Agent of Empire
I tried to change the system
from within. I failed.
Our Empire is not easily turned.
We’re not a kayak on a lake
where dipping a paddle
brings new direction.
We’re an ocean container ship
that doesn’t notice heavy seas
and plows heedless through all
but the strongest storms.
Instead of changing, I was changed.
If you want to make a difference,
do not grab the helm—
be the storm.
Discarded oak leaf
drills through the crystalline air
a cold moon rises
Looking Back
for the James Webb Space Telescope
Far past the dark side of the moon
Never again to feel the warmth
Of human breath or touch
I need absolute cold for my work
To stare for days unblinking
Sift light into colors
Note the birth of galaxies
And the death of stars
Ancient light rusted red
High above your chaotic atmosphere
Safe and proud— but oh so alone
Last night my Rotary Club hosted Ray Lucas, a graduate of Orange High School, who’s now a scientist with the Space Telescope Science Institute and he told us all about the James Webb Space Telescope.
Another of my Halloween poems for this year has been posted on Spillwords. It starts:
Send the kids to trick or treat
With your parents tonight
Let’s be alone when the walls
Between the worlds grow thin
Sarcastic and Sardonic Rhymes
Poems that Pop with Puns
of Jeanetically Modified Origin
Here’s another collaboration with the good folks at Charles House. We reminisced about Halloweens of our youth, I read a few poems, including Poe’s The Raven (which technically isn’t a Halloween poem since he explicitly states that it occurs in bleak December) and then we wrote this.
Trick or Treat
The moon rises chilly
fiery Jack beckons
from the front porch
Our costumed crew
a ghost
a butterfly
a wizard
and Frankenstein
Demanding treats
candy corn
chocolate bars
licorice
but all we get
are apples
Once the indoor lamps
are extinguished
we return with eggs
and soap to fulfill
our part of the bargain
Your grace stills the air
stars focus— the moon rises
behind bare branches
Bonus Poetry: my first Halloween poem of the season posted at the Go Dog Go Café. It’s a fourteen line Halloween memory entitled Halloween, Age 15. Thanks to the kind folks at the GDGC!
They were Strange Men
They entered our village
no explanation offered
began killing
They believed their officers
we were sub-human
not worthy of remark
They were from some legion
left no one
to carry the dead
(For this week’s Weekend Writing Prompt and Living Poetry Prompt.)
Full of shoulds and coulds
An effigy of myself
Shall we burn me down?
Lake House
She rests in forest
vivid green from rain
living breath of earth
cool summer morn
Mirrored in the lake
mist spinning ghosts
dawn spilling over
guardian mountains
She welcomes me back
slipping her doors
with comfortable warmth
surrounding my frailty
No longer exposed
finally at home
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| Bartholomew Barker on Haiku: Booster |
Bartholomew Barker, Poet 