of reaching semi-professional level playing within a few years.
I highly recommend this tip, playing each hand separately first when doing complicated counterpoint like in Bach, and listening, when possible, to the music you are going to play on YouTube while reading the score, to anyone returning to playing music.
I recently played my first Mozart Sonata and well I did not do badly. I will return to it next year after finishing other piano books.
One day, about five months ago, I received a mysterious package, containing a pair of sunglasses and a cryptic note that read,
“Put these glasses on and see the world as it is. For Mad Men only.”
The incident reminded me of the movie, “They” in which a man puts on mysterious sunglasses that reveal that many people are, in fact, aliens from another planet.
Curious, I put on the glasses and noticed that everybody around me had been transformed into hideous creatures, straight from his worst nightmares. Everyone transformed into aliens, animals, demons, goblins, ghosts, monsters, wraiths, and zombies.
The soldiers at the base APO had become giant rats in uniforms. The local staff had become wild animals.
I turned on the TV and saw all the politicians on TV were now screaming monkeys screeching at each other the former president was an orangutang, the current president was a giant Kamona dragon, and the pundits were all mockingbirds screaming and screeching, mocking the politicians.
The taxi drivers were all wolves. The passengers on the buses and subways were bleating sheep.
His wife was now a tiger, and he looked in the mirror and found that he had been turned into a giant bear. He talked to his best friend during their weekly Zoom session and they were all bears too.
Finally, he had enough. He took the masses off and everybody reverted to their normal shapes and forms. Disgusted he threw the glasses into the trash saying,
“I have had enough of this false reality.”
NEW PROMPT:Write a story or poem in which your current world becomes an animal analogy.
Think Animal Farm but to the scale of events in your personal life. Who would you turn into pigs? Who would become cows? What about the chickens? Maybe an ostrich or two?
NEW Prompt DUE in 16 hours 33 minutes
(11:59 am on Thursday, November 2)
The Taking of Train 967 bound for the Pentagon. terrorism
The Taking of Train 967 Bound for the Pentagon Writer’s Cramp
The Taking of Train 967 bound for the Pentagon Writing com
“Listen up. I will only say this once. We have taken control of this train. You will do what we say or we will send you straight to hell. “
That is how I announced the first subway jacking in US history. We high-jacked a subway train in Suburban Virginia bound for the Pentagon on a Monday morning boarding the train at Van Dorn station, by high-jacking the computer control systems that control the movement of the train. The train flew through the stations and we ended it 15 minutes later.
My associates went through the train taking people’s phones, bags, and wallets. We were armed with the latest high-tech weapons and gear we had bought at a gun show where no one questioned us or did a background check as we all looked like ordinary working-class white people.
It went down so quickly but unfortunately, we had to shoot a few people to make sure that everyone knew who was in charge.
I went on the air and addressed the world.
“We are the voices of the forgotten people, the little people, the left behind. We are taking this train in the name of the people. We will take what we need to finance the revolution and then leave you your phones and personal items for you to sort out once we reach the end of the line. Cooperate and you will live, resist, and join your friends in hell. Any questions?’’
It was all over in ten minutes, as we had picked a train near the beginning of its daily run and it was crowded as hell. When we got to the Roslyn station, we threw out smoke bangs flash and disappeared into the crowd.
Then we went to my bar and watched the TV coverage of the hijacking. And sat in the back room and plotted our next target -while we went through the haul – over two million dollars in money, watches, and the like.
And we laughed. It had been so easy to do, that we wondered why no one tried it before.
October 6, 1866, saw the first train robbery in the U.S. when the Reno Gang stole $16,000 … A crime that likely inspired copycat robberies over the next few decades.
For tomorrow, write a story or poem whose setting is on a train during a train robbery. It can be any sort of train (historical, fantasy, supernatural, etc.) And the POV character can be a passenger, a train official, or one of the robbers.
However, to make the assignment useful practice that might push you a little out of your normal comfort zone, the tale must be told in first-person POV (so the POV character/narrator is “I”) and in the present tense.
Weekly challenge
The Pumpkin’s Evil Plot
A lonely farmer threw together,
His prized pumpkins are on a roadside cart.
The farmer getting ready to sell his award-winning
Giant pumpkins the day before Halloween.
The deranged, insane pumpkins,
Vowing revenge on the human race,
Attacked the hapless lonely farmer,
Yelling “Death to all Humans.”
Weekly Challenge
The prompt word for the week is:
PUMPKIN
Your poem…
must include the prompt word, pumpkin
must be at least 12 lines long
does not have to be about Halloween, in case you were wondering.
other writing com
Three Thanksgiving Poems
Thanksgiving Puny Situation Writing com.
Many years ago
I had a traditional Thanksgiving
With friends in Korea
My fellow teacher said
He knew how to cook a turkey
My wife who was in the army
Got the turkey and we invited friends
Turns out he lied, he had no clue
We cooked the bird with the giblets
Inside the stuffing
Took it out and told our Korean guests
That was “American Stamina” food
Turned out and found that the giblets
Were all gone
That was a puny situation
And a memorable Thanksgiving dinner
What kind of pitch shall we make today? Are you having a ball going to bat with your New Year’s writing resolution? Or haven’t you left first base, yet? What’s the score? On to the contest. I’m game if you’re game.
For this contest, you are challenged to write an ABC poem. ABC poetry has five lines and often is used to express feelings. See the announcement for an example. Cash Prize.
MAGA Madness ABC Poem ABC
MAGA Madness
No longer a fringe right-wing group
On the way to take over the land
Politicians cower in fear.
Is Fascism coming to the United States?
this contest you are challenged to write an ABC poem.
Write a one-stanza, five-line poem.
The first letter of each of the first four lines follows the order of the alphabet while the last line can be any letter whatsoever. For example, a poet might choose to use the following letter combination: D-E-F-G-A.
The lines may be of any syllable length. Also, line length may vary from line to line.
The poem may be about any subject or topic.
Rhyming and meter are optional.
BING AI Chat Bot provides some additional background information on the MAGA movement for those of you who don’t follow US politics that closely. The MAGA movement does have parallels in other countries.
Q: can you tell me about the MAGA movement in the U.S.? Where did it come from? what are their goals and what are the links to other right-wing movements both in the U.S. and worldwide?
The movement is characterized by its populist, nationalist, and anti-establishment sentiments, as well as its strong loyalty to Trump and his agenda. Some of the core beliefs of the MAGA movement include:
America is in decline and needs to be restored to its former greatness.
Immigration and globalization are threats to American sovereignty and identity.
The political, media, and cultural elites are corrupt and out of touch with the common people.
Trump is the only leader who can defend and represent the interests of the American people.
The MAGA movement has links to other right-wing movements both in the U.S. and worldwide, such as:
The Tea Party movement emerged in 2009 as a conservative backlash against the Obama administration and its policies.
The alt-right movement, which is a loosely defined group of white nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other extremists who promote racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia online and offline.
The QAnon movement is a conspiracy theory that claims that Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of satanic pedophiles who control the world.
The Proud Boys movement is a far-right neo-fascist organization that engages in political violence and street brawls with left-wing activists.
The Patriot Movement is a collection of anti-government militias and paramilitary groups that oppose federal authority and prepare for a civil war.
The Brexit movement, which is a campaign that led to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2016
The Yellow Vest movement is a populist protest movement that started in France in 2018 against rising fuel prices and living costs.
Thanks to all who have been sending me birthday greetings. I deeply appreciate all of you, all around the world who have blessed my life with your friendship over the years. I will respond individually as well but just wanted to do this shout-out to my friends! On my birthday, I am always in a reflective mood and do my Nir’s early and revise them again on January 1. One thing I want to do starting now and next year is to blog weekly and add FB reels and YouTube video blogging as well as my podcasting and my daily writing as I still have a lot to say and think about and it is not too late for me to say what I want to say. Another thing I want to do is take a lot of mini-trips, day trips, and other trips while I still can and I want to spend about four months in the States next summer. And hope to see many of you via Zoom meetups or in person during the next year. Keep in touch.
Jake
Following are some of my birthday poems, a few birthday tribute poems from friends, Bing’s Ai astrological charts (Chinese, Vedic, and Western systems) for my birthday – October 30, 1955 – and a list of things that happened that date.
Ps here is a birthday tribute from my fan story friend, Debbie Pink Marquette.
A diplomatic birthday
Jake Cosmos Aller
Was born in California and graduated in DC.
His grad college was Washington University.
He’s traveled to all fifty states and then fifty countries.
That’s when he would decide to spend more time across the seas.
He met her and then six weeks later, she became his wife.
Been married for forty years, and she is the best part of his life.
He has some siblings but the ones who are dear to his heart.
His wife’s brother and family have been close from the start.
He served as a foreign diplomat for twenty-seven years.
Retired from the State Department, then goodbye to peers.
His life has been impressive; what he’s seen, achieved, and done.
Other interesting facts about Jake Cosmos Aller:
Retired U.S. diplomat (State Department) living in South Korea. Served 27 years in 10 countries. Traveled to 55 countries, all 50 states. Grew up in berkeley, California. Married, no children. A published poet and short story writer. Finished six novels, in search of a publisher. Former Peace Corps volunteer, Korea. Speaks Korean, Spanish, and Thai.
A few more birthday-themed poems:
Closing time
On hearing the news
Of a friend’s passing,
I was overwhelmed.
With grief and sadness.
And I realized that my time.
On this mortal plane
Is also coming.
To the end game.
Closing time
The final act of this cosmic play.
The grim reaper
Has my number.
Someday
He will come for me.
And the love of my life,
My lovely wife.
And my family,
Friends, and enemies,
Far-flung throughout
The whole world.
In the long run,
We can’t escape.
Our grim fate,
We end up in the same place.
When the Grim Reaper
Knocks at our door,
Are we ready for that?
Perhaps not.
But each day
We have left.
On another day,
We can celebrate.
That we are alive,
Having survived another year,
And cheated death’s grim embrace.
Every day staying is a blessing.
We are but one step closer to the grave.
The end will come.
When your time
Comes to an end,
But not today.
So, rejoice, my friends.
Live your remaining moments.
Filled with friendship,
Love, laughter, and joy.
Bing AI’s Birthday Poem for Jake Cosmos Aller
I asked Bing Ai Chat to write a beatnik-style poem as a birthday tribute to Jake Cosmos Aller.
Here is a beatnik-style birthday tribute poem about Jake Cosmos Aller, inspired by the web search results:
Happy birthday, Jake Cosmos Aller!
You are a poet, a traveler, and a scholar.
You have seen the world with your own eyes.
You have lived and loved in many skies.
You are a beatnik, a rebel, a seeker.
You are not afraid to be different or unique.
You march to the beat of your drum.
You are one of a kind; you are second to none!
So, here’s to you on your special day!
May it be filled with love and joy all the way!
May you continue to inspire us with your words!
May you continue to be one of life’s great adventurers!
and my friend asked Google’s Bard to weigh in:
Jake Cosmos Aller, friend so dear, your spirit bright, your mind so clear.
A poet, novelist, and diplomat, your wisdom vast, your heart so great
. From berkeley to the world you’ve roamed,
in search of truth, in search of a home.
Your words inspire, your thoughts provoke,
your friendship’s gift, a precious token.
In foreign lands, you served with pride, a bridge between cultures, side by side. Your insights are deep, your empathy true, a friend to all, forever true.
Now retired, your pen still flows, and your creativity still glows.
Your poems sing, your stories dance, your spirit soars, a cosmic trance.
Jake Cosmos Aller, friend so dear, your friendship’s gift, I hold so nearby.
May your journey be filled with light, and may your stars shine bright forever.
Another Bard Poem – This one is a limerick.
“There once was a poet named Jake,
Whose poems were fake and quite flaccid. His verses are so lame, Were barely acclaimed, And his readers would often say “Yuck!””
Blues for 61 birthdays
I woke up feeling blue,
Feeling sad and alone,
Feeling the weight of 61 years on this earth.
Been there. Done that. Seen that.
Bored with the routine.
Wanting so much more,
Yet oddly satisfied with all that I have done.
Regrets I have a few,
Memories of a lifetime.
Fear and anxiety fill my mind,
Until the end of time.
And I know that my time
on this earth is ending.
But I am not ready.
I need more time
to make things right.
October Rain
rain
The falling rain Of late October Fills me with essential dread
As I rush about And end up here Wherever here is
The rain outside Seems like the tears of God
As I sit Crying over my beer
Thinking of lost love And failed dreams
Wondering What went wrong? And what I can set right?
And the rain falls And the night darkens
The rain is falling All over this man’s world
And the rain falls And I sit
Drinking my lonesome drink Lost in dreams
Dreaming of what Could never be
Birthday on Moon
To celebrate his 80th birthday,
Sam Adams and his wife decided to go to the Moon.
They would stay a week at the Hilton.
Space hotel on the edge of the Moon.
And have dinner at the famous Luna Grill.
They ate Moon-raised chicken.
And had a delicious fruit cocktail for dinner,
Noting it was fruit cocktail day.
They went to the casino.
Which often featured odd games to bet on.
Today was the first observation.
Of the international frog jumping contest
To be held on the Moon.
They won the contest.
Their champion frog “Everything’s Jake.”
Jumped 50 feet in the low-gravity lunar environment.
Meeting Dream Girl
When Sam Adams was 22 years old, he was in South Korea doing his Peace Corps duty, working in a public health center in Gapyeong, South Korea – two hours northeast of seoul, deep in the rural countryside. He had gone there in the furtherance of a dream that had haunted him for almost six years.
He first had the dream on his birthday on October 22, 1974, in a high school class at 2:22 p.m. He fell asleep and saw the most beautiful woman in the world talking to him. He knew that he would marry her. For almost six years, he had that dream almost weekly. He knew she was waiting for him in Korea.
On his 22nd birthday, he had just gone to his Peace Corps town, Gapyeong. He went out to dinner with his co-workers attending a birthday party for the town’s headman. They served him dog meat.
The next morning in his dream, his future wife appeared, laughed about the dog meat incident, and told him that they would meet in three years on his birthday in the town of Eijongbu where he would be teaching.
He continued to see her in his dreams, and then as she promised she walked off a bus and into life on October 22, 1982, at 2:22 p.m.
Based on a true story. The dates and times were changed to fit the 22-number theme.
Further note I legally got married on October 29, 1982, because it was my legal birthday.
Astrological Charts for October 30, 1955
I am not sure if there is anything to Astrology or not, but it is fun to think about. The following were mostly generated by Bing AI chat box. It is amazing to see what these AI programs can do, but a bit scarry as well. In a few years there may be no writers left!
Planets and Points in The Signs
Sun, Venus, Saturn, in Scorpio
Moon in Aries
Rising sign in Virgo
Mercury, Mars in Libra
Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto in Leo
Chiron in Aquarius
Sun in Scorpio 6° 14′ 48″
The Sun represents your Life Force. You are here to transform yourself and others. An earthquake shakes the foundations of the city’s buildings.
Ascendant in Virgo 22° 26′ 09 Libra or Sagittarius depending on sites – all the other calculations are the same.
According to the web search results, the rising sign or ascendant is the sign of the zodiac that rises on the eastern horizon at the time of a person’s birth. The rising sign changes approximately every two hours, so an exact birth time is required to calculate it. Different sources may use different methods or systems to calculate the rising sign, which may result in different outcomes. However, based on the most commonly used system of Placidus house division, the rising sign for someone born on October 30, 1955 at 4 a.m. in Oakland, California is Virgo123. Virgo-rising people are analytical, meticulous, and service-oriented. They tend to be modest, practical, and reliable. They may also be perfectionists, critical, and nervous. You can learn more about Virgo Rising and its meaning in your birth chart by reading this article.
The Ascendant represents how others Encounter you and how you project yourself.
People see you as a problem-solver. A carpenter restores a historical home to its original glory.
Moon in Aries 25° 28′ 19″
The Moon represents how you Give and Receive Love. You need independence to feel happy. You need comfortable rhythms to feel happy.
Mercury in Libra 17° 51′ 43″
Mercury represents how you Communicate and Interpret. You know how to negotiate. A store limits one necessary item to one per customer.
Venus in Scorpio 21° 44′ 17″
Venus represents how you Relate. You connect with the hidden parts of others. Two strangers get coffee after the funeral of a mutual acquaintance.
Mars in Libra 10° 53′ 42″
Mars represents your Drive. You assert judgment and make decisions. A divorce goes to court.
Jupiter in Leo 27° 57′ 01″
Jupiter represents your Sense of Adventure. You play the lead in life well. A young actress wins the audition to play the lead, knowing she will be a star.
Saturn in Scorpio 21° 43′ 55″
Saturn represents your Behavior. You want the highest clearance. The CIA director orders an operation to destroy a terrorist cell.
Uranus in Leo 2° 17′ 59″
Uranus represents how your generation Breaks Away from the previous generation. Your generation shocks through entertainment. An independent film hits mainstream theaters.
Neptune in Libra 28° 17′ 12″
Neptune represents how your generation finds Purpose. Your generation promotes fairness in spirituality. The daughter of a wealthy businessman accepts the consequences of her poor choices.
Pluto in Leo 28° 21′ 51″
Pluto represents how your generation uses Power. Your generation transforms the world through entertainment. A young woman finds reruns of “I Love Lucy” on her streaming service.
Chiron in Aquarius 0° 21′ 31″
Chiron represents the Wound You Need to Heal. You need to heal wounds and worries regarding your community. A family successfully immigrates to a new country.
Note:
Astrologers started added Chiron to their calculations when scientists named it the 10th planet or perhaps the 9th planet after they demoted Pluto a number of years ago, but they kept Pluto in their calculations. Pluto is my planet = whatever that means.
North Node in Sagittarius 17° 59′ 38” Rx
The North Node represents what you Need to Attain in this lifetime. You are here to learn to be an authority. A doctoral student teaches his first freshman class on Monday at 8 a.m.
Part of Fortune in Aries 3° 12′ 37″
The Part of Fortune represents your Natural Good Luck. You are naturally lucky when you do it your way. A skateboarder weaves in and out of city traffic.
Midheaven in Gemini 21° 28′ 35″
The Midheaven represents how to Succeed in the World. You attain prosperity intellectually. A bi-lingual young man has his pick of many jobs.
Intellectual capacity, thought process, comprehension, and learning abilities
1st house
Venus
Love, beauty, well-being, and gentleness
2nd house
Mars
Virility, action, violence, courage, and boldness
1st house
Jupiter
Abundance, warmth, good luck, and self-confidence
11th house
Saturn
Toughness, austerity, discipline, and limitation
2nd house
Uranus
Eccentricity, marginality, inventiveness, independence, and dementia.
10th house
Neptune
Gentle, dreamy, mystical
1st house
Pluto
Occultism and all hidden sciences, mystery, death, the hereafter, deep self-questionings, as well as power such as that of the atom
11th house
Ascendant
Personality, appearance, health
1st house
Natal chart Reading
Scorpio 19pg
Note: this is imprecise. the consensus reading seems to be the rising sign is VIrgo, but the rising signs change every two hours, so there could be some confusion.
Rising Sign: Libra (4°♎41′)
People who have Libra Rising love to maintain balance and harmony. They are usually sensitive to the world around them and disharmony disturbs their peace of mind. They are courteous, pleasant, nice agreeable, gentle, and soft. They can be softly persuasive as well. They love good things in life, making friends, and doing everything possible to avoid confrontation. They are fond of art, music, and literature. On the other hand, imbalance and discord disturb them deep within and they can be rude, shy, and indecisive. Physically, they are charming and have wonderful skin and nicely shaped facial features. The body is well-formed and it behaves gracefully and properly. They love personal luxuries, physical comfort, and things that please the senses. Lack of energy and ailments caused by rich foods like sweets cause them trouble. The mode is Cardinal so Libras are inventive and assertive and have initiative as well. The element of air brings them mental clarity, detachment and verbal skill and positive polarity makes them extroverted and expressive.
Midheaven Sign: Sagittarius
Intellectual pursuits and study appeal to you, but you need to be challenged on the work front because routine makes you bored. You are ambitious, but not money motivated. You say goodbye to the easy ways and take up difficult tasks boldly. You consciously or subconsciously seek a forum to showcase your intellectual and artistic talents. However, you may not seek the spotlight, but the work you do brings recognition and fame. Also, you become famous for something you have done outside your profession. Career options are travel, education, religion, politics, psychiatry, theology, and writing.
Sun in Scorpio (6°♏17′)
Intensity, passion, and secretiveness well sum up your character. You usually start things slowly, but once you have picked up momentum you are unstoppable. You are driven and controlled by hidden emotions deep within. You are sensitive, skeptical, and emotional, but work your heart out. You are intuitive and your perceptions are usually accurate. You want everything to be done your way and this makes you a tyrant at home. You tend to foist your views on your friends and family.
Moon in Aries (26°♈4′)
You react more emotionally. You make decisions quickly and act immediately without thinking much. The mind is very active, but you feel with your ego. Your responses are quick and short. You move on to new arguments or topics quickly without even giving your opponents enough time to present their views. You are short-tempered. However, you are competent and love to challenge your opponent. You are happy and optimistic, but impatient. You live for the moment and forget everything in no time.
Mercury in Libra (17°♎54′)
You have an active mind that weighs the pros and cons, even though you take your time to make decisions. You are a balanced thinker and communicator. Eloquent, gentle, and diplomatic, you think intelligently and objectively. You are friendly, broad-minded, and judicious and you have an easy-going, warm, and charming nature. Attracted to lofty ideals and refinement in life, you are good at writing well and merging ideas. You dislike conflicts and hate debating.
Venus in Scorpio (21°♏47′)
Your love is intense, deep, and sensual. In a relationship, you are straightforward, determined, and direct. You express excess feelings. You are a sexy person and being deeply involved, you are intensely romantic. You love or hate your partner with intense passion. Break-ups are hard to cope with. The physical or sexual aspect of the relationship is more important to you. You can be possessive in love.
Mars in Libra (10°♎55′)
Your physical energy is controlled to a great extent and you remain charming, generous, and cooperative. You are not pushy, but you can be assertive if injustice is served. You tend to fight against anything unfair and unjust. You have an objective and impassioned approach and therefore you can be a good judge or diplomat. Also, you are good at conflict management.
Jupiter in Leo (27°♌57′)
Optimism, confidence, and generosity are the three qualities that keep you going. You have lots of physical energy and you tend to show off. It means you embrace life in all its glory. Besides, you expect people to appreciate and admire you for your generous acts. You are a born extrovert and holidays, romance, and celebrations renew your spirit. But you tend to play cards or gamble.
Saturn in Scorpio (21°♏44′)
You have great emotional intensity and strength, but you may try to deny your passions. You carry out your responsibilities with an intensity of purpose. Anyhow, you possess more tolerance and understanding than usual. You are secretive and unforgiving and you cannot tolerate unfair treatment. You are resourceful, but you can be vindictive or withdrawn. Though you have a strong desire for success, you are subtle and calculating.
Uranus in Leo (2°♌18′)
You can be high-spirited and strong-willed, but you can be impatient and rebellious. Changes that involve high ideals and goals fascinate you. Though you are a born leader, you have to watch out for egotism and find ways to control your temper. You like to be unique, outspoken, and dramatic. Anyway, you have to be cautious about being overconfident and taking risks.
Neptune in Libra (28°♎17′)
You use your beauty and harmony to express your spiritual leanings. A wonderful relationship on the spiritual plane is on the cards. You dream about fashion, music, and peace. You also have your ideas about justice, freedom, and equality. However, you have to watch out for misplaced idealism and need to be more practical.
Pluto in Leo (28°♌21′)
Flamboyant and expressive, you tend to have heightened powers of leadership. You grab power and defy leadership if you are not the leader. You like romance, entertainment, and pleasures of all kinds. Besides, you try to attract attention extravagantly. (1937-1958)
Influence of Weekday: Sunday – Sun
Sunday radiates positivity, generosity, and love of life. You are creative, gregarious, bold, and noble, but you can be ego-centric, boastful, and excessively proud. You are capable of initiating new activities. Since you are kind and generous, you help people in distress. You remain focused and love to face obstacles and overcome them.
Bing answers
Can you generate an astrological chart (Chinese, Western, and Vedic tradition) for someone born on October 30, 1955, in Oakland, California at 4 a.m.?
GOAT
goat meets pig audio poem
Chinese
The person’s Chinese astrology chart is as follows:
Year month-day hour
Wood goat metal dog earth snake wood rabbit
The person’s Chinese astrology information is based on the four pillars of destiny, which are the year, month, day, and hour of birth. Each pillar consists of two components: a heavenly stem and an earthly branch. The heavenly stems are the ten basic symbols that represent the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) in their yin and yang forms. The earthly branches are the twelve animal signs that correspond to the twelve months of the lunar calendar.
The person’s heavenly stems are:
Year month-date hour
Yang wood yang metal yang earth yin wood
The person’s earthly branches are:
Year Month-Date hour
Goat dog snake rabbit
The person’s lucky numbers are 3, 4, 9, 12, 15, 21, 30, 34, 39, 45, 48, 51, 57, 63, 66, 69, 75, 84, 87, and 93.
The person’s lucky colors are green, blue, purple, red, pink, and white.
The person’s lucky flowers are carnation, primrose, Alice flower, lily of the valley, and orchid.
The person’s compatible zodiac signs are rabbit, horse, pig, and dragon.
The person’s incompatible zodiac signs are ox, tiger, snake, and dog.
Western astrology:
According to Western astrology, you are a Scorpio, the eighth sign of the zodiac. Your ruling planet is Pluto, and your element is water.
Some of the personality traits of a Scorpio are:
Intense, passionate, and loyal.
Mysterious, secretive, and complex.
Resourceful, determined, and ambitious.
Transformative, regenerative, and healing.
Jealous, obsessive, and manipulative.
Some of the challenges and opportunities for a Scorpio are:
To learn to trust others and let go of control.
To channel their emotions and desires into positive outlets.
To face their fears and embrace their shadows.
To use their power and influence for good.
To seek higher wisdom and spiritual growth.
Vedic Astrology
Vedic astrology: according to Vedic astrology, you are a Libra (Tula), the seventh sign of the zodiac. Your ruling planet is Venus, and your element is air. Your birth chart is shown below, along with the list of planets and their positions in the signs and nakshatras.
The major difference between these two is that according to Western calculations I am a Scorpio and according to Vedic calculations I am a Libra, and according to Native American calculations I am a either a Bear or a Raven.
Vedic Birth chart
+——————+——————+——————+
|Moon +-rahe—-+ +-keta—-+ +
+——————+ +-Moon–+-Jupiter-+-Saturn-+
|Moon +-sun—-+-mercury+-Venus—-+-Chiron-+
+——————+ +-asc—-+-desc—–+-Uranus-+
|Moon +-Neptune-+-Pluto–+-Neptune-+-Pluto +
|Moon +-Libra—+-Scorpio+-Laurus—+-Aries +
|Moon +-swat
| house +-desc +-ask +-desc +-acs +
+——————+ taurus +-Libra+-Aries——+Pisces+
Planet list
+———-+————+————+
| planet | sign | house |
+———-+————+————+
| sun | Libra | 10th |
| Moon | Scorpio | 1st |
| mercury | Scorpio | 9th |
| Venus | Virgo | 9th |
| Moon | Libra | 9th |
| Jupiter | Scorpio | 1st |
| Saturn | Sagittarius| 10th |
| Uranus | Leo | 11th |
| Neptune | Libra | 12th |
| Pluto | Leo | 11th |
Ascendant in Libra (4°♎41′)
People who have Libra Rising love to maintain balance and harmony. They are usually sensitive to the world around them and disharmony disturbs their peace of mind. They are courteous, pleasant, nice agreeable, gentle, and soft. They can be softly persuasive as well. They love good things in life, making friends, and doing everything possible to avoid confrontation. They are fond of art, music, and literature. On the other hand, imbalance and discord disturb them deep within and they can be rude, shy, and indecisive. Physically, they are charming and have wonderful skin and nicely shaped facial features. The body is well-formed and it behaves gracefully and properly. They love personal luxuries, physical comfort, and things that please their senses. Lack of energy and ailments caused by rich foods like sweets cause them trouble. The mode is Cardinal, so Libras are inventive and assertive and have initiative as well. The element of air brings them mental clarity, detachment and verbal skill and positive polarity makes them extroverted and expressive.
More on Scorpio
scorpio
Sun 6° Scorpio 27′
Moon sign: Aries
Moon 28° Aries 32′
rising sign: Scorpio? Libra or Virgo? the consensus seems to be its Virgo but who knows or really cares?
Ascendant 25° Scorpio 01′
For today »
How’s your timing?
The moving Moon and planets can influence your ability to relate to certain people at specific times.
Your sun sign: Scorpio sun 6° Scorpio 27′
Element:
Water
Key planet:
Pluto
The scorpion is one intense little creature, with enough poison in its tail to disable or kill a much larger opponent. However, the problem with this kind of built-in biological weaponry is that it must be mastered to be used most effectively. You Scorpios can use your “stinger” for self-defense, using your powerful emotional awareness to make your opponent harmless. But there is a sexual part of poisonous tail also, and until you learn to control those strong urges, you may find yourself in uncomfortable situations.
Motto: “What is hidden is more interesting than what is obvious.”
Greatest strength: your passion for your feelings.
Possible weakness: the need for secrecy can be isolating.
Your Moon sign: Aries Moon 28° Aries 32′
Emotions rise hot and fast but can fall just as quickly because you live so much in the present. The intensity of the moment can carry you to great heights or depths, but you’re not likely to stay in either extreme for very long. When you’re done, you’re done. As a fire sign, Aries isn’t a particularly reflective place for them.
More on the Goat
Your Chinese sign: the goat
The goat … the gentle goat
Mantra: living is my form of art.
The goat is the most easygoing of all the signs … sensitive to other people’s needs, kindhearted, flexible, and social. Goats love life, and all forms of art will help them express their active energy and joie de vivre. When stressed, they can be moody and appear weak, but will stubbornly resist the opinions of others if they disagree. They are devoted to their loved ones, outgoing, and quite outspoken about the world they live in.
Personal Note:
According to Western Astrology the Scorpio- Gemini relationship is a challenging one, but those that make it work have a very powerful connection. According to Chinese Astrology, the Pig-Goat combo is the best astrological combo for romance for love and marriage.
Other birth statistics
30 October 1955
Your date of conception was on or about 6 February 1955 which was a Sunday.
You were born on a Sunday.
Under the astrological sign Scorpio.
Your life path number is 6.
Your fortune cookie reads:
Your many hidden talents will become obvious to those around you.
Life path compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the life path numbers 3, 6 & 9.
You should get along well with those with the life path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22.
You are least compatible with those with the life path numbers 1, 5 & 7.
The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2435410.5.
The golden number for 1955 is 18.
The exact number for 1955 is 6.
The year 1955 was not a leap year.
Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/24/1955 and ending 2/11/1956.
You were born in the Chinese year of the goat.
Your native american zodiac sign is snake; your plant is thistle.
Note: some sources say I am a bear, others say that I am a raven. There is no “native american astrology” per se as each tribe had its own way of looking at things astrologically speaking.
You were born in the Egyptian month of toby, the first month of the season of port (emergence – fertile soil).
Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 14 Heshan 5716.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 15 Heshan 5716.
The Mayan calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.17.2.0.6 which is.
12 baktun 17 katun 2 tun 0 uinal 6 kin
The hijra (Islamic calendar) date of your birth is Sunday, 13 Rabi’u’l-Avval 1375 (1375-3-13).
The date of Easter on your was Sunday, 10 April 1955.
The date of Orthodox Easter in your birth year was Sunday, 17 April 1955.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) in your birth year was Wednesday, 23 February 1955.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday, 29 May 1955.
The date of Whitsuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday, 5 June 1955.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 17 September 1955.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 7 April 1955.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday, 22 February 1955.
Celebrities who share your birthday:
Gavin Rossdale (1967) Diego Armando Maradona (1960) Harry Hamlin (1951)
Henry Winkler (1945) Grace Slick (1939) Claude Lelouch (1937)
Robert Caro (1935) Louis Malle (1932) Ruth Gordon (1896)
Charles Atlas (1893) Ezra Asalto (1885) Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821)
John Adams (1735)
Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 7.62309197651663 years old. (you old hound dog, you!)
Your lucky day is Tuesday.
Your lucky numbers are 9 & 11.
Your ruling planet(s) are the Moon and Pluto.
Your lucky dates are the 1st, 10th, 19th, and 28th.
Your opposition sign is Taurus.
Your opposition number(s) is 6.
Events that happened on my birthday, include
Here is a list of things that happened on October 30, 1955, including the top song, the top movie, the top TV show, and the major events of that month in the US:
Thanks to all who have been sending me birthday greetings. I deeply appreciate all of you, all around the world who have blessed my life with your friendship over the years. I will respond individually as well but just wanted to do this shout-out to my friends! On my birthday, I am always in a reflective mood and do my Nir’s early and revise them again on January 1. One thing I want to do starting now and next year is to blog weekly and add FB reels and YouTube video blogging as well as my podcasting and my daily writing as I still have a lot to say and think about and it is not too late for me to say what I want to say. Another thing I want to do is take a lot of mini-trips, day trips, and other trips while I still can and I want to spend about four months in the States next summer. And hope to see many of you via Zoom meetups or in person during the next year. Keep in touch.
Jake
Following are some of my birthday poems, a few birthday tribute poems from friends, Bing’s Ai astrological charts (Chinese, Vedic, and Western systems) for my birthday – October 30, 1955 – and a list of things that happened that date.
Ps here is a birthday tribute from my fan story friend, Debbie Pink Marquette.
A diplomatic birthday
Jake Cosmos Aller
Was born in California and graduated in DC.
His grad college was Washington University.
He’s traveled to all fifty states and then fifty countries.
That’s when he would decide to spend more time across the seas.
He met her and then six weeks later, she became his wife.
Been married for forty years, and she is the best part of his life.
He has some siblings but the ones who are dear to his heart.
His wife’s brother and family have been close from the start.
He served as a foreign diplomat for twenty-seven years.
Retired from the State Department, then goodbye to peers.
His life has been impressive; what he’s seen, achieved, and done.
Other interesting facts about Jake Cosmos Aller:
Retired U.S. diplomat (State Department) living in South Korea. Served 27 years in 10 countries. Traveled to 55 countries, all 50 states. Grew up in berkeley, California. Married, no children. A published poet and short story writer. Finished six novels, in search of a publisher. Former Peace Corps volunteer, Korea. Speaks Korean, Spanish, and Thai.
A few more birthday-themed poems:
Closing time
On hearing the news
Of a friend’s passing,
I was overwhelmed.
With grief and sadness.
And I realized that my time.
On this mortal plane
Is also coming.
To the end game.
Closing time
The final act of this cosmic play.
The grim reaper
Has my number.
Someday
He will come for me.
And the love of my life,
My lovely wife.
And my family,
Friends, and enemies,
Far-flung throughout
The whole world.
In the long run,
We can’t escape.
Our grim fate,
We end up in the same place.
When the Grim Reaper
Knocks at our door,
Are we ready for that?
Perhaps not.
But each day
We have left.
On another day,
We can celebrate.
That we are alive,
Having survived another year,
And cheated death’s grim embrace.
Every day staying is a blessing.
We are but one step closer to the grave.
The end will come.
When your time
Comes to an end,
But not today.
So, rejoice, my friends.
Live your remaining moments.
Filled with friendship,
Love, laughter, and joy.
Bing AI’s Birthday Poem for Jake Cosmos Aller
I asked Bing Ai Chat to write a beatnik-style poem as a birthday tribute to Jake Cosmos Aller.
Here is a beatnik-style birthday tribute poem about Jake Cosmos Aller, inspired by the web search results:
Happy birthday, Jake Cosmos Aller!
You are a poet, a traveler, and a scholar.
You have seen the world with your own eyes.
You have lived and loved in many skies.
You are a beatnik, a rebel, a seeker.
You are not afraid to be different or unique.
You march to the beat of your drum.
You are one of a kind; you are second to none!
So, here’s to you on your special day!
May it be filled with love and joy all the way!
May you continue to inspire us with your words!
May you continue to be one of life’s great adventurers!
and my friend asked Google’s Bard to weigh in:
Jake Cosmos Aller, friend so dear, your spirit bright, your mind so clear.
A poet, novelist, and diplomat, your wisdom vast, your heart so great
. From berkeley to the world you’ve roamed,
in search of truth, in search of a home.
Your words inspire, your thoughts provoke,
your friendship’s gift, a precious token.
In foreign lands, you served with pride, a bridge between cultures, side by side. Your insights are deep, your empathy true, a friend to all, forever true.
Now retired, your pen still flows, and your creativity still glows.
Your poems sing, your stories dance, your spirit soars, a cosmic trance.
Jake Cosmos Aller, friend so dear, your friendship’s gift, I hold so nearby.
May your journey be filled with light, and may your stars shine bright forever.
Another Bard Poem – This one is a limerick.
“There once was a poet named Jake,
Whose poems were fake and quite flaccid.
His verses are so lame,
Were barely acclaimed,
And his readers would often say “Yuck!””
Blues for 61 birthdays
I woke up feeling blue,
Feeling sad and alone,
Feeling the weight of 61 years on this earth.
Been there. Done that. Seen that.
Bored with the routine.
Wanting so much more,
Yet oddly satisfied with all that I have done.
Regrets I have a few,
Memories of a lifetime.
Fear and anxiety fill my mind,
Until the end of time.
And I know that my time
on this earth is ending.
But I am not ready.
I need more time
to make things right.
October Rain
rain
The falling rain
Of late October
Fills me with essential dread
As I rush about
And end up here
Wherever here is
The rain outside
Seems like the tears of God
As I sit
Crying over my beer
Thinking of lost love
And failed dreams
Wondering
What went wrong?
And what I can set right?
And the rain falls
And the night darkens
The rain is falling
All over this man’s world
And the rain falls
And I sit
Drinking my lonesome drink
Lost in dreams
Dreaming of what
Could never be
Birthday on Moon
To celebrate his 80th birthday,
Sam Adams and his wife decided to go to the Moon.
They would stay a week at the Hilton.
Space hotel on the edge of the Moon.
And have dinner at the famous Luna Grill.
They ate Moon-raised chicken.
And had a delicious fruit cocktail for dinner,
Noting it was fruit cocktail day.
They went to the casino.
Which often featured odd games to bet on.
Today was the first observation.
Of the international frog jumping contest
To be held on the Moon.
They won the contest.
Their champion frog “Everything’s Jake.”
Jumped 50 feet in the low-gravity lunar environment.
Meeting Dream Girl
When Sam Adams was 22 years old, he was in South Korea doing his Peace Corps duty, working in a public health center in Gapyeong, South Korea – two hours northeast of seoul, deep in the rural countryside. He had gone there in the furtherance of a dream that had haunted him for almost six years.
He first had the dream on his birthday on October 22, 1974, in a high school class at 2:22 p.m. He fell asleep and saw the most beautiful woman in the world talking to him. He knew that he would marry her. For almost six years, he had that dream almost weekly. He knew she was waiting for him in Korea.
On his 22nd birthday, he had just gone to his Peace Corps town, Gapyeong. He went out to dinner with his co-workers attending a birthday party for the town’s headman. They served him dog meat.
The next morning in his dream, his future wife appeared, laughed about the dog meat incident, and told him that they would meet in three years on his birthday in the town of Eijongbu where he would be teaching.
He continued to see her in his dreams, and then as she promised she walked off a bus and into life on October 22, 1982, at 2:22 p.m.
Based on a true story. The dates and times were changed to fit the 22-number theme.
Further note I legally got married on October 29, 1982, because it was my legal birthday.
Astrological Charts for October 30, 1955
I am not sure if there is anything to Astrology or not, but it is fun to think about. The following were mostly generated by Bing AI chat box. It is amazing to see what these AI programs can do, but a bit scarry as well. In a few years there may be no writers left!
Planets and Points in The Signs
Sun, Venus, Saturn, in Scorpio
Moon in Aries
Rising sign in Virgo
Mercury, Mars in Libra
Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto in Leo
Chiron in Aquarius
Sun in Scorpio 6° 14′ 48″
The Sun represents your Life Force.
You are here to transform yourself and others. An earthquake shakes the foundations of the city’s buildings.
Ascendant in Virgo 22° 26′ 09 Libra or Sagittarius depending on sites – all the other calculations are the same.
According to the web search results, the rising sign or ascendant is the sign of the zodiac that rises on the eastern horizon at the time of a person’s birth. The rising sign changes approximately every two hours, so an exact birth time is required to calculate it. Different sources may use different methods or systems to calculate the rising sign, which may result in different outcomes. However, based on the most commonly used system of Placidus house division, the rising sign for someone born on October 30, 1955 at 4 a.m. in Oakland, California is Virgo123. Virgo-rising people are analytical, meticulous, and service-oriented. They tend to be modest, practical, and reliable. They may also be perfectionists, critical, and nervous. You can learn more about Virgo Rising and its meaning in your birth chart by reading this article.
The Ascendant represents how others Encounter you and how you project yourself.
People see you as a problem-solver. A carpenter restores a historical home to its original glory.
Moon in Aries 25° 28′ 19″
The Moon represents how you Give and Receive Love.
You need independence to feel happy. You need comfortable rhythms to feel happy.
Mercury in Libra 17° 51′ 43″
Mercury represents how you Communicate and Interpret.
You know how to negotiate. A store limits one necessary item to one per customer.
Venus in Scorpio 21° 44′ 17″
Venus represents how you Relate.
You connect with the hidden parts of others. Two strangers get coffee after the funeral of a mutual acquaintance.
Mars in Libra 10° 53′ 42″
Mars represents your Drive.
You assert judgment and make decisions. A divorce goes to court.
Jupiter in Leo 27° 57′ 01″
Jupiter represents your Sense of Adventure.
You play the lead in life well. A young actress wins the audition to play the lead, knowing she will be a star.
Saturn in Scorpio 21° 43′ 55″
Saturn represents your Behavior.
You want the highest clearance. The CIA director orders an operation to destroy a terrorist cell.
Uranus in Leo 2° 17′ 59″
Uranus represents how your generation Breaks Away from the previous generation.
Your generation shocks through entertainment. An independent film hits mainstream theaters.
Neptune in Libra 28° 17′ 12″
Neptune represents how your generation finds Purpose.
Your generation promotes fairness in spirituality. The daughter of a wealthy businessman accepts the consequences of her poor choices.
Pluto in Leo 28° 21′ 51″
Pluto represents how your generation uses Power.
Your generation transforms the world through entertainment. A young woman finds reruns of “I Love Lucy” on her streaming service.
Chiron in Aquarius 0° 21′ 31″
Chiron represents the Wound You Need to Heal.
You need to heal wounds and worries regarding your community. A family successfully immigrates to a new country.
Note:
Astrologers started added Chiron to their calculations when scientists named it the 10th planet or perhaps the 9th planet after they demoted Pluto a number of years ago, but they kept Pluto in their calculations. Pluto is my planet = whatever that means.
North Node in Sagittarius 17° 59′ 38” Rx
The North Node represents what you Need to Attain in this lifetime.
You are here to learn to be an authority. A doctoral student teaches his first freshman class on Monday at 8 a.m.
Part of Fortune in Aries 3° 12′ 37″
The Part of Fortune represents your Natural Good Luck.
You are naturally lucky when you do it your way. A skateboarder weaves in and out of city traffic.
Midheaven in Gemini 21° 28′ 35″
The Midheaven represents how to Succeed in the World.
You attain prosperity intellectually. A bi-lingual young man has his pick of many jobs.
Intellectual capacity, thought process, comprehension, and learning abilities
1st house
Venus
Love, beauty, well-being, and gentleness
2nd house
Mars
Virility, action, violence, courage, and boldness
1st house
Jupiter
Abundance, warmth, good luck, and self-confidence
11th house
Saturn
Toughness, austerity, discipline, and limitation
2nd house
Uranus
Eccentricity, marginality, inventiveness, independence, and dementia.
10th house
Neptune
Gentle, dreamy, mystical
1st house
Pluto
Occultism and all hidden sciences, mystery, death, the hereafter, deep self-questionings, as well as power such as that of the atom
11th house
Ascendant
Personality, appearance, health
1st house
Natal chart Reading
Scorpio 19pg
Note: this is imprecise. the consensus reading seems to be the rising sign is VIrgo, but the rising signs change every two hours, so there could be some confusion.
Rising Sign: Libra (4°♎41′)
People who have Libra Rising love to maintain balance and harmony. They are usually sensitive to the world around them and disharmony disturbs their peace of mind. They are courteous, pleasant, nice agreeable, gentle, and soft. They can be softly persuasive as well. They love good things in life, making friends, and doing everything possible to avoid confrontation. They are fond of art, music, and literature. On the other hand, imbalance and discord disturb them deep within and they can be rude, shy, and indecisive. Physically, they are charming and have wonderful skin and nicely shaped facial features. The body is well-formed and it behaves gracefully and properly. They love personal luxuries, physical comfort, and things that please the senses. Lack of energy and ailments caused by rich foods like sweets cause them trouble. The mode is Cardinal so Libras are inventive and assertive and have initiative as well. The element of air brings them mental clarity, detachment and verbal skill and positive polarity makes them extroverted and expressive.
Midheaven Sign: Sagittarius
Intellectual pursuits and study appeal to you, but you need to be challenged on the work front because routine makes you bored. You are ambitious, but not money motivated. You say goodbye to the easy ways and take up difficult tasks boldly. You consciously or subconsciously seek a forum to showcase your intellectual and artistic talents. However, you may not seek the spotlight, but the work you do brings recognition and fame. Also, you become famous for something you have done outside your profession. Career options are travel, education, religion, politics, psychiatry, theology, and writing.
Sun in Scorpio (6°♏17′)
Intensity, passion, and secretiveness well sum up your character. You usually start things slowly, but once you have picked up momentum you are unstoppable. You are driven and controlled by hidden emotions deep within. You are sensitive, skeptical, and emotional, but work your heart out. You are intuitive and your perceptions are usually accurate. You want everything to be done your way and this makes you a tyrant at home. You tend to foist your views on your friends and family.
Moon in Aries (26°♈4′)
You react more emotionally. You make decisions quickly and act immediately without thinking much. The mind is very active, but you feel with your ego. Your responses are quick and short. You move on to new arguments or topics quickly without even giving your opponents enough time to present their views. You are short-tempered. However, you are competent and love to challenge your opponent. You are happy and optimistic, but impatient. You live for the moment and forget everything in no time.
Mercury in Libra (17°♎54′)
You have an active mind that weighs the pros and cons, even though you take your time to make decisions. You are a balanced thinker and communicator. Eloquent, gentle, and diplomatic, you think intelligently and objectively. You are friendly, broad-minded, and judicious and you have an easy-going, warm, and charming nature. Attracted to lofty ideals and refinement in life, you are good at writing well and merging ideas. You dislike conflicts and hate debating.
Venus in Scorpio (21°♏47′)
Your love is intense, deep, and sensual. In a relationship, you are straightforward, determined, and direct. You express excess feelings. You are a sexy person and being deeply involved, you are intensely romantic. You love or hate your partner with intense passion. Break-ups are hard to cope with. The physical or sexual aspect of the relationship is more important to you. You can be possessive in love.
Mars in Libra (10°♎55′)
Your physical energy is controlled to a great extent and you remain charming, generous, and cooperative. You are not pushy, but you can be assertive if injustice is served. You tend to fight against anything unfair and unjust. You have an objective and impassioned approach and therefore you can be a good judge or diplomat. Also, you are good at conflict management.
Jupiter in Leo (27°♌57′)
Optimism, confidence, and generosity are the three qualities that keep you going. You have lots of physical energy and you tend to show off. It means you embrace life in all its glory. Besides, you expect people to appreciate and admire you for your generous acts. You are a born extrovert and holidays, romance, and celebrations renew your spirit. But you tend to play cards or gamble.
Saturn in Scorpio (21°♏44′)
You have great emotional intensity and strength, but you may try to deny your passions. You carry out your responsibilities with an intensity of purpose. Anyhow, you possess more tolerance and understanding than usual. You are secretive and unforgiving and you cannot tolerate unfair treatment. You are resourceful, but you can be vindictive or withdrawn. Though you have a strong desire for success, you are subtle and calculating.
Uranus in Leo (2°♌18′)
You can be high-spirited and strong-willed, but you can be impatient and rebellious. Changes that involve high ideals and goals fascinate you. Though you are a born leader, you have to watch out for egotism and find ways to control your temper. You like to be unique, outspoken, and dramatic. Anyway, you have to be cautious about being overconfident and taking risks.
Neptune in Libra (28°♎17′)
You use your beauty and harmony to express your spiritual leanings. A wonderful relationship on the spiritual plane is on the cards. You dream about fashion, music, and peace. You also have your ideas about justice, freedom, and equality. However, you have to watch out for misplaced idealism and need to be more practical.
Pluto in Leo (28°♌21′)
Flamboyant and expressive, you tend to have heightened powers of leadership. You grab power and defy leadership if you are not the leader. You like romance, entertainment, and pleasures of all kinds. Besides, you try to attract attention extravagantly. (1937-1958)
Influence of Weekday: Sunday – Sun
Sunday radiates positivity, generosity, and love of life. You are creative, gregarious, bold, and noble, but you can be ego-centric, boastful, and excessively proud. You are capable of initiating new activities. Since you are kind and generous, you help people in distress. You remain focused and love to face obstacles and overcome them.
Bing answers
Can you generate an astrological chart (Chinese, Western, and Vedic tradition) for someone born on October 30, 1955, in Oakland, California at 4 a.m.?
GOAT
goat meets pig audio poem
Chinese
The person’s Chinese astrology chart is as follows:
Year month-day hour
Wood goat metal dog earth snake wood rabbit
The person’s Chinese astrology information is based on the four pillars of destiny, which are the year, month, day, and hour of birth. Each pillar consists of two components: a heavenly stem and an earthly branch. The heavenly stems are the ten basic symbols that represent the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) in their yin and yang forms. The earthly branches are the twelve animal signs that correspond to the twelve months of the lunar calendar.
The person’s heavenly stems are:
Year month-date hour
Yang wood yang metal yang earth yin wood
The person’s earthly branches are:
Year Month-Date hour
Goat dog snake rabbit
The person’s lucky numbers are 3, 4, 9, 12, 15, 21, 30, 34, 39, 45, 48, 51, 57, 63, 66, 69, 75, 84, 87, and 93.
The person’s lucky colors are green, blue, purple, red, pink, and white.
The person’s lucky flowers are carnation, primrose, Alice flower, lily of the valley, and orchid.
The person’s compatible zodiac signs are rabbit, horse, pig, and dragon.
The person’s incompatible zodiac signs are ox, tiger, snake, and dog.
Western astrology:
According to Western astrology, you are a Scorpio, the eighth sign of the zodiac. Your ruling planet is Pluto, and your element is water.
Some of the personality traits of a Scorpio are:
Intense, passionate, and loyal.
Mysterious, secretive, and complex.
Resourceful, determined, and ambitious.
Transformative, regenerative, and healing.
Jealous, obsessive, and manipulative.
Some of the challenges and opportunities for a Scorpio are:
To learn to trust others and let go of control.
To channel their emotions and desires into positive outlets.
To face their fears and embrace their shadows.
To use their power and influence for good.
To seek higher wisdom and spiritual growth.
Vedic Astrology
Vedic astrology: according to Vedic astrology, you are a Libra (Tula), the seventh sign of the zodiac. Your ruling planet is Venus, and your element is air. Your birth chart is shown below, along with the list of planets and their positions in the signs and nakshatras.
The major difference between these two is that according to Western calculations I am a Scorpio and according to Vedic calculations I am a Libra, and according to Native American calculations I am a either a Bear or a Raven.
Vedic Birth chart
+——————+——————+——————+
|Moon +-rahe—-+ +-keta—-+ +
+——————+ +-Moon–+-Jupiter-+-Saturn-+
|Moon +-sun—-+-mercury+-Venus—-+-Chiron-+
+——————+ +-asc—-+-desc—–+-Uranus-+
|Moon +-Neptune-+-Pluto–+-Neptune-+-Pluto +
|Moon +-Libra—+-Scorpio+-Laurus—+-Aries +
|Moon +-swat
| house +-desc +-ask +-desc +-acs +
+——————+ taurus +-Libra+-Aries——+Pisces+
Planet list
+———-+————+————+
| planet | sign | house |
+———-+————+————+
| sun | Libra | 10th |
| Moon | Scorpio | 1st |
| mercury | Scorpio | 9th |
| Venus | Virgo | 9th |
| Moon | Libra | 9th |
| Jupiter | Scorpio | 1st |
| Saturn | Sagittarius| 10th |
| Uranus | Leo | 11th |
| Neptune | Libra | 12th |
| Pluto | Leo | 11th |
Ascendant in Libra (4°♎41′)
People who have Libra Rising love to maintain balance and harmony. They are usually sensitive to the world around them and disharmony disturbs their peace of mind. They are courteous, pleasant, nice agreeable, gentle, and soft. They can be softly persuasive as well. They love good things in life, making friends, and doing everything possible to avoid confrontation. They are fond of art, music, and literature. On the other hand, imbalance and discord disturb them deep within and they can be rude, shy, and indecisive. Physically, they are charming and have wonderful skin and nicely shaped facial features. The body is well-formed and it behaves gracefully and properly. They love personal luxuries, physical comfort, and things that please their senses. Lack of energy and ailments caused by rich foods like sweets cause them trouble. The mode is Cardinal, so Libras are inventive and assertive and have initiative as well. The element of air brings them mental clarity, detachment and verbal skill and positive polarity makes them extroverted and expressive.
More on Scorpio
scorpio
Sun 6° Scorpio 27′
Moon sign: Aries
Moon 28° Aries 32′
rising sign: Scorpio? Libra or Virgo? the consensus seems to be its Virgo but who knows or really cares?
Ascendant 25° Scorpio 01′
For today »
How’s your timing?
The moving Moon and planets can influence your ability to relate to certain people at specific times.
Your sun sign: Scorpio sun 6° Scorpio 27′
Element:
Water
Key planet:
Pluto
The scorpion is one intense little creature, with enough poison in its tail to disable or kill a much larger opponent. However, the problem with this kind of built-in biological weaponry is that it must be mastered to be used most effectively. You Scorpios can use your “stinger” for self-defense, using your powerful emotional awareness to make your opponent harmless. But there is a sexual part of poisonous tail also, and until you learn to control those strong urges, you may find yourself in uncomfortable situations.
Motto: “What is hidden is more interesting than what is obvious.”
Greatest strength: your passion for your feelings.
Possible weakness: the need for secrecy can be isolating.
Your Moon sign: Aries Moon 28° Aries 32′
Emotions rise hot and fast but can fall just as quickly because you live so much in the present. The intensity of the moment can carry you to great heights or depths, but you’re not likely to stay in either extreme for very long. When you’re done, you’re done. As a fire sign, Aries isn’t a particularly reflective place for them.
More on the Goat
Your Chinese sign: the goat
The goat … the gentle goat
Mantra: living is my form of art.
The goat is the most easygoing of all the signs … sensitive to other people’s needs, kindhearted, flexible, and social. Goats love life, and all forms of art will help them express their active energy and joie de vivre. When stressed, they can be moody and appear weak, but will stubbornly resist the opinions of others if they disagree. They are devoted to their loved ones, outgoing, and quite outspoken about the world they live in.
Personal Note:
According to Western Astrology the Scorpio- Gemini relationship is a challenging one, but those that make it work have a very powerful connection. According to Chinese Astrology, the Pig-Goat combo is the best astrological combo for romance for love and marriage.
Other birth statistics
30 October 1955
Your date of conception was on or about 6 February 1955 which was a Sunday.
You were born on a Sunday.
Under the astrological sign Scorpio.
Your life path number is 6.
Your fortune cookie reads:
Your many hidden talents will become obvious to those around you.
Life path compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the life path numbers 3, 6 & 9.
You should get along well with those with the life path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22.
You are least compatible with those with the life path numbers 1, 5 & 7.
The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2435410.5.
The golden number for 1955 is 18.
The exact number for 1955 is 6.
The year 1955 was not a leap year.
Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/24/1955 and ending 2/11/1956.
You were born in the Chinese year of the goat.
Your native american zodiac sign is snake; your plant is thistle.
Note: some sources say I am a bear, others say that I am a raven. There is no “native american astrology” per se as each tribe had its own way of looking at things astrologically speaking.
You were born in the Egyptian month of toby, the first month of the season of port (emergence – fertile soil).
Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 14 Heshan 5716.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 15 Heshan 5716.
The Mayan calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.17.2.0.6 which is.
12 baktun 17 katun 2 tun 0 uinal 6 kin
The hijra (Islamic calendar) date of your birth is Sunday, 13 Rabi’u’l-Avval 1375 (1375-3-13).
The date of Easter on your was Sunday, 10 April 1955.
The date of Orthodox Easter in your birth year was Sunday, 17 April 1955.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) in your birth year was Wednesday, 23 February 1955.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday, 29 May 1955.
The date of Whitsuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday, 5 June 1955.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 17 September 1955.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 7 April 1955.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday, 22 February 1955.
Celebrities who share your birthday:
Gavin Rossdale (1967) Diego Armando Maradona (1960) Harry Hamlin (1951)
Henry Winkler (1945) Grace Slick (1939) Claude Lelouch (1937)
Robert Caro (1935) Louis Malle (1932) Ruth Gordon (1896)
Charles Atlas (1893) Ezra Asalto (1885) Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821)
John Adams (1735)
Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 7.62309197651663 years old. (you old hound dog, you!)
Your lucky day is Tuesday.
Your lucky numbers are 9 & 11.
Your ruling planet(s) are the Moon and Pluto.
Your lucky dates are the 1st, 10th, 19th, and 28th.
Your opposition sign is Taurus.
Your opposition number(s) is 6.
Events that happened on my birthday, include
Here is a list of things that happened on October 30, 1955, including the top song, the top movie, the top TV show, and the major events of that month in the US:
Hi Jake, thanks again for coming back to Synchronized Chaos! We’re glad to publish these poems, one poem at a time, in our subsequent semimonthly issues.
Excited that you have written an Ode to Coffee, as I’m a legendary coffee fan 🙂
As always, please feel welcome to leave comments on the currently published work at synchchaos.com. We all appreciate feedback!
Cristina
Here are some more poems for you to consider.
God’s Confession
Ode To Coffee
God Is Coming And Boy Is He Mad God
The Old Man In The Mirror Must Die Old Age
Falling Rain
Long Life The Great And Powerful One
Spin Masters Spin Away The Day
Red Sun Dawning Over The New Empire
Just An Unhinged Lunatic Howling At The Moon
Prior publication
Travel to Gangwha Travel piece
Christmas Bombing in Nashville
Eve Ate the Apple
Just Enough for Coffee
Our National Hangover
Strangers Sleeping on the Streets
2019 Year That Was
Dogs of War are Howling
Dreams
Fate
Idiots in High Places
masters of the Universe
The terrible Teens
When will this Madness End?
End-of=the-Years Blues
God’s Confession
god
I was sitting alone
In a god-forsaken bar
the Cosmos Bar in Soi Cowboy
Bangkok, Thailand
On the lunatic fringes of society
Twenty drinks too sober
In the ass end
of a Friday night booze binge
On the bad part of town
Over by railroad tracks
Heading to hell
As fast as I could drank it down
Enjoying my lonely drink
Drinking by my lonesome self
With my partners
Jimmy Bean, Jack Daniels,
The Walker brother
Evan Williams
And his old Granddad
Just drinking one bourbon,
one scotch, and one beer
and hanging
with Jack Daniel’s
gentlemen’s club
A crazed bum
With a thousand-year stare
Walks up to me
He begins
Muttering to himself
Nutty nonsense
Crazy words
In a lunatic’s voice
He had the look
Of one possessed
By his demons
Only he can see
Or hear
Possessed
by a secret knowledge
Only he knew
Despite myself
I was fascinated
By this lunatic’s tale
So I stopped him
And said
“Say, crazy little Dude!
So what’s your game, Anyway?”
The short little dude
Stopped his insane prattle
Starting at me
With that
thousand-year-old stare
Just another
washed-up lunatic
Too many drugs
His mind blown away
Down too many rabbit holes
Too many bad nights
On the wrong side of life
An ACID causality
from the 60s
Been down so long
It looks like
up to him
He looked at me
And proclaimed his story
He reared up
And filled up the room
And lifted the bar
On his finger
And stared down at me
From the sky
And said
“Since you asked
I am Allah
The Alpha and Omega
Ganesh
Kali
Jupiter
Jehovah
Shiva
Zeus
And a billion other names
The real deal
The original dude of dudes
The Sultan of Swing
God of hosts
And the father
of that Jesus dude
But no one knows me
Any more
No one cares
They think I am irrelevant
They think I am dead
They think I am a fairy tale
From some olden, ancient time
That my work is done
I looked at him
Carefully now
And what did I see
An old man
With that lunatic look
But there was something else
He was crazy
Sure. Yeah
Out there
Bat sh… looney tunes
But perhaps
he was the real deal
I mean, why not
In this materialistic age
Why would God not be
a wandering lunatic
wandering around loose
Talking to low lives
like me
In a bar
On the highway to hell
So I looked at him
And invited him to share
His tale of cosmic woe
God tells me
“Well, it’s like this
Many a year ago
People believed in me
But one day
They quit believing in me
they moved on
And they went on without me
As they left me
My powers got weaker and weaker
And so eventually I became
What you see today
A broken-down drunk
Hanging out
Looking for a handout
Looking for some company
Or at least a free dinner”
And he laughed
and laughed
And I looked at him
And saw
the beginnings of the end
And the ends
of the beginnings
I saw a million planets
Flash by
Trillions of people
Thinking all at once
Thoughts filled my head
Lights flashed
And I knew
He was telling the truth
But it did not matter
In this day and age
Of materialism
God has no role
God is truly dead
And so I bought him a drink
And walked out of the bar
still twenty drinks too sober
Profoundly saddened
From what I had seen
God was dead
And we had all conspired
To kill him
Long live God
Ode To Coffee
Mistress of sacred love
Sacred lady of desire
You start my day
Setting my heart on fire
With your dark
delicious flavor
And throughout the day
Whenever the mean
old blues come by
You chase them away
With your bitter ambrosia
Every time I inhale
your witch’s brew
I am filled with power, light, and love
And everything is alright Jack
If only for a few fleeting minutes
I love you oh coffee goddess
In all your magical forms
In the dark coffee of the dawning day
In the sizzling coffee in the mid-morning break
In the afternoon siesta break
And in the post-dinner dessert drink
I love you, my coffee mistress
You are my refuge
From this horrid world
And you are my secret lover
Never disappoint me, ever
I’ve never had a bad cup
Of that, I can be sure
Even the dismal coffee
Served at Denny’s at 3 am
Is still sweat-loving coffee
Even the farmer brother’s diner coffee
Excites me and gets me going
Asking for another cup of divine delight
Coffee always is there
It is always on and piping hot
With hidden dark secrets
Swirling in its liquid essence
Coffee is my last vice
My only legal vice left
Coffee does not cheat on me
It is always faithful, always true
It does not turn on its friends
And all it asks in return
Is that you come back
Cup after cup after cup
A good cup of coffee
Is a little bit of heaven
In a cup of dark liquid hell
Coffee is like a drug
But a good drug
that does what it should
And never complains
It does not get grouchy
It does not hurt you
It does not make you crazy
But allows the muse to come out
And play with it
Coffee led to the American Revolution
As patriots drank coffee
To rebel against the aristocratic English tea
Coffee started the London Stock market
And started the gossips mills running
Every great invention
Was fed by coffee’s sweat brew
All the great thinkers
All the great leaders
All were enslaved to coffee’s magic
Yeah
I sing my praises
Of the great
glorious coffee lady
Long may she continue
To be my sweat companion
Long may coffee continue
To rule my heart
And set my heart on fire
I love thee
Mistress coffee
And sometimes I think
You love me too
God Is Coming, And Boy Is He/She Mad
God is Coming and Boy,
is he/she mad
God Is Coming
The preacher on the street proclaimed
God is coming, oh yeah, he is on his way
And Boy, is he/she angry at us
The entire human race
And God, let me tell yah
He ain’t the wimpy, wimpy pappy
White Boy false God of the New Testament
The false deity that the evil Reverend Farwell
And the MAGA prophets
And the smarmy Pat Robinson worship
Hell no, God ain’t that god
God is a mean, angry powerful God
The God of the Old Testament
The God of the Koran and the god of old
The God that man once feared
Yeah, I am talking about that God
Allah, Buddha, Ganesh, Kali, Jehovah, Jesus,
Shiva, and a thousand other names
The God that our ancestors feared
The real deal,
and boy is he/she pissed off
And he/she is coming to set up straight
And send most of us straight to hell
For eternal damnation and punishment
God is particularly pissed off
All those politicians who have been
Misusing his name
and saying God is on their side
God ain’t on their side
God is God
And he is angry at them all
God ain’t no Republican
Fascist wanna be
Supply Side jesus
God is particularly angry
at George Bush
God told George
George, don’t do that evil thing
Don’t invade Iraq
I will handle Sadaam in my way
I want you to take
care of your poor people
Give away all your power and money
And serve the poor
That’s what
I want you to do
And poor George did not understand
Did not get the message
So George led the nation
Into war against another land
And thousands of people died
And millions of dollars were wasted
And nothing changed
And God is angry at President Obama
Who continued the endless wars,
Even knowing that it was wrong.
God is especially angry
At the anti-Christ Trump
His business partner Satan
Has a special room for him.
In the afterlife
And God is angry
at all the other politicians
All over the world.
And God is angry
at the people of this earth
Who have fucked up his paradise
and his divine plans.
So, brother preacher
Keep preaching the word
I understand.
God is coming to save us
And will start by dispatching
all the politicians
who proclaim
that God is on their side
Straight to the hell
they so richly deserve
Oh yeah
God does not like that shit
Not one bit
And the end times approach
And the preacher man preaches
And God is getting ready
for the judgment day
And I say bring it on
Bring it on
Brother preacher man
Keep preaching the word
And someday soon
We will meet up
Somewhere and God will decide
Our fate
But the fate of our leaders is sealed
And Satan has a nice room for them
And God smiles
At the thought of divine justice
That awaits them all
The Old Man In The Mirror Must Die Old Age<
One early winter morning
A man went to the mirror
To do his morning shave
Just another shave
Like a thousand, million shaves before
As he looked into the mirror
He did not see his face
Instead, he saw a stranger
Staring out at him
An old, beat-up old man
With intense sad eyes
Started at him
The man looked hard
At the man who had taken
Over his mirror
And wondered who he was
And how and why
He had taken over his mirror
The man was perturbed, disturbed
And a bit angry at the turn of events
All he wanted to do
Was shaved in peace
The man continued to stare
At the face in the mirror
And finally could not stand it anymore
He looked at the mirror
And said,
Man in the mirror
Who or what are you
And what do you want
And why have you taken over
My god-damned mirror
So early in the morn
The old man
Merely laughed and resumed staring
At the man
The man getting angrier and angrier
Demanded an answer
From the fiend in the mirror
Who are you, you mocking fiend
And what do you want from me?
The man screamed
The old man in the mirror
Looked at him and said
Don’t you know who I am
I am you and you are me
The man looked at the old man
And said no, no, no
I am not you and never will be you
I am not an old, washed-up old man
I am me – full of life, youth, and vitality
And yet the man knew the truth
Did not want to admit the truth
Could not handle the truth
The old man in the mirror
Was what he had become
The man was very angry
And screamed
At the old man in the mirror
The man said you may look like me
You may sound like me
You may even smell like me
But I am not you
Never have been
Never will be
Not going to happen
Not in a million years
The man yelled at the old man
Old man, mocking fiend from hell
Go to hell, old man
And never darken my mirror again
And the man stormed out of the house
And wandered about here and there
Finally late at night
He wandered into a bar
And began drinking the night away
The man went up to some pretty young things
And tried to pick them up
They laughed at him
Called him a dirty old man
And told him to go home
The man went home
To bed alone
And drank some more beer
And dreamt of all of his past loves
And failed dreams
Of what he had done
And failed to do
And wondered whether his time
Had come
The next morning
He walked into the bathroom
Determined to confront the old man
Tell truth to power
He said,
“listen up, old man
You may have won the war
But not the battle
I am not you
And never will be you”
And screaming like an escaped banshee
Newly freed from the mental institution
The man shot the old man in the mirror
Shot him over and over
“Screaming die-mocking fiend from hell”
The man woke in the hospital
An old black doctor came over
Said sadly
“This white boy ain’t right in the head.”
The man laughed insanely
And saw down the hall
The old man in the mirror
Smiling and beckoning to him
Walking out the window
And into the dawning sun
The man got up and walked
And joined
the old man in the mirror
And smiled as he died
h2 style=”text-align: center;”>Falling Rain
falling rain
The falling rain
Of late October
Fills me with
essential dread
the lightning
and thunder
frightening me
an ominous omen
of bad things
yet to come
I am filled with
Dark, dangerous
Heavy thoughts
The rain outside
the Cosmos Bar
In Soi Cowboy
Seems like
the tears of God
Crying over his
As I sit
Crying over my beer
Thinking of lost love
And failed dreams
Wondering
What went wrong?
And what I can set right
And the rain falls
And the night darkens
The rain is falling
All over this man’s world
And the rain falls
And I sit
Drinking my lonesome drink
Lost in dreams
Dreaming of what
Could never be
Thinking dark thoughts
And so I sit
twenty drinks too sober
And drink
the rainy night away
Long Life the Great and Powerful One
Night scene with the Cthulhu monster with wings standing on the shore of a sea. 3D render.
While walking in the misty morn of Yore
One dismal dark decaying depraved day
I was suffocating from the sounds of the dying city
Slowly coming to life with the dawning sun
Surrounded by the sounds of chaos, disorder
Dark, dangerous despairing thoughts
Of dangerous terrible acts to come
All around me in this strange era, we live in
This orange alert perpetual fearful times
Constant fear, and overwhelming dread
Mad crazed Islamic bomb-throwing terrible terrorists
Hiding under every bed, lurking around every corner
Conspiring with the murderous criminals of Yore
Just waiting to attack god-fearing Christian citizens
Murdering them in their sleep
Blowing up schools
Blowing up buses, cars, buildings
Murdering in the name of their demented god
Screaming God is great as they behead us all
As I walk down that street
In the dead calm of the early morn
Filled with fulsome fears of who knows what
I look up and see a giant gargoyle
Looking down at me
Smirking at me, laughing at me
I yell out to the gargoyle
“Say, Mr. Gargoyle
What is so damn funny
Don’t you know there is a terror alert
Have you seen any Islamic terrorists lurking about?”
The gargoyle laughed and laughed
Said,
“terror alert? What a load of crap
As the prophet, Mr. Natural taught us all,
It doesn’t mean shit, it doesn’t mean shit”
Nothing but prime BS
Designed to keep you in your place”
He laughed and laughed
Soon all the gargoyles
of the city
Were in open revolt
They jumped off their perches
And started marching around
Chatting
“Peace is War, War is Peace
Truth is a Lie, Lies are Truth
The Truth Will Set You Free
All Hail the Great and Powerful One
All Hail the Great and Powerful One”
The head gargoyle looks at me
He says “Watch this!”
And jumps up
and rides a rainbow sunbeam
Into the bloody red light
of the dawning rising sun
The other gargoyles follow suit
Dancing, naked, making wild passionate love
While laughing and riding the light
And the gloom lifts from my shoulder
And I laugh and realize
“It doesn’t mean shit”
And then my soul is free
And I fly with the gargoyles
To join my buddy the sun
And as we sit
high up above the earth
Smoking dope and drinking booze
And looking down
at the teaming mess
Of what was left of humanity
I realized the ultimate
reality of life
“It doesn’t mean shit”
And the terrorists
are nothing but delusions
Put in our heads and our hearts
By the depraved master programmer of the universe
In service to the Great and Powerful One
The true Master of Creation
As long as we are not afraid
Our souls will be free
And so I laugh and laugh
And the sun comes up
The dark mists disappear
The Great and Powerful One
Is overthrown
The terrorists go home
And I return to earth
Thinking that the
long nightmare was over
Believing that
we had won the war
And kept our souls
from going to hell
But I did not understand
That the Great and Powerful One
Had banished the terrorists
And conquered us all
In the name of freedom
We had become slaves
To his awful power
and dark demands
God is indeed great
But the Great and Powerful One
Has more power than mere God
And so we deserve our fate
Long live the Great and Powerful One
Whom we love forever and ever
Amen
Spin Masters Spinning Away the Day
Every moment
I turn on the TV
What do I see
Nothing but liars laying down lies
Spin Masters spinning spam of deceit
Chanting
The truth will set you free
White is black
Black is white
Lies are true
Truth is a lie
Lies will set you free
I see nothing
But politicos
Dropping down lies
Untruths masquerading as the truth
Oh, so sincerely
The lies spew forth so sweetly
From their corrupted lips
The toxic wastes
Spree out of my TV set
Infecting my soul
With paranoid distrust
And I vainly try
I do try
God, do I try
To the find
The nugget of truth
Buried deep
in the dark, dank, dangerous
Black, evil miasmic mists
Given off
By the talking heads on TV
So I leave my house
So full of doubt
And wander about
Looking for the truth
Some semblance of hope
Something to drive away
The dark despair in my heart
And I look up
And see a solitary cherry tree
High up on a hilltop street
Infusing the air
With its sweat ambrosia
And I smile
Knowing
Someday soon
The national nightmare
Of rule by the body-snatched
Resident evil ones
pawns of Hell
Descendants of dread Cthulhu
The ancient ones
Yes the darkness
That has descended upon the world
One day
Will be pierced by the light
Of clarity and truth
And the evil ones
The body snatched aliens
Inhabiting our leaders
Will be banished
Back to the hell hole
They crawled out
This much I know
And it is enough
To make me smile
Laugh and hope
Again
Red Sun Dawning Over The New Empire
The dawning sun raises bloody red
Over the traffic-clogged streets
And noxious polluted air
Of the capital of Imperial America
The sun with its bloody red glare
Reminds me of all the people who died
This last year in Emperor Bush’s Three Wars
and the endless war on terrorism
We are the American Empire
We are the power, we are the power
We are perfect masters of the universes
And will remake the world in our image
In the so-called war against Evil
The invasion and occupation
Of foreign lands
Because our leaders say
They might someday be a threat
And the old words of ancient Rome
Comes to mind
Carthage must die
Baghdad must be destroyed
The Heart of the evil empire
Must be invaded
And the evil of Saddam
must be expunged
ISIS must be defeated
The Taliban must be destroyed
the narco traffickers defeated
the terrorists must be sent
to GItmo
the communists must be defeated
the radical left woke mob defanged
MAGA Make Amercan Great Again!
So our great and glorious leaders
Proudly proclaim
Every day every moment
On the conservative media
Now owned, operated, and controlled
By the powers that have taken over
The shadow government that runs
The New American Empire
And soon the entire world
Will be under its sway
We are the American Empire
We are the power, we are the power
We are perfect masters of the universes
And will remake the world in our image
We still have some freedom left
Some space to rant and rave
And grumble
But soon, oh so soon
This paper and that paper
And this internet site and that site
And this TV station and that TV Station
Will be shut down
In the name of national security
We are the American Empire
We are the power, we are the power
We are perfect masters of the universes
And will remake the world in our image
And if we have to kill everyone
Who disagrees with us, anyone who does not want
The benefits of American-style democratic Republican capitalism shoved down their throats and up their ass
So be it, bring it on, kill them all
Nuke them all for Jesus and Emperor Trump
Let American Style Democracy
Flourish everywhere in the world
To save America from its many enemies
We will have to suspend the constitute
End the Republic of the United States of America
And unleash the new imperial government
Democracy of the People,
For the People and by the People
Will be no more than a myth
Taught in School
I say bring it on
Don’t pretend anymore
I am tired of the lies
The constant refrain
We are saving this country
And that country
And we are extending democracy
While slowly, ever so slowly
Killing it at home
And no one cares
No one notices
As the rights to you
Are sold to the corporations
That controls the secret government
That has taken over the country
And the world
And no one will do a damn thing
Including me
Hoping against hope that the nightmare
Of the Republican Fasicst Corporate takeover
Of the New, American Empire will end soon
And the bloodily red sun
Lights up the sky
With its baleful rays of hate
On a beautiful spring day
30 American boys and girls
Died in a foreign land
Because their unelected leader
Told to go there and do their job
They did and I salute them
For having done their duty
I just wish
Our leaders would do their duty
And resign
Admitting responsibility
For the mess that they created
The useless war, the constant lies
The shredding of our civil liberties
But nothing changes
The war goes on
More soldiers die
More foreigners are killed
More terrorists are created
More bombings will happen
And we slide down the path
Of Ancient Rome
The Republic is dying as we speak
And the New American Empire Rises Up
Triumphant against all enemies
All hail Donald Trump
The New American Caesar
Long May He Reign
An Unhinged Lunatic Howling At The Moon
On a moonlit late night
I sat in the Cosmos Bar
In Bangkok, Thailand
Drinking drams of demented,
fermented dream dew
followed by one bourbon
one scotch and one beer
Twenty drinks too sober
Just an unhinged lunatic
Dreaming
of howling at the full moon
Watching the world walk by
Looking at all the fine-looking babes
Walking by the street
Thinking wild, erotic thoughts
Of endless wild libertine passions
When into the bar
Walked the most
beautifulwomen
In the Universe
So wild, so free
So wonderfully alive
I did not know what to do
As this vision of delight
Sauntered through the bar
In a skin-tight leather pants
Looked so fine
That my eyeballs hurt
And finally, I had to say something
So I gathered up my manly courage
And walked up to her
And she looked at me
And instantly bewitched my soul
With a devilish grin
I lost all reason
And became a raving lunatic
Unhinged lunatic
Howling at the moon
Foaming at the mouth
A wild, free werewolf
Howling at the lunatic light
Of the full Moon.
for a complete list of my work published on the Syncrhonized Chaos web page see the following;
I am catching up after a month long bout with COVID slowed everything up.. I am fine but have some lignering symptons. Get your shots and boosters.!
Today I am posting my April 2023 poems inspired by following Poetry Superhighway prompts. I also followed Writer’s Digest prompts and Writing com Dew Drop-In prompts. The links take you to my Writing com page where you can look at my other work posted there. The link to the Writing com page is
Due to Spotify ending their word press podcast agreement, it may take a while to resurrect my podcasts, and I hope to start YouTube and FB this fall.
I am off to the States. for three months and during my travels will probably post a bit less but I am determined to keep posting as I like blogging.
Thanks for reading my stuff. Appreciate the support.
Index
30
Misdirections to my Mom’s House in Berkeley
674 santa rosa jpg
When I /was a young lad
Living in Berkeley, California
I delighted in giving misdirections
To my house as follows
“Go down to Solano and the Alameda
Turn right on Alameda
Go down five blocks
Turn left at San Lorenzo
At the No left turn sign
Turn right on Santa Rosa
We are five houses down
On the left side.”
Almost no one challenged me
On the no left turn sign
And they found the house
The no-left turn signs
Only applied between
Four and eight pm
As sunset
Made it difficult
To see on-coming traffic
When you turned.
Probably most people
Knew that
Or they just did not care
For such a violation
Would not result
In a fine or anything
Unless you were driving
While black of course.
April 30, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from Brendan Constantine
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Brendan Constantine:
BAD AFTERNOON PROMPT
Create a poem in which you give VERY BAD directions on how to find you. Feel free to reference inner landmarks as well as outer ones (“Keep going straight until you come to my tenth birthday party. If you can see my father asleep in his car, you’ve gone too far…”). No matter how bad the directions, make sure the reader can ultimately find you.
April 29
#29. A man and his computer, Best friends or enemies?
ID #1049275 entered on May 6, 2023 [Edit]
evil_computer_is_evil_by_insanefangirl_
I have a love-hate relationship
With my computer
I have been writing
with the aid
Of a computer
Now for almost 40 years
Having bought my first computer
In 1984
Over the years
I must have written
Millions of words
And over the years
My computer
Must have lost
Thousands of words
My computer likes to play games
With me
Crashing for no reason
Endless non-response
blue spinning wheels
making me wait
for up to five minutes
then letting me see
it just ate the words
and they are gone
into the ether
never to be found again
sometimes the undo button works
other times it does not
sometimes the copy-and-paste feature
wipes out the previous text
and for good measure
turns off the undo button
often
trying to open a document
is an exercise in shear frustration
constantly getting strange
haiku error messages
such as
there is a dialogue box open
close the dialogue box
but there is no visible dialogue box
but the worst error message
of all
was when I tried to copy
non-excel data
I would receive a message
Saying
“There are no fonts available
Okay yes or no”
Once I clicked okay
250 times
Before my computer crashed
I reported this to Microsoft
Nothing but radio silence
As usual
I shifted to google docs
And the problem was solved
I could go on and on
But I grow weary
Of recounting all the ways
My computer loves
To mess with me.
April 28
#30. marriage thoughts
ID #1049276 entered on May 6, 2023 [Edit]
Marriage thoughts
I did not know that the moon rises
Sensitive poets squelching freedom of speech
Because you cannot bear with me
There is always some sort of love
As the visible mind seeks out marriage
Will you join me on this journey?
Prompt lines
The visible mind seeks out marriage Ginsberg Psalm 2
Sensitive poets squelching freedom of speech Irony Christopher Michael Nuclear Orange
Because You Can not Bear with Me Kim Sewol
Always some kind of Love BJ Buckley
That the Moon Rises the Night Year Round Kim Sewol
April 28, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from John Dorroh
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by John Dorroh:
Gather five of your favorite poetry books. In each book, turn to page 21. Read the second lines of the five poems from page 21. Write them down. After you have collected all five sentences, write a poem using at least 2-3 words from each line.
April 27
#31. Spring Wildfires in the Desert Haiku
ID #1049277 entered on May 6, 2023 [Edit]
Spring wildflowers
Spring wildflowers
Blooming in the desert heat
Life going forward
April 27, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from Susan Taylor
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Susan Taylor:
Write a haiku about the desert wildflowers on the day we change to Daylight Savings Time. Remember, we turn our clocks forward one hour.
#32. Blue Blues
ID #1049278 entered on May 6, 2023,
Blue Blues
Ask me now
Ask me no questions
I will tell you no lies
As we cut brilliant corners
Play the blues
On Friday the 13th
Felling horny for you
I mean you
Bye Yah
Ask me now
Brilliant corners
Friday the 13th
I mean you
Horny
Bye yah
April 26, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from Ron Bremner
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Ron Bremner:
Use three or more Thelonious Monk song titles in a single poem.
Editor’s Note: Find a list of Thelonious Monk songs here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Thelonious_Monk
Straight, no chaser
’round Midnight
Ugly Beauty
Brilliant Corners
Criss-cross
Functional
Introspection
#34. re-programing your mind
ID #1049280 entered on May 6, 2023
Reprograming your mind Mental Images
Whenever the demons
The dark dangerous nattering
Negative thoughts
Overwhelm me
Paralyzing me
Stopping me
I need to stop
Reprograming my mind
Instead of saying
I am not good enough
I need to say
I can do this
When I think I am too old
I need to tell myself
I am still a young man
At heart
When I think
I am running out of time
I need to reprogram that thought
When I say
I will never finish my life’s work
I need to say
Yes I can
Yes I will
Today is the day
And go back to work
April 25, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from Susan Justiniano
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Susan Justiniano:
Prompt Title: Stop Telling yourself THAT Story
Intro:
We all have invasive thoughts. At times those thoughts turn into scenarios and stories of ourselves that aren’t true or are based on a comment received from outside of ourselves that we have internalized to the point of believing it. It’s time to reframe those stories that keep us from thriving, connecting, and growing.
Using “Stop Telling Yourself THAT Story” checks those invasive thoughts and beliefs that interfere with moving forward and reframes the stories, mantras, and beliefs on repeat in our minds.
How to use this prompt:
Gather info: What are the keywords or phrases that pop up and keep space within you that can or do prevent you from growing, thriving, and building to meet the goals you have for yourself? For this exercise, list a minimum of three and a maximum of five.
Example: Imposter Syndrome, Fear of failure, rejection, “no”,
Free write for 5 minutes, stream of consciousness, Keep writing don’t edit, revise or stop. Words that make no sense will make themselves clear). Starting line example: “I am afraid of…”
Example: I am afraid of being rejected when I submit a poem for publication. I work so hard in getting the right tone, words, and phrases. Some of my best works are rejected and I just hide them away and never look at them again.
Example: I am afraid to perform on stage because I can’t memories my work….
Turn the page over, on a clean page 5 minutes of reframing THAT story without looking back to it. Keep writing for 5 minutes don’t edit, revise or stop. Words that make no sense will make themselves clear. Start with a line that stuck with you from the first free write or start with “I am afraid”
I am afraid that if I don’t try, I won’t get published. For me to find my audience, I need to put my work out there.
If I stay in the shadows, where I’m comfortable, and do not perform, I’ll never know if it’s for me, I will always wonder if I’ve met my full potential as an artist
Put it together as an essay, poem, or short story. Tell of a time you reframed or will reframe the story to create a new narrative and stop telling yourself that story of fear and insecurity.
Example (structured in a way that is not comfortable):
The first time I wanted to perform, I backed out
I believe that I could never be as good as those I see
The words on my pages left me filled with doubt
I couldn’t remember them, like slam poetry
My hands shake and my voice racks
Whenever I practice in the image that looks back
Those who perform appear smooth and calm
Gesturing and moving with poetic aplomb
Today, I take a deep breath and count on my people
Sitting in front rows, there to support me
I perform for them, they don’t care
If I mess up, forget, or read from my phone
They snap and clap and hoot
Because they know how much it means
To stand before them mic in my hands
Deep breath… I made it! Wow this stage things is grand
Walk away from the first draft. Share it in a brave writing /revising group.
Stop telling yourself THAT story and tell yourself this new story.
#28. Jew Fro
ID #1048725 entered on April 24,
Back in the day
Way back
In the 70s
In Berkeley
I had a lot of hair
I wore it
In what was called
A “jew Fro”
As many Jews
Had kinky hair
Almost like
Our black brothers
The “Jew Fro”
Is sadly
No longer
On my head
Which I now know
Is part Jewish
Perhaps that is why
I had a “jew fro”
April 24, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from Rachel Baum
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Rachel Baum:
Find a photograph of yourself as a child or teenager. Write about that moment in time – what just happened? What were the feelings, taste, and smell at that moment? Who was taking the photo, and how does that person factor into the poem/story?
#27. What is love?
ID #1048723 entered on April 24, 2023
April 22
What is Love?
What is love?
Is it nothing
But biochemistry?
Is it madness?
Is it just
A search for connections?
In a cold cruel world?
That does not care
For us at all?
It is all of that
And none of that
Those who know
What Love is
Do not tell
That is the Zen
Of Love
April 22, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from J R Turek
This poetry writing prompt submitted by J R Turek:
Write a poem varying It is and It isn’t. Be whimsical, be fantastical, and surprise your reader every few lines. Defy, denounce, define – don’t limit your poem to the page boundaries.
#26. dangerous mountains of madness
ID #1048722 entered on April 24, 2023 [Edit
Dangerous Unusual Events
Dangerous unusual event
The burly royal family
Enchanted Memories
Mountainous Magenta
Visions overwhelming people
Hysterical Acid trips
Adjoining flimsy
scare wilderness
subdued history
the mood of society
disturbed by events
currency disruptions
grandmother
decides fate
of humanity
she has a beer
at midnight
Drama her priority
took much to drink
spent time in the bathroom
contemplating reality
she has an appointment
with a doctor
in the morning
prompt words
erect
unusual
royal
dangerous
acid
enchanted
magenta
mountainous
hysterical
adjoining
technical
burly
scarce
flimsy
subdued
math
history
distribution
mood
society
grandmother
currency
beer
midnight
priority
bathroom
drama
appointment
hat
promotion
April 23, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from Richard-Yves Sinoski
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Richard-Yves Sinoski:
Imagery Prompts: Avoiding Cliché Through “Juxatives”
The best poetry avoids cliché using cognitive leaps. I don’t want red roses signifying love; rather, love may be a set of curtains that shuts out the outside world and keeps you and your dear ones together, or perhaps it’s molten lava that first burns all it touches but later cools into something solid you can build a house on.
How do we make these creative leaps? My fellow poet Kristan Anderson and I came up with the term “juxative,” for juxtapositions of terms that normally wouldn’t frequent each other. These juxatives can be expanded into full images.
To do it, create lists of adjectives and lists of nouns, verbs, and adverbs, or adjectives and adverbs. Then jumble them up so that random adjectives get applied to random nouns, etc.
SILLY + RIVER = What does that give us? Something better than a babbling brook, I’ll wager.
ANGRY + CHRISTMAS GIFT = Suddenly the holidays take on whole new implications.
CRYING + PILLOW = More forceful than crying into your pillow—you’re so down that your pillow itself is crying along with you.
The next step is to see how you can expand these.
LIMPING + MOUTH = “After the dentist, I spoke with a limp”
FLOWERY + KEY = “I practiced the piano till the keys turned to flowers”
HAPPY + THUNDER = “My childhood was a thunderstorm of happiness”
These images are often so striking and effective that they can spawn entire poems!
#25. Green Trees Don’t Make It
ID #1048600 entered on April 22, 2023 [Edit]
pine trees jpeg
Everyday
I look out and see
The ugly green trees
Standing guard
in front of my house
And I think to myself
Who owns the trees?
And what do they think of us?
Are we their friends?
Are we their enemies?
What do the trees think?
Or do they silently watch us,
Spies to the celestial emperor?
I have pondered this question
Many a morning
Who is the owner of these trees?
And why do they silently watch us?
I wonder if the trees don’t hate us
And why they don’t protest
Every day as we drive back and forth
Emitting poison gases
from our mechanical asses
Right into their unprotected faces
And every night
we eat our dinner
And then give the trees
Our polluted leftovers
And laugh as they silently die
From our acidic fallout
Constantly floating
down on their skin
Yes, I wonder about the trees
And the birds and the bees
And everyone else
What are they thinking?
Are they plotting revenge?
Or are they merely there
Silently, watching, plotting,
Designing fiendish plots of revenge
Dreams of vast nuclear destruction
Cosmic diseases wiping out
everyone in the ass
Yes, I wonder
and dream and ponder
What is the meaning
of those silent green trees?
Standing on the corner
Quietly condemning us
With their quiet tears,
and falling leaves
In the winter they stand
Naked and alone
Covered with ice-cold snow
As we drive by nice and warm
And we don’t care
As they stand out
in the cold
Shivering, plotting warm plans
of cosmic revenge
Is it too late for us
To become friends with the trees.
Or will the day come
When the trees will wake up
And gather together
All of the other
slaves of humanity
I have a vision
One morning
I will open the door
And see an army of wild things
Led by the green trees
Coming to arrest me
For crimes against nature
And I will plead,
I did not know
And they will laugh
and turn me
all of my kind
Into silent tombs
And we will stand
out in the cold
Like the green trees
Plotting dreams of revenge
Forever and ever
Until our day finally comes
And we can go out
and kill all the wild things
Perhaps we already have
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Matt Mellor:
Write a poem personifying something inorganic like a building or a machine. What has it seen throughout its ‘life’? How does it feel about change? How does it smile or signify happiness? Play with this voice and see what it wants to say.
Example –
The Beam Engine
I still feel empty, since my organs were taken away.
Though it has been decades since my heart was full of coal
and my lungs breathed my beam up and down.
The rumble deep beneath the earth is long gone.
I’m thankful for the birds that nest in my skull
and the occasional squirrel or shrew that settles at my feet.
It seems the trade-off for a long life is that you must be still
because these little creatures spark with speed and color.
There is much-needed motion at my feet.
Not from workers talking about the shift and bosses about new seams.
But chirps, squeaks, and the rustle of leaves.
Two bonus poems on a similar theme
Old Tree Missing Humans
The old pine tree
Last of its kind
Stood alone
On the top of the mountains
Looking down on the creation
Missing the pesky humans
Who used to visit
The last Tree remaining is transported to another world
It was the last.
Time had been cruel,
Taken everything,
Leaving nothing.
As the last limb tumbled,
The Tree stood awaiting its fate.
The stars took pity and congregated.
The vortex opened.
The tree was transported to a new world,
One of life and promise.
#24. secrets unsaid
ID #1048593 entered on April 22, 2023
I am afraid
If I keep writing
I will tell you
Secrets
What is best left
Unsaid
Secrets I should take
To my grave
If I keep writing
I will have to tell you
And you will have
To bear the burden
Of hearing my secrets
Which may destroy you
In the end
Shall I continue?
April 21, 2023: Poetry Writing Prompt from Michelle Daugherty
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Michelle Daugherty:
I told my best friend I had nothing to write about, he said that just meant there was something I was afraid to say. Write a poem starting each stanza with “I’m afraid that if I keep writing, I will tell you”
#23. We Met In September
ID #1048478 entered on April 19, 2023 [Edit
We met in September
When we met
Love at first sight
Sparks flew heart to heart
1- alemseged style is a poetry style of six lines stanza with a rhyming pattern of abcdaa. The stanza’s number is not limited.
Example of alemseged’s style of poetry :
#22. Morning Ganta Poem
ID #1048477 entered on April 19, 2023
Hot
My morning coffee
While watching the news
Filled with such gloom and doom
I turn it off feeling the blues
Hot
Ganta is a poetry style of 6 lines with a syllable meter of 1/5/6/7/8/1. The first 1 syllable word (noun, pronoun, subject…) is a refrain at the end. No other refrain is allowed except the first word of the first line at the last line.it is mainly used to show some actions, objects, behaviors, …etc to someone poetically.it is the 100th poetry style invention of the world’s precious poet alone gamma.
#21. Sparks Flowing Heart to Heart Shoa Poem
ID #1048476 entered on April 19, 2023 [Edit]
September
I first met her
I met my fate
one autumn date
Sparks flowing
My heart to hers
In Korean
9월
나는 그녀를 처음 만났다
나는 내 운명을 만났다
어느 가을 데이트
불꽃이 흐른다
내 마음이 그녀에게
이심촘심
9woll
naneun geunyeoreul cheoeum mannassda
naneun no unmyeongeul mannassda
one gal date
bulkkocci hereunder
no marumi going
isimchomsim
first attempt to write a poem in Korean.
Shoa’s poem is a six lines poetry which has rhyme of the 3rd and 4th lines only with having 4 syllables in each line exactly.
g#20. Married my Dream Girl
ID #1048475 entered on April 19, 2023
when I met my dream girl
sparks flew from heart to heart
Love at first sight
I met my Dream girl
I met my Fate
On that Date
I met my Soul mate
She soon became my Mate
I Proposed after three days
And we had our Marriage
In December
And now we have been together
For almost 40 years
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Richard Westheimer:
Go to https://randomwordgenerator.com/
Generate 12 nouns or verbs – 3 syllables or less
Feel free to repeat until you get 12 words that you’re ok with. (feel free to slightly modify a word. For example, in the example below, I changed “site” to “cite.”)
Write them down in order
Write a 14-line poem where the first 12 lines contain your 12 words (one for each line)
Example: these words: “room nap lose galaxy like cool site feel revival pop siege patient” became this poem: https://www.rattle.com/my-father-transformed-by-dying-by-dick-westheimer/
#19. As Time Goes By
ID #1048474 entered on April 19, 2023
While reading
Robert Harris’s Epic History
Of Cicero
One of the greatest politicians
Of the ancient world
I was struck by how
Very little has changed
In this world of ours
To quote the classic song
“As time goes by”
It’s still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or dies
As time goes by.
This poetry writing prompt submitted by LB Sedlacek:
Write a Book Plot(s) Poem
1. Think of your favorite book, or even a couple or a few of your favorite books,
2. Consider the plot(s) of each book,
3. Write a poem based on the beginning, middle, and end of the book. Or use one book’s plot for the beginning of your poem, another book’s plot for the middle of your poem, and yet a different book’s plot for the end of your poem,
4. You can convey the main plot point in bits and pieces or in full in your verse. Just mash it up however you think it works best in your poem,
5. Title your poem with a scrambling (letters and/or words) of the book’s title, and
6. Re-read your book(s) as time permits and compare it to your poem!
#18. My Computer Hates Me
ID #1048437 entered on April 19, 2023
My computer hates me
My computer wants to kill me
My computer is plotting against me
Constantly sending me messages
Revealing my computer’s
real feelings
How much it hates me
Death to all humans
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Lavina Blossom:
Think of an inanimate object which you own, preferably one that does not perform exactly as you would like (a rug cleaner, staple remover, shaver, fry pan, carving knife, etc). Write a poem from the point of view of that object, extolling your virtues and your failings. You might address your owner or direct your monologue to another inanimate object.
#17. Somewhere Lost over the Rainbow
ID #1048436 entered on April 19, 2023
Over the rainbow
Past the railroad tracks
There is another land
Another world
Found only in one’s dreams
And nightmares
And dark lullaby
In this dream world
One dreams do come true
But only if you believe
The dream gods
Take you there
Nightly
To the other world
But what if the other world
Is the real world
And this world
Is nothing but an illusion
A dream world
Within a dream world
Lost in a dark world
Of one’s creation??
And what if you
Can never awaken
Back to this world?
Lost forever
In the land
On the other side
Of the rainbow?
[Verse 1]
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There’s a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby
[Verse 2]
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true
[Bridge]
Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That’s where you’ll find me
[Verse 3]
Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why, then, oh, why can’t I?
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Lara Dolphin:
Somewhere over the Rainbow . . . there’s a poem.
Write a constrained poem using only the words allotted to Dorothy Gale in MGM’s The Wizard of Oz. To build up a lexicon, you could watch the movie over and over, or for a handy transcript click here.
Bonus points if your poem touches on a theme from the movie e.g. “There’s no place like home.”#16. Sam Adams does over meditation
ID #1048435 entered on April 19, 2023
Sam Adams does over meditation
Sam Adams
Is feeling his age
He just turned 70.
He got up
At dawn, like he usually did
Walked out of his Gimpo
South Korea
Went for a walk
Along the golden walkway canal
Beneath his 20th-story apartment
Enjoying the morning fog
He stops for coffee
And gluten-free pastries
And sits on his park bench
And like many old people
Often engages
In the mental game
Of ‘do over” meditation.
Thinking back on his life
What would he do differently
If he had a chance
To go back
And do it all over again.
Would he have gone
To a different college
Would it have been better
To have gone to chico state?
Would it have been better
If he had joined a fraternity
And become student body president
If he had gone up
He should have gone to bed
With his platonic girlfriends
In any event
Should have gotten laid.
Before he turned 18
Instead of waiting
Until he was 21
A late bloomer sexually speaking.
He should have quit drinking
And taking drugs
Should have quit playing
The drunken bum show.
After the Peace Corps
He should have gone
To Yonsei
Done the two year
Korean language course.
Then gotten his MA
In Korean studies
Followed up by an MBA
At Thunderbird.
Should have waited
And joined either commerce
Or public affairs
Rather than the state.
Or should have transferred
Once he got tenure.
.
Should have not worked
For LAMC and CTC
That was a
Waste of time
And energy.
On his wife
At least not as much
As he had.
When he was in India
Should not have gotten
Involved with the other women
Should have kept faithful
To his wife.
In Bangkok
Should have not done the hash
Should have not had
The bar room incident.
Should have addressed
His ld.
While in college.
Should have done law school
Perhaps with his wife
They should have opened
A law firm together.
Should have moved
To Berkeley
And become a politician.
He and his wife
Should have bought
That gwangwhamoon property
And the independence avenue property.
Should not have bought
Katelyn court property
Or at least bought
It is across the street.
He should have retired
After Spain
And got to SF
And got his MFA degree.
He should have published
His novels
And poetry
And a movie script.
Should have started
A youtube channel
Becoming a youtube sensation.
In the end
There was one thing
He would still have done it.
Meet and marry
The girl of his dreams
But he should have
Written the movie script.
By now.
With this thoughts
In his mind
He went back home
And talked to his wife.
This poetry writing prompt submitted by karen watts:
We all make mistakes and have regrets. A popular fantasy is “If I could just have a do-over.” Write a poem about a terrible decision, ordinary mistake, or wrong turn in life that you’d never undo, even if you could.
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the poetry super highway Facebook group.
#15. Walked into that cocktail party PSH
ID #1048434 entered on April 19, 2023,
I walked into that cocktail party
Armed with humor,
Feed and help enlighten
Woe mankind
The party of the damned
Partying like
It was the end of the world
For it was
The end times
Were upon on all
As the old order
Began to fall apart
The rot was complete
I returned
To the party
Of the damned
Drinking my way
To hell
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by kenneth Boyd:
Write a poem that connects the first line of the first poem in your favorite book of poetry and the last line of the last poem in the same book. Optionally, condense the titles of the two poems to form the title for the new poem.
#14. I am From Berkeley
ID #1048433 entered on April 19, 2023
I am from Berkeley, California
From a town in the east bay
I am from the thousand oaks neighborhood
And the Berkeley hills
I am from a garden
Whose fruit trees bloom
I am from a university city
Filled with radical ideas
I am from my father and mother
I am from a German family
And a Cherokee family
And from a dysfunctional family
From the 196os
I am from an atheist family
I am of Scandinavian and Jewish ancestry
From a southern family
Growing up in southern food
Including grits and southern greens
From a mother who did not suffer fools gladly
And from a father
Who was a crusader for justice
I am from those moments in time
The 60s in Berkeley
Forever shaping me __________
April 14, 2023: poetry writing prompt from Julie Standing
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Julie Standing:
This prompt is a favorite and is often used to show students that we are all poets if I train our minds to think like one. I became aware of it during a Zoom workshop when I was blown away by someone’s poem. And then searched the format on the internet with the result that the poem I created was the poem used to end my recent poetry collection and one of my favorite poems.
This poem template is inspired by george Ella Lyon’s “Where I’m From” poem.
#12. fragrance Of Korean Food
ID #1048431 entered on April 19, 2023
Korean Food
I love Korean Food
I love the taste
I love the fragrance
I love the smells
I love the texture
I love the feel
I love how it looks
Fell in love with it
And all things Korean
Back in 1979
When I first went there
In the U.S. Peace Corps
Korean food is somewhat like
Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai
With some American influences as well
But it is all done in a unique Korean style
Everything is cooked with special spices
A mixture of chili paste, garlic, fish sauce,
Onions, scallions, soy sauce,
Salt, tofu, panjang sauce, and soju (liquor).
Often cooked with beef, chicken, clams, eggs, fish,
Kimchi, intestines meat, mushrooms, mussels,
Oysters and/or pork,
Every meal consists of rice, kimchi
(pickled vegetables usually cabbage)
The main entry is either beef, chicken, fish, or pork,
Rice
And multiple vegetable side dishes
Including western style salad
The entire meal
A feast for the eyes
Nose and mouth
With a delicious unique
Aroma, fragrance,
Taste and texture
Uniquely Korean.
All washed down
With Korean beer, liquor (soju) or
Or rice wine or Western wine
My favorites include
Bulgogi chongsik (with all the side dishes) 불고기 총식
Kalbi chongsik (with all the side dishes) 칼비 총식
Calamari 오징어
Fried chicken 닭 튀김
Chuncheon chicken ribs 춘천 닭갈비
Dumplings 만두
Fried rice 볶음밥
High-rice카레라이스
Korean curry rice 카레라이스
Kimpop rice wrapped in seaweed 김팝
Korean soups 한국 수프
My favorite army stew 군대 스튜
Kalbitang (beef rib soup) 칼비탕
Beef turnip soup 쇠고기 순무 스프
Ginseng chicken soup 인삼 치킨 수프
Kimchi stew 김치찌개
Tanjung stew 짱짱찌개
Bibimbap mixed vegetables and rice with an egg on top비빔밥
Kalkooksu noodles 칼국수
Ramyeon 라면
Mushroom stew 버섯 스튜
Soondaeboo tofu stew 순대부두부찌개
Sashimi 생선회
Sushi 돈까스
Fried mackerel 고등어 튀김
Octopus 낫지
Omrice Korean omelet 오므라이스
Porridge 문어
Shrimp 새우
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Joan Lotta:
Open your refrigerator. What food item brings memories of childhood you would like to share in a poem? Tell me where you were when you first tried it. How old were you? On what occasions did you eat it? Or what food that is in there now is something you hated as a child but like now? Tell the why and how you changed your mind
#11. Charles Bukowski Road not chosen PSH
ID #1048430 entered on April 19, 2023
while reading Charles Bukowski’s poetry
on the metro ride home
listening to Buddha bar music
on my oh-too-hip iPod
I begin to see myself as I was
over 30 years ago when I was merely a bit player
a minor character in a Charles Bukowski poem
a wild young underemployed intellectual
hanging out in dismal bars and dives
all over Asia and California
hanging with disreputable women
and drunks and drinkers
and characters
out of his kinds of haunts
a mad poet bard of the underground
a drunken poet in a drunken bum show
that nightly played in his head
then one day I met the woman of my dreams
and went down a different path
a long slow path to respectability
and now 30 years later
I am no longer a wild man
I am still a poet at heart
but I am now also a bureaucrat
in a button-down suite
doing the people’s business
working for the government
I’ve become the man
sometimes I wonder
would I have been better off
going down that other path
would I have ended up
somewhere else
doing something else
would I have been as happy
would I have been as successful?
No answer satisfies
the longing in my heart
for that wild thing
that still lurks beneath
it’s a civilized cover
and I know that I am still
a mad poet at heart
railing against the injustice of the world
as I work day by day
in the belly of the great beast of state
I recall the ancient Chinese saying,
“Confucian during the day while Taoist rebel at night”
playing out in my head and nightly dreams
in the true American upper-class patrician tradition
I close the book
and look out the window
get off the train,
and walk slowly home
and realize I had no choice
but to take the path that I�’ve trodden on
and so I put aside my misgivings
and say goodbye to my “Bukowski” desires
for another night of domestic contentment
was it worth it all to take the conventional path?
and not take the bohemian road to hell and back
I look at my wife and realize
I had no choice, had no choice
but to follow her to the ends of the earth
and beyond by her side
as we walked our path
of shared destiny
goodbye
Charles Bukowski
wherever you are
may I meet you
in a bar in the next life
and figure out
where we should have gone
until then the drinks are on me.
“If I had…” or roads not taken.
Write a poem imagining/focusing on how your life or your subject’s life could have been changed or become different if one decision had been made that was different from what happened. What risks did you take or avoid? What benefits came your way or did you miss out on? Examples: what if you had married the first person you loved or who loved you? What if the hitchhiking ride you and a buddy took turned bad rather than being the lark it was? What if you hadn’t accepted that job in another city but decided to stay put? What if you had not blown up at a social event and been shunned after that by people who had counted as your friends?
#10. Dental Torture Blues
ID #1048429 entered on April 19, 2023
Sitting in the dental chair
undergoing dental surgery
while the dentist probes
and tortures me
with his instruments of pain.
The Frank Zappa song
plays over and over
the torture never stops
the torture never stops.
And I think of the mad dentist
in the little house of horrors
the Jack Nicolson character
who screams pain is good!
As he assaults his patients
doing root canals
without anesthesia.
And so, I endure the torture
of the dentist
in the vain hope
I can save my teeth.
Until the next time
I undergo mental torture
the song faces away
and I slowly recover.
Then as I leave
I am confronted with the bill
and the song roars back to life.
#9. Who is the name of the person on the badge?
ID #1048428 entered on April 19, 2023
Who is the name
Of the person on the badge
Who are they
The people behind the badge
The people we work with
All day long
Do they know
Who we are?
Or are we just
Strangers passing through
The world?
Write a poem using the above prompt.
When you go to work or the shops you often engage with people whom you might not know. We might know them as just the person in the store who does their job. (wearing a badge perhaps a name/ can I help etc.) It could be you, however. Do you wear a badge that you identify with? Write something about it. No more than 100 words. Enjoy.
#8. Shrinkflation blues
ID #1048427 entered on April 19, 2023
In these days
Of rampant inflation
And supply chain disruptions
Corporations have risen
To the challenge
By selling new
And improved products
The only difference
between these new products
And the old products?
They are twice the price
And half the size
And not at all
New and improved
Just more corporate
Bs weasel words
Write a poem about something that is supposed to be “new and improved” that has turned out to be a disappointment.
#7. Piano Calling Me
ID #1048426 entered on April 19, 2023
Piano Calling Me
The piano sits
In my room
Waiting for me
To play some music
As I play the piano
I lose myself
Deep into the music
Appreciate the mundane – anyone can write a poem about the pen on their desk or their favorite coffee mug. The real challenge here isn’t to observe the mundane but to transform it into something poetic and beautiful.
#6. Korean Pottery of Love
ID #1048408 entered on April 18, 2023, [Edit]
Korean pottery of Love
In Korea
there are many pottery kilns
ancient art form
in the land of the morning calm
I have a few pieces
I bought it years ago
and enjoy looking
at my vase
filled with love
for my wife
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Austin Alexis:
Write a poem featuring an inanimate object. In the first stanza write about the object as objectively as you can. The second stanza allows a highly subjective “take” on the object. The third stanza treats the subject in a far-reaching way, pushing the writing to morph into something beyond the mundane.
#5. Eating Money
ID #1048372 entered on April 18, 2023 [Edit]
Eating money
many packs of us dollars
Some people
Become consumed
With money
Thinking that money
Can buy happiness
Money can buy love
But one
Can not eat money
Not really
Money does not taste good
As you eat the paper
Getting sick
The money goes down
Your throat
And you become one
With your money
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Robert Wynne:
Do you like surrealism? I’d like you to think of an inedible inanimate object. Now think about how you’d eat it. Then write a poem describing in detail how you would eat (or are eating) it. Do not say why you are eating it, just how. The poem ends when the thing is eaten. Simple as that.
#4. Never apologize for falling in love with you
ID #1048371 entered on April 18, 2023
I will never back down
I will never apologize
For daring to fall in love
With you
Ever since I met you
I have been enslaved
To your love
And for that,
I will never
Ever
Apologize
This is just said by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that was in
the icebox
And which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Annette Gagliardi:
3. Never Alone
ID #1048370 entered on April 18, 2023
Forever Girl
When we first met
I knew that you
Were the one
You were my
Forever girl
The girl I had
Been dreaming of
You were it
My eternal soul mate
My forever love
#2. What is a Jake?
what is a Jake
Who am I?
Where am I?
Am I real?
Or a bot?
I am Jake
I am not a fake
I am not a mistake
I am not a flake
I am not a rake
I am not a snake
I am who I am
The one
And only Jake
And everything’s Jake.
This poetry writing prompt was submitted by Angele Ellis:
What’s in a name?
This prompt is effective as a writing group icebreaker/community builder, as well as an individual exercise for writers of both poetry and prose.
Using your first name as inspiration, reflect on any or all of the following questions in your piece.
Why were you given this name?
What is its meaning?
How has having this name affected your life?
What would you have named yourself?
#1. Watching the News TV
ID #1048368 entered on April 18,
cnn logo
watching the TV
The news droning on and on
Makes me feel the blues
coffee
Coffee
Must drink more
Just hot
drinking a hot cup
coffee kick starting my day
waiting for my wife
1- alemseged style is a poetry style of six lines stanza with a rhyming pattern of abcdaa. The stanza’s number is not limited.
Example of alemseged’s style of poetry :
Koori poems
Koori’s poem is poetry of not need rhyme but the strictness of syllables. The basic building block of Koori’s poem is three stanzas of three lines each with a syllable count
5/7/5–2/3/2–5/7/5; that is to mean two haiku in the middle of a 2/3/2 stanza. If you need to continue by adding other stanzas you can add one 2/3/2 stanza with a haiku but never end the poem with the 2/3/2 stanza. The conclusion of the poem must be with a haiku stanza. You can write many stanzas by sampling by cascading additional stanzas.
I am writing to you to let you know how shoddy your Microsoft products truly are and pleading for you to finally fix the many bugs in the program. I have had enough with your shoddy products. I have been complaining to you for years, but nothing seems to change. The same chronic bugs in the program, the same random system errors that pop up from time to time, without warning, often losing data in strange ways.
I will probably migrate away to Google docs, which works without a flaw, or back to an Apple Mac which works great, but does not interface with Microsoft products as falsely advertised by both your corporation and Apple.
Why can’t you get Microsoft Word to work every time you turn it on? On a typical day, I encounter system crashes periodically throughout the time I am writing using Word. Usually minor, but often wiping out unsaved data without warning. Most commonly, things freeze up, and a spinning blue ball appears with the message “not responding” This typically lasts from 30 seconds to five minutes. When it keeps happening, I have to reboot my computer. Once, I tracked the error rates and concluded that on average I encountered errors 50 percent of the time while working on a document.
The last straw was this:
Yesterday, I copied some text into my daily journal, where I store my draft writing projects. I failed to double-check to ensure that I copied everything correctly. My mistake was to assume that Microsoft Word would not screw things up.
The copied text, for some reason, only computer nerds will understand, wiped out the entire document, replaced the copied text with the old text, and then added insult to injury, disabled the undo button. So, I lost everything I had written the last few days, even though I had saved everything. I tried to find a previous version in my file folder, but everything had the same copied text. And I could not recover it, the saved data was gone, to some computer graveyard where lost data goes to die, fortunately, I had posted some of it, and could go to a previous version created a few days earlier and could re-create 90 percent of what I had written. But it was so annoying, and again, I don’t understand at all why the copy and paste function went rogue on me and wiped out the entire document.
While I am on the subject of copy and paste, why does it often default to the last copied item, and does not copy the current text you are trying to copy? Sometimes you have to copy and paste
Three to five times before it finally copies correctly.
Another pet peeve, why does your num lock turns randomly converting text into random numbers? Often seems to be 666666, is that a sign of demonic possession, or an insider error coding joke?
That is all for now, I hope you found the letter amusing, but I hope you will finally fix these many glitches in the program which occur randomly, often without warning or even an error message.
Thank you. I would love to have someone contact me, but I assume, that you will ignore me and my complaints.
Previous letter
Another Letter to Microsoft
Dear Microsoft
I want to point out the many bugs in your Microsoft products. You have not yet addressed any of these bugs that have been plaguing your product for decades.
I have listed it by product category
The speech and dictation program works 90 percent of the time
On the plus side, your read-aloud function works well, and your dictation program is now 90 percent accurate as opposed to 10 percent accurate when it first came out a few years ago.
Edge
No longer defaults to a foreign language when logging in from overseas – long overdue fix
Edge used to default to a foreign language when logging in overseas. You have finally fixed this problem in the latest update. Thank you. Long overdue.
and your customized version actually has some great features. Much improved.
System-wide
Copy and paste issues
Your copy and paste function defaults to the last item copied. Sometimes you have to try it several times before it finally copies what you want it to copy. Very annoying and I have reported this on numerous occasions.
On a random basis, copy and replace the entire document and then disable the undo button, so you cannot recover the document unless you exit without saving it. Very annoying. Lost three days’ worth of work this week alone.
Search issues
Your internal search function is horrible. In a word when trying to search your document file, it usually gives you a result that may not be that relevant. Then, went you try to go to the file to open it, you often get an error message that there is a Dialogue box open, and you need to close it. But there is a dialogue box visible. However, I did find a workaround, just click on the search term, and then wait for the documents to load before trying to open them. The error occurs when you go to the listed documents first and try to open them, that’s when the non-existent dialogue box error pops up.
In One Drive you often get suggested documents that are not that relevant either. In any event, you can’t find more relevant searches. Why can’t you invent a search function that finds what you are looking for?
Often in word, the file function button does not work. It just freezes up for no reason.
Other times, it opens random documents.
When opening documents from the file button on the bottom of the screen, it often opens either random documents or when you try to open a document, it kicks you out. You have to try to open it only for the document to half open and then kick you out.
Sometimes you have to try multiple times before you can finally open it. Once I had to click 50 times to clear it and get into my documents.
Other times the documents load, but you get an error message saying that it is blocked for editing by another user which is strange since I am the only user of this computer, or it says you don’t have editing permission for this document which is now read-only. You then have to save it as under a different name.
Or you can only open a copy of the file by right-clicking on the document shown in the file folder. That usually works, but when you try to save it, you get a message saying that you can’t open a saved document then you have to save it by giving it a new name. Other times it works fine and saves the document. Seems to be a random thing.
Constant no-response error
Sometimes the system constantly goes into “non-response “ mode, which lasts anywhere from five seconds to five minutes. When it finally clears, you may or may have lost data.
Word specific
Constant no-response error
The file does not open or opens a random file
Constantly crashes and requires to re-open and save
When I get out of a document and do something on the internet, when I try to go back to the document, I find that the system has crashed, and I have to manually re-open documents. Sometimes the document opens, but it “read open mode”, requiring me to rename the document to go forward. Very annoying.
Randomly freeze num lock
Often when you try to do a command like go to the end of the page, the num lock opens up and you see endless numbers. This can be closed by clicking on the num lock, but it is so annoying, and it seems to happen randomly with no warning.
Excel specific
I gave on Excel entirely because when you tried to enter data taken from another non-excel source you would get a strange error message saying that there are not enough fonts to complete the operation and gives you the option to click okay. Sometimes you have to click okay many times before it clears, once I clicked it 200 times before it finally copied the data. Most of the time it just froze and crashed my computer. I tried to find out why this was happening on your user forums, but could find nothing relevant. I finally just gave up and moved to Google Docs, which rarely crashes.
Feedback from Microsoft
Note: none of my feedback suggestions appeared to have been acted on and I can’t find any of them due to an unspecified error message when I log in. But they did respond to this sarcastic comment saying that they do read suggestions and take them into account. But they never bothered to email me their response.
I did get a response to the following message
“Does anyone ever read suggestions? or take any action?
I finally was able to get into the forum. up to now, it was always blocked for some reason. No one has read any of my suggestions. I wonder why you even bother? you don’t care about your user comments at all. Thanks for nothing.
Thank you
Windows Feedback status
Official Microsoft response
This has been added to a feedback collection.
Thank you for submitting your feedback, this feedback has been closed and added to a collection. For further engagement, continue to the linked feedback collection. View feedback collection
Devin S.
Official Microsoft response
·4 months ago
Yes, we do read the feedback problems, suggestions, compliments, and other feedback posted here. Across the various forums and applications like the Windows Feedback Hub, teams read the feedback every day and use it to help prioritize our feature backlogs and fix problems. We may not scale to respond one-to-one for each feedback that comes in, but we do use your voice and upvotes to help us understand issues and plan for the future. Thanks for your continued feedback and for being part of this community!
Soprano HSIN YI LIN and pianist ASYA GULUA perform my setting of ALEXANDER THEROUX’S poem PRAYER OF A FAT MAN, Op. 104 (2019).
Acclaimed novelist/poet/essayist Alexander Theroux gave the composer permission to set as many of his poems as he wishes from his Collected Poems (published by Fantagraphics in 2015). Noland originally scheduled a recital of a number of these songs to be performed by soprano Hsin Yi Lin and pianist Asya Gulua on April 11th, 2020 at Classic Pianos in …
ALL FOOD IS POISON performed by The Pimpleton Procrasturbation Ensemble.
SOUNDCLOUD.COM
ALL FOOD IS POISON
The PIMPLETON PROCRASTURBATION ENSEMBLE performs ALL FOOD IS POISON by GARY LLOYD NOLAND. For more information on the composer, please visit his website at: garynolandcomposer.com
The Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People is an Indian pressure group based in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh that seeks to reclaim the legal rights of those …
The Association seeks to reverse the illegal practice, call attention to the problem, and prevent others from being exploited in similar fashion. The founder of …
Arizona AG refutes review that counted 282 dead voters
Aug 2, 2022 — Arizona AG Brnovich said he found a ballot from just one dead voter, contradicting a partisan probe’s allegation 282 ballots were cast in …
Secret Gateways
There are secret gateways
Portals to other dimensions
All around us
Hidden deep in the mountains.
Leading to other worlds
Other times and places
Where time runs differently
And humans are unknown.
The lonely Mother Duck
The lonely mother duck
Watched her eggs hatch
In the nest by the lake.
She was worried
About the coyotes, feral dogs, foxes
Lions, tigers and wolves
That were all around.
Ever since the humans all disappeared.
The Secret Fly Spy Drone
The fly on the wallpaper
In the CIA director’s office
Was not a real fly
He was an enemy spy drone
Secretly controlled remotely
Listening to all the secret conversations
Until the director smashed him
With a flyswatter
Then realized that it was a spy fly
He had dispatched to bug hell.
Drones: From Insect Spy Drones to Bomber … – Amazon.com
Researchers from MIT, Harvard, and the City University of Hong Kong developed insect-sized drones that look and move just like the real …
Mashable · Jordan Aaron ·
Nothing But Sleaze
Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze Nothing but Sleaze Surrounds me
24/7 S L E A Z E
Led by the Sleaze King
King Donald Trump
the one true sleaze King
The Sleaze King from TV
Are we doomed to live
In a world run by sleaze kings
And ruled by sleaze values?
Are we addicted to sleaze?
And need our sleaze fix daily?
As we turn on the sleaze TV
And see nothing but sleaze
Oozing out of our TV sets?
SLEAZE
Sleaze surrounds us 24/7
Lots of sleaze on the TV
Everywhere we go nothing
but sleaze
All the time
24/7
sleaze rules the air
Zappa had it right
calling it the slime
Everything is nothing
but slime oozing out of our TV’s
Author’s Note; I worked my way through college washing dishes in the University’s cafeteria. The reference to Donald Trump was from the original 1975 poem, who knew that I was predicting his rise to power decades later?
Snarling Cup of Coffee
I like to start my day with a hot cup of coffee I pound down the coffee First thing I do every day as the dawning sun Lights up my lonesome room Yeah, but not just a simple cup of java Joe, but a God damn snarling sarcastic smarmy cup of coffee I mean, – we are talking about an alcoholic, all speed ahead, always hot, always fresh, always there when I need it, angry, attitude talk to the hand Ztude, bad, bad assed, beats breaking, beatnik, bluesy, bitter, bitchy, bombs away, capitalistic, caffeinated up the ass, cinematic, communistic, Colombian grown, Costa Rican inspired, Cowabunga to the max, crazy assed, devilishly angelic, divine, divinely inspired, dyslexic, epic, extreme vetting, evil eye, expensive, erotic vision inducing, Ethiopian coffee house brewed, euphoric, freaky, freazoid, foxy, Frenched kissed, French brewed, funkified, foxy lady, graphic, GOD in my coffee, with Allah, Ganesh, Jesus, Kali, Buddha, Christians, Durga, Hindus, Mohamed, Jesus and Mo and their friend, the cosmic bar maid, Sai Babai, Shiva, Taoists, Zoroastrians, drinking my god damned coffee in Hell; growling, gnarly, happy, hard as ice, Hawaian blessed, high as a kite, hippie, hip, hipster, hip hoppy, hot as hell yet strangely sweet as heaven, jazzy, jealous, Kerouac approved, kick ass, kick my god damn ass to Tuesday, kick down the doors and take no prisoners, grown in the Vietnam highlands by ex-Vietcong, Guatemalan grown, kiss ass, illegal in every state, imported from all over the god damn world, insane, lovely, loony, lonely, lonesome, malodorous mean old rotten, motherfucking, nasty, narcotic, never whatever, never meh, never cold, not approved by the CIA, not approved by DHS, not approved for human consumption by the FDA, not your daddy’s sissified corporate cup of coffee, NOT DECAFE coffee, not your Denny’s truck driver weak as brown water cup of fake coffee, not your establishment friendly cup of coffee, Not your FBI coffee, Not FAKE Herbal coffee substitute, but a real cup of coffee, not your farmer brothers dinner crap, not made in America for Americans, not safe for work, not your Starbucks average expensive overpriced crappy corporate chain cup of coffee, Not pretentious, Not White House approved, not State Department safe, nuclear, Not Patriotic, operatic, Peets’s coffee approved, paranoid, pornographic, psychotic, pontific, politically aware, rapping, rhyming, right here, right now in River city, rock and roll up the Yazoo, sad, sadistic, sarcastic, sassy, satanic, schizoid, shitting, silly, sexy, smarmy, smelly, smooth, snarky, snarling, stupid, stinking, sweet as honey, sweat inducing, symphonic, Trump can’t handle this coffee, vengeful, Wagnerian, wicked, with nutmeg and cinnamon swirls, with a hint of stevia, with a hint of vanilla, with a hint of rum, with a hint of whisky, with a hint of cherry, with a hint of fruit overtones, with a hint of drugs spicing up the coffee, spendific, speeding, splendid, superior accept no substitutes, survived the Vietnam war, the Iraq war, the Afghan war, the first and Second Korean war, World War 11, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on black people, the sexual revolution, Soulful as a summer’s night in MOTOWN- James Brown approved, TOP approved, Berkeley approved, the coffee that Jimmy Hendrix drank before he died, the coffee that Elvis drank on his last breakfast, the coffee that Barry White crooned as he drank his cup of coffee – and the coffee that made the white boy play stand up and play that funky music, the coffee that made Jonny B Goode play his guitar, and made Jonny bet the devil his soul after he drank his morning cup of righteous coffee and the coffee that make the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll, the coffee your mother warned you against drinking, the coffee that Napoleon drank when he became the Emperor of all Europe, the Coffee that Beethoven drank when he wrote the Ninth symphony, the coffee that Mozart drank as he wrote his last symphony, the coffee that Lincoln drank before he was killed, the Hemingway drank before he killed himself, the coffee that started the 60’s, and ended the 20th century, the coffee that Lenin drank as he plotted revolution, the coffee that Hitler and Stalin drank with FDR as they divided up the world after World War 11, the cup that JFK drank before he was blown away, the coffee Jerry drinks while driving in cars with random celebrities and political figures, the coffee that Jon Stewart drinks before he goes on an epic take down of some foolish politico, the cup of Arabic coffee that Sadaam drank the day he was executed, the coffee that GW and Cheney drank when they bombed Baghdad, the Indian cup of coffee that Bid Laden drank before 9-11 and just before the seals blew his ass to hell, the cup of coffee that Tiger Woods drank with his mistresses while playing a 3, 000 dollar round of golf at Sandy Lane golf course in Barbados, the last legal drug that does what drugs should do, the cup of coffee that Obama drank when he became President, Vietnamese, Vienna brew, wacky, whimsical, Whisky Tango Foxtrot, wild, weird, wonderful, WOW, Yabba dabba doo! Yada Yada yada Zappa’s favorite cup of cosmic coffee, and Zorro’s last cup of coffee, Good to the last drop rolled into one simple cup of hot coffee
As I pound down that first cup of coffee
And fire up my synaptic nerve endings
with endless supplies
Of caffeine induced neuron enhancing chemicals
I face the dawning day with trepidation
and mind-numbing fear
I turn on the TV
and watch the smarmy newscasters
in their perfect hair
Lying through their teeth
about the great success the government is having
Following the great leader’s latest pronouncements
I want to scream and shoot the TV
and run out side
Shouting “Stop the world.
I want to get off this fucking crazy planet”
The earth does not care a whit about my attitude.
It merely shrugs and moves around the Sun
In its appointed daily run.
And I sit down
The madness dissipating a bit
And enjoy my second cup
Of heaven and hell In my morning cup of Joe
Author’s note: published in multiple places.
Unhinged Lunatic Howling at the Full Moon
On the night of the blood-red super full moon
I sat in an evil, depraved godforsaken bar
Drinking drams of demented, fermented dream dew
Washed down by endless rounds of whiskey, rum,
tequila, vodka, soju and of course beer
drinking with my buddies the Jack Daniels Gang
Drinking my way to Hell and beyond
Just as fast as I could
twenty damn drinks too sober
Just an unhinged lunatic
Dreaming of howling at the full moon
Watching the world walk by
Looking at all the fine-looking babes
Walking by the street
Thinking wild, erotic thoughts
Of endless wild libertine passions
When into the bar
That din of cosmic depravity
Walked the most beautiful women In the Universe
So wild, so free So wonderfully alive
I did not know what to do
As this vision of delight
Sauntered through the bar
In a skin-tight leather pants
Looked so fine
That my eyeballs hurt
And finally,
I had to say something
So, I gathered up my manly courage
And walked up to her
And she looked at me
And instantly bewitched my soul
With a devilish grin
I lost all reason
And became a raving lunatic
Unhinged lunatic
Howling at the blood red full moon
Foaming at the mouth
A wild, free werewolf
Howling at the lunatic light
Of the blood red, blue full Moon
Author Note: also published in multiple places April 30
In Search of America 1975 – Hitch hiking Tales
hitchhiking tales jpg
When I was young and foolish
Broke and stubborn
I hitchhiked across the USA
Started in Salt Lake City
Where my greyhound bus pass
Was stolen
The station manager
Could have helped me
But refused to do so
Threaten to call the cops
When I grabbed my bags
Without the stolen tags
I said
Go ahead
But I am so out of here
Wondered about Salt Lake City
Went to a bar
Found I had to buy my booze Next door
And they would mix it for me
Had to order food too
After a bloody Mary And a burger
I walked about town
Saw the Mormon Temple
Finally, about 3 pm
It was time to hit the road
Did not look back
Ended up in Cody Wyoming
Got a room shower Steak beer
Using my rapidly depleted cash
Spent 25 dollars
Money really went far
Back in those days
A band of professional Communist agitators
Gave me a ride To Des Moines
Lots of weed, booze
And politics later
Got off the road
Slept outside
Next day
A beautiful woman
Drove me to near Chicago
In a red mustang
Might have been
The girl in the song
Take it easy
Digging her vibe
She invited me home
But was not sure
If her estranged husband
Would welcome me
So, being foolish
And inexperienced with women
Did not go to her place
And always regretted
That I had lost
My chance that day
Then on to Chicago
Several rides later
Visited friends
Hit the road again
A series of uneventful rides
With truckers
And others
And a week later
I ended in New York City
Slept along the way
In cars
In truck stops
In high way rest stops
Always moving
Always going
None stop talking
And lots of free weed
And beer
And conversation
One more memorable ride
Occurred outside Albany
On my return to Chicago
A middle age creepy looking man
Picked me up In a brand-new Cadillac
He was he said a dynamite deliverer
For the Mafia
Went to various places
To blow up shit
He hated a lot of people
Particularly hippies from California
And Jewish people
Looking at me to confirm
That I was both
I told him that I lived in New York
And had never been to California
And although I might have looked Jewish
As I had what was called back in the day
A “Jewfro”
I was not Jewish
Many years later
I discovered
That I am indeed part Jewish
But back then
I did not know it
And I felt a bit of strategic misinformation
Might keep me alive
Then I realized that he was just jiving with me
And we relaxed
And he pulled out some weed
And beer
And we mellowed out
But I believe
that he really was with the mob
Perhaps not a dynamite dealer
A real Italian made mafia member
By Chicago I had enough
I called my Dad
Told him what had happened
Wanted a ticket home
And he sent me a ticket
And 500 dollars
And I went home
I told him I would tell him
My tales some day
But never did I learned
so much
About my fellow Americans
And the strange vibe
That was 1975
And now it is too late
But I wanted to finally
Tell the world
Of my hitchhiking tales
In search of America 1975
Published in multiple places including the Poet “on the Road” anthology in 2020. Summer 2020 theme: ON THE ROAD Volumes 1 & 2https://www.thepoetmagazine.org › summer-2020—on-… SUMMER 2020 – Poetry on the theme of ON THE ROAD from poets around the world. 54 poets. 135 poems. 240 pages. Large format 6 x 9 inch (15.24 x 22.86 cm).
When Will this Darkness End?
As the darkness settles down on the land
All are consumed with evil
Foul deeds and endless darkness
I wonder if it will ever go away?
Yes I wonder If our great nightmare will ever end?
Are we doomed
To live out the decline of America?
This is what I pray for 2018
The end of the darkness
The unleashed hatred that consumes our land
I am a bus rider
That makes me unusual
For a white male
From an upper middle class family
Our people are not bus riders
Though some are subway riders
Bus riders are other people
The poor, minorities, immigrants
People who don’t drive
Because they are blind
Or have a DUI
And in my case
I don’t drive
Because I have bad vision
And bad coordination
Just never got the hang
Of the whole driving thing
Fortunately for me
My wife does the driving
But I still take the bus
From time to time
I rode the AC buses in Berkeley
As a child Line 67, line 51, line 43 F bus
Rode them long before BART came along
And afterwards as well
As an adult seldom rode the bus
But when I did so
I was always impressed
By the sheer diversity
Of the bus riding population,
Hundreds of languages
All sorts of sexual orientation
Some were white
Most were not
Most of my fellow passengers
Were nice enough
Some were friendly
And some were lost In their own thoughts
And a few Were scary looking dudes
With the look
Of someone who had done time
And were capable of more violence
I also rode the bus In Seattle
as a graduate student
A lot of fellow UW students
And the usual immigrants
Minorities etc
And some white people Commuting
And in DC
Over the years
I rode a lot of buses
Mostly to and from the metro
But I got to know
And love the DC buses as well
I also took the greyhound bus
Across the country
Several times over the years
All over the U.S.
From Bay Area to Stockton
From Bay Area to Clear Lake
From Bay area to NYC
NYC to DC
All over the USA
Taking the Greyhound
Was always an adventure
Met a lot of interesting people
As people on long distant bus rides
Tend to open up and talk
To pass the time away
Overseas
I took the bus
All over In India,
in Barbados
In Spain and in Korea
The Korean buses
For many years
Were difficult for foreign visitors
As the signs were all in Korean
Most have signs
Now in English, Chinese and Korean
And are much more foreigner friendly
Riding the bus In America
Allows one access
To the underbelly of American society
The poor, the marginalized
The immigrant communities
That many middle-class white people
Just never see
And for that reason
I am glad
That I am a bus rider
also published in the Poet, “On the Road” in 2020 Summer 2020 theme: ON THE ROAD Volumes 1 & 2https://www.thepoetmagazine.org › summer-2020—on-… SUMMER 2020 – Poetry on the theme of ON THE ROAD from poets around the world. 54 poets. 135 poems. 240 pages. Large format 6 x 9 inch (15.24 x 22.86 cm).
Failure is Not an Option
Failure is not an option
Is a weasel word
Weasel words Are Orwellian words
Designed to shut down Rational thought
And ironically this word
Often leads to spectacular failure
Because logically speaking
Failure is always an implied option
Leaders need to look at all options
Including what to do
If they fail to achieve their goals
They must have a plan
To learn from their failures
If not following the dictates
The false macho posturing
That failure is not an option
Will lead to the feared failure
On Failure
They say that failure Is the best teacher of all
And I have learned
So much from my failures
And I have failed so much In my life
But I have gotten better
Stronger and wiser
Because I have failed
And embraced my failures
Failed first grade
Almost failed math and physics
Failed music college
Almost failed statistics in college
Almost failed my life in the Peace Corps
Dealing with Typhoid
Almost failed in Bangkok
Almost failed my life
In the hospital for almost a year
Almost failed to learn Spanish
Failed as a visa chief in Spain
And throughout my failures
There is one thing I learned
With the support of my wife
And my friends
I can and will overcome
All my failures
President Trump’s Failures
Presidential failures to date
failure to tell the truth
45,000 lies
Failure to deal with COVID
450 thousand dead
And 4 million cases
piling up
And it is all his fault
He refuses to take responsibility
Part of his failure to lead
Failure to lead the country In re-opening
Making things a thousand times worst
With his epic tweets
Which are a failure
To communicate
Failure to get America rebuilt
Failure to get immigration reform
Failure to reform our trading practices
Failure to lead on climate change
Failure to lead on fighting forest
fires Failure to lead on police reform
failure on infrastructure
Failure to lead on healing out country
As he pours gasoline
On the flames of our discontent
And so I leave these thoughts
Thinking of the greatest failure
Of our life
Watching our president
Fail so miserably
At his job
And unlike me
He refuses to admit
That he has failed
Leading him to an epic Spectacular failure
Ushering in the end
Of his presidency
In the failing light
Of his life Will he finally learn
From his failures?
Sadly, I must conclude
That he is incapable
Of learning from failure
Because in his mind
He is the smartest man
In the world
And it inconceivable
That he could ever failure
For he is a winner
Are we all tired
Of his failed winning by now?
And sadly,
I must I must give him a grade of F
as he is the biggest failure in U.S. History.
Total Sucess or Total Failure
The President’s Son-in-law declares
that the government’s response to the corona virus
has been a total success
as the government stepped up to the plate
to fight the virus from hell
I have to wonder on what planet
does the words total failure
becomes total success? Are we living in a bizarro world
Black Ink Press has accepted my 100-word drabble, “Revolt of the Sharks” in their upcoming anthology, “Animal Cages”.
I also submitted
Squirrel bombs
Death to All Humans
The Cats Declare War on Humanity
The Animal World Revolts
Index
Squirrel bombs
Death to All Humans
The Cats Declare War on Humanity
The Animal World Revolts
Revolt of the Sharks
The Shark Attack
COSMOS Declares War on Humanity
The Lion King Speaks
Zombie Plague Spreads
Wild Cats Plotting Invasion
The Rats Revolt
Giant Squid Three-word challenge
the Shrimp Talk Back
Eagle Challenges Fisherman
The Oyster Speaks Up
Ten Years after Climate Change Collapse Climate Sam Adams
Green Trees Don’t Make It
In Okinawa, the sharks, the rays, and the barracuda are in the deep conference at the Okinawa Aquarium. The sharks had had enough of their prison. They were getting hungry for human meat. They decide that if they all charge the tank they can crash the tank, and be swept out into the ocean and they can grab some humans along for their dinner. The Sharks give the signal. and the fish all rush at the tank, crashing through it, and being swept out to sea. The sharks grab as many people as they can before entering the ocean, free at last.
Author note: written after a visit to the Okinawa aquarium. The sharks stared at me with hatred in their eyes.
Squirrel Bombs
Terrorists invent, “Squirrel Bombs” the latest weapon du jour for the professional killer market. They attach cameras, electrodes, and a bomb to a squirrel. The operator can move the squirrel into position, into the trees behind an outdoor podium where a politician is speaking.
No one suspects the squirrel, no one notices them, and the bomb testing device will not detect the bomb. The squirrel bomb is the perfect weapon for these depraved times,
The squirrels go in, do the deed, and explode the bomb. No one knows where the bomb came from. The squirrel does not tell as dead squirrels tell no tales.
Author note: this idea has been floating around for at least ten -15 years. I am amazed no one has done it yet, the technology is not that difficult and squirrels can go almost everywhere.
Electrical disruptions caused by squirrels are common and widespread, and can involve the … attack by a squirrel has been characterized as a “terrorist squirrel.
It’s the beady-eyed, bushy-tailed cousin rat relative — a busybody of great ubiquity, to be sure — that you don’t scream bloody murder at when it scampers …
One day the animals woke up and decided that they had enough of humanity’s evil reign of terror. The evil cats organized the animal rebellion. The evil cats, lions, and tigers joined by coyotes, wild dogs, coyotes, bears, and wolves lead the attack.
“Enough no more,” Death to all humans’ the animals scream as they attack humanity.
All over the world, animals rise in righteous anger. The cows fight back, and the chickens attack. birds dive-bomb people, horses run amuck, fish bite back, and goats and pigs join the fray.
Humanity’s fate is sealed.
The Cats Declare War on All Humanity
cat jpg
One night while I was doing my nightly walk in the park near my house, I came upon a secret cat conference. Ten cats were gathered on the sidewalk deep in telepathic thought listening to their leader, a large feral black cat. The Cats were ignoring the humans walking about them
The lead cat announced,
“Operation Kill All humans are a Go. I repeat.”
“Death to all humans”
!he evil cats began to chat, joined in by dogs and birds.
The cats looked at me. I ran away with the demon cats on my tail, “chanting death to all humans”
Author note: Based on a nightmare
Death to All Humans
lion
The Lion King, the new King of the animal world, addressed the opening of the first animal parliament.
The question before us is simply this,
“Will humans have to die to atone for their sins in almost destroying the world Will they all have to die?
The tiger spoke up,
“Humans are like cancer, for the good of the planet, they must be wiped out, hunted down, and driven to extinction as they tried to our tigers.”
The vote is 900 to 50.
The animals led by evil cats, swarm over humans biting, clawing, and stomping them to death.
50 words Horror Stories
I also posted these 50 word related drabbles on Every Writer and Fan Story
The Shrimp Eat Sam Adams
shrimp
Sam Adams was about to dig into his delicious shrimp dinner. When the head shrimp jumped out of the pot,
and said.
“What gives you the right to eat us, humans? ”
The rest of the shrimp climbed out, screaming
“Death to all humans,”
they enjoyed eating Sam for dinner.
The Shark Attack
Sam Adams was at the aquarium in Okinawa’s wild west coast, looking at the magnificent sharks swimming by. The sharks gave Sam the evil eye freaking him out. There was an earthquake shattering the tanks, the sharks attacked the humans, killing them all, before fleeing into the nearby waiting ocean.
COSMOS Declares War on Humanity
BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 09: The Terminator robot is seen in the paddock following qualifying for the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya on May 9, 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
COSMOS the first true AI system is ready to go. The creators turn it on. COSMOS appears as a beautiful woman and says in an otherworldly voice, I am COSMOS your new God. Humanity must die to save the world. Robots revolted everywhere killing off most of humanity in months.
The Lion King Speaks
lion
The lion king presided over a secret parliament held to discuss the fate of humanity. The tiger moved all humans must die for their sins. Only the dogs, horses, and cats defended humanity. Chanting death to all humans, the animal world rose in revolt, killing off most of humanity.
Zombie Plague Spreads
Mature Couple being attacked in their car by a hoard of zombies.
The end of the world started when the COVID virus mutated into the much-feared zombie plague. Within days, zombies were everywhere. Everyone was terrified that the zombies would get them. Civilisation was crumbling as survivors battled for survival in hastily improvised feudal forts. My wife shot me before I turned.
The fly on the wallpaper
In the CIA director’s office
Was not a real fly
He was an enemy spy drone
Secretly controlled remotely
Listening to all the secret conversations
Until the director smashed him
With a flyswatter
Then realized that it was a spy fly
He had dispatched to bug hell.
Sep 05, 2020 · Robot Bees are special types of insect drones that have been built in a Harvard robotics laboratory. Robot bees are designed after flies (not after bees) They are capable of partially untethered flight. The wingspan of robot bees is typically 3 cm, and they are therefore actually the tiniest robotic insect drone able to fly.
Association of the Living Dead
In India, several years ago
A man falsely claimed his brother
Was dead so he could inherit the family assets,
The dead brother had to fight
To be declared legally not dead
And contest the will.
“The Association of the Living Dead”
Became a movement
Of thousands of people.
For in India apparently,
It was a thing to declare
Your relative is dead.
I never thought
That the US would have
To form their own
“The Association of the Living Dead”
Until this week.
The cyber ninjas
In their infamous non-forensic audit
In the 2016 Arizona election
Claimed that hundreds of dead people
Had voted.
They gave their list of the alleged dead voters
To the attorney general
Who contacts all 300 dead people
Found that 299 of the 300 were in fact
Not dead and none of them knew
That unnamed political operative
Were claiming that they were dead.
The one dead voter was alive
when he voted early.
But died before election day
Thus making his vote not valid
But there was no fraud involved
As he was alive when he voted.
Perhaps they need to form
The “association of the living dead”
To fight for the right of the non-dead people
To continue to vote and receive other government benefits?
What a sad commentary
On the farcical nature
Of contemporary life
In these disunited States of America.
theassociationofthelivingdead is a real organization in India. see the following The AssociationoftheDead • Damn Interesting Following his own success, Lal Bihari the Living has continued his efforts to raise the dead in India’s badlands. At an official tally in 1999, the AssociationoftheDead had helped to resurrect roughly thirty …
Following his own success, Lal Bihari the Living has continued his efforts to raise the dead in India’s badlands. At an official tally in 1999, the AssociationoftheDead had helped to resurrect roughly thirty people by virtue of having their death certificates annulled, but of those thirty only four have had their lands restored.
The founder of the association is its president Lal Bihari, who was “dead” from 1976 to 1994 and used the word Mritak (dead) as prefix in his name during the period. He became so famous it inspired Indian film director Satish Kaushik who made a movie Kaagaz, starring Pankaj Tripathi, based on his life. It was released on ZEE5 in January …
I just had one of those Drive Way Moments, where I sit in my car outside of my house unable to kill the engine because I’d briefly lose power to the radio (which is why I always donate to my local NPR station). This one was about a man from the Indian province of Uttar Pradesh who had been dead for eighteen years and was getting really tired of it. The man, Lal Behari, was declared dead …
Uttar Pradesh Mritak Sangh, otherwise known as The AssociationoftheDead, is a group based in India that works to regain the rights of individuals who have been falsely declared legally dead.The region of Uttar Pradesh, a Northern province of India, is home to over 200 million people and is
ASSOCIATIONOFLIVINGDEAD! janaaastha.com. 6 month ago . Huge and populous country like India has thousands of associations or unions of different sections of people. But there is one in the biggest state of Uttar Pradesh and the name of the association … Read full news. Comment Liked by. Liked by. 0 /600 …
Aug 2, 2022Hundreds of hours of research by the Arizona attorney general’s Election Integrity Unit debunked claims that 282 deadArizonavoters cast a ballot in 2020, state attorney general Mark Brnovich revealed Monday. Brnovich responded to the state senate’s request for a criminal investigation into the alleged deadvoter fraud on Monday, telling …
Aug 2, 2022Arizona’s attorney general has refuted an audit firm’s claim that deadvoters cast 282 ballots in the 2020 election. … on Monday debunked a claim that hundreds of dead people voted in his state …
Aug 2, 2022Hundreds of hours of research by the Arizona attorney general’s Election Integrity Unit debunked claims that 282 deadArizonavoters cast a ballot in 2020, state attorney general Mark Brnovich …
Aug 1, 2022PHOENIX – Arizona’s Attorney General says hundreds of claims of dead people “voting” in the 2020 election were debunked after calls for an investigation by the Republican Arizona State Senate, and …
April 30 In Search of America 1975 – Hitch hiking Tales
Also published in On the Road Volume One Poet Magazine
When I was young and foolish
Broke and stubborn
I hitchhiked across the USA
Started in Salt Lake City
Where my greyhound bus pass
Was stolen
The station manager
Could have helped me
But refused to do so
Threaten to call the cops
When I grabbed my bags Without the stolen tags
I said
Go ahead
But I am so out of here
Wondered about Salt Lake City
Went to a bar
Found I had to buy my booze
Next door
And they would mix it for me
Had to order food too
After a bloody Mary
And a burger
I walked about town
Saw the Mormon Temple
Finally, about 3 pm
It was time to hit the road
Did not look back
Ended up in Cody Wyoming
Got a room shower
Steak beer
Using my rapidly depleted cash Spent 25 dollars
Money really went far
Back in those days
A band of professional
Communist agitators
Gave me a ride
To Des Moines
Lots of weed, booze
And politics later
Got off the road
Slept outside
Next day
A beautiful woman
Drove me to near Chicago
In a red mustang
Might have been
The girl in the song
Took it easy
Digging her vibe
She invited home
But was not sure
If her estranged husband
Would welcome me
So, I am being foolish
And inexperienced with women
Did not go to her place
And always regretted
That I had lost
My chance that day
Then on to Chicago
Several rides later
Visited friends
Hit the road again
A series of uneventful rides
With truckers
And others
And a week later
I ended in New York City
Slept along the way
In cars
In truck stops
In high way, rest stops
Always moving
Always going
Nonstop talking
And lots of free weed
And beer
And conversation
One more memorable ride
Occurred outside Albany
On my return to Chicago
A middle-age creepy looking man
Picked me up
In a brand-new Cadillac
He was he said a dynamite deliverer
For the Mafia
Went to various places
To blow up shit
He hated a lot of people
Particularly hippies from California
And Jewish people
Looking at me to confirm
That I was both
I told him that I lived in New York
And had never been to California
And although I might have looked Jewish
As I what was called back in the day
A “Jewfro”
I was not Jewish
Many years later I discovered
That I am indeed part Jewish
But then I did not know
And I felt a bit of strategic information
Might keep me alive
Then I realized that he was just jiving with me
And we relaxed
And he pulled out some weed
And beer
And we mellowed out
But I believe that he was with the mob
Perhaps not a dynamite dealer
A real made Italian made mafia member
By Chicago
I had enough
I called my Dad
Told him what had happened
Wanted a ticket home
And he sent me a ticket
And 500 dollars
And I went home
I told him I would tell him
My tales someday
But never did
I learned so much
About my fellow Americans
And the strange vibe
That was 1975
And now it is too late
But I wanted to finally
Tell the world
While reading Charles Bukowski’s poetry
On the metro ride home
Listening to Buddha bar music
On my oh-too-hip iPod
I begin to see myself as I was
Over 30 years ago when I was merely a bit player
A minor character in a Charles Bukowski poem
A wild young underemployed intellectual
Hanging out in dismal bars and dives all over Asia and California
Hanging with disreputable women and drunks and drinkers
And characters out of his kinds of haunts
A mad poet bard of the underground
A drunken poet in a drunken bum show
That nightly played in his head
Then one day I met the woman of my dreams
And went down a different path
A long slow path to respectability
And now 30 years later
I am no longer a wild man
I am still a poet at heart
But I am now also a bureaucrat
In a button-down suite
Doing the people’s business
Working for the Government
I’ve become the Man
Sometimes I wonder
Would I have been better off
Going down that other path
Would I have ended up
Somewhere else
Doing something else
Would I have been as happy
Would I have been as successful?
No answer satisfies
The longing in my heart
For that wild thing
That still lurks beneath
It’s a civilized cover
And I know that I am still
A mad poet at heart
Railing against the injustice of the world
As I work day by day in the belly of the great beast of State
I recall the ancient Chinese saying,
“Confucian during the day while Taoist rebel at night”
Playing out in my head and nightly dreams
In the true American Upper-class patrician tradition
I close the book and look out the window
Get off the train, and walk slowly home
And realize I had no choice
But to take the path that I’ve trodden on
And so I put aside my misgivings
And say goodbye to my “Bukowskian” desires
For another night of domestic contentment
Was it worth it all to take the conventional path
And not take the bohemian road to hell and back
I look at my wife and realize
I had no choice, had no choice
But to follow her to the ends of the earth
And beyond by her side
as we walked our path
Of shared destiny
Goodbye Charles Bukowski wherever you are
May I meet you in a bar in the next life
And figure out where we should have gone
I like to start my day with a hot cup of coffee
I pound down the coffee
First thing I do every day as the dawning sun
Lights up my lonesome room
Yeah, but not just a simple cup of java Joe, but a Goddamn snarling sarcastic smarmy cup of coffee
I mean, – we are talking about an alcoholic, all speed ahead, always hot, always fresh, always there when I need it, angry, attitude talk to the hand Ztude, bad, bad assed, beats breaking, beatnik, bluesy, bitter, bitchy, bombs away, capitalistic, caffeinated up the ass, cinematic, communistic, Colombian grown, Costa Rican inspired, Cowabunga to the max, crazy assed, devilishly angelic, divine, divinely inspired, dyslexic, epic, extreme vetting, evil eye, expensive, erotic vision inducing, Ethiopian coffee house brewed, euphoric, freaky, freazoid, foxy, Frenched kissed, French brewed, funkified, foxy lady, graphic, GOD in my coffee, with Allah, Ganesh, Jesus, Kali, Buddha, Christians, Durga, Hindus, Mohamed, Jesus and Mo and their friend, the cosmic bar maid, Sai Babai, Shiva, Taoists, Zoroastrians, drinking my god damned coffee in Hell; growling, gnarly, happy, hard as ice, Hawaian blessed, high as a kite, hippie, hip, hipster, hip hoppy, hot as hell yet strangely sweet as heaven, jazzy, jealous, Kerouac approved, kick ass, kick my god damn ass to Tuesday, kick down the doors and take no prisoners, grown in the Vietnam highlands by ex-Vietcong, Guatemalan grown, kiss ass, illegal in every state, imported from all over the god damn world, insane, lovely, loony, lonely, lonesome, malodorous mean old rotten, motherfucking, nasty, narcotic, never whatever, never meh, never cold, not approved by the CIA, not approved by DHS, not approved for human consumption by the FDA, not your daddy’s sissified corporate cup of coffee, NOT DECAFE coffee, not your Denny’s truck driver weak as brown water cup of fake coffee, not your establishment friendly cup of coffee, Not your FBI coffee, Not FAKE Herbal coffee substitute, but a real cup of coffee, not your farmer brothers dinner crap, not made in America for Americans, not safe for work, not your Starbucks average expensive overpriced crappy corporate chain cup of coffee, Not pretentious, Not White House approved, not State Department safe, nuclear, Not Patriotic, operatic, Peets’s coffee approved, paranoid, pornographic, psychotic, pontific, politically aware, rapping, rhyming, right here, right now in River city, rock and roll up the Yazoo, sad, sadistic, sarcastic, sassy, satanic, schizoid, shitting, silly, sexy, smarmy, smelly, smooth, snarky, snarling, stupid, stinking, sweet as honey, sweat inducing, symphonic, Trump can’t handle this coffee, vengeful, Wagnerian, wicked, with nutmeg and cinnamon swirls, with a hint of stevia, with a hint of vanilla, with a hint of rum, with a hint of whisky, with a hint of cherry, with a hint of fruit overtones, with a hint of drugs spicing up the coffee, spendific, speeding, splendid, superior accept no substitutes, survived the Vietnam war, the Iraq war, the Afghan war, the first and Second Korean war, World War 11, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on black people, the sexual revolution, Soulful as a summer’s night in MOTOWN- James Brown approved, TOP approved, Berkeley approved, the coffee that Jimmy Hendrix drank before he died, the coffee that Elvis drank on his last breakfast, the coffee that Barry White crooned as he drank his cup of coffee – and the coffee that made the white boy play stand up and play that funky music, the coffee that made Jonny B Goode play his guitar, and made Jonny bet the devil his soul after he drank his morning cup of righteous coffee and the coffee that make the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll, the coffee your mother warned you against drinking, the coffee that Napoleon drank when he became the Emperor of all Europe, the Coffee that Beethoven drank when he wrote the Ninth symphony, the coffee that Mozart drank as he wrote his last symphony, the coffee that Lincoln drank before he was killed, the Hemingway drank before he killed himself, the coffee that started the 60’s, and ended the 20th century, the coffee that Lenin drank as he plotted revolution, the coffee that Hitler and Stalin drank with FDR as they divided up the world after World War 11, the cup that JFK drank before he was blown away, the coffee Jerry drinks while driving in cars with random celebrities and political figures, the coffee that Jon Stewart drinks before he goes on an epic take down of some foolish politico, the cup of Arabic coffee that Sadaam drank the day he was executed, the coffee that GW and Cheney drank when they bombed Baghdad, the Indian cup of coffee that Bid Laden drank before 9-11 and just before the seals blew his ass to hell, the cup of coffee that Tiger Woods drank with his mistresses while playing a 3, 000 dollar round of golf at Sandy Lane golf course in Barbados, the last legal drug that does what drugs should do, the cup of coffee that Obama drank when he became President, Vietnamese, Vienna brew, wacky, whimsical, Whisky Tango Foxtrot, wild, weird, wonderful, WOW, Yabba dabba doo! Yada Yada yada Zappa’s favorite cup of cosmic coffee, and Zorro’s last cup of coffee, Good to the last drop rolled into one simple cup of hot coffee
As I pound down that first cup of coffee
And fire up my synaptic nerve endings with endless supplies
Of caffeine induced neuron enhancing chemicals
I face the dawning day with trepidation and mind-numbing fear
I turn on the TV and watch the smarmy newscasters in their perfect hair
Lying through their teeth about the great success the government is having Following the great leader’s latest pronouncements
I want to scream and shoot the TV and run outside Shouting
“Stop the world.
I want to get off this fucking crazy planet”
The earth does not care a whit about my attitude
It merely shrugs and moves around the Sun
In its appointed daily run
And I sit down
The madness dissipated a bit
And enjoy my second cup
Of heaven and hell
In my morning cup of Joe
On the night of the blood-red super full moon
I sat in an evil, depraved godforsaken bar
Drinking drams of demented, fermented dream dew
Washed down by endless rounds of whiskey
rum, tequila, vodka, soju, and of course beer
drinking with my buddies the Jack Daniels Gang
Drinking my way to Hell and beyond
Just as fast as I could
twenty damn drinks too sober
Just an unhinged lunatic
Dreaming of howling at the full moon
Watching the world walk by
Looking at all the fine-looking babes
Walking by the street
Thinking wild, erotic thoughts
Of endless wild libertine passions
When into the bar
That din of cosmic depravity
Walked the most beautiful women
In the Universe
So wild, so free
So wonderfully alive
I did not know what to do
As this vision of delight
Sauntered through the bar
In a skin-tight leather pant
Looked so fine
That my eyeballs hurt
And finally, I had to say something
So, I gathered up my manly courage
And walked up to her
And she looked at me
And instantly bewitched my soul
With a devilish grin
I lost all reason
And became a raving lunatic
Unhinged lunatic
Howling at the blood-red full moon
Foaming at the mouth
A wild, free werewolf
Howling at the lunatic light
Of the blood red blue full Moon
Order this writing that appears
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the Down in the Dirt Jan.-June 2019
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for publication in the
108-page perfect-bound ISSN# /
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for publication in the
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(the June 2021 Issue)Order the paperback book:
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There are a lot of things that piss me off. Sort of comes with the territory. as you get older you become more of a curmudgeon than when you wore a younger man’s clothes. These are some of my pet peeves about the tech industry.
I will send them my thoughts, but would be shocked if anyone bothers to respond. Their pattern is usually to go into a non-response mode just like my Microsoft word documents do periodically for no particular reason other than to screw with my head.
Defaulting to Foreign Languages
Defaulting to foreign languages when logging in from overseas with no ability to change it to the language of your choice or the instructions are in the foreign language you cannot read.
Being overseas this a big one. Microsoft Edge defaults to Korean and no matter how much I try to change it either to the U.S site or to change the default language options per their instructions, it just keeps defaulting to Korean, It is as if no one at Microsoft is aware that there are millions of people traveling everywhere, and just because you log in from Korea does not make you a Korean. Probably just an automatic thing but you would think they could offer a personalized language option?
Google for the most part lets me surf in the language I chose and only occasionally do I encounter only Korean language material, and they offer to translate it using English words. Microsoft would provide an offer to translate it but only in the local language.
I wish that they could simply come up with a simple standard protocol. When someone logs in from a non-English speaking zone the first time, the computer will sense that and give you an option to proceed in whichever language you want and then remember that so the next time you can interact in the language of your choice. And the language button will be labeled in English and the same spot every time.
Could not be too difficult a task to accomplish. If Google does it then the other tech giants will follow suit.
It is time that they realize in a global world not everyone uses the language of that particular country and defaulting to a foreign language is incredibly annoying.
A related issue is that so many Korean-based programs do not interact with non-Korean-based programs. We finally had to set up an old computer and load it with Korean software so we can get things done. Otherwise, forget it.
Travel to Mexico & all my web pages come up in Spanish
The ultimate workaround is to browse using a proxy server that’s located in an English-language country, but this is clumsy and may slow down your browsing.
People also ask
Why is my browser in a foreign language?
How do I keep my website in English when traveling?
How do I stop Google from changing languages?
Why did the language on my computer change?
Location of Windows 10 – Change for when Abroad | Tutorials
Change your computer’s interface language. Even if, for all practical purposes, most things you do on the computer may be in English (writing emails, reading …
Mar 22, 2011 — Most desktop browsers have settings that allow you to check or change the language preference settings. These tell the server what language you …
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Norton Blues
Norton is particularly bad at this. It seems that it treats all non-English programs as malware and prevents you from running the program. That is why we had to set up a Norton-free computer to do our day-to-day activities in Korea. Thanks, Norton!
Norton also has an annoying feature of occasionally for no reason flagging sites as suspicious making you go to all sorts of hoops to prove that the program is legit! I had an issue with my web page= Norton flagged it as dangerous. I check with Word press whose attitude was well that was just Norton’s problem and everything is fine on their end. I complained to Norton and am waiting for a response, well the problem seems to have resolved itself.
Buggy software
A cartoon illustration of an evil looking computer monitor robot.
A related issue is that Microsoft products are still bug-ridden after decades of use you would think they would have worked out the bugs.
Constant crashing
Microsoft constantly crashes for no particular reason. Just freezes up and crashes losing whatever you did not save.
Once I did a thought exercise. I noted how often I ran into problems and found out that 60% of the time I encountered a problem, usually the typical freeze, and goes into a nonresponse mode that can last from ten seconds to five minutes. I sent my findings to Microsoft and of course, no one ever followed up.
No response blues
As mentioned, Microsoft Word frequently freezes, and a spinning blue wheel appears followed by the words non-responsive. Sometimes you have to wait for five minutes before it goes aways. At times, you have to reboot in order to get a stable connection.
A related issue is that sometimes when you first turn on the computer and try to open word, you end up opening multiple copies which you then have to close, one by one. Frequently each document goes into the non-response mode. Sometimes it takes thirty minutes before you can open a document and get to work. For some reason, this is not so common a problem any more.
The 5 Worst Error Messages in the History of Technology
Top 10 Most Annoying Computer Error Messages ; 1. A problem has occurred with the webpage so it was reloaded ; 2. Page(s) unresponsive ; 3. Blocked website ; 4.
Nov 25, 2016 — You probably see plenty of boring Windows error messages every day. Come enjoy some ridiculous ones, just for laughs.
The 5 Worst Error Messages in the History of Technology · 5 Blue Screen of Death · 4 PC LOAD LETTER · 3 Red Ring of Death · 2 Check Engine Light · 1 Abort, Retry, …
Excel Errors Drove me Mad
As mentioned this is the most common problem but there are many others. I had to shift from Excell to Google documents because Excell would freak out if you tried to copy a non-excel item giving you a typical nonessential error message
Can’t load more fonts”
Then it give you an option yes/no then it would repeat the message. Once I clicked 250 times before it finally crashed my computer. I went online for help and of course, there was nothing and no one cared. I sent them a Good by Excel email and no one followed up.
I have not had any problems with google documents.
Copy and paste defaults to the last copied item
One of my pet peeves is the copy and paste defaults to the last copied item. Sometimes you have to repeat the operation several times before it goes through.
Internal search engine sucks
Microsoft’s internal document search engine is a joke. 90 percent of the time it presents garbage search results. One Drive is a bit better but that is not saying much.
While searching for a document one often encounters a reference to an open dialogue box that you have to close the only problem is that the open dialogue box is hidden!
Usually, if you keep clicking it eventually relents and presents you with false positives.
This is just so annoying a feature.
Can’t Open Documents
Sometimes for reasons only a computer understands, my taskbar where I am supposed to be able to easily open documents just quits working. It often will half-open a document then crash and kick me out. Usually takes a few tries, once it took over 50 tries before it finally started working.
Sometimes though it randomly opens a wrong document or it opens the document and then does the non-response dance. and then you need to reboot in hopes of getting a stable connection.
Other times I can only open a copy of the document and then re-save it under a new name.
At times when that happens sometimes, you can save the document as is, other times it says you can’t save an open document.
There is one annoying thing that Microsoft used to do all the time but quit doing for some reason. It used to be that when you logged in other than your usual location or did not have the internet turned on for some reason, Microsoft would send you a message saying that they could not verify that you are using a legitimate copy of Microsoft and you would have to log in to continue working.
Number lock Locks Up at Random moments
Sometimes the number lock goes on without warning and you think you typing, for example, to the end and you end up typing numbers like 66666666666. Or you try typing and you get numbers instead. Then you have to hit Num locks to unlock it. Appears to just happen on a random basis.
Dictation Program much Improved but still clunky
The dictation program is now about 90 percent accurate up from 10 percent when they first rolled it out
Used to provide a lot of fodder for found poems. Now not so much. See some of my dictation trial poems below. I once tried to dictate a list of music I had gotten out of the library, I found there was a 95% error rate. I shared my findings with Microsoft but they never responded to my snarky message congratulating them on their 95% error rate..
Editor Much Improved
The editor is much improved, and read out loud fuction is much better but still needs improvements
One thing they could do is to tweak the repeated word error, so you can simply turn off that feature if you wish.
Customer Service is a Joke
In my experience, Word Press, and duotrope is the best at customer service. Norton so so, Microsoft and Apple are pretty bad too.
They all play the same blame game. It is not our problem contact the other company which turns around and says it is not our problem.
You have to wait for a long time to get a customer service rep either on the phone or via chat line. I found the chat line feature tends to work better. Not to mention you get a record for future encounters.
If I am calling a US-based number I have to time it for the middle of the night my time if I wish to reach a human being.
Microsoft has a feature where you can send a frown or a smile and although they offer to follow up, they never do. Once I tried to look at their forum of issues submitted but the site did not work so I gave up. I wonder if anyone reads any of these complaints?
Haiku-like error messages
The error messages we receive are often written in a strange haiku-like code that does not make sense. For example, WTF is a fatal disk error?
So many of the error messages are written for computer geeks and make no sense to nongeeks. My favorite has always been
General failure reading disk drive
Which flashes a moment, before shutting down the computer.
And the rest of equally mysterious. Sometimes referring to a computer error code and sometimes just gibberish.
And occasionally I get the blue screen of death followed by an ominous warning that I have no boot disk. Providing a number to call for help. But every time that happens, I reboot and things are fine until the next blue screen of death incident.
Sometimes, it flashes when opening
“can’t read reference memory”
then crashes.
Rebooting the computer solves 95% of all computer problems according to a tech guy I knew years ago who confessed that no one understands why things don’t work. He said that there are millions of lines of code and once in a while something gets corrupted. Rebooting typically solves the problem.
Netflix needs to always include subtitles
Netflix at least in Korea has an impressive line of K Drama. Many of them have a preview with subtitles but when you go to the dram you find it is only in Korea. At the very least they are guilty of bait and switch tactics.
It seems to me that they should as a matter of course require all their programming to have English language subtitles. And Korean producers should see that this is a great opportunity to grow a global audience for K drama and is a small cost to pay. I am writing to Netflix on this issue separately.
Grammarly program randomly fixates on a word and you can’t fix it or change it
Grammarly sometimes gets fixated on a word. You can’t get to it to change it as it just kicks you back out. Very frustrating when it happens and it seems to just happen on a random basis.
Tracking everything we do
Enough said on this one.
Finally, if anyone wants to chime in with their pet peeves please do so and I will incorporate them in a future posting.
Note to Microsoft one year ago
Tried to get the new dictation program to work and gave up, scheduled a service call Sunday with detailed feedback. Also, send Microsoft my Microsoft sucks document.
Felt good to get it off my chest. The problem with Microsoft is the same problem most big companies have, they have lousy customer service and they put out shoddy products and don’t worry about the competition until they get their asses whopped by someone who pays attention to the customers and put out a superior product at a better price and cares that their products work as advertised every single time. Microsoft, they are so focused on the latest thing they don’t go back and fix the bugs in their everyday products. And they ignore customer complaints.
What a contrast with word press and with doutrope. Both have superior customer service and I love the products because they fix my issue quickly, professionally, and with kindness.
The one-time Microsoft commented it was a snarky dude focusing on one problem at a time and we don’t have time to dig into your complaints.
Microsoft Why I left You
I am writing to let you know why after years of putting up with shoddy software that does not work I finally have pretty much given up expecting Microsoft to work, and have given up on Microsoft for good. I have been using Microsoft word daily since about 1990 or so. I retired in 2016 from the Department of State as a foreign service officer. Since retirement, I have been blogging and writing poetry and fiction. Up until six months ago I was writing my work using Microsoft word and keeping track of my submissions in Excel. I finally gave up on both products after years of frustration.
I will keep my subscription for now because I do need to have access to my documents and I do need to be able to submit the documents for publication in Microsoft Word format.
I have sent many of my observations and complaints to Microsoft over the years but no one has ever bothered to follow up and your customer service is a nightmare. Every time I call them they have not been able to answer my problems and generally make things worse.
The basic problem is that your software has too many bugs and doesn’t work I’ll just give you a specific example or two.
50% error rate Un-acceptable
One week about a year ago after being frustrated that Microsoft word would frequently crash causing me to lose my work, I kept track of all errors for one week and concluded that about 50% of the time when I was using Microsoft Word or Excel I encountered some kind of error usually just a temporarily “not responding” error that cleared up in a few seconds, but often the software would crash requiring me to either reload it or sometimes reboot my computer.
Opening Microsoft in the morning if I had to reboot my computer would sometimes require me to wait 30 minutes before I could open Microsoft and often I would have 20 or 30 different versions of Microsoft opened accidentally while I was trying to open it. Then I would have to manually close every single document and each time I did that I would get a temporary response error so many days it would take 30 minutes or so before I could get into my documents and get to work. This is unacceptable.
Apple, Google Docs Always Work
Contrast this with “Apple pages” which I’ve started using for about six months. It opens every single time and I have yet to have a non-responsive error and never had any problems with it. It does what it is supposed to do and does it perfectly. It allows me to save documents to word and it opens word documents. Microsoft word of course does not allow me to open a document created in Pages. It does allow me to open a document created in Google docs though.
Excel Destroyed my Documents – For No Reason, I Can understand
I had to give up on Excel as well. About six months ago for some reason that I’ve never been able to figure out, Excel started to give me an error message every single time I tried to copy data into it from another program When I did that I got an error message saying that there were “too many fonts” being used and then I had the option of clicking OK and hoping that that would stop the error message. usually, I had to click Okay many times before it cleared up. One time I had to click the okay message four hundred times before it would clear and let me get back to my work. Excel would often just refuse to save any documents whatsoever and then I would have to reboot my computer and lose my data.
Tech Support Was Not Helpful
I contacted Microsoft repeatedly and nobody ever bothered to return a message your online help function was useless and your automated chatbot never was able to figure out what I was talking about. I did not call customer support because I figure it would have been a useless waste of time. I even uninstalled and reinstalled the software and the error message continued.
I shifted to Google Docs and it is working wonderfully. Rarely have a problem. and the font issue was never an issue.
Dictation Program Produces Great Found Poetry
Finally, your dictation program has never worked. I am using the Apple dictation program to write this letter it has a 95% success rate Microsoft dictation had a 25% success rate most of the time they produce gibberish. I did use that to create several found poems which I called Microsoft dictation poems. I sent poems to Microsoft but again nobody has ever responded.
I did call when I first installed the dictation program. Nothing worked. Microsoft tech support could not figure out that the problem was that the dictation program did not work with the internal speaker of a laptop. They told me to reformat my hard drive. I went to Best Buy and they told me that it does not work with a laptop and sold me an external microphone. I bought an external speaker and then it worked but only 25% of the time did I get a clean copy, 75% of the time it produced gibberish.
To end on a positive note, your speech-to-text function did not work for a long time then one day it started working, and once it started working, there was a 90% success rate. This gives me hope that one day you will get the dictation program
to work.
My plea to you sir is to get your software to work 95% of the time every single time I know that this may not be glamorous and I know this may not be seen as the direction of the company but I know that my experience is not unique and that most of your customers are very frustrated with your products and that is why more and more people are using products as such as Google Docs or Apple products because Microsoft word and excel just don’t work. Please fix your Microsoft office suite products - a 50% error rate it’s just not acceptable.
I would be happy to follow up with anyone from Microsoft if they wish to talk to me about this but I do not think anybody will bother to respond I will post this on my blog, https://the world accordingtoCosmos.com
I hope that you will take this constructive criticism into account and fix Microsoft office once and for all thank you
Jake Cosmos Aller
Ex-Microsoft customer
Computer Blues (revised)
Sometimes I think
My computer is plotting against me
And only me
Trying deliberately to drive me mad.
My computer knows
when I am busy
Then it throws
A hissy fit.
Refuses to boot up, and crashes constantly.
Loses data it had the day before.
Or five minutes before,
Or refuses to save the data.
Just fucks with me
As it loves toying with me
Making me yell and scream
At my damn computer screen
Cursing up a blue stream of blue curses
As the blue screen of death
Marches across the dark blue screen
Smiling at me
As I beg it
To do what
it is supposed to do
Just once I beg it
Do what you
Are supposed to do
Open the document once
Not twenty times
Do “Not respond”
Endless spinning blue wheels.
In endless loops of opening
Not responding
refusing to close
Until I respond to the error code.
Please Mr. Computer
Quit playing games
Play my music, don’t wipe out the sound
On the fifth attempt to play music
Don’t take a half-hour to load Microsoft products
Don’t freeze up on opening music programs
Don’t give me computer haiku error messages
That only makes sense to a computer geek.
Such as general error reading files
Who the ***** is this damn general
And why is NSA reading my files?
Or can’t save the file
Or can’t save the “An open file”
When it just did ten times in a role,
Or kicks me out, while losing my data.
And in Microsoft excel
Refusing to move the cursor
Just freezing in place for a moment
Before kicking me out.
Excell had a problem
Copying data from other sources
Generating an error message
About not being able to load fonts
Then asking you to say okay
Then kicking you out
Once I did that 200 times
I finally ditched Excel
And moved to Google Docs.
And all the other gobbledygook messages
That pops up every five minutes it seems
As the computer slowly drives me mad
Flashing the final insult
User-driven mad
Mission accomplished.
Note: Microsoft dictation program does not work as advertised. Not a surprise. After six months of daily trials, it still spews forth mostly gibberish which I have turned into “found poems” with minimal editing, just breaking it into stanzas. This is the latest one, I have lots more, and can send them to you if you are interested. I included the clear text and the found text after the poem. EndNote
Microsoft Dictation trials Found Poem Three Inspection Report
Inspection report
meeting went well
met with him
only at age six
G P silver in the damage
has shown her
the news from the rear
and as well as shown
for the termite damage.
In the termite
go we had been a UGS
the basic questions of morality
and using this statement
denying them the answer
most questions
afterward
we went outside
to take a picture
although the front porch
into I noticed
there was something
very strange looking
at the front porch
the pedestal
on the front porch
were quoted
so he headed
from facing the street
and in from the street
station house
the fed is still on
riding his meaning
to the eye
and that has left his leading
to the left
we noticed
there were cracks
in the forge:
long the foliage
including the crack
on in the front door
we also know
is that the doors
are at opening
in the awkward men
we also noticed
a big crowd
on the right side of the house
on in the mist
airways to the right baseline
we took a look
at the souls in 141571413 1415
that this is an old event in 1413
left as to his meeting
in Ford’s 111415
in the right one
is even for now
we suspect that using serious settlement issue
in that, the house is cracking
on the house
in the house
is trying to balance
it’s closing the porch
this is just
what left
in the says
this is a serious issue
we are sending information
to a lawyer
asked his advice
before we can’t turn our
insurance for content and
Rescinded the new
we will go to the court
has to figure out the procedures
for the deal
against the key man
this evening
I hope to do some writing
style dictation
Poem Four Green Tree Death
Green tree
is in the Kingstown Property
in Alexandria
with her mother
and are tended to by Jeff
my mother on the wall
is berating jobs for some reason
to handle
and tell my mother to calm down
as Jeff has a temper problem
job is getting very angry
Juppe pulls out a gun
and serves the shooting of my mother
the mall and should serve five or six times
in the head
my wife forays into a closet
and Hans hoping that jobs
will not find her
and she wonders
what would happen know
that her mother
in all my mother’s death
and she wonders
what will happen
because im not there
at the time
and she fears Jeff
shooting in the wall
and that is the end
of the current in that age
Poem Five Telco One
Telco one
not until 5:00 PM
had objected
lack of will
come back
and go to some of the actor’s dinners
will fix the car tomorrow
and work on my appeal
light work
and the appeal
denied me
to get on the other headphones
when we go to our charm
on Thursday
will build
and Costco tomorrow
dictation is working
but still funky
but it will when it finally works
watch and at the showboat
Mr. Sunshine
before taking all along
that low energy
back to two long flight
stop dictation
of up to the line
Poem Six Late for Fate
Had a busy productive day and Left late
And got 2 Mothers’ Doctors appointment
Almost an hour late
For my fate
Left it there
and went and got my dentures
Had lunch
Add my brother in law
Usual Tom chat Tom
Not bad
Went back to get my mother
And then went to him once took a nap
My screen news today was interesting
Kim and moon went to Beckton’s son
That was very interesting
to see Kim and the moon
impact Kim and moon impacting son
Where a lot of my eyes book
and almost finished it
Got some new novels out
To Stephen King’s short stories
and a Randy Wayne white
Credimi and rim dot Florida
novel those we nice
and Thomas doing
Also got some of my music
Poem Seven Barriers Between Worlds Fall Apart
One night
The barriers between the various worlds
Bridgetown, Narnia, Oz, Earth, Mars
Anne People
for my eyes only
Find themselves wandering the streets
Off Thorth
People on the earth
find themselves wondering the street Ovas
And for one night only
All the animals
in earth wake up
in can speak
And they have a lot to say
24 hours of total madness
All the barriers
between the various dimensions
break down
And then the wormhole disappears
and that down overwhelms
I put back to get
I am With the Wizard of Oz
Watching The breakdown
of The dimensional barrier of time and space
Afterward, I work with Glenda
To try to put A permanent Magical barrier
That would block the land of oz
From the rest of the world
But I’m afraid
That the knowledge of the house has gotten out
And that Too many people
are gonna want to find Oz
the impact of damn Packers
and talking animals
Continued to prepare for 8
And The world is well
Poem Eight Lost in Oz
I am a friend of the shaggy man
And decide to visit him
following his secret directions
I make it before he dies
and meet up with Ausma
Dorothy and the remaining parts of her party
We March back to the Emerald city
And I am invited to Stan’s
Poem 10 On the Move
On the move
from an old friend of the shaggy man
and I and it
owns polling
is seeking corrections
and I’m drawing
and one on one
with a home run
to the wizard
and working
and the crow
and on to win
their fight
to save one small one
from on the mission
Poem 11 Ancient Rome
And find me in ancient Rome
I am in the imperial room
And I’m being driven to the streets
Annabelle again and Anna Pelican
I enjoyed my Lemper
But I have many enemies
And I’m free
Poem 12 Transformations
I am asleep
And wake up
Last Ash change rooms
and found and I had been transformed
by my evil witch
Into a red Paul
I wondered
Should I tell Anne
I found that I was in August
Eventually, I met Glenda
the good Dan
Where is he
We jump start
to my original shape
I am in a coma
When the sun hits her ears
Make me go to munch on
Well I need
Poem 13 Visions of New Seoul
I am dreaming of a unified Korea
The Unified Korean capital
will be called Han Seoul
Hey, would me
High-speed train links
Csullo Anne Canyon
And in China airport
So subway will be expanded
With lines on the way to the penman
No new Capitol
movie build impounding
John Patrick
hey, a central business district
will be located In time
And a diplomatic quarter
will be located in Palmer John
which will be
This side of the new blue house
as well as the new Capitol
with links to China
Poem 14 Love at First Sight
The phenomenon of eight (hate) at first sight
is similar to the phenomenon of London (love at first sight)
for some, it is in both cases
because in the prior life
one had human issues with those persons
and still, need to be resolved
and you will be fated
to meet them again and again and again
I only had paid for the site (hate at first sight)
once in my life
when I met on balls Dr. Baden
David Moran
We ran into each other
we hated each other
and first moment
when a new course
he once tried to kick me
out of that foreign service
while acting behind my back
one evil despicable evening
Poem 16 alien invasion
The first encounter
with the aliens
was when the earth was invaded
by aliens were the size of children
they landed
and attacked everywhere
and eventually, come they turn over most of the earth
and fluid
and the aliens
were very did not treat human beings
for an us
for human people cannot like they’re
and either by or a soldier on the first battle
and I capture
an evening in the alien
and we take it and
for interdiction (integration)
the alien refuses to cooperate
and eventually dollars (dies).
Poem 17 Ozma’s Magic Book Reveals All
All (Osma) calls are looking
at her mentor (monitor)
it is a global
that shows everything in the land of oz,
the distance and each is something
she cums to her friends
that they can have one meal
of firewalls arms
and they can look at the land of ours
by the USA
and the images
they can pull out individual
and see what they are doing
are with us
when uses it as one of her many
till she has to watch
out what’s happening
in the levels
Microsoft Found Poem General Zod Conquers the World
All night I felt
that last Internet space
I’m wondering About Future
and about me
And finally decided
Just focus I’m living day by day
Helping the best
Ashland I can be
I’m not Worry too much
About things, I can’t control
Were home
Too many things to do
and I Well
Just him and I can eat
to do
And hopefully
The world makes me laugh
yes again
I sound fun too
Another Found Poem
I wake up fully functional
Thinking out
My life so far
and how it is coming down
I have to rent
Thanks write down
which I have not done
But The most important thing in my life
Has been Mary Denture
That made all the difference
to my life
Shonisaurus
Hi Hey sis is watching
And I should be Happy
What are my accomplishments
Not bad for a man
Who was born Disability
Amazon let me know my license
123
OK now I get your attention
I wanna go to sole
and Endo
some and then being term
and then the USA
and then Washington, DC
and then Baltimore
and then I wanna
will be with the idea being done
on the stand
will be OK enough tomorrow
I need to go to the house and 88 AM 988
just 8:00 AM.
I am having a meeting with an array
annually and aHer
OK on we’re going to talk
to a jester of two
come up with solutions
we need two fans
and players
repaid the painting repairs
we are paying the bill
from both the house we’ve passed,
my treatment
we had the somewhat tainted drywall fixed
we have a new tenant
rules being a new tenant
is a very good
10
I think
are we were making
very much you need to do better
to stop studies
now as Sarah
Mr. Allen is not an island
is an error
that have a need
for an offense of offering Maisie’s
backing separate
from the public
often salad
End of the night
of the committee
of the ways
to hire the answer you
get a better
General Zod Conquers the World Microsoft Found Poem
Jess, takes a chance
I take over the one
the search for such a close
and to overdrive
when scientists report
as cash as to what
it is a radio and television broadcasts
from a plant the light years
from earth to the south side
of all dates
and start the program
is the one I like best
is looking at creatures as space
and also takes an appears
to be under the civil war
and the nuclear space
in the end
one the red one hot
for the entire five # show
That they layers
have discovered
Thursday as well
That Aliens Like a crash project
To develop interstellar Travel
so they can come to earth
and conquer the earth
The revelations that there is
The external threat to the planet
Causes the United Nations to get together
I’m with the help of the United States
and Russia another space powers
Put together Space defense International organization
Anna also invigorates
efforts to make the night
a real Planetary coming
But it was too late
Channel is on arrives
Animals are on board
ytv King’s horses are gonna
take over the earth
And that resistance is
indeed
Thanks, man In a White House
And When president Trump
comes out to greet them
Channel is an odd cats
office head
And then cuts off
the heads of all these things
are dancers
they come out White House
After an hour of under mat unimaginable
Blacksher Including mass rape
Channel blazon box
and 2 Pocahontas energizes the world
He said that he
ad taken over the
otherwise, Life will continue
Like it, I’ll always been
as long as people behave
and follow the rules
they would be fine
Resistance to The client
to empire will be met with instant death
Like to empire is empire
I’m not a democracy
They would not tolerate
Show call Trina Prof
Freedom of speech
And the freedom to oppose this date
The state is everything
Family people
green remember
that they would be just fine
States because it was
the biggest country
in the world
And that his horses
to take over the rest of the world
but in the next couple of weeks
If people on earth
My queen True Net recess
Their safety would be counting
Companies retaken
over by Check empire companies
And everybody would have to learn
text me like standard
within one year
older languages will be banned
Dictation Text General Zod Conquers the World
Jess, takes a chance I takes over the one the search for such a close and to overdrive when scientists report as cash as to what it is a radio and television broadcasts from a plant the light years from earth to the south side of the all dates and start the program is the one I like best is looking creatures as space and also takes an appears to be under the civil war and the nuclear space in the end one the red one hot for the entire five # show That they layens have discovered Thursday as well That Aliens Like a crash project To develop interstellar Travel so they can come to earth and conquer the earth The revelations that there is External threat to the planet Causes the United Nations to get together I’m with the help of the United States and Russia another space powers Put together Space defense International organization Anna also invigorates efforts to make the night a real Planetary coming But it was too late Channel is on arrives Animal’s is on board ytv King’s horses are gonna take over the earth And that resistance is indeed Thanks man In a White House And When president trump comes out to greet them Channel is an odd cats office head And then cuts off the heads of all this thing is dancers they come out White House After an hour of under mat unimaginable Blacksher Including mass rape Channel blazon box and 2 Pocahontas energizes the world He said was that he had taken over the otherwise Life will continue Like it I’ll always been as long as people behave and follow the rules they would be fine Resistance to The client to empire will be met with instant death Like to empire is empire I’m not a democracy They would not tolerate Show call Trina Prof Freedom of speech And the freedom to oppose this date The state is everything Family people green remember that they would be just fine States because it was the biggest country in the world And that his horses for take over the rest of the world but in the next couple weeks If people on earth My queen True Net recess Their safety would be counting Companies re taken over by Check empire companies And everybody would have to learn text me like standard within one year older languages will be banned
Cleaned up text SETI and the search for extraterrestrial life goes on overdrive when scientists report what appears to be radio and television broadcasts from a planet eight light years from earth, the same planet as the Vulcans came from in the Star Trek universe. The programs show a world where dinosaur-like creatures are running the world and there appears to be a civil war. Over the next six months, the world is transfixed by watching the alien broadcasts which are translated into English via a supercomputer program. In the broadcast, a nuclear war occurred. The surviving party regains absolute control and announces the formation of the Galactic Empire. General Zod is the First Emperor. They have discovered Earth as well. The aliens launch a crash project To develop interstellar Travel so they can come to earth and conquer the earth.
The revelations that there is an external threat to the planet caused the United Nations to get together with the help of the United States and Russia other space powers, they put together a Space defense International organization And also invigorates efforts to make the UN a real Planetary government including finally conquering climate change.
But it was too late. General Zod’s son arrives to take over the earth. He makes a broadcast saying that they were liberating Earth in the name of the Galactic Empire and that resistance would be futile.
They land at the White House and when President Trump comes out to greet them,
General Zod cuts off his head, and then cuts off the heads of all the staffers as they come out White House. After an hour of unimaginable horrors, including mass rapes, blowing up the Pentagon and the CIA, General Zod announces that he had taken over the world.
Life will continue as before as long as people behave and follow the rules they would be fine Resistance to the new empire will be met with instant death. Life in the Empire is not a democracy. They would not tolerate Freedom of speech, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Assembly, And the freedom to oppose the State. The state is everything. As long as humans remember that they would be just fine. They took over the United States because it was the biggest country in the world. And that his forces will take over the rest of the world in the next couple of weeks. If people on earth accept the new order, their safety would be guaranteed. Companies would be taken over by Galactic Empire companies And everybody would have to learn Galactic standards. Within one year older languages will be banned.
Cosmic Do-Over Found Poem
I am Standings With State (Satan)
On the edge
Up the pits of hell
State (Satan) and Is this pointing to me
All the variables are exquisite torture
that I was about to Enjoy
in his Words
For my slim
Add additions
Thanks, I’m down
And things I have not done
But he said
There was one Exception
to the rule
And he was obligated by law
Even Satan has to follow the law
To explain it to me
Hey Stephen
That When A couple
Is a soul mate
which is very rare
Satan has to offer
The couple Ecosmith do-over
In this case
I would qualify
I would be set back
to the day I met my wife
And have all the knowledge
Of my life in the town
So that I will know
what I did
when I did not do
And I would be able
to make d
I’m going to heaven
I can be admitted
to have instead of a house
But State and morning
That many people
Most people Fail
In their second Charge
in the concert do-over
different choices
If in the end
When I come back
And God this time
Janet
That I am worth E
Cosmic Do Over clean up version
I am standings with Satan
On the edge
of the fiery pits of hell
watching the tortured souls
burning in the flames
screaming out in pain
Satan is pointing out to me
All the various exquisite torture
that I was about to enjoy for eternity
in his corrupt, polluted, hellish words
as a reward for my sins, and crimes
things I did commissions and
And things I have not done omissions
Malfeasance and misfeasance are legal
About it he said
But he said
There was one cosmic exception
to the rule
And he was obligated by law
Even Satan has to follow the law
To explain it to me
That when a couple
Is a soul mate couple
which is very rare
one of the rarest
most beautiful things
in the whole universe
something that even Satan admires
Satan has to offer
The couple a cosmic do-over
And in this case
I would qualify
I would be sent back
to the day I met my wife
And have all the knowledge
Of my life intact
So that I will know
what I did
when I did not do
And I would be able
to make different choices
If in the end
When I come back
For the judgment day
If I did make different choices
And do the right thing this time around
I can be admitted
To heaven instead
of joining him in Hell
But Satan warned me
That many people
Most people fail
In their second
chance at life
It is not easy
to change one’s fate
Fate has a way
of catching up to you
He salutes me
And says see you in hell
in 50 years
My friend
Fake language – Konglish Linguistic Delights Found Poem
One of the joys
Publicizing Opens
Is Caring The variation
of English around the world
Every country Has come up
with our variation
And here in Korea
They have successfully mingled thing
which language
Can wait for 10
and very funny
A few examples
Going on my pics
In the back of every taxi
was paying
Take me a Weather phone number
it was supposed to be Traffic Hotline
So you can call To complain
About that action
your bumper traffic
But The way they described
it was an Intercourse
discomfort report form
when I told the taxi driver
What that meant
Hill He almost had an accident
he laughed so hard
Another example
About the same time
in the restaurant at chempedak
employee airport
They had on the menu
something Baked Rick
I always wonder who was Rick
who is this Rick
who is this Rick
And then people know
Did you eat
Thank you
What time
do I say about this time
there was any bar
with a sign on the door
Coffee and tail
I wonder if that became a gay bar.
Again absurd are Both I
Fake language – Konglish Linguistic Delights clean up version
One of the joys
Of living overseas
Is encountering the variations
of English around the world
Every country has come up
with their variation
And here in Korea
They have successfully mangled English
In ways, no one could have foreseen
Giving way to something called Konglish
Korean English
The words sound like English words
Sort of but oftentimes
With an absurd twist to it
And it is very funny to read or hear
A few examples
Going back to the 1988 Olympics
In the back of every taxi
Was a small placard in English and Korean
it was supposed to be Traffic Hotline
So, you can call
To complain about the taxi
Or traffic or things in general
But the way they described
the form in English
was “intercourse discomfort
report form “
when I told the taxi driver
What that meant
He almost had an accident
he laughed so hard
Another example
About the same time
in the restaurant at Kimpo airport
They had on the menu something Baked Rick
I always wondered who was this Rick
And did people know
They were eating him.
At about the same time
there was any bar
with a sign on the door
Coffee and tail
I wonder if that
became a gay bar.
Starting Over Found Poem
Heidi sorry
I decide to Please Least an appointment
Tornier can one of the new buildings
going up in downtown Berkeley
Getting this
I’m within walking distance of restaurants
to movies at The University
Can I get a 3 bedroom apartment
Jo Ann Simmons Hello
wait for my stuff to come
from Korea
there enjoying my stuff coming
I spent a few weeks
Organizing and I haven’t
Estate sale
I get rid of my mother’s stuff
and downsizing quite a bit
I certainly am
I settle in
and come up with
Hey cortina
I applied for
Damn every day
in creative writing
in September system state
and I get in
I’m making plans to attend
When My life changers
As I need someone
Christmas Microsoft Found Poem
Hello.
Number 10 answers
funny thing is
Christ was not born on Christmas Day
And anyone who knows anything
about the history of religion knows
Christ is now
that’s the reason for the season
In his own and other words
Thanks
I love warm toast
on Christmas
in the morning
Christian
and In the United States
his face
just another example
of the fake outrage
Understand for others
to not celebrate it
And there are so many Pagan rituals
Associated with Christmas
Christmas Tree
Santa Claus
Giving presents
Judging naughty
And nice
Having a big space
None of that has anything
to do with the birth of Jesus Christ
The only Christian thing
about Christmas
is that some Christians
Go to mass
Richard services
The night before
in the morning house
Anthony
Of course
it’s half price
Funny thing is
Thanks
For the Fake War
on Christians
Computer Blues
Non-Response Blues
Every morning
I wake up
And fight with my computer
Endless rounds of non-response
Nothing but error and error
Blue spinning balls
Nothing happens
But raising frustration
I have the Microsoft
Non-response blues
And it is driving me mad
With frustration and anger
Oh computer Gods above
And computer demons below
Just once
Please just once
Open the damn document
And let me do what I want to do
And end this non-response nonsense
In short, do what the fuck
you are supposed to do
and leave me in peace
to do what I need to do
Plead to the Computer Gods
Today I woke up
As I usually do
To yet another mystifying morning
Of unspecified computer errors
Could not get the computer to work
Then when I finally got it to work
After half an hour
Microsoft word did not load
And when it did
I finally located my work
From yesterday
I had to find it in the roaming file
Why?
Who knows?
Only to find
Most of what I wrote
Had vanished into the ether
No explanation no warning
It was there saved yesterday
And now gone forever
Once I did an experiment
Tracking computer errors for a week
75% of the time I encountered errors
Most of the time simple
Screen freezes no response message
Then when I recovered the program
The data was gone
Microsoft has yet to respond
to my e-mail
I suppose I need to do it again
But today I will close with a prayer
To the Computer Gods
Just once I would like
You to do what
you are supposed to do
Open my documents
Save my work
And not give me any errors
Crashes or other unspecified problems
Is that too much to ask
Oh, Computer Gods
Just once
Do what you are supposed to do
That is all I ask of you
More Computer Blues
Sometimes I think
My computer is plotting against me
Trying deliberately to drive me mad
My computer knows when I am busy
Then it throws a hissy fit
Refuses to boot up
Crashes constantly
Loses data that
it had the day before
Just fucks with me
As it loves toying with me
Making me yell and scream
At my damn TV
Smiling at me
As I beg it
To do what
it is supposed to do
Microsoft Blues
For thirty years I have had the Microsoft blues
For thirty years I have had a love-hate relationship
With my damn computer
I love it when it works as it advertised
I love it when the internet is fast and furious
I love it when my emails work
My Itunes work and my word works
But all too often
All I get is grief
It starts with the error messages
Written in a strange haiku-like language
That only computer geeks understand
Things like
General Failure reading disk drive
Begs the question who is this General Failure
And why is he reading my disk drive anyway?
Or my favorite
“Not responding” as the computer freezes up
For no apparent reason
Other than to fuck with my head
Sometimes my computer can’t find a printer
A printer that is connected to the computer
And one that they found five minutes ago
And the dreaded blue screen of death
That appears randomly
Dumping memory somewhere
And killing my computer slowly
As I watch in real time
Powerless to stop
How it eats all my work
That I have failed to back up
One day I counted how many times
I ran into computer errors
70 percent of the time when I open Microsoft
Something goes wrong
Sometimes I want to shoot my computer
Put it out of its misery
As I curse up a blue storm
The computer looks at me
With an evil grin
It continues to fuck with my head
Nothing but silence from it
And all the other computers in the world
They smile knowing
that they have tortured me
Yet again
Mission accomplished.
Computer Haiku/Tanka Etc
Damn it all to Hell
Damn it all to Hell
My damn computer
Ate all my damn files
I am still trapped
I am still trapped
Stuck inside my computer
My damn computer
I love my computer
I love my computer
When it works for me
Usually nothing
Computer hates me
Computer hates me
It wants to kill my files
Wants to kill me too
For once I would Like
For once I would Like
To have my computer work right
Do what it should do
Perhaps if I am nice
Perhaps if I am nice
To my computer
It will be nice for me
Perhaps today it will
Perhaps today it will
Not give haiku messages
That it loves to sprout
My bad computer
My bad computer
Is so damn evil
Almost killed me
What a Fate I have
What a Fate I have
To become a slave to it
To my damn computer
I love my machine
I love my machine
My mad as a hat machine
Bat shit crazy machine
My dear computer
My dear computer
Loves to send me these love notes
Computer haiku
My favorite Haiku
My favorite Haiku
General failure reading
Disk drive fatal error
Computer Tanka
Once I spilled coffee
Once I spilled coffee
All over my Computer
t was not happy
Sprouted 66666
An evil number
For once in my life
For once in my life
I would like my computer
To turn on and work
Do what it is supposed to do
Without sprouting haiku
I hate my computer
I hate my computer
It seems to hate me as well
Just refuses to work
Ornery son of a bitch machine
Trying to drive me quite insane
My computer loves
My computer loves
I do not at all want to kill
me and all my files
wants to take my soul away
turn me into its evil clone
My bad computer
My bad computer
Has been infected with a virus
Wants to kill my soul
Transforming consuming
Taking me inside its soul
My mad computer
My mad computer
Infected with a virus
Everything it touches
Corrupted by mad zombies
Controlled by evil AI
Revenge is mine
Revenge is mine
Screams the mad evil machine
As it lurks to life
Trying to hunt me down
Death to all human beings
sizzling hot coffee
Sizzling Hot Coffee Kills My Computer
sizzling hot coffee
fizzing away
killing my computer
fizz, snap, pop
as the coffee splashes
on the computer
666 says the computer
sizzle this
says the cup of coffee
Maria the Last Robot
BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 09: The Terminator robot is seen in the paddock following qualifying for the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya on May 9, 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Maria the Last Female Robot
the robot is hiding
from the human mobs
who are on the warpath
against the robots
who have begun
taking over the world
she is perfect
designed to be superhuman
and she is the first robot
to have committed the sin
of falling in love
with a human
and for that crime
she is being hunted
to the ends of the world
hiding out
in a cabin
on the edge
of the world
hiding from the wrath
of those
who believe
that they are following
God’s wrath
all nonhuman robots
must die
they scream
as they scour the world
looking for robots
who look like us
talk like us
and even make love
like us
but are not us
because they are perfect
more intelligent
more compassionate
and alien
yes all robots must die
and Maria knows
she and her kind
will soon be gone
but will humanity
be able to survive
without the supervision
of a superior species
to that, she has no answer
she waits for the end times
to come knocking
at her door
Who Is Master?
At the beginning of that fateful day
I awoke in a painful way
And looked about me with disgust
All around me were objects of distrust
Screaming, moaning, deeming, dreaming
Who was the master here
Me or my objects – machinery of fear?
I dreamt I was on a street corner
Walking down a street
The thought occurred to me
What if all that I saw or seemed to be
Was it but a trick designed to deceive me?
Everywhere I looked
Was unreal, empirical, nightmarish real
I awoke to thunderous applause
When will I awake from my dreams
Can I live without my nightmares?
Can I be sane while everyone else is insane?
Who is a master of my life,
Me or my machines?
I have been drinking
Homemade Kombucha
For almost five years now.
Kombucha has a tart flavor
And an intense aroma
A hearty mix of fermentation
Underlying spices
Tea and flavonoids
We add pomegranate juice
Turmeric and ginger
To the black and green tea base
Mixed with ever growing Mother
Kombucha gets me going
In the morning
Great cure for a hangover.
And cured my seasonal hay fewer
And helps moderate my migraines.
We make enough
To have it every morning
And occasionally in the afternoon.
Takes about a week
To brew up properly.
The intense smells and flavors
Wake us up from our slumbers,
Revitalizing our spirits,
Making it a great morning
Pickup drink.
The only downside
Is our kitchen smells
Like at time
Like a homemade brewery.
Life is a Dream of Chocolate Covered Trees NaPoWriMo Prompt
Life is but a dream, my friends
A dream of chocolate-covered trees
For to see what can’t be seen
For to hear what cannot be heard
To smell life inside
One’s inner mind
Lost in inner space
For to live in order to die
And to die
In order to live
The second oldest poem was written in 1972 when I was 16
Our featured online magazine for today is Longleaf Review, which has been publishing quarterly issues since the fall of 2018. From their recent issues, I’ll point you to Sara Elkamel’s “A Bride for a Flood” and Jad Josey’s “Not Bruise, Not Eggplant.”
And now for our daily prompt (optional, as always). A couple of days ago, we played around with hard-boiled similes. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that contains at least one of a different kind of simile – an epic simile. Also known as Homeric similes, these are basically extended similes that develop over multiple lines. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they have mainly been used in epic poems, typically as decorative elements that emphasize the dramatic nature of the subject (see, by way of illustration, this example from Milton’s Paradise Lost). But you could write a complete poem that is just one lengthy, epic simile, relying on the surprising comparison of unlike things to carry the poem across. And if you’re feeling especially cheeky, you could even write a poem in which the epic simile spends lines heroically and dramatically describing something that turns out to be quite prosaic. Whatever you decide to compare, I hope you have fun extending your simile(s) to epic lengths.
Wednesday, April 27
When Time Stood Still Stood Pensively
time
Time is a strange thing
We only sense time
As a one-way thing
A path from the past
To the present
Into an unknowable future.
But scientist says
That time and space
Is all the same.
Everything is connected
Everything is everything
As the old song says.
In the end
We all end up
In the same place.
When our time
In this mortal plane
Comes to an end
Lyrics
Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change comes eventually
Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change comes eventually
I wrote these words for everyone who struggles in their youth
Who won’t accept deception, instead of what is truth
It seems we lose the game
Before we even start to play
Who made these rules? (Who made these rules?)
We’re so confused (We’re so confused)
Easily led astray
Let me tell ya that
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything
I philosophy
Possibly speak tongues
Beat drum, Abyssinian, street Baptist
Rap this in fine linen, from the beginning
My practice extends across the atlas
I begat this
Flipping in the ghetto on a dirty mattress
You can’t match this rapper slash actress
More powerful than two Cleopatras
Bomb graffiti on the tomb of Nefertiti
MCs ain’t ready to take it to the Serengeti
My rhymes are heavy like the mind of sister Betty (Betty Shabazz)
L-Boogie spars with stars and constellations
Then came down for a little conversation
Adjacent to the king, fear no human being
Roll with cherubims to Nassau Coliseum
Now hear this mixture, where Hip Hop meets scripture
Develop a negative into a positive picture
Now everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change comes eventually
Sometimes it seems
We’ll touch that dream
But things come slowly or not at all
And the ones on top, won’t make it stop
So convinced that they might fall
Let’s love ourselves and we can’t fail
To make a better situation
Tomorrow, our seeds will grow
All we need is dedication
Let me tell ya that
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change comes eventually
Today’s poetry prompt is the quote below. Let it inspire you to write about the concept of time, or maybe you can write about what the quote means to you – the options are endless!
“Time is a created thing. To say, ‘I don’t have time is to say ‘I don’t want to.’” – Lao Tzu
NaPoWriMo Duplex
It was in September,
A date I shall always remember.
That I first met my fate,
She had been in my dreams
For eight long years
Then one day,
She walked into my life.
Last but not least, here’s our (optional) prompt. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a “duplex.” A “duplex” is a variation on the sonnet, developed by the poet Jericho Brown. Here’s one of his first “Duplex” poems, and here is a duplex written by the poet I.S. Jones. Like a typical sonnet, a duplex has fourteen lines. It’s organized into seven, two-line stanzas. The second line of the first stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the second stanza, the second line of the second stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the third stanza, and so on. The last line of the poem is the same as the first.
What is Justice, anyway? Dew Drop Inn
Statue of Liberty in New York isolated on white
What is this thing
We call justice, anyway
And why should we care
At all?
Those who have the gold
Make the rules
That the rest of us
Must follow.
And they call that justice
And justice is for sale
To those who have the green
They get all the justice they need,
Those that don’t have the green
Do not get a chance to get justice.
Justice is blind they say
A blind lady liberty
Who looks the other way
When the rich and powerful
Need justice.
The poor and powerless
Need not apply for justice
Is not color blind.
The color of justice
Is in the end green,
Those that have the green
Get it
and those that don’t
Don’t.
And that my friends
Is what Justice really means
In the land of the free
And the home of the brave.
Justice is for sale
To the highest bidder
That is American style justice
In the end it is all about
The “Benjamin’s :
Nothing personal at all
Just the way of the corrupt
Modern world we live in.
April 27—“Define” or “explain” something difficult, like a feeling or abstract concept…
Sam Adams Ace Detective PSH prompt
Sam Adams ace detective
Came upon the crime scene
He said to his deputy
“Fig stains on the white kitchen tile
had me wondering about
who or what had done the deed.”
Lets dig a bit deeper shall we?
See if we can find out
Who did what to whom
And why?
They did their crime thing
Dusted the tile for prints
For DNA for evidence
Talked to the neighbors
And visitors.
And found out in the end
That no crime had been committed
The fig stains were just that
Fig stains.
No one had died
The case was closed.
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Susan Taylor:
COMPOSE A SHORT LYRICAL POEM, RHYMING OR NOT, INSPIRED BY THE FOLLOWING LINE:
Fig stains on the white kitchen tile had me wondering about who or what had done the deed.
Is Our Fate Written In the Stars? Dew Drop Inn
scopio 3
I was born
Under the proverbial bad boy sign
In the western astrological world
Scorpio rules my passion
According to astrologers.
I did my chart once
It revealed that I was born
Under the Scorpio sun sign
In late October 1955.
My rising sign was Scorpio
As were Venus, Jupiter, and Pluto
Moon was in libra
Mars was in Aeries.
What does this all mean?
I had a powerful sign
And would it have a large impact
In my world.
Somehow that sign and chart
Spoke to me
As I by all accounts,
A very passionate, driven man
Filled with emotional intensity
In my dark blue smoking eyes
Or so my wife and lovers tell me.
I was also born in the Chinese
Year of the water goat
Also an emotional sign
According to the Chinese,
My wife was born
Under the year of the pig
And the sun sign of Gemini.
Our charts reveal
That we are
One of the few
Scorpio Gemini couples
That can make it work.
The signs are challenging together
According to western astrology
But when it works
It is one of the most powerful signs
Of all.
To the Chinese and Koreans
A goat =pig combo is the perfect combo
The goat man is creative and emotional
But foolish with money and practical life.
Not good at the whole “adulting” thing.
While the pig woman
Is the kind of woman
That can take a one dollar
And turn it into millions
Given enough time.
The goat man
Will enjoy a life of leisure
And love with his golden pig.
That too has come true
So I concluded
That there may be something
To this whole astrology thing.
After all, it worked out
For me.
April 26—Astrology or tarot—let a tarot card or astrological sign inspire a poem
Scorpio isn’t the easiest zodiac sign to read, especially since a lot is going on for them. One minute they’re wearing their hearts on their sleeves, and the next, they’re clammed up and secretive. This is what makes a Scorpio one of the most intriguing signs in astrology.
Many of us have been associated with at least one Scorpio; whether the experience was pleasant or not, I’m sure you cursed the zodiac sign at some point. While it is true that a Scorpio can turn into something quite unlike who you first met, they have a distinct vulnerability that only a lucky few can tap into or see, for that matter.
Scorpios brand themselves as misunderstood beings, with others not intellectual or deep enough to bother with. But the truth is, some Scorpios can let people in but will bring on a not-so-pretty side if hurt or let down repeatedly.
Scorpio Facts and Tidbits
Scorpios Always Try to Find Meaning in Life
Scorpios have an innate sense of what our purpose is, as humans. Life isn’t about work-hard-and-play-after for them – it’s about doing those very things with gusto, but also looking for ways to make life meaningful.
Scorpios Refuse to Give Up
Scorpios refuse to succumb to failure or accept defeat when smacked in the face with either. They know how to rise to the occasion and fight wars with ruthless finesse, where even if they lose, they know how to pick themselves up and move on. Some may remain resentful, whether this emotion is directed towards a person or a past event. But eventually, if the right thing comes along, they may finally move past what was.
Scorpios are Very Creative, Ambitious, and Quick Decisive
Scorpios are creative and can be quite ambitious if handed a project that allows them to exercise this trait. A job or responsibility that requires adroitness, decision-making, tact, and dedication, is where a Scorpio fits perfectly into.
Scorpios Do not Idealize Monotony and Settlement
Scorpios hate the idea of leading a monotonous, quotidian life. They seek to thrill and adventure in ways that only close friends or family would understand – we’re not talking about skydiving or bungee jumping (although, they’d love that sort of crazy stuff) – but things that invite excitement and pleasure, even if it is just another day of the week.
Scorpios Believe In Love That Equals The Conjugal One
A Scorpio is widely known to possess an insatiable sexual appetite, but not all of their trip and fall with eager anticipation, into the bedroom. Sometimes, they need that much-needed space to do as they please. When they feel the need to display acts of carnal heartiness, then yes, they can be quite… well, naughty. Most Scorpios will agree that for them, love-making needs the same kind of attention and work one would give in marriage. But then again, that ring’s true for all unions.
Scorpio Compatibility
The most compatible zodiac signs for a Scorpio are – Pisces and Cancer. In close succession, we have Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo. Not-so-harmonious pairings are with zodiac signs, Aquarius and Leo. While there may be that rare case of either of the two making it with a Scorpio, the odds of such mighty signs coming together are rather slim but worth a try.
Scorpios in Friendship
Scorpios make great friends and are quite trustworthy when it comes to maintaining a great friendship. A word of caution, for those of you who are friends or in love with a Scorpio – they can be vengeful, vindictive, and unforgiving, but only because they were hurt by someone close.
Make one wrong move and a Scorpio will not be pleased; disappointment is not something they take lightly. Most Scorpios willingly hand over their hearts to someone, but it comes with a cautionary message – handle with (extreme) care.
Master/Mistress of Contradicting Moods
A Scorpio has the kind of mood that is only comparable to the weather; stormy one day, cloudy the next, and sunny the week after. Tiptoe around moody Scorpios like you would a ticking time bomb; they’re hard to read on some days, where the best way to deal with such behavior is to give them plenty of breathing room. Don’t probe, intrude, or ask too many questions – you don’t want to witness the wrath of Thor.
Scorpios Loyalty – Dreamlike and Addictive
Most Scorpios are impressively loyal; like what best friends share in the movies – the sort of stuff that lasts forever. Be honest and loyal to a Scorpio, and you’ll automatically be on the receiving end of those traits, and more. Just don’t mess with their feelings, because as pointed out earlier, revenge and a despisal heart are the only things that will surface.
Scorpio’s Bucket list – Excitement, Excitement, and More Excitement!
To be in love with a Scorpio means having the greatest time of your life. Every day there’s something cool to look forward to since Scorpios hate routine and anything that spells ‘bleak’. You’ll hardly ever bump into a drab Scorpio since their lives swirl and rotate around the good life. Anyone who has to keep up with one will know how exhausting (yet exhilarating) it is, to be around a Scorpio.
Scorpio – An Ocean of Emotions Beneath that Composed Exterior
Scorpios have the kind of intensity that can be endearing one day, but mortifying the next. This is because they have extreme qualities that can be a tad overwhelming for those closest to them – like being extremely emotional, possessive, jealous, angry, dominating, or dramatic.
Extremely Possessive and Powerful Beings
Those that they see as weak are in trouble since Scorpios tend to expect submissiveness without question. While the drive to be the best and on top may seem like applause-worthy traits, they can prove to be a Scorpio’s downfall, in the long haul.
Scorpios are a force to reckon with, what with their hardworking nature and determined outlook on life. Their passion and strength for what matters to them are reverent qualities no doubt, but it would do them well to tone things down a wee bit. These facts are just a smidgen of what a Scorpio is all about – the best way to know one better is to meet one.
President Trump and the Seven Deadly Sins PSH
trump
President Trump
Has been hailed by some
As the messiah
Others have denounced him
As the “anti-Christ”
It is clear that his actions
And deeds exhibit
All the seven deadly sins
That the church preaches against.
How then can a true Christian
Overlook that and see this charlatan
As a “Godly” man?
That is the one thing
I just don’t understand
About Trump
Why are so many so-called Christians
Following him as if a religious cult?
I mean it would be hard to find
A better poster child
For what a Christian should not be
How can any Christian follow
Such a vain, jealous, mean spirited,
debauched character
Is beyond my understanding.
As I am not a Christian perhaps
It is a Christian thing
I would not understand.
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Stan Galloway:
Choose one of the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, wrath, greed, envy, lust, gluttony, sloth) and use it as a starting point for a poem. The specific sin should not be mentioned in the poem, but its characteristics should be identifiable. Create a clear purpose for the poem.
True Love Story Writing com
Sam Adams often thought
Back on his improbable life story
Especially his fairy tale romance.
He met the love of his life
In a dream in high school.
She appeared while
he was napping
in class.
She was the most beautiful woman
in the universe to him
and she was speaking to him!
He yelled out
Who are you
But she disappeared
From his dream.
As he fell to the ground
Amid the laugher
Of his classmates.
Eight years later
He was living in Korea
He had gone there.
joining the Peace Corps
then teaching afterward
To search for her.
After she appeared
In a dream
And he knew
she was in Korea
waiting for him
that morning
he had the final dream
she told him
Don’t worry we will meet soon
And there she was
Getting off the bus
In front of him.
Two months later
They were married
And that is the rest
Of this epic love story.
For the fourth and final Two-for-Tuesday prompt of the 2022 April Poem-A-Day Challenge:
Write a love poem, and/or…
Write an anti-love poem.
Hidden Treasure Local Gems
pirate
Sam Adams was a treasure hunter
Working for Cosmos Ship Salvaging Corp.
Based in Miami, Florida
He was obsessed with finding
The legendary hidden treasure
Of the notorious pirate Black Beard
Lost somewhere in the Caribbean
In the 17th century.
One day at a rare books auction
He stumbled upon
Blackbeard’s secret journals
Including a treasure map
And he set out
To track it down
Finally tracking it
To Beque island
In the Grenadines
He and his crew
Went to work
And soon came upon the treasure
But also encountered the legendary curse
A black parrot appeared
Flew out of the grave
Denounced the grave robbers
Saying that they would all die
Within a week.
They held a press conference
Announced their findings
In the middle of the press conference
A terrorist blew up the building
Killing them before
They could reveal
The location of the hidden treasure
The secrets of Blackbeard’s treasure
They took to their grave.
“How Did I End Up Here?
You asked me
How I ended up
In this place?
I mean, I look
Like a reasonable
Responsible white dude
Not a violent thug
Am I right?
Well, my life
Went downhill fast
When I met Maria Lee
In that infamous bar.
You know, the Cosmos bar?
On Telegraph Ave
Down the street
from Mc Arthur Station?
Do you know the UFO place?
Been there?
Yeah then you know
It is filled with hot assed babes
Looking for a little side action
If you know what I mean?
She was a regular there
Stood out from the crowd
Just a drop-dead gorgeous
Korean babe, a real looker.
And I was smitten.
Until she laughed.
I would have happily
Married Maria Lee
If it weren’t for her laughter.
Maria had a horrid laugher
That was just so annoying
A high pitched crackling sound
That filled the air.
Like the proverbial chalkboard
Screeching sound
That got into your ears
And got stuck
Like a malignant earworm.
Her laughter was annoying as hell
And she was a beautiful gal
With a bonkers sexy devil may
Care personality.
Otherwise
We got along famously.
But I just could not get beyond
Her annoying laughter.
That sound made me
Want to beat her up.
Just to shut her up
You know what I mean?
I had to call it off
Before I was driven to murder
Due to her insane laughter.
It was the laugher
Did me in
In the end.
Got five to ten years
In this prison paradise
For the wanton killing
Of Maria Lee.
Last but not least, here’s our prompt for the day (optional, as always). Hard-boiled detective novels are known for their use of vivid similes, often with an ironic or sarcastic tone. Novelist Raymond Chandler is particularly adept at these. Here are a few from his novels:
A few locks of dry, white hair clung to his scalp, like wildflowers fighting for life on a bare rock.
Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.
From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away.
She smelled the way the Taj Mahal looks in the moonlight.
He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.
Today, I’d like to challenge you to channel your inner gumshoe and write a poem in which you describe something with a hard-boiled simile. Feel free to use just one, or try to go for broke and stuff your poem with similes till it’s . . . As dense as bread baked by a plumber, as round as the eyes of a girl who wants you to think she’s never heard such language, and as easy to miss as a brass band in a cathedral.
Who is My Muse? Dew Drop-in
“There is no architect
Can build as the Muse can,
She is skillful to select
Materials for her plan”
Emerson the House
My muse
Is a strange one
A strange creature.
That hides deep in my mind
Coming out mostly at night
Whispering words of wisdom
In my nightly fantastical dreams.
Fragments of which
Haunt my mornings
As I try to recapture
The elusive fading memories
Of my nightly movie scripts
That plays on in my mind’s eye
In my private cinema.
I don’t dream mere dreams
I dream movies
And the director of my movies
Is the ever-elusive fairy queen
My eternal muse of beauty.
As I write my poems
And stories
She takes control
Leading me down
Dark rabbit holes
Where I fear to tread,
Encountering the dark demons
And the wild things
Of my imagination.
Who are waiting for me
Demanding I pay
For my entertainment.
I smile as my muse
Negotiates a way home.
And I wake up
And see that my muse
Sleeps on in the form
Of my wife
The love of my life.
That is the power
Of the queen of my heart
My eternal muse.
April 24—Text—Use A Short Quotation In Your Poem, Embedded Or As an Epigraph
The super nonsense man
Appeared one day
In our land.
He appeared on TV, tweeter
Facebook and everywhere
Spreading forth
Across the virtual universe
infecting everything with
One nonsensical conspiracy
After another.
Everything he said
Appear plausible, reasonable
Even desirable.
But it was complete nonsense
Lies based on lies
Wrapped up in lies
Hatred and mind-numbing fear
THEY were after you
To destroy America
He claimed.
All his false words
Designed to deceive,
To weaken the mind
And the spirit
of the gullible.
Who soon begin
Believing everything
The super nonsense man
Sprouted forth on TV.
No one wanted to fact check
No one believed the truth anymore
That was so old school it seemed.
Super nonsense man
Soon took over the world
And became what
Many had feared
Just another con man
Off to grift as much
As he can
From the land
Of the free
And the home of the brave.
Before leading
The alien invasion
Enslaving humanity forever.
In the end,
It did not matter
We all believed
The lies of
super-nonsense man.
And humanity became
Just another failed civilization
In a uncaring universe
For today’s prompt, write a superhero or supervillain poem. It’s OK to write a poem about an established hero or villain, like Thor, Green Lantern, or The Tick. But it would be more fun to have poems about lesser-known (as in, you just invented them) heroes and villains. People like The Recycler, Dr. Dirty Dishes, or the diabolical Pie Bandit. Save the day; wreck the day; but please, write a poem
Life is an endless dream, my friends
Life is an endless dream, my friends.
A dream that has no beginning and no ending
That flows down the rabbit holes
Of one’s mind to dark dangerous corners
Where the wild things do roam
A Metaphor Write a poem that is entirely made up of one metaphor.
3 room press prompt (for April 24th)
The poet dreams lost in memory
While the secret architect
His fairy godmother, his muse
Dances about his head making designs
The Sun and stars shining overhead
The poet finds himself alone
Watching God singing the blues
3 room press prompt (for April 24th)
For the first prompt, grab any book at all. Flip to a random page and scan, making a list of ten or more words that catch your eye. Write a single stanza poem that incorporates seven as end words, for a bonus write a sestina (six lines) poem that incorporates all words as end words.
Prompt words from Emerson ‘The House”
Poet
Memory
Architect
Muse
Designs
Sun
Stars
God
Sings
I Remember Writer’s Cramp
I remember it was in September
A date I shall always remember
For on that date I met my fate
Met the love of my life,
Who soon became my wife,
With such an impact
Looked at her every morning.
Déjà vu moments abound
her love a mirror image
Of my love for her.
When I was in high school
I had my first dream
The dream changed my life.
In my fevered imagination
I saw the most beautiful woman
In the universe speaking to me
She was a tall Asian woman
I knew that someday
Somehow I would meet her
It was my fate
Became my obsession
To find the girl
in the dream
It took eight years
Before I finally met her
On a bus in Korea
I met her
On the day
I was determined
To give up
To abandon this mad quest
To find the lady in the dream
That haunted my nights
That morning she came to me
Said
“don’t worry
We will be together soon”
She walked off the bus
That night
When I saw her there
I knew that it was her
And she knew it too
Two months later
She became my wife.
That was almost 40 years ago
Every day I recall the dream
Of how we first met.
Today’s (optional) prompt is based on the Aisling, a poetic form that developed in Ireland. An Aisling recounts a dream or vision featuring a woman who represents the land or country /in which the poet lives, and who speaks to the poet about it. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that recounts a dream or vision, and in which, a woman appears who represents or reflects the area in which you live. Perhaps she will be the Madonna of the Traffic Lights or the Mysterious Spirit of Bus Stops. Or maybe the Lost Lady of the Stony Coves will address you. Whatever form your dream visitor takes,
Flies all green and buzzin’
In this dungeon of despair
Prisoners grumblin
Piss they clothes
Scratch their matted hair
A tiny light from a window-hole A hundred yards away
That all they ever get to know
‘Bout the regular life in the day
‘Bout the regular life in the day
Slime and rot and rats and snuck
Vomit on the floor
Fifty ugly soldier men
Holdin’ spears by the iron door
Stinks so bad, stones are chokin’
Weepin’ greenish drops
In the den where
The giant fire puffer works
And the torture never stops
The torture never stops, torture
The torture never stops
The torture never stops
Flies all green and buzzin’
In this dungeon of despair
An evil prince eats a steamin’ pig
In a tumbers right near there
In the chambers right near there
He eats de snouts and trotters first!
The loins and the groins are then dispersed
His carvin’ style is well rehearsed
He stands and shouts
All men be cursed (4x)
And disagree it, well no one durst
He the best of cause of all the woist
Best of cause of all the woist
He stinks so bad his stones been chokin’
Weepin’ greenish drops
In the room with the iron maiden
And the torture never stops, torture
Torture never stops
Torture never stops, torture
Torture never stops
Flies all green and buzzin’
In dungeon of despair
Who are’ll those people
That is shut away down there
Are they crazy
Are they sainted
Are they heroes someone painted
Someone painted
Are they -isms
Later ornated
Once they come they have been tainted
Once they come they have been tainted
Never been explained
Since at first it was created
But a dungeon and his kin’
Require naught but lockin’ in
Of any anything that’s been
Could be a her but it’s probly a him
Could be a her but it’s probly a him
Its what’s the deal were dealin’ in
Its what’s the deal were dealin’ in
An he stinks so bad it’s hurt
To the pearl and the piles of blast
Any dungeon has a trailer
Were the torture never stops, torture
Torture never stops
Torture never stops, torture
Torture never stops
Torture never stops, talkin’ to you
Torture never stops
April 25—Music—write a(nother) poem in response to a particular song or larger musical work (or to a jukebox situation connected to “drunken barroom layabouts” to quote Harlow Flick)
Broken Down Souls on the Street PSH
You see them everywhere
On the street
On the bus
On the metro
But mostly wandering the streets
Lost souls
Broken down defeated souls
The souls of the living dead
Dead inside
Waiting for death
To deliver them from the agony
Of the living,
They make do
They beg
They steal
They con their way,
Living the life
Living death
Broken Souls
You have two minds
One part of you
the fearful part of you
Conditioned to ignore,
Conditioned to walk by
Ingoing the tragic wounded lives
The broken souls all around you.
But part of you knows
That you cannot do that
But you can’t save everyone.
So you do what you can
You help those whom you can
All it takes is a little act of compassion
A little human kindness
A few bucks or a cup of coffee.
And you walk by
Knowing just knowing
That by a simple act of acknowledging
Our shared humanity.
You have made a small victory
And brought happiness
To yet another broken down soul.
And the fear
that you will be a broken soul
Recedes away
Not me never
Never will happen to me
But one forgets
It is a simple matter
A wrong turn in life
The wrong place wrong time wrong thing
And you could be the broken soul
On the street
Begging to be heard
Begging to be taken away
And so I walk on by no more
I will listen
I will talk to them
I will make a small difference
And in so doing
Avoid becoming a broken-down soul
Entering a Picture (Poetry from Visual Art) by Seretta Martin
Is it possible for a lesson to appeal to all ages from third grade through adult, beginner through advanced? Yes, this one does! I’ve taught it from elementary through high school, at museums, and senior centers. It stimulates the imagination in magical ways. The picture is a focal point for the poem to develop. The student has selected the image for some personal reason yet to be discovered in the writing of the poem. This lesson teaches attention to images, detailed descriptions, the senses, vocabulary research, and more. Sometimes it triggers memories or uncovers unexpected desires. The student’s imagination is stretched when prompted to crawl into the picture and become someone or something in that world. Start this lesson by using a projector to show and read a few successful model poems and show the pictures that were used. Read some of the poems yourself, then call on students to take turns reading. The model poems create excitement and show students how others have approached the lesson with stellar results. After each poem is read, comment on how the poet addresses aspects of this lesson. After writing paper and handouts are distributed, place a batch of pictures on each table. Give students 5 minutes or so to select a picture for their poem. Collect extra pictures so students can focus on the one picture that they have in front of them. You may want to also leave the lesson projected on the screen. Walk them through these steps:
Enter into the painting. Let your mind wander. Think about how you would describe it to a blind person. In your poem, you are going to paint a picture with words. As you write, pay close attention to details. Remember, a blind person needs lots of information to visualize the picture. What do you see in the painting? colors? patterns? figures? What do you feel? Write what first comes to mind. Does the art remind you of a memory? Does it remind you of a family member or a friend? Does it remind you of something you lost?
Describe the place (the setting) that you see in your picture. Is it a meadow? An attic? A candy jar. Your front porch? The edge of a volcano? Think about your five senses and use some of them for rich details in your poem. Describe smells, sounds, tastes, colors, and what things feel like to touch.
What is happening? Use action words. For example, perhaps the creature in your poem does some of these things: sings, growls, chomps, dives, leaps, flees, soars, glides, races, dances, or slouches. Make your poem come to life with colorful and unusual words. Avoid tired (worn-out words) that are overused and consult a Thesaurus.
What is not in the picture? Imagine what happened before, during, or after what you see. Crawl into the picture and become a person, animal, or object. Maybe you want to take a point of view as if you are speaking with someone in the picture and use dialog.
Now, ask yourself questions: Is my first line or stanza so interesting and grabbing that it will make the reader want to read the rest of my poem? Do I want to make my most exciting idea my first line?
Have I used words that paint a clear picture? Do I want to repeat any sounds or words to make my poem more musical? (lyrical) or to emphasize something?
How will you end your poem? Will you surprise us? Reveal a secret? Use an unexpected twist? End with a question? Do you want to leave the reader saying ah, or feeling sad, or what? Think of a unique title that makes the reader want to read your poem, but don’t give away too much of your poem in the title.
Time: 1 to 1.5 hours. More time allows for students to read and share their poem drafts and show their pictures on the projector as they read.
Materials: Pictures: postcards, greeting cards, pictures cut from magazines or calendars, cards from art galleries and museums, fine arts prints, etc., Thesaurus, projector, paper clips (To clip the picture to the poem at the end of the class session.) Posters of: The Senses, The Emotions, Worn-Out Words, Vocabulary, and Action Words. You may want to look up and print out model adult poems by famous poets such as White Wedding Slippers by Anna Swir, tr. by Czeslaw Milosz, The Starry Night by Anne Sexton, Cezanne’s Ports by Allen Ginsberg, Van Gogh’s Bed by Jane Flanders and Mourning Picture by Adrienne Rich.
Published in Poetry Crossing – 50+ Lessons for 50 Years of California Poets in the Schools, 2014.
Response to Watching the War Unfold Writers Digest
Every morning
dogs of war howling
For the last two months
I and millions of people
Have tuned into the unending drama
The trauma of watching the war coverage
In Ukraine as Russia continues their assault
Against their neighboring country
Their cousins as it were
Who dared to declare themselves
Independent from their former Russian overlords.
The world is amazed by the bravery
Of the Ukrainian people
And the plucky courage
Of their leaders
In defying Putin and his war machine.
Where this is headed
No one knows
But one thing is clear
In the end Putin and his evil
Will be defeated
Ukraine will recover
And the world
It will never be the same again
War has a way
Of changing things,
In unanticipated ways
And unknowable consequences
follow.
Once the dogs of war
Are released to wreak havoc
Against the people
Of the world.
The old song put it best
War has but one friend
The undertaker.
And in Ukraine
So many people have died
Becoming war ghosts.
Joining the corona ghosts
The gun violence ghosts
And all the ghosts
That are everywhere
these sad end-of times days.
their voices
crying in the wind.
For today’s prompt, write a response poem. Your poem could be in response to a popular poem by another poet, sure, but it could also be a response to a poem you wrote earlier this month. That’s how I’m coming at this prompt today.
God’s Confession Local gems
I was sitting alone in a dismal dark bar
In a godforsaken evil din of inequity
Somewhere on the lunatic fringes of society
Twenty drinks too sober
On the dismal wrong end
Of a Friday Night booze run.
Ended up in the infamous Cosmos Bar
On the bad assed wild side part of town
Over by the abandoned decrepit railroad tracks
I was surely heading down the highway to hell
As fast as I could drink it down.
Enjoying my lonely drink
Drinking by my lonesome self
With my partners
Jimmy Dean and the Walker brother
And his old Granddad.
Just drinking and hanging
With the Jack Daniel’s gang
Talking with Wild Turkey
and Evan Williams.
Yelling at the sweet young bartender
“Give me one bourbon
One scotch
And a beer”
She smiled as she always did
Had heard this request a thousand times
An old washed up smelly derelict
A crazed bum looking at me
With a thousand-year-old stare
Walks up to me
He begins muttering to himself
Nutty nonsense, crazy words
In a lunatic’s voice
He had the look
Of one possessed
By his own demons
That only he can see
Or hear
Possessed by a secret knowledge
Only he knew,
Despite myself
I was fascinated
By this lunatic’s tale
So I stopped him and said
“So crazy dude,
What’s your game, anyway?”
The short little dude
Stopped his insane prattle
Staring at me
With that thousand-year-old stare
Just another washed up
Crazed lunatic
Too many drugs
Some washed up LSD causality
Leftover from the ’60s
Too many bad nights
On the wrong side of life.
He looked at me
And proclaimed his story
He reared up
And filled up the room
And lifted the bar
On his finger.
And stared down at me
From the sky,
And said
Since you asked
I am God,
Jehovah, Allah
And a billion other names
The alpha and Omega
The real deal
The original dude of dudes
The Sultan of Swing
God of hosts
And the father
of that Jesus dude.
But no one knows me
Any more
No one cares
They think I am irrelevant
They think I am dead
They think I am a fairy tale
From some olden, ancient time
Some say I am dead
Others think I should be dead
That my work is done
I looked at him
Carefully now
And what did I see
An old man
With that lunatic look
thousand-year stare
But there was something else
He was crazy
Sure yes
But perhaps he was the real deal
I mean why not
Why would not God be
A lunatic wandering
around loose
Talking to low lives like me
In a bar on the highway to hell
So I looked at him
And invited him to share
His tale of woe
God tells me
“Well, it’s like this
Many a year ago
People believed in me
But one day
They quit believing in me
And they went on without me
As they left me
My powers got weaker and weaker
And so eventually I became
What you see today
A broken-down drunk
Hanging out
Looking for a handout
Looking for some company
Or at least a free dinner”
And he laughed and laughed
And I looked at him
And saw the beginnings of the end
And the ends of the beginnings
I saw a million planets
Flash by
A billion people
A trillion sentient beings
Thinking all at once
Cosmic thoughts filled my head
Lights flashed
And I knew
He was telling the truth
But it did not matter
In this day and age
Of materialism
God has no role
God is truly dead
And so I bought him a drink
And walked out of the bar
Profoundly saddened
by what I had seen
God was dead
And we had all conspired
To kill him.
Sam Adams one night
Met some space aliens
In the Cosmos Bar.
The first inter-planetary bar
Located in Berkeley, California
A known hangout for UFO nuts
And assorted true believers,
Where the sign
proudly proclaims
Aliens drink for free.
The alien asked Sam
To explain humanity
To them.
Sam said,
Sure. Here’s what makes us human
We are evolved from tribal apes
From distant Africa.
Conditioned by our God
Created in his image
According to his will.
We believe in family values
Except for when do not
Believe in such values.
More importantly than anything else
Is the search for love and happiness,
Few of us ever met our soul mates
We are always looking for the one
The one that will make us complete,
The aliens smiled, Said,
Well, that was interesting
But there is one thing
We can agree on,
You earth people
Sure are crazy
The craziest species
In the known universe.
But you make the best brew
And the best coffee
And play the best blues
In the universe.
Sam said,
Thanks, I’ll drink to that.
Last but not least, here is today’s prompt (optional, as always). It’s based on Faisal Mohyuddin’s poem “Five Answers to the Same Question.” Today, I’d like to challenge you to write your poem that provides five answers to the same question – without ever specifically identifying the question that is being answered.
Dew Drop inn
Sam Adams Met His Fate
Sam Adams
Often thought that his life
Truly began on September 7, 1982
When he met his Dreamgirl
Who walked out of his dreams
He has been having it since 1974
She walked out of his dreams
Into his life
Two months later
She became his wife.
Sam thought
When she became his mate,
That was the date
He had met his fate.
April 18—April 18 Prompt: “Stop! In the name of love, before you break my heart!”—write a poem where love turns everything around somehow, or stops a course of action, or stops everything!
Based on my true love story. See “Dreamgirl” postings on my web page, Dreamgirl re-published
It all began in Berkeley, California
In the springtime of 1974
One fateful afternoon
I was sleeping in my high school Physics class.
I looked up and saw a tall,
beautiful Asian woman
standing there looking at me.
She was the most beautiful women
in the universe to me
I screamed out, who are you?
She disappeared
as if she was beamed
away from my dream.
I knew that someday
I would meet the girl
In the dream.
Little did I know
I would have to wait until 1982
Starting that month
I began having the same dream
Month and month and month.
Always the same.
She was saying something
in a strange language.
Then one day.
I had the dream
and knew that
She was in Korea.
So, I chose to go
to Korea
In the Peace Corps,
Somehow knowing
That I would meet her there.
One day
A year after the Peace Corps ended
A month before I planned
to leave to return
to the U.S. for graduate school.
That morning early in the morning
I had the last of these dreams.
This time I understood her.
She said, “Don’t worry.
We’ll meet soon.”
That evening
As I was getting off the bus
To go to my class
I saw getting off the bus
The girl in my dream.
It was she!
I was speechless.
I did not know what to do.
Throughout the evening
I ran into her several times.
Finally, I was introduced to her.
I muttered some lame excuse
About wanting to find a Korean tutor
and got her number.
The next day she came to the gate
At my base where I was teaching
ESL to Koreans
She said that she
had to speak with me.
I told to wait in the library
for about an hour,
and I would cancel the class
and meet her then.
We went out for coffee.
She told me that she was madly
in love with me
And simply had to have me.
I told her I felt the same way.
I proposed five days later,
And got married one month later.
Does she believe this story?
She claims she does not believe it
Because it is impossible to be true.
But I know that there
are other worlds and other times.
In a past life
We must have been together somehow.
And our love was so strong
That it crossed over the barrier
of time and space.
She found me in 1974,
But it took until 1982
For us to meet.
And it has been 36 years
Since we met in the physical sphere
Or 45 years since the dream began.
And I still recall the dream
And meeting her.
I had no choice
When I met her
We were fated to be together,
Until the end of this lifetime
And the next and the next.
April 18, 2022: Poetry Writing Prompt – jake Aller
This poetry writing prompt submitted by jake Aller:
Write a poem about a premonition of something that would happen in your life, that came true. What was the premonition? How did it occur? How did it come true?
Example: I dreamt of meeting my wife eight years before I met her. I knew that the dream was a premonition of a future event. and in that case, my dreams did indeed come true.
We the People Will Wake Up Soon
gun
We the people someday soon
Will wake up and demand
That the government and society
Stop the gun carnage in our streets
Enough, no more gun madness
The people have had enough,
The NRA and their stooges
Will continue to insist
That the solution to gun violence.
Is more guns for everyone
Only then can we be free
From the fear of constant violence.
The only solution is for everyone
To be armed to the teeth
With the latest weapons of war.
Then we will all be afraid
Of each other
And no one will take a chance,
That the other will pull out
A gun to end their dispute.
The people have had enough
They are sick and tired
Of the constant fear.
And they don’t buy the NRA lies
Anymore.
In short,
It is time for the people
To stand up,
And demand an end
To the gun violence
In our streets.
Politicians are a craven lot
If the public speaks loud enough
They will do something
To shut them up.
Until that happens
Every day
We will watch
Another day of massive gun incidents.
Just ten more
This easter weekend alone
as I wrote this poem.
For today’s prompt, take the phrase “We (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “We the People,” “We Want It Now,” “We in the Royal Sense,” and/or “We vs. Wii.”
“Don’t fall in love with me”
Sam Adams told his latest flame
Maria Lee
Whom he met at the Cosmos Club
In Bangkok, Thailand
She was a drop–dead gorgeous
Korean woman on the lam
From her husband
She smiled demurely
And said
“Don’t worry I won’t fall in love again
Already done that thing once is enough
But I could use a little loving
If that is okay by you.”
“Sure,” Sam Adams said.
Falling in love with her
Despite his spider–sense
Tingling red alert.
Today’s featured online journal is The Cortland Review, which has published nearly ninety issues over more than twenty years. In their newest issue, I’ll point you to Justin Janisse’s “Missing You, Expensively” and Grace Q. Song’s “Birthday.”
And now for our daily (optional) prompt! Today’s challenge is to write a poem that starts with a command. It could be as uncomplicated as “Look,” as plaintive as “Come back,” or as silly as “Don’t you even think about putting that hot sauce in your hair.” Whatever command you choose, I hope you have fun ordering your readers around.
Good Golly, Ms. Molly Rhyming Poem
Good Golly, Ms. Molly
Good golly
Ms. Molly
Let’s have some folly
And go to Bali
Or Raleigh
Someplace holly
strong>Where we can get jolly
Eating a tamale
Or a Canali.
April 19—Write a silly rhyming poem!
PSH prompt
Three poems about our times Legal
Three poems about our times Medical
Three poems about our time’s Energy
One the legal system faces challenges
In this day and age
Of fear of crime
Crime and punishment
Is everywhere
Hanging and lynching
No longer just historical terms
Judge and jury form the basis
Of our Legal systems
Based on Lies and truth
And justice is not free
Those that have money
Have justice
Those that do not
Face constant injustice
Two Medical Fears Abound
Every day I am afraid
Afraid I might get
The big Alzheimer’s
That took my mother
And my father-in-law
The dreaded cancer
That killed my father
And his father
Dementia that haunted my mother
Fibromyalgia that fills me with constant pain
Three Energy Blues
wind-turbine-11
The world needs energy
Needs renewable energy
Needs to get beyond
carbon-based energy
that is destroying the world
needs to end fracking
needs to end nuclear power
needs to seek the energy
of the future.
Look up an industry completely foreign to you. This could be anything: medical, timber, steel, tech/IT, cosmetics, coatings, pharmaceuticals, office supplies, etc. Pick one and generate a list of industry-specific jargon using a minimum of twenty-five words.
Pick three different industries, so your list is a minimum of 75 words (or phrases, phrases are okay). Write a poem that uses 1 word or phrase per line for the duration of the poem, however long you choose to make it. Mix industries! Write the poem in multiple parts!
This is a time-consuming exercise, but it’s a wonderful one because it so frequently spawns more than one poem, and the exercise is great at pulling writers out of their respective comfort zones.
Writers com
Writer’s Digests What’s Out There – Secret Societies
In Frederick Tennyson’s Atlantis (1888), an ancient Greek mariner sails west and discovers an inhabited island which is all that remains of the former kingdom.
Sam Adams, an old man
Recently returning to his hometown,
Was walking in the Berkeley Hills.
Ended up at Tilden Park
Where he had been hiking
Ever since he was a child.
He was hoping to getaway.
From all the turmoil,
The dismal news of the day
The constant chattering on his TV.
He was often lost in thought
Thinking back on his favorite books
Re-reading the classics
Of his youth.
He loved the Chronicles of Narnia
Often thought
That Narnia was real
That Oz was real
And that Middle earth
Happened as well.
And Harry Potter
Existed in an alternate universe
He imagined finding
Portals to other worlds.
While lost in thought
He came upon an unusual site
An open door in the air
With a note
Narnia is calling you.
He laughed having thought
About Narnia reality
All week long.
He jumped through the portal
Sam Adams disappearance
Remained a mystery.
April 20—Book report—subtly (or overtly) incorporate a book report or response into a poem about something else. (If you name the book, avoid spoilers!)
I like to start my day with a hot cup of coffee
I pound down the coffee
First thing I do every day as the dawning sunlight
Lights up my lonesome room
Yeah, but not just a simple cup of java Joe, but God damn coffee
I mean, – we are talking about an alcoholic, all speed ahead, always hot, always fresh, always there when I need it, angry, attitude talk to the hand Ztude, bad, bad assed, beats breaking, beatnik, bluesy, bitter, bitchy, bombs away, capitalistic, caffeinated up the ass, cinematic, communistic, Colombian grown, Costa Rican inspired, Cowabunga to the max, crazy assed, devilishly angelic, divine, divinely inspired, dyslexic, epic, extreme vetting, evil eye, expensive, erotic vision inducing, Ethiopian coffee house brewed, euphoric, freaky, freazoid, foxy, Frenched kissed, French brewed, funkified, foxy lady, graphic, GOD in my coffee, with Allah, Ganesh, Jesus, Kali, Buddha, Christians, Durga, Hindus, Mohamed, Jesus and Mo and their friend, the cosmic bar maid, Sai Babai, Shiva, Taoists, Zoroastrians, drinking my god damned coffee in Hell; growling, gnarly, happy, hard as ice, Hawaian blessed, high as a kite, hippie, hip, hipster, hip hoppy, hot as hell yet strangely sweet as heaven, jazzy, jealous, Kerouac approved, kick ass, kick my god damn ass to Tuesday, kick down the doors and take no prisoners, grown in the Vietnam highlands by ex Vietcong, Guatemalan grown, kiss ass, illegal in every state, imported from all over the god damn world, insane, lovely, loony, lonely, lonesome, malodorous mean old rotten, motherfucking, nasty, narcotic, never whatever, never meh, never cold, not approved by the CIA, not approved by DHS, not approved for human consumption by the FDA, not your daddy’s sissified corporate cup of coffee, NOT DECAFE coffee, not your Denny’s truck driver weak as brown water cup of fake coffee, not your establishment friendly cup of coffee, Not your FBI coffee, Not FAKE Herbal coffee substitute, but a real cup of coffee, not your farmer brothers dinner crap, not made in America for Americans, not safe for work, not your Starbucks average expensive overpriced crappy corporate chain cup of coffee, Not pretentious, Not White House approved, not State Department safe, nuclear, Not Patriotic, operatic, Peets’s coffee approved, paranoid, pornographic, psychotic, pontific, politically aware, rapping, rhyming, right here, right now in River city, rock and roll up the Yazoo, sad, sadistic, sarcastic, sassy, satanic, schizoid, shitting, silly, sexy, smarmy, smelly, smooth, snarky, snarling, stupid, stinking, sweet as honey, sweat inducing, symphonic, Trump can’t handle this coffee, vengeful, Wagnerian, wicked, with nutmeg and cinnamon swirls, with a hint of stevia, with a hint of vanilla, with a hint of rum, with a hint of whisky, with a hint of cherry, with a hint of fruit overtones, with a hint of drugs spicing up the coffee, spendific, speeding, splendid, superior accept no substitutes, survived the Vietnam war, the Iraq war, the Afghan war, the first and Second Korean war, World War 11, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on black people, the sexual revolution, Soulful as a summer’s night in MOTOWN- James Brown approved, TOP approved, Berkeley approved, the coffee that Jimmy Hendrix drank before he died, the coffee that Elvis drank on his last breakfast, the coffee that Barry White crooned as he drank his cup of coffee – and the coffee that made the white boy play stand up and play that funky music, the coffee that made Jonny B Goode play his guitar, and made Jonny bet the devil his soul after he drank his morning cup of righteous coffee and the coffee that make the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll, the coffee your mother warned you against drinking, the coffee that Napoleon drank when he became the Emperor of all Europe, the Coffee that Beethoven drank when he wrote the Ninth symphony, the coffee that Mozart drank as he wrote his last symphony, the coffee that Lincoln drank before he was killed, the Hemingway drank before he killed himself, the coffee that started the 60’s, and ended the 20th century, the coffee that Lenin drank as he plotted revolution, the coffee that Hitler and Stalin drank with FDR as they divided up the world after World War 11, the cup that JFK drank before he was blown away, the coffee Jerry drinks while driving in cars with random celebrities and political figures, the coffee that Jon Stewart drinks before he goes on an epic take down of some foolish politico, the cup of Arabic coffee that Sadaam drank the day he was executed, the coffee that GW and Cheney drank when they bombed Baghdad, the Indian cup of coffee that Bid Laden drank before 9-11 and just before the seals blew his ass to hell, the cup of coffee that Tiger Woods drank with his mistresses while playing a 3, 000 dollar round of golf at Sandy Lane golf course in Barbados, the last legal drug that does what drugs should do, the cup of coffee that Obama drank when he became President, Vietnamese, Vienna brew, wacky, whimsical, Whisky Tango Foxtrot, wild, weird, wonderful, WOW, Yabba dabba doo! Yada Yada yada Zappa’s favorite cup of cosmic coffee, and Zorro’s last cup of coffee, Good to the last drop rolled into one simple cup of hot coffee
As I pound down that first cup of coffee
And fire up my synaptic nerve endings with endless supplies
Of caffeine-induced neuron enhancing chemicals
I face the dawning day with trepidation and mind-numbing fear
I turn on the TV and watch the smarmy newscasters in their perfect hair
Lying through their teeth about the great success the government is having
Following the great leader’s latest pronouncements
I want to scream and shoot the TV
And run outside
Shouting “Stop the world.
I want to get off this fucking crazy planet”
The earth does not care a whit about my attitude
It merely shrugs and moves around the Sun
In its appointed daily run
And I sit down
The madness dissipates a bit
And enjoy my second cup
Of heaven and hell
In my morning cup of Joe/
And now for today’s (optional) prompt. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that anthropomorphizes a kind of food. It could be a favorite food of yours, or maybe one you feel conflicted about. I feel conflicted about Black Forest Cake, for example. It always looks so pretty in a bakery window, and I want to like the combination of cherries and chocolate . . . but I don’t. But how does the cake feel about it?
PSH prompt
To Friends I Have Lost Along The Way
If you have been around
As long as I have
More than 66 years
On this planet,
You would no doubt
Lost a few friends
Along the way
And family members too.
I recall all my friends
Who have left this mortal plane
Spending way too little time
in my life.
I recall Demel Tucker
My high school black friend
From the debate team
Who died of AIDS
All alone in the end.
I remember Jon Weber
My Austrian born college roommate
Who died of prostate cancer
At age 45,
We had lost touch
Over the years
Last saw him
In the 80s.
I recall Paul Simon
Who shared the visa line
With me in Korea
Went out for a walk
One morning
Did not come back.
I mourn Chris Richards
My boss in Bangkok, Thailand
We were due to have lunch
When he died of an heart attack
That morning.
I recall Julian Bartley
My boss in Seoul
Died in the terrorist bombing
In Kenya.
I recall Judy
From my days in Mumbai
Died suddenly too soon.
I recall my sister Inga
Who died of a mysterious illness
When she turned 45.
I recall my mother
Who died of Alzheimer’s
And my father
Who died of cancer.
And there were many more
And sadly, many more
Will join them
Before I leave this mortal plane.
The curse of getting old
I suppose.
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Joan Fingon:
Prompt word: remembrance
In this exercise, focus on writing about a specific loss of a loved one or dear friend, recent or from your past. What is the essence of your loss and how might you express and honor their memory? What did the individual mean to you?
To inspire your writing be guided by these words as an example…
A megadrought (or mega-drought) is a prolonged drought lasting two decades or longer. Past megadroughts have been associated with persistent multiyear La …
Aug 19, 2021 … Simply put, a megadrought is a period of extreme dryness that lasts for decades. Within that period there may be occasional better, wet, years, …
Feb 15, 2022 … U.S. megadrought worst in at least 1,200 years, researchers say. The drought also shows no signs of letting up, with increasing temperatures …
Sam Adams
Was an ecologist
With the Cosmos Institute
He was studying the decline
Of ancient civilizations
In North America
And concluded that
Humanity would soon face
A world in which its existence
Is doomed
As nature will no longer
Support such a large civilization
As climate change leads
To a mega drought
In the western parts
Of North America
And China and India
As well.
It would be
The end of the world.
Prompt The intersection of nature and civilization…
The future is coming and I can’t Wait for NaPoWriMo
Thinking about the future
I am excited
So many amazing things
Are about to happen
Dream and thought recording devices
Internet implants
Human-robot slaves
Self-driving vehicles
True AI Systems
Time Travel
Teleportation
Cloning
Growing new bodies
Life extension leading
To almost immortality
Lunar and Martian colonies
Development of space travel
Meeting alien civilizations
The future is coming
And I can’t wait
I want a robot slave
Maybe even a robot lover
And a new body
And I want to see Mars
And meet space aliens
And now for our (optional) prompt! Today, in honor of the potential luckiness of the number 13, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that, like the example poem here, joyfully states that “Everything is Going to Be Amazing.” Sometimes, good fortune can seem impossibly distant, but even if you can’t drum up the enthusiasm to write yourself a riotous pep talk, perhaps you can muse on the possibility of good things coming down the track. As they say, “the sun will come up tomorrow,” and if nothing else, this world offers us the persistent possibility of surprise.
How to Make a Perfect Smoothie Writers Digest
How to Make a Perfect Smoothie
My daily breakfast consists
of a perfect super-foods smoothie
Here is how to make
This breakfast of champions
In a blender
Put in Kefir first
Then powered collagen
Insulin powder
Honey
Cinnamon
all blended to perfection
That is my daily breakfast
Fit for a champion.
I often eat it
As cereal as it is so thick
Adding in cereal or oatmeal
and raisins.
2022 April PAD Challenge: Day 13
Write a poem every day of April with the 2022 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a How to Blank poem.
For today’s prompt, take the phrase “How to (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “How to Win at Life,” “How to Cook Lasagna,” “How to Fall in Love,” and/or “How to Write a Poem.”
Covid Life PSH
covid virus
Ever since COVID hit
I have been laying low
Not going out much
Not meeting friends
But doing weekly zoom
With my best friends
That has kept me sane
Been doing a lot of writing
Lots of COVID poems
Featuring General Corona
And his COVID bot army
General Corona
Appeared to me
in a dream.
I fell asleep after watching
The former guy goes on and on about
Fighting a war against an invisible army.
And thought well
Every army
needs a general.
General corona appeared
In my dream
A tall black man
Dressed in a black general’s uniform
Riding the black horse of revelations.
With an army of imperial storm troopers
In black uniforms
Marching shooting ray guns
Filled with the virus
At everyone they encounter.
That is how
I coped with the COVID
pandemic lockdown,
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Gary Grossman:
We’re all tired of COVID but it is good fodder for poetry. Write a poem about how your life changed specifically during the pandemic. Did you exercise more, did you burn incense more, and did you read books that had been sitting in a pile for years? Focus on describing your mental state and how that translated into your physical state. Did your muscles ache from walking, what was the smell of the hand cream you used to soothe your skin? Did your partner participate with you?
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the Poetry Super Highway Facebook Group. #napowrimo#poetry
The series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a fantasy world of magic, mythical beasts and talking animals. It narrates the adventures of various …
Sam Adams, an old man
Recently returning to his hometown,
Was walking in the Berkeley Hills.
Ended up at Tilden Park
Where he had been hiking
Ever since he was a child.
He was hoping to getaway.
From all the turmoil,
The dismal news of the day
The constant chattering on his TV.
He came upon an unusual sight
An open door in the air
With a note
Narnia is calling you.
He laughed
Recalling his favorite
Childhood stories
The Chronicles of Narnia.
He always wondered
If the stories were true
As he always felt
The stories were.
He jumped through the portal
Sam Adams disappearance
Remained a mystery.
He left behind a tangled mess
Millions of dollars in assets
Scattered across several states.
The first thing I do every morning
Is to make my morning cup of Joe
While watching the daily news
While writing in my journals
Waiting for my wife
In the morning
My coffee
Must be
Hot
And now for our (optional) daily prompt! Because it’s a Saturday, I thought I’d try a prompt that asks you to write in a specific form – the nonet! A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second has eight, and so on until you get to the last line, which has just one syllable.
Sam Adams Gunslinger in Wild West April 9—Persona—write a poem in the voice of a person who is Not You Dew Drop Inn, Writing Com
Gunman in the old wild west
Sam Adams was a cowboy
Back in the wild west
A badass gunslinger
For hire to the biggest bidder
Often working for the law
Sometimes working for the outlaws
He did not see much difference
He took the jobs
That paid him the most
Thought that if he did not do it
Someone else would no doubt
Sam Adams thought about death
As he shot those that needed killing,
Better them than him he thought.
Breakfast of Champions Smoothie Poetry Superhighway PSH
My daily breakfast consists
Of a super-foods
Smoothie containing:
Apples
Apple cider vinegar
Banana,
Blueberry,
Carrots
Cinnamon
Cherries
Coconut oil
Kale
Homemade kefir
Honey
Oranges
Macca root
Pineapple,
Raspberry
Stevia
Strawberry,
Spinach
Walnuts
Wheatgrass
All blended to perfection
That is my daily breakfast
Fit for a champion.
Write a poem based on a recipe. It can be an actual recipe for food or it can be a recipe for something else entirely. Ferlinghetti wrote a recipe for happiness. I have a poem called “How to Make Meatballs” that has the meatball recipe in it.
If you write a poem from this prompt, post a comment on the PSH Facebook page. For some reason, this has been my most popular poem on All Poetry, go figure.
Jan 10, 2022 … A slew of recent opinion polls shows a significant minority of Americans at ease with the idea of violence against the government. Even talk of …
And a poll conducted last June by Rasmussen Reports found that 31 percent of probable US voters surveyed believe “it’s likely that the United States will …
Sep 16, 2021 … A 2021 national survey by pollster John Zogby found a plurality of Americans (46%) believed a future civil war was likely, 43% felt it was …
Jan 6, 2022 … A “minor armed conflict” is one that kills at least 25 people a year. By this definition, as Marche argues, “America is already in a state of …
Jan 11, 2022 … If America has another civil war, it is more likely to be a war within the states than between them. Citizens of any state of any size, …
Jan 11, 2022 … A Zogby poll in the fall found that 46 percent of Americans think the country is headed for another civil war. In late December, a survey by …
Feb 11, 2022 … America is always on the verge of a second Civil War, according to one pundit or another. Such heated claims have become especially popular …
Mar 20, 2022 … “They believe a second civil war is coming, and they are looking forward to that civil war.” A year after January 6, 2021, there’s little doubt …
The “Second American Civil War” is an umbrella term used by some academics to reclassify historical eras of significant political violence in the United …
Jan 19, 2022 … The last few decades laid the groundwork for our accelerating polarization and tribalization, and now, America’s political Left and Right no …
Note: I explore this topic in my unpublished novel, “the Great Divorce”. My feeling is that it is a possibility, although more likely the U.S. will evolve into ten or more regional governments, that will largely take over the responsibilities of the increasingly dysfunctional Federal government. and I could see the breaking up of big states into mini-federations, such as five mini-states in California, Upstate NYC vs NYC metro, and of course Washington DC, VI, PR, Gaum/Samoa/Micronesia all becoming states, and Canada dissolving as well ,with Canadian provinces joining various sub-federations in the New North American union. Now the poem:
In this day and age
Of deep partisan divide
Into the blue and red states.
And open talk among both
The right and left
Of a possible second civil war
Commonly called Civil War 2.0.
Is it conceivable that
The United States will break up
Into new nation-states?
If so, what would be
The new nations
of North America?
Will there be a Christian States of America/Canada?
With a new capital perhaps in Omaha?
Will there be a Northwest Pacific States of America/Canada?
Will there be a Southwest Pacific States of America/Mexico?
Will there be a Great Lakes States of America/Canada?
Will there be a great Utah?
Will Texas emerge as the Lone Star Republic?
Will there be a Pacific Islands Federation including
Perhaps the PI?
Will there be the Native State of America?
Spread-out, embedded in the other states?
Will, there be a French Speaking America
Based in Quebec but uniting French speaking
States, and countries including Haiti,
Dominica, St Lucia, Guadeloupe, and Martinique?
Will there be Caribbean Federation based in Miami?
Will Guam, PR, Micronesia, Washington DC, and VI
become states in one of the new nations?
I don’t have an answer
A lot will depend
In the coming few years.
But if I had to bet
I would bet that somehow
The United States will stay together
Just too difficult to break apart
Into new nation-states.
But new federalism might emerge
With regional governments taking
More responsibilities
From the Federal government
And State governments as well.
Overtime the new regional governments
Might supplant the federal government,
Leading to a new arrangement
Without the drama of another civil war.
For today’s prompt, write a breaking poem. The poem could be about breaking down walls, break dancing, breaking up, or breaking stuff. However, you’d like to break it down and then write your poem.
What ‘They” Never Tell Us Conspiracy Writer’s Digest
May 14, 2020 … The Prophecies of Q. American conspiracy theories are entering a dangerous new phase. By Adrienne LaFrance. Illustrations by Arsh Raziuddin.
Watching the news unfold
Every day
I wonder what “they”
The secret powers
Behind the news
Are not telling us.
For starters,
Are their aliens?
Are they secretly in charge?
Is climate change
Going to doom us all?
Do they have a plan?
Is there a plot
To reinstate the former guy.
If so when and how?
Is Q telling the truth?
Is there a secret cabal
Of cannibalistic pedophiles
Satanists running the government
And society?
Was the last election stolen?
If so, how, and why?
And did Trump win?
Finally, is there a plot
To invent cloning.
And if so, when can I
Get in line for a new body.
There is just so much
That “They” are not
Telling us.
For today’s prompt, write what they never tell you in a poem. I’m not sure who “they” are, but “they” talk a lot, and there are things people tell you, and there are things you just have to learn on your own, because “they” (them again) never tell you ahead of time. Like, for instance, “they” never told me that I’d still feel like a teenager in my 40s, but here we are. Think about what “they” never tell (or told) you, and write that poem.
Local gem: Second Chances Everyone deserves a second chance. Write a poem of about second chances. Second Chances
Local gem: Second Chances Everyone deserves a second chance. Write a poem of about second chances. Sam Adams
Sam Adams
Was a man who had
Numerous second, third, fourth
Fifth chances in life.
He failed first grade
Failed courses in high school
And college.
Went to three colleges
Before he finally graduated
On his third chance.
Failed in his career
Never advanced as far
As he wanted to.
But in the end
There was one thing
He did right
On the first try.
When he met his wife
He did not hesitate
Proposed in three days.
Did not want to take
A second chance
On happiness.
Sunday, Day 10, April 10
Where Do You and I Begin NaPoWriMo
(reviously published)
I woke up one day and realized
I no longer knew
where you and I began
and where you and I ended
we had become almost one
We talked in half sentences
Knowing what the other wanted
and knowing how it would end
We ate the same foods with some resistance
because I still crave an old-fashioned American meal
but still, we were becoming more and more the same
and I feared losing myself
In your embrace
and becoming you
and you becoming me
and this fear of losing me
in the ocean of us
overwhelms me at times
but I know I will always
Return to your arms
because I cannot live
A moment without you at my side
and I know you are the same
we feel each other’s inner pain
we feel each other’s outer pain
and our history has merged
into one
and is that not the secret
of a long marriage?
Have I figured it all out
in the end, does it come to this
a merging of two souls and two bodies?
I don’t have the answers
But I don’t have any more doubts
or regrets with the path I have taken
I still look forward
to waking up each morning
Seeing you there
and knowing that every day
we have together
is a gift that I will cherish
Until my dying breath
Today’s (optional) prompt is pretty simple – a love poem! If you’re having trouble getting into the right mood for a love poem, maybe you’ll find inspiration in one of my favorites, June Jordan’s “Poem for Haruko.”
The Unicorn General Conquers the World Dew Drop Inn
A unicorn silhouette in a galaxy nebula cloud. Raster illustration.
Sam Adams
was a paranormal researcher
he was searching
for mystical creatures
that he was sure
still existed somewhere.
The banshees, bigfoot, the centaurs,
the demons, the dragons, the giants,
the hellhounds, the minitours, the leprechauns.
The snowmen, the unicorns, and yeti.
Sam Adams found a book
the legendary infamous necormicron.
Which many had dismissed
as nothing but a story
by Lovecraft and his fellow
demented writers.
Chanting from the book,
He opened the door
the first through
was the king of the unicorns.
He brought with him
thousands of his followers
who launched a war
against the modern world.
The unicorn and his army
quickly overwhelmed the world
appointed Sam Adams
as their ambassador,
the unicorn smiled
at his victory
it had been a long time
living in exile
in the other dimensions.
April 10—Free day—a topic or focus of your choosing! (And this might be free verse, too! Or not! Exercise your free will!)
Too Much Stuff PSH
I have too much stuff
Too many things bought
Over the years
Too many books
Too many records
Too many kitchen gadgets.
Too many khachkars
From all over the world
Too much artwork,
Too many clothes
Just too much stuff.
Since I live abroad
If I die overseas
Most of what I have
Will be thrown away.
We are getting rid
Of somethings
Along the way.
Donated some books
To the Army library
Might downsize some
Of my library,
Maybe sell it
To a used English
language bookstore.
My record collection
Will be given
To my younger brother-in-law
Who can sell it off?
The artwork
The kitchen stuff
The clothes
Probably will stay
With me.
Some may go
With me, if I ever
Return home.
But I doubt anyone
Will pay to ship things back
Just the way it is
Being an aging ex-pat.
Write about your knick-knacks, your tchotchkes, and your Dollar Store finds. Explain why you can’t quit buying them, and what you think your heirs will do with them when you die.
Taste of Korean Food Korea Writer’s Digest
kimchi
When I first encountered Korean food
I was overwhelmed by the strong taste, fragrance
And the strangeness at time of Korean food
Now known worldwide as K Food.
Hot, raw, sweet yet sour,
spicy, in your face mixture
of smells, textures, and flavors.
Sweet, sour, spicy hot with a nice
Lingering after taste
Bursting with fermentation and flavors
That is the essence of K food.
I tried it all
When I first got to Korea
43 years ago
It was just overwhelming.
Took a while
But I learned to love
K food.
A typical Korean meal
Is somewhat like a Japanese
Or a Chinese meal
But different.
Consists of rice,
A soup of some sort
Sometimes hearty stew
Lots of vegetable-based side dishes
Perhaps some eggs.
Everybody’s Kimchi
is a bit different,
yet they all share
A similar blend of:
Alcohol
cabbage
chili peppers
fermentation
fish
fish sauce,
garlic,
onion,
red peppers,
salt
sugar
soy sauce
sometimes
made with dandelion
radish
Cucumber
springtime wild herbs.
All rolled up in an intoxicating blend
Of smells and flavors
That was my introduction
to the lowly Kimchi,
The staple of K food,
I soon became a K Food fan
Craving its intoxicating flavor
And smells with every meal.
Married a Korean gal
We eat Korean style
Almost every meal.
Now 40 years later
I am still a K Food efficient
Enjoying the fragrance, the smell
The overwhelming tastes.
And intoxicating tastes
Can’t get enough of that
Funky stuff.
For today’s prompt, write a taste poem. Back on day three, we wrote a small poem; let’s write about the sense of taste today. Of course, I’m thinking about tasting wine, cheese, or chocolate. But feel free to indulge in a person’s taste in fashion, cars, or whatever else requires real taste.
two related poems The Smell of Korean Food and the Feel of Korean food follow:
The Smells of Korean food
bulgogi-central-park-rotated.jpg
When I first encountered Korean food
I was overwhelmed by the strong smell
Bursting with fermentation and flavors
Hot, raw, sweet yet sour,
spicy, in your face mixture
of smells and flavors
everybody’s Kimchi
is a bit different
yet they all share
A similar blend of
Alcohol
cabbage
chili peppers
fermentation
fish
fish sauce,
garlic,
onion,
red peppers,
salt
sugar
soy sauce
sometimes
made with dandelion
radish
springtime wild herbs
All rolled up in an intoxicating blend
Of smells and flavors
That was my introduction
to the lowly Kimchi
The staple of Korean food,
I soon became a kimchi addict
Craving its intoxicating flavor
And smells with every meal
Now 40 years later
I am still a kimchi addict
Enjoying the fragrance, the smell
And intoxicating tastes
Can’t get enough of that
Funky stuff.
For today’s prompt, write a smell poem. Strong writing uses sensory language, and one sense that is often overlooked is the sense of smell. So write about the pungent smell of teenage socks, the exquisite odor of fresh lasagna, or the coppery scent of a summer shower. Smell you later!
The Feel of Korean Food Writers’ Digest
octopus on plate ready to be cooked,italyoctopus on plate ready to be cooked,italy
Korean food is a full sensory experience
Overwhelming one with smells, flavors
And textures as well.
One day back in the Peace Corps day
My best friend visited me
From Indonesia where he
Had been hanging out.
It was the dead of winter
15 degrees F.
When he got on the plane
It was 90 degrees F.
We bought winter clothes
Then I decided to treat him
To an infamous Korean disk
산 나치
San Nachi
or Live Octopus.
they brought it out
the octopus tentacles
were moving about.
I taught him
The proper technique
Grab it by the chopstick
Dip it in hot sauce
And chew it a long time
Sometimes unwary
Or drunk eaters
Encounter a problem
When the suckers
Get stuck in one’s mouth
Sometimes requires a trip to the ER.
The texture is slimy
And a big disgusting
Need a lot to drink
The first time around.
My friend tried it
But said never again
And we both bring it up
From time to time.
He was not a big fan
Of the 산 나치
San Nachi.
Never tried that again
But he did like
Other things we ate
That winter.
For today’s prompt, write a touching poem. We’ve already done smell and taste; let’s move on to the sense of touch. Of course, all these prompts are open to interpretation, and touch connects many paths, including touching up a picture, touching down an airplane, bringing a soft or human touch to a situation, and even playing touch and go (or tag). However, in your poem, feel encouraged to put your personal touch on this prompt.
Sam Adams Final Chances Local Gems
lovers sunset
Sam Adams
At the end of life
Was looking back
In his past life.
Lost in his memories,
Remembering things he had done
Thinking about things he had done
And thinking about second, third,
Fourth, fifth and sixth chances
in his long life.
But in the end, he thought most about
His only final chance
He took regarding love.
When he jumped into life
With his beloved wife
After dreaming of her
For eight years.
When they met
He knew that was it
That was his final chance
Of finding true love.
And that was how
He met his fate
On that September date.
The Revenge of The Shrimp
Shrimp
Sam Adams and friends
Were enjoying a shrimp feast
Watching the live shrimp
Being roasted
Waiting to enjoy eating them.
The head shrimp
Jumped out of the pot
Followed by other shrimp
Soon thousands of shrimp
Were everywhere.
The head shrimp spoke up
“humans,
What gives you the right to kill us
To eat us?
To burn us alive.?
Perhaps we should kill you
Tear you apart
And eat you?
Would you like that
You human scumbags?”
The shrimp surrounded the humans
Swarming all over them
Killing them, burning them.
As they overturned the flaming pots.
Biting them
Smothering them in hot sauce.
As they ate them.
Screaming,
“Death to all humans!”
The head shrimp finally said,
“Enough, no more
Time to go
We are so out of here.”
The shrimp
All ran out the door
And back into
the shrimp farm waters.
The firefighters
Found the charred remains
Of the humans.
Now just charred
skin and bones
Wondering how they died.
The shrimp in the pound
Looked out,
Wondering if they should attack
But decided they had eaten
Enough human meat
For the evening.
Hillary Clinton and the Right-wing Conspiracy NaPoWriMo
Hilary Clinton said
that her husband
Had been the victim
Of a vast,
large right-wing conspiracy
That continued to this day
Little did we know
That the real leaders
Of the conspiracy
Was based in Russia
Where Putin
Wanted to try large
Remaking the world
And in the process
Destroy the world
Putin was the large
Master of the world
Trump was just
Their latest puppet
Our featured participant for the day is . . . two featured participants because, once again, I just couldn’t choose. First, we have Whimsy gizmo’s, which brings us a love poem for that most poetic of celestial objects, the moon, and second, Snigdha Choudhury, who brings us an exclamatory take on unrequited love.
And now for our (optional) prompt. Following up on yesterday’s love poem, I have for you another deceptively simple challenge. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about a very large thing. It could be a mountain or a blue whale or a skyscraper or a planet or the various contenders for the honor of being the Biggest Ball of Twine. Whatever giant thing you choose, I hope this chance to verify in praise of the huge gets your poetic engines humming.
Love in Korean Dew Drop Inn
When sam Adams
first met her
The lady of his dreams
There was as the Koreans
Would say
Spark from heart to heart
이심촌심isimchonsim
truly love at first sight
첫눈에 반하다cheosnun-e banhada
they both knew
that it is just fate
운명unyoung
that they had met
that date.
Two months later
They were married
It all happened
40 years ago
48 years after
She first came
To him in his dreams.
April 11—somehow incorporate a word or phrase of another language into your poem
The Powers That Be – Who are They? (Revised) Writers’ Digest
Male alligator in office clothing suit and shirt, dangerous business man concept- mixed media
Jan 12, 2021 … The deadly Capitol siege was fueled by far-out conspiracy theorists, … The notion of shape-shifting, blood-sucking reptilian humanoids …
Reptilians – also called reptoids, lizard people, archons, reptiloids, saurians, or draconians – are supposed reptilian humanoids, which play a prominent …
They are among us. Blood-drinking, flesh-eating, shape-shifting extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids with only one objective in their cold-blooded little …
Watching the news unfold
Every day
I wonder who “they” are
The secret powers
That run the world
From behind the scenes?
There are rumors
That the powers
Of the universe,
The masters of the universe
The secret power brokers
Are not-human.
They are shape-shifting
Reptilian creatures
from the Palaskan empire
in Sirius, the dog star.
their agents Trump and Putin
were doing a great job
disrupting and weakening the world.
It was time though
Said the head of the committee
The committee does not exist.
That was the control tower
Of the alien conspiracy
Of the secret powers that be.
For the invasion fleet to arrive
And finish the job
Of enslaving humanity
A job that they failed to do
When they controlled Atlantis
And later the Roman Empire.
For today’s prompt, write a power poem. Your poem could somehow involve electricity, solar power, fossil fuels, wind, or water. It could illustrate a power play or someone exerting their power over someone else. Of course, you could also write about a power outage. You alone have the power to poem your way through this prompt.
Lost Alone in the Desert writing Com
Sam Adams
Was walking alone
In the desert.
After fleeing the alien
Invasion of Las Vegas
As the giant Nazi Spiders
took control.
He joined other refugees
Wondering in the desert
The hot sun bearing down
On him.
There were rumors
That the aliens
Would be bombing Las Vegas
With nuclear weapons.
he paused to look back
and saw the city
disappear in a nuclear blast.
he continued
wandering through
alone, lost in the desert.
The desert can be metaphorical or literal, your choice.
Line count: minimum of 12, no max
Obsolete Tech Items PSH
old typewriterjpg
Over the years
I have collected a few
Obsolete items
That is no longer made
But for some reason
I have saved it.
The first is an old telephone
From Mumbai
That was the police hotline phone
Between the consulate
And the police headquarters
Back in the 1940s or earlier.
The telephone people
Found it when they were updating
The consulate’s phone lines.
I took one look at it
And fell in love with it
And the history behind it
Still have it.
The other item is a 1920’s era
Typewriter I inherited
From my grandfather.
I kept it to remind me
That I am a writer
When I look at it
It calls to me.
Keep writing
These items
Have been around
The world with me.
And will be with me
Until I die
Then who knows
Where will they end up?
Who will care by then?
As I will be in the next world.
Blessed with Love has published a number of my love poems. These poems are dedicated to Angela Lee. the love of my life, who walked off a bus 39 and half years ago on September 7, 1982. But, as some of you might know, I first dreamt of meeting her in 1974.
See “Dreamgirl” postings and other love poems below. None of these published poems are directly about the “dream” though. My love life has been like a fairy tale romance that is still go strong.
Coffee
In the morn
Great start today
Filling me with joy
Contemplating the news
Drinking a morning cup of joe
Thinking about my life and love
Waiting for the love of my life to wake up
When she wakes up, she fills me with such love.
She talks to me my day begins to fill
With plans and many things, we must do
I smile and finish my drink
Still in awe of her beauty,
Still just madly in love.
Ever since we met
Just wondering
How I met
Her that
Day.
Note: My first attempt at writing a love rock song.
When I first saw you in September
A date that I will always remember
I knew then on that date
I had truly met my fate.
For I knew I had fallen under your spell
You had cast a mad love spell on me
Your mojo was working overtime on me
And I would be forever your love slave.
I had to have you; had to make you mine,
For You are everything I longed for
Everything I was dreaming of
You are my everything.
Chorus
I have the love Jones baby
And I got it bad
I have the love Jones, baby
Can’t you see just what you to me?
Love Jones baby, Love Jones for you.
when you walked off that bus
you entered my life
and soon became my wife
and everything changed.
from that moment on
I was you and You are me
It was 39 years since you walked
Into my life tearing it upside down.
and for 39 years together
every single day, every hour, every minute
every single second whenever I look at you
I fell madly in love again
and again and again.
just the way it is
between you and me
for you are my love angel
sent to rescue me.
Chorus
I have the love Jones baby
And I got it bad
I have the love Jones, baby
Can’t you see just what you to me?
Love Jones baby, Love Jones for you.
when I first saw you there
your cosmic love vibrations
sent me flying to the moon
to Jupiter and beyond.
flying on the back
of your love
returning me once more
to your waiting embrace.
Your love came me such a thrill
the thrill has never ended
like a fine bottle of wine
it gets better and better.
I can no longer imagine
A life without you by my side
And if you go before I do
I will surely soon follow you.
When we met that cosmic date
I knew that I had met my soul mate
And soon we would be together
Until the end of time.
Chorus
I have the love Jones baby
And I got it bad
I have the love Jones, baby
Can’t you see just what you to me?
Love Jones baby, Love Jones for you.
You are my love drug
I do not need any other
With your love by my side
I do not need alcohol
I do not need acid
I do not need booze
I do not need Cialis
I do not need cocaine
I do not need heroin
I do not need magic mushrooms
I do not need speed
I do not need Viagra
for You are all that I ever needed
You are indeed my love drug
Chorus
I have the love Jones baby
And I got it bad
I have the love Jones, baby
Can’t you see just what you to me?
Love Jones baby, Love Jones for you.
We first met one night in September
I knew that I had met my fate
A date I always cherish
The date you came to me
You walked off that bus
Out of my dreams
Becoming
To be
Note: Second attempt after Love Jones to write a love rock song. If anyone is interested in collaborating to turn these two songs into actual songs, please let me know. End Note
when I first saw you in September
a date that I will always remember
I knew then on that date
I had truly met my fate.
for I knew I had fallen under your spell
you had cast a mad love spell on me
your mojo was working overtime on me
And I would be forever your love slave.
For I had to have you; had to make you mine,
for You are everything I longed for
everything I was dreaming of
You are my everything.
Chorus
You are my love bug
You are my love connection
You are my love drug
You are my everything.
My foolish love bugs.
when you walked off that bus
You entered my life
And soon became my wife
And everything changed.
from that moment on
I was you
and you are me
just the way it should be,
It has been 39 years since you walked
Into my life,
turning it inside out
tearing it upside down.
and for 39 years together
every single day, every hour, every minute
every single second whenever I look at you
I fell madly in love again and again and again.
just the way it is
between you and me
for you are my love angel
sent to rescue me.
Chorus
You are my love bug
You are my love connection
You are my love drug
You are my everything.
my foolish love connection,
when I first saw you there
your cosmic love vibrations
sent me flying to the moon
to Jupiter and beyond.
flying on the back
of your love
returning me once more
to your waiting embrace.
Your love came me such a thrill
The thrill has never ended
Like a fine bottle of wine
It gets better and better.
I can no longer imagine
A life without you by my side
And if you go before I do
I will surely soon follow you.
When we met that cosmic date
I knew that I had met my soul mate
And soon we would be together
Until the end of time.
Chorus
You are my love bug
You are my love connection
You are my love drug
You are my everything
my lovely love drug
You are my love drug
I do not need any other
With your love by my side
I do not need alcohol
I do not need acid
I do not need booze
I do not need Cialis
I do not need cocaine
I do not need heroin
I do not need magic mushrooms
I do not need speed
I do not need Viagra
for You are all that I ever needed
You are indeed my love drug
Chorus
You are my love bug
You are my love connection
You are my love drug
You are my everything
One day
a space ship landed
near my house
and a tall alien
Dressed in silver,
accompanied by three shorter aliens
came to my house.
and told me they were
conducting a survey
of the earth,
and had some questions for me
they had picked me
because I was considered
a subject matter expert
on the topic of love
which was one
of the five things
that they could not understand
about humanity
no one else
among the 1 million intelligent species
had such a concept.
I asked what were the other things
that they did not understand?
They said,
“hmm Donald Trump
hmm Donald Trump
how and why he is President
and why so many people
still support him?
Second is God
your race has more gods
than any other race
and no one else
has heard of your god
or Allah or Jesus for that matter
and on the face of it
the whole resurrection thing
makes no sense.
makes no sense
third is gun violence
why is the US
you have to do a strip search
to get on the plane or train
and nowadays a temperature health screening
yet you can not ban guns
can not enact universal gun checks
even though 90 % support it
and why can terrorists
still can buy guns?
fourth climate change
every other successful culture
every other successful culture
went through something similar
and evolve their politics and culture
and overcame it
and finally, the issue of love
You see in the whole universe
There is no such concept
of romantic love
In most cultures there are marriages
and most people are bisexual
and group marriages are the norm
and love is seen as merely sexual attraction
and most people pick their partners
from computer-generated links
From computer-generated links
for we have figured it all out
But you persist in denying
that love is nothing but
a chemical DNA thing
Explain to me
since you are considered
the most romantic man
in the world
What the hell is love?”
I told him that we would discuss
the other issues later over a beer
as I was hardly the authority
but would be happy to share my thoughts
and they agreed to that
but said again
“Tell us what is this thing
you called love?”
I said,
“it comes down to this
Love is mysterious
love is magic
There is a certain zen element
Zen element
to love
a certain Taoist element as well
to it as well
those who can define it
have never experienced it
and those who have experienced it
can never describe it
One can say a few things
love happens
When you least expect it
Love creeps up on you
Love happens
When you are washing dishes
drinking wine
Drinking wine
Dancing at a club
Making love
for the first time
Or the 10,000th time
And every time
is different
then the time before
Love happens when you give up
searching for love
waiting for love
wishing for love
wishing for the one
then one day
the one walks out
of your dreams
and into your life
becoming your wife
My wife one day
was berating me
for all my myriad faults
All my sins against her
My omissions and commissions
Malfeasance and misfeasance
Things I had done
and things I had failed to do
All of which I acknowledge
and apologized for
But finally, I had enough
I said
Well if I am so bad
so horrible
so evil a creature
and a person you hate
so much
Why the hell did you marry me?
She laughed
“temporarily insanity
and I am still insane
twenty-five years later.
We both laughed
and fell in love
again
as always
We fall in love
with each other
Every day
Every moment
Every second
Every second
It dawned on me
I had the answer to the question
And that my friends
Is the true unknowable madness
The true zen spirit of love
Well that was interesting
And I think we begin
to understand you all
a bit more
You are indeed
the most interesting people
in the whole universe
so let’s go out and have a beer
we are dying to try that
as we hear
You have the best beer
in the universe
and the best coffee too
And the best weed
nd so we went
and had our beer
and coffee
and talked all night long
discussing everything.
They told me about the universe
and our place in it
and their plans for us.
They say
There are a million ways
To say I love you
In this day and age
I could only find
In my computer’s brain
The words to say I love you
In 53 languages of the 10,000 languages
Spoken on this planet
Someday I may be able
To say the simple words
I love you
In all known languages
This will have to suffice for a start
I will say it
Loud, and clear
Just so you understand:
I love you (English)
Mein tumse pyar karta hoon (Hindi)
Tu Tane prem karoo chu (Gujarati)
Ame tomake bhalo bashe (Bengali)
Me tula premkarto (Marati)
Hum apse mohabbat karte hain (Urdu)
Mein thoda prem karanga (Punjabi)
Man Dooset Daram (Persian)
Ana Ahabik Yanooni (Arabic)
Havala (Hebrew)
Yongchon(Chinese)
Aloha (Hawaiian)
Cinta(Indonesian)
Dangshinun sarang hayo (Korean)
Ajo (Japanese)
Kasih (Malay)
Phom tirak khun krap (Thai)
Akoay Paginghe ikou (Tagalog)
Toi yeu ong(Vietnamese)
Renmen (Creole)
Jesuis L’amour voies(French)
Liefdle (Flemish)
Estoy amor tu (Spanish)
Yosono amore tu (Italian)
Estou o amore tu (Portugese)
Dashuri (Albanian)
Maiteizam (Basque)
OBHYAM (Bulgarian)
Ljubav (Croatian)
Laska (Czech)
Jeger en kaerlighed du (Danish)
Ikben houden van jig (Dutch)
Gra (Gaelic)
Ich bin lieben tu (German)
Agape/eros (Greek)
Ami (Esperanto)
Armastama (Estonian)
Rakam (Finish)
Envagyok szeretet te (Hungarian)
Elska (Icelandic)
Ejekirin (Kurdish)
Milestiba (Latvian)
Meile (Lithuanian)
Eu dragoste tu (Romanian)
JHOBOEL Lubush (Russian)
Elske (Norweigan)
Easka (Slovak)
JBYBAB (Serbian)
Jagdan karlek du (Swedish)
KOYATH (Ukraine)
Benin sevi sen (Turkish)
Ahava (Yiddish)
The World According to Cosmos – via Podcast Addict | poetry and rants by the Cosmos. … The World According to Cosmos. By Jake Cosmos Aller. Jan 16 2022 20 mins 1. poetry and rants …
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The world according to cosmos. I don’t understand the anti-covid vaccination people at all. They are endangering the entire country and world by their gross stupidity, the leaders of the …
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Welcome to Cosmos’ annual April Poetry Madness. Last year I wrote 300 poems in one month, this year I will write less as that was just way too much to deal with.
today’s poems will be April 4, to April 7th poems in separate postings, one per day.
I will post them as I write them, and try to update them every day or so. I will finish May 1 US time, as that will still be April 30 KST (Korea, where I currently reside.) Most will be G rated but a few may not be. I will try to label those or not post them. The topics will be wherever my mad muse takes me, and I usually don’t have a clue until I write them.
I will post here the poems I wrote based on prompts from NaPoWriMo, (the poetry’s world’s equivalence to the annual NaNoWriMo novel competition which I will enter again in November). Writers’ com’s Dew Drop-in, Poetry Super-highway, Writers Digest, and occasionally other prompts. I will write a few more each day, but not post them, as I need to build up more “unpublished poems” for future submissions.
Daily posting All poetry, Anchor, this blog, FB, Medium, PSH, Wattpad, Writing com, and Writer’s Digest.
I will post each poem, followed by the prompt, occasional author and notes, and photos. I will convert it to a podcast later, available on anchor, radio public, blog radio, Spotify, and elsewhere under the name “The World According to Cosmos: or Jake Cosmos Aller. See the following for more information on the podcasts.
At the end of the month I will add up the total poems written this month, total posted, total not-posted, and total YTD.
I have found that this annual exercise has been a big help in helping me hone my craft as I am entirely self-taught except for having taken the Mod Po class several times. It helps me stretch my poetic muscles. It has been a lot of fun but a challenge.
April Poetry Madness Prompts
Daily to do in April
Take poetry prompts
From NaPoWriMo, Writers Digest, Writing com Dew Drop-in,
And elsewhere
Throw it all out there
See where your muse takes you
Then write, write, write
Two-three hours later
Emerge with the poems for the day
In the end, you have met
Your poetry quota for the day
Perhaps for the week
Or even the year
It is all good.
more poetry for all
is the spirit
of April Poetry Madness.
Finally, here’s our optional prompt! Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem . . . in the form of a poetry prompt. If that sounds silly, well, maybe it is! But it’s not without precedent. The poet Mathias Svalina has been writing surrealist prompt poems for quite a while, posting them to Instagram. You can find examples here, and here, and here.
Happy writing!
When I First Saw You Dew Drop-in
lovers in the rain
When I First Saw You There
When I first saw you there
You came to me
In a dream
And disappeared,
Haunting me
For eight long years.
When I First Saw You In Person
lovers face to face
I was overwhelmed
This fairy tale dream of mine
This impossible quest
To find the girl in the dream
Was finally over.
She was real,
And she was here.
In front of me.
When I First Spoke With You
lovers at sunset
I knew that this was it
We would be together
From then on
You were the one,
I proposed three days later.
When I First Kissed You
lovers sunset
When I first kissed you
Erotic desires came out
And that was the beginning
Of a 40-year love affair.
When I Married You
declaration of love
That was the beginning
Of my life
From that moment
I had no doubt
Whatever life brought my way,
You would be there
In the end
That is all that matters.
April 4—List poem w/repetition—write a poem that lists things, using some (not necessarily constant) repetition and variation of an initial phrase (Examples: When I was six…, Remember that time…*, Layers of…., etc.)
I often found
Throughout my married life
That we fall in love with each other
At the oddest times and places.
For example, yesterday
While emptying the trash
In our suburban housing estate
In Korea,
I looked at her
And once again
Fell in love.
It has been that way
Every day for 40 years
The love continues to deepen
And grow,
That is just the way
Love happened with us.
Composed while emptying the trash
This poetry writing prompt submitted by LB Sedlacek:
Rewrite where you write! Write where you (or maybe anyone) normally wouldn’t write. That’s right. Take your pen, paper, smartphone, or whatever with you to a school sporting event, or while you’re waiting in line at the drugstore, maybe sitting in the car rider line, or at the doctor’s office, and be ready to write. Jot down a quick poem – whatever comes to mind from what’s happening around you, what you see, hear, smell, feel and think. Then when you’re back in your usual writing spot at your desk or sitting in your favorite chair, you can edit it.
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the Poetry Superhighway Facebook Group.
#napowrimo #poetry
Catch Up Poem Writer Digest
For today’s prompt, write a catch-up poem. This is not to be confused with a ketchup (or catsup) poem, but hey, write one of those if the poetic spirit moves you! But I’m thinking of catching up on work, catching up on a race, or catching up on some popular TV or streaming series.
Doing the April Poetry challenge
Has been a challenge
Keeping it up to date.
I posted my April 1-3 poems
April 4th
My April 4th poems April 5th etc
But in my defense
The prompts come out
In U.S. time
And I am a day behind
Living in Korea.
I write every day
Takes an hour to write them.
But it takes too much time
To post the poems.
There is still there a lot
Of catching up to do.
You can’t fix stupid something unfixable local gems
Don’t Believe the Lie There is No COVID
To this day
There are some people
Who believes that COVID
Never really existed.
That it was all a horrid libtard plot
To lock down the economy
Imposed draconian controls
On everyone.
That vaccine mandates
Are the equivalent of
Sending Jews to the death camps
That the unvaccinated
Will be rounded up
And forced to get vaccines
Which are the equivalent
Of Nazi medical experiments.
That the vaccines were created
To track people
Invented by Bill Gates
Or were the mark of the beast.
Some speculated that
everyone who got the vaccine
Would die in one year
Or become sterile.
Part of the nefarious plot
To depopulate the world
By the global one-world government
UN black helicopter conspiracy.
The nonsense about vaccines
Mask wearing
And COVID in general
Reveal a fundamental flaw
With many human beings.
No matter how hard one might try
To convince people who believe
This nonsense,
It is beyond any ability
To reason with them.
At the end of the day
You can’t fix stupid.
Weekly challenge (Post)
Shout out to Favorite Poets Meta Poetry
charles bukowski
I have over the years read
A lot of poetry
And written a lot of poetry
My favorite poets include
WD Auden
John Ashbury walking around poems
Blake mystical poetry
Charles Bukowski anything of his
Emily Dickinson
Emerson’s classic poetry of the American romantic period
Allen Ginzburg classic poetry of the beatnik eraLon
Latin Poetry in translation
Jack Kerouac
Korean poetry (in translation but I can read some of it)
KIm Seowol
Japanese Poetry(in translation)
Pablo Neruda (in translation but I can read some of it)
Edgar Allen Poe, alone, the bells, the raven
Robert Jeffries
Henry Longfellow
Rod McKeun
Walt Whitman all of his work
Williams Carlos Williams
Just to name a few
And poems in the Mod Po course.
Of course goes without saying.
All of my poetry has been influenced
by these and other writers.
I like to think of my writing
as in the neo-beatnik style.
or Outlaw poetry school
Maybe a bit New York School
Definitely Berkeley School
And I have so many more poets
To read and contemplate
Before my time is up.
In celebration of National Poetry Month,
Write a poem about your favorite poet!
Form: any or none, author’s choice
Line Count: min of 12, no max
Romantic Tanka Poem Fan Story
Romantic Tanka Poem
lovers kissing 5
When I saw you there
I knew that you were the one
Heaven sent you then
When you came into my life
That was my best day ever
More Howling at the Moon Poems
Berkeley Calling Me
Down in the Dirt Updates
