POEMS (of others) FOR THE SEASON

MEMO TO AMERICANS

Perhaps we could bargain
with the years . . .
could proffer
substantial payment

that the home place,
land we cleared
and planted,
the springs and wells
we have drawn water from,
the home we planned and built,
the furnishings we purchased
in both lean and fat years,

that these personal properties
be put in trust
for benefit
of years to come . . .
   because
   the equity
   is high . . .

Clovita Rice, Crystal and Creatures: A Collection of Poems, published by Grandmother Earth, 2004,
used without permission of author.
~~

SUMMER SONG

     Wanderer moon,
Smiling
A faintly ironical smile
At this brilliant,
Dew-moistened
Summer morning--
A detached,
Sleepily indifferent
Smile,
A wanderer's smile--
If I should
 Buy a shirt
Your color, and
Put on a necktie
Sky-blue,
Where would they carry me?
Over the hills and
Far away?
Where would they carry me?

William Carlos Williams, from Early Poems, Dover Publications, Inc. 1997.
~~

JULY 4, 1941  -- JULY 4, 1942

How many last year were careless boys,
And fire and thunder were their toys,
And over beach and farm and park
Their hissing rockets split the dark.
Their stars flew up like flaming birds
Of Liberty, too swift for words,
And cannon crackers wrote in smoke
The free proud thoughts they never spoke.
Today their firework's eloquent glow
Is understood in Tokyo.

Ogden Nash, from Good Intentions, Grosset & Dunlap, last copyright, 1942.

~~
~~
[These books are from my collection -- PL.]

Poems: D-Day celebration, Angela's ashes, and (shudder) . . . .Three sequences

Dutch iris - Couchwood, 2014 - PL

 

NO ENEMY FIRE THIS TIME

 

World War

Two vet repeats

his parachute landing

of 70 years ago, sans
ammo.
~~
70 YEARS BETWEEN

The same
pilots who dropped
World War II paratroopers
took control again for D-Day's
reprise.
[PL - 6.9.2014]
~~
~~

FROM FRANK McCourt's book, 'TIS
(found poems)

bringing her own chill
into that of December's--
his Irish mother

dipping our fingers
into the New Jersey urn--
Angela's ashes
(p.366)

breeze eddying
her white dust around the gray
of the cousins' bones
(Ibid)
[PL - 6.6. 2000]
~~
~~

TERMITES

high school basketball
court only four years old
crumbling

entrees:
line insulation, caskets
utility poles

historic cannon
t
   o
     p
        p
           l
              i
                 n
                     g
from its wooden stand

dining
on Spillane and Socrates
alike

[PL - from R. Cawthon, Phila (PA) Inquirer, 6. 18. 1999]

   


A slab of poems for Father's Day

same day my dad died
Joe DiMaggio's home
put up for sale
[PL]
~~

first Father's Day
without him
[PL]
~~

son mimics dad
on exercise equipment
this special day
[PL]
~~~

father/grandfather
both take a lot of trying
and luck of the Irish
[Dion O'Donnol]
~~

Father's Day morning--
memory of him sizzling
bacon for breakfast
[Jerry Judge, from TIMEPIECES, 1996]
~~

twice start daily walk
but cannot go on
unexplainable
[Dion O'Donnol]
~~

FOR FATHERS

A father like a tree is measured; strong
As oak is strong, and tall in youngster eyes
As redwood grows . . . and he must have a song
When frightening winds chase clouds across the skies . . .
The song the pine has sung for countless years.
His heart must be as tough as hickory,
Yet soft as newborn willow when the tears
Of hurt come tumbling down pink cheeks; and he
Must shut all evils out like brave old hedge
With stinging needles. Proud, the father stands
Sequoia-like against the treacherous edge
Of doom lest fate should mark a hopeful's plans.
     In storm, or through the pleasant, sunny days,
     A father's like a tree in sundry ways.
[Ercil F. Brown, HEAR MY SONG]

~~~~
~~~~

POEMS WRITTEN during the month of JUNE in various years

Greye (left) and Boots, co-owners of Couchwood, PL

 

 



MYSTERY

On some
days, poems just
bubble up. Today, 4
flowed through my pencil before eight
a. m.
[PL, 6.28.'13, actual]
~~

T. S. DON- a found poem

Who'd have
ever thought a
tropical storm would be
a looked-forward-to event for
farmers?
[PL, 6.22. '12, AD-G, K. Heard/ R. Johnson]
~~

TO PUNJAB POLICE - a found poem

Edict:
Shrink your waistlines
to 38 inches
or below. Otherwise, you're off
the street.
[PL, 6. 19. '12, News]
~~

THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Oh, my!
The neighborhood's
gone down--dogs on two sides!
But, wait! There's a butterfly ... and
birdsong.
[PL, 6.19. '12, actual]
~~

I'M NOT MOVING

Gray cat
Boots merely lies
on the cool concrete porch,
yet the wrens seem agitated.
Too bad.
[PL, 6. 19. '12, actual]
~~
~~