Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Urban nectar

yellow jackets sip
from a half-empty soda
swarm of tiny burps

Friday, November 12, 2010

22 November 1963

he turns one last time
to wave, flash his sailor's smile
that bright November

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Armistice Day

clock hands seemed to stick
that chilly autumn morning
on the Western Front

the 11th hour
the 11th month
the 11th day


November 11, 1918

Monday, October 25, 2010

return to Iwo To (Iwo Jima)

On sulfur island
homeless ghosts amble slowly
on the cold gray sands

Japan returns the island to its original name, Iwo To but it is Iwo Jima to history-- and sacrifice.

roadside crosses

white roadside crosses
where the road's swale meets Nature
memento mori

Monday, September 27, 2010

Catch of the Day

glassy-eyed, gutted
catch of the day on shaved ice
at the fish market

Monday, September 20, 2010

Helmet toss

Helmet flung away
a giant's toss in anger
misses its target

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Wood grouse

feathered autumn
standing its ground against all
so defiantly

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Labor Day

late summer breeze cools
a day too full of sunshine
at a crowded beach

Full Corn Moon

Full Corn Moon
time to gather the harvest
before leaves fall

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

the new frosh

his sunglasses hide
(he thinks) eyes misting over
she smiles - the new frosh

Monday, August 23, 2010

Perseid meteor showers

bright streak, another
early morning meteors
"they're fireflies, hon!"

Friday, August 6, 2010

August morning

too hot for miso!
he pushes it aside
that August morning

Remains of a morning

his reading glasses
dusty but without a scratch
scholar's monument

the weight of Hiroshima

what her hands carried
the weight of the world
in one small package

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Hiroshima

shadows on a wall
cast by empty black ruins
all that remain

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

roadside shrine

wildflower bouquet
left on a country highway
the endless road

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Romanovs - July 17, 1918

roused from her sleep
she must have groused at Olga
pillows sent flying

Thursday, July 8, 2010

a bull

a maddened bull
goaded by his tormentors
finally charges

Monday, July 5, 2010

Babi Yar

Valley of Women
years cannot erase tears, blood
their pale bodies

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Don't cry, beloved
our unborn child is free from all our fears
God bless South Africa

Blood Diamonds

Mines feed on miners
taking small bites or mouthfuls
blood diamonds

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Manute Bol

Manute: special blessing
his name, his destiny
a giant's passing

Monday, June 7, 2010

Sunshowers

no bouquet to catch
she opens her umbrella
devil's wedding day

Saturday, May 29, 2010

spring shower

lazy raindrops
splash on my window sill
late spring shower

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wednesday birthday

Wednesday birthday
can't quite fully celebrate
but I'll force myself

Texting

she pushes her
lessons aside and texts
hyperactive thumbs

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Miss USA

Detroit's latest
with a classy chassis
sporty Rima Fakih

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Silence

no one will listen
nor try to understand
elective silence

Monday, May 10, 2010

Lena Horne

now the calm
after stormy weather
goodbye, Lena

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Kent State

that summer's drumming
-- four dead in Ohio
forty years ago

Kent State, Kent, Ohio
May 4, 1970

67 rounds
13 seconds
four students killed
9 wounded
one of whom suffered permanent paralysis

Thursday, April 29, 2010

KItty and Hugo

Hugo, meet Kitty
thirty eight left her to die
twenty five let you.


in memory of two victims of callous indifference; Kitty Genovese, March 13, 1964
and Hugo Tale-Yax, a Good Samaritan who was left to bleed to death April 18,
2010. Both could have been rescue. No less than 38 saw Ms. Genovese attacked and
25 walked passed Mr. Tale-Yax as his life blood left him on another Queens, NY
sidewalk.

Monday, April 26, 2010

April mornings

April mornings
brave men with muskets
children and crayons

remembering the brave men at Lexington and Concord, 1775
and the victims of terrorism in Oklahoma City, 1995, especially the 19 children
who perished at the federal building's daycare center.

Friday, April 23, 2010

women's softball

she flashes leather
- without breaking a nail
softball diva

-in honor of those under-appreciated athletes; women softball players.
Diamonds, after all, are a girl's best friend.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Clausius

Clausius' desk
stacks of notebooks, scribbled notes
his own entropy



The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum. -- Rudolf Clausius

Pound foolish?

Pound foolish?
- central bankers start wars
the caged poet rails


Was Ezra Pound nuts
when he blamed the Federal Reserve, the stock market,
and big banks for destabilzing the economy?

morning solace

green tea, clear glass cup
my morning ceremony
solace before work

Friday, April 16, 2010

The Icelandic volcano's impact

the air itself scours
all that it touches -- roughly
volcano's ash

Monday, April 12, 2010

again, Katyn Forest

Zygmunt Bell tolls
twenty times for Katyn
again, the 'cursed' place

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

miners of Upper Big Branch

their last dawn
on the Upper Big Branch
what were their last thoughts?


25 miners' lives were taken by Greed on Monday, April 5.
The Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia had been cited
for numerous safety violations.

Miners always risk their lives when they go in the bowels of the Earth to earn
their living but there are safety regulations to help reduce the risks. The
corporate owners ignored them. Repeatedly.

midnight thrill seeker

expiration date
gives him pause - as he reaches
milk carton daredevil

Friday, April 2, 2010

Easter chocolate

an earless bunny
stares at me with candy eyes
Easter chocolate

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Joseph and Mary answer the Census

household of two?
for now. she isn't quite due
Joseph, carpenter

Monday, March 29, 2010

Moscow Metro bombings, a survivor

Finish your kasha!
his wife implored this morning
the Metro can wait

Moscow Metro bombings

ghosts from the past
shuffle along silently
Lubyanka station

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

early spring

early spring time
a garden seems to wait
before blooming

The Irish Famine

Six Peers attending
her speech's read, while Ireland starves
hearts of the grateful

Thursday, March 11, 2010

11 de marzo

an apple rolls out
from a dented lunch box
Atocha station

-- in memory of the 192 persons whose lives were stolen from them, from those they loved, and from their hopes of a better future by terrorists who bombed the Madrid Metro on 11 March 2004.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Creature Daisy, a gecko and her friends

Creature Daisy's friends
lovingly bring her dinner
-- plump, juicy crickets

-- to the friends of CD!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Chile, the day after the quake


He holds high his flag
torn, soiled retrieved from rubble
out of darkness, light

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

flood of memories
seem to arrive each sping
with each green bud

spring frolic for Limulus polyphemus

at the water's edge
they lie -- entirely spent
horsehoe crab couples

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Firebombing of Dresden

to those who where bombed
and those who did the bombing
Dresden remembers

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Clinton in Haiti

In Haiti's corner
the Comeback Kid himself
he'll go the distance

Monday, February 1, 2010

for Ralph McInerny, never a doubting Thomist

Tender, strong, and true
she welcomes a beloved son
Ralph McInerny

Friday, January 29, 2010

JD Salinger

raise high the roof beams
and let the giant leave
for his last voyage

Friday, January 15, 2010

Rachel in Haiti

she cries silently
her voice gone from grieving
for her lost children

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Aidez Haiti!

palace and shack both
leveled by quake in Haiti
thousands feared dead