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Newsflash:

Starpoet Newsletter Vol. VIII, No. XXXVIII

Saturday, 15 September 2007 21:00 Last Updated on Saturday, 15 September 2007 23:40

The

Starpoet

Newsletter

Vol. VIII, No. XXXVIII

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<><><><><>

the night breeze
coolly sliding
slips between
our sleeping bodies
unconsciously moving us
even closer

Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2007 C. E.
Lesvos Mitilini, Northern Virginia

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The Maryland Renaissance Festival last week we were, so what does your everliving poet do?

She comes back with a great photograph of a bubble (the one above)

And a pretty good photograph of Henry VIII (the one below).

Now that that is taken care of ...

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staying on Lesvos ...

Among the Mountain Hyacinths

When my girlhood was still in flowers
And you, an unknown memory,

I thought the world enough
To fill life and time,

But did not know love
Until you found me.

Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2007

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I have been lyrically remiss

Wreathes of Delicate Fingers

Where there is water and air,

There is life

But not here where I lie alone
Watching bright Orion
Fall beneath earth's horizon

To vanish like some ancient god
Come unstuck from time

Until the night and I

Are all that remains

To remember you.

Lisa Jain Thompson

September 2007

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Tell me how this ends.

-- General David Petraeus

March 2003

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I'm certain I've used this title before
(I know the Four Seasons have and whoever sang before them)
so if you run across the other poem(s),
number this one number silhouette number 2, or 3, or ...

Silhouettes

Lately bloome to wunderkindom,

The poet cautiously peeks
Through the iridescent lighting,

Avoiding the whirling jump ropes

And the manimated frog

Juggling multicoloured multiples

Next to the lions and tiger and bears
Guarding the center yellow ring

As global disco

Filled with chanting Tibetan samples

And what sounds like slavic violins

Pulses in the background below her.

The light dims and lurid plummed dancers
Flaunt their masklike heads

In rituals of trible biodiversity

While the red sequinned emcee

Sings badly written pop tunes

Beneath dark wizards dangling

From glittery spinning hoops

And bright hued swaths

Of fragile ecofabric.

The poet tastes the drifting scent

Of stale popcorn, peanuts, and elephant dung

As she watches the jester sing American tunes

Three steps out of the spotlit iris

Laying open a girl whom the Graces now neglect.

The poem begins.

Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2007

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There is a difference between innovation and creativity,
and merely being hip.
Hip is an attitude marked by louche self-satisfaction,
superiority and exclusivity.
It is rarely an expression of bold ideas and challenges.
Hip starts out enticing and desirable,
but it soon just becomes an aggravation.

-- Robin Given

Pulitzer winning fashion commentator

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fiftieth anniversary

Tentative Title

Less than ten I was
When the Soviet's launched to space,

Whipping the smug superiority

From the face of academia and government,

Waking our slumbering citizens

From the hard won sleep of righteousness

And the self-serving conceit

That all was right in post-war America,

That god was on our side,

America was first,

And all that need to be done
Was wave the flag

And victory would be ours.

We had pledged our allegiance

To god and country,

Marched neatly in formation

Past carefully constructed lawns,

Stood aghast at the music

Of Chuck Berry and Elvis,

Burned the records of all whose voices
Dared to stray from our assigned paths:
And yet, when the sun rose above the Rockies,
It was the Russians
Who laid claim to heaven.

Once again we have proclaimed god

As the architect of our vision,

Once again the Russians
Have set sight upon the moon
While we find Jesus in our potato chips

And the Virgin Mary
On water-stained freeway overpasses;

An empire builds rockets and makes plans

To take residence on Mars
-- We fill our days chasing queers,

Scapegoat sinners, and identity politics

At the the expense of science, real politik,
And our country's well being.

There are no heroes here,
Only those of us

With blood on our hands.

Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2007

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Someone Else's Jesus

The Indian government has withdrawn a controversial report submitted in court earlier this week which questioned the existence of the Hindu god Ram. The report was withdrawn after huge protests by opposition parties.

The report was presented to the Supreme Court on Wednesday in connection with a case against a proposed shipping canal project between India and Sri Lanka.

Hindu fundamentalists say the project will destroy what they say is a bridge built by Ram and his army of monkeys. In the last few days, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a scathing attack on the government for questioning the "faith of the million".

Once complete, the canal will reduce the travel time for ships by hundreds of miles and is expected to boost the economic and industrial development of the region.

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things you notice after being away for a month

Notice

I have returned to the world

Of sentient toilets

That think they know better
Than you when to flush.

Amazing how I survived
For a month without them

With nary a misfire

Or forgotten push.

Ah the adventure and romance

Of hand levered plumbing

That allows us to exercise

Our most basic human liberty.

Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2007

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Someone Else's God

If all methods of modern day technology fail, turn to the traditional. This is what the Nepal government did when it started having technical problems. Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft.

Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due the problem. The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft on last week Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions. "The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights," said Raju K.C., a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.

Local media last week blamed the company's woes on an electrical fault. The carrier runs international flights to five cities in Asia.

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starpoet

The Dew on the Slopes of Olympus

When we were on Mars,

You said the sands reminded you

Of the training center

Back on earth at sunset

When the sky turned shades

Of red and rose
While we watched from the hilltop

We chose to be alone.

That seems another life
So long ago you held me,

Another world or two
When we thought our love

Would rival Saturn's rings

In majestic glory.

So many years,

So many mistakes,

So many chances

For us to fail.

If I had not gotten angry
When I found you with him,
If only I had found the words

To ask you back again,

These memories would be shared
And I would be watching
The moon and Pleiades

From the safety of your arms
Instead of lying here
Watching time pass on alone.

Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2007

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What can I say? I've sort of failed my way upwards really successfully.

- Paul Haggis

Academy Award winning Writer and Director

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please place your attention on the sentence below

adult content follows

erotica as they say

if that doesn't keep you reading, nothing will.

but you can't say you weren't warned.

A Bite of Olive

Full moon,

Bright enough to read,

Illuminates my olive body
As you carefully trace my breasts.

The breeze,

Slipping through the open window,

surrounds my nipples still wet
From the caresses of your tongue.

My ample hips, grown unsilent,

Writhe beneath your patient fingers

Teasing me to come with your hand.

Lisa Jain Thompson

September 2007

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PEACE

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Copyright © Lisa Jain Thompson 1995-2007. Further distribution of this newsletter in its entirety is authorized. Email your letters and postcards or visit her contact page at the Starpoet website.

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