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Saturday, 28 June 2008 20:00
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The Starpoet Newsletter
Volume IX, No. XXVI
Volume IX, No. XXVI
Below
The sharks
The sharks
Circle in the darkness
Counting our legs
As we floated above them
As we floated above them
Starlight flecked upon the sea
As sharp teeth
Tore lasting screams
From those who would not see
The morning
As sharp teeth
Tore lasting screams
From those who would not see
The morning
Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2008 C. E.
In memory of the Indianpolis
In memory of the Indianpolis
poems (what else), carlin dead, temp in the high 90s F (e.g., 35 C)
We don't start living until we almost die.
-- Melissa Etherage
The Universe Listened
The Universe Listened
all us zombies
Star to star, the great sea stretches
From single world to time’s horizons;
The earth revolves within the darkness,
A bright blue beacon among the shards,
One chance amid the millions
For life to crawl out upon the shoreline.
From single world to time’s horizons;
The earth revolves within the darkness,
A bright blue beacon among the shards,
One chance amid the millions
For life to crawl out upon the shoreline.
Lisa Jain Thompson
June 2008
June 2008
counting down the days
Escape
Watching a movie a quarter century old,
Set in the future, ten years in our past,
Some parallel universe not even close
To the world that came to be,
Even farther from the world of now:
Set in the future, ten years in our past,
Some parallel universe not even close
To the world that came to be,
Even farther from the world of now:
A plane crashing into a New York skyscraper,
Terrorists intent on killing the president
And bringing America to it’s knees;
Snake saves the day and rescues the world,
All problems are resolved within a few hours.
Terrorists intent on killing the president
And bringing America to it’s knees;
Snake saves the day and rescues the world,
All problems are resolved within a few hours.
Such is
Hollywood , such is theater,
But they have the advantage
Of working with professional actors
Instead of a brokedown cowboy
from east
Crawford ,
Texas .
But they have the advantage
Of working with professional actors
Instead of a brokedown cowboy
from east
Lisa Jain Thompson
June 2008
June 2008
George Denis Patrick Carlin
May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008
Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.
early morning, 6 a.m.
Honeysuckle Mounds
Honeysuckle mounds along the rail
In front of the Iron Works
And rusty, faded flag;
In front of the Iron Works
And rusty, faded flag;
Vapor trail hung out in back,
Dispersing along the clear blue sky
And wispy cirrus clouds.
Dispersing along the clear blue sky
And wispy cirrus clouds.
The afternoon thunderstorms
Are not yet on the horizon
On this bright solstice sunrise;
Are not yet on the horizon
On this bright solstice sunrise;
Sunset is more than fifteen away
And the morning coolness, half a day
From the wrath of the afternoon heat.
And the morning coolness, half a day
From the wrath of the afternoon heat.
Lisa Jain Thompson
June 2008
June 2008
idol realization
Deep Night
Corbin is as dead
As Kennedy,
More distant
Than Shakespeare,
As obscure as
Rudy Vallee or Valentino.
As Kennedy,
More distant
Than Shakespeare,
As obscure as
Rudy Vallee or Valentino.
A name in time,
A time not now,
A voice, a face,
Come and gone
A time not now,
A voice, a face,
Come and gone
Except for memories
And dusty media.
And dusty media.
Lisa Jain Thompson
June 2008
June 2008
George Carlin 1
Baseball is different from any other sport, very different. For instance, in most sports you score points or goals; in baseball you score runs. In most sports the ball, or object, is put in play by the offensive team; in baseball the defensive team puts the ball in play, and only the defense is allowed to touch the ball. In fact, in baseball if an offensive player touches the ball intentionally, he's out; sometimes unintentionally, he's out.
the quickness
Twirl
The weekend twirl flings the days
Into a spaceless void that warps time's passage,
Until now and then become one and all
And Monday morning once more begins.
Into a spaceless void that warps time's passage,
Until now and then become one and all
And Monday morning once more begins.
Too soon, too soon, too soon the hours
Drag themselves through brief and meeting,
Drag themselves through brief and meeting,
And fleeting, meaningless, overpriced lunches
Until five days are slowly, grudgingly consumed.
Until five days are slowly, grudgingly consumed.
Lisa Jain Thompson
June 2008
June 2008
George Carlin 2
I enjoy comparing baseball and football:
Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.
Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.
Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.
Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park.The baseball park!
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.
Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything's dying.
Football begins in the fall, when everything's dying.
what a poet does
Poet’s Dance #12 & 60
I’m dancing on the corner stage,
A single spotlight on my body,
A single spotlight on my body,
The heat from all the watching eyes
Gathers bright beads across my breasts.
Gathers bright beads across my breasts.
The singer, alone on the main stage,
Thinks the show is only hers,
Thinks the show is only hers,
But I can feel the swelling intensity
Of the ones who gaze only at me.
Of the ones who gaze only at me.
My hips move slowly to the music’s rhythm
My hand slides up my sweaty inner thigh
To where a G-string hides all and nothing
But promises what I will not give.
My hand slides up my sweaty inner thigh
To where a G-string hides all and nothing
But promises what I will not give.
I would sing aloud but the night is hers,
I’m the sideshow to amuse boys and men,
A fantasy to remember in their bedrooms
To help them work through their pleasure.
I’m the sideshow to amuse boys and men,
A fantasy to remember in their bedrooms
To help them work through their pleasure.
Lisa Jain Thompson
June 2008
June 2008
George Carlin 3
In football you wear a helmet.
In baseball you wear a cap.
In baseball you wear a cap.
Football is concerned with downs - what down is it?
Baseball is concerned with ups - who's up?
Baseball is concerned with ups - who's up?
In football you receive a penalty.
In baseball you make an error.
In baseball you make an error.
In football the specialist comes in to kick.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.
a peek inside for y'all
The Dyke’s Dilemma
In the restroom, two hard hats,
Working on their make-up,
Reapplying their mascara,
Touching up their lip gloss:
Working on their make-up,
Reapplying their mascara,
Touching up their lip gloss:
Orange vests and safety helmets,
Hair tied neatly up in back,
Hair tied neatly up in back,
Cutely butch, t-shirts and work pants,
As they share confidences
In Spanish with each other,
Making it difficult to determine
Who is straight and who is not.
In Spanish with each other,
Making it difficult to determine
Who is straight and who is not.
Lisa Jain Thompson
June 2008
June 2008
George Carlin 4
Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness.
Baseball has the sacrifice.
Baseball has the sacrifice.
Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog...
In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.
In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.
Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.
Football has the two minute warning.
Football has the two minute warning.
Baseball has no time limit: we don't know when it's gonna end - might have extra innings.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.
In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not too much unpleasantness.
In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're capable of taking the life of a fellow human being.
there and here
When
When I was not loved,
The world moved
In mysterious ways,
The heavens, a backdrop
The world moved
In mysterious ways,
The heavens, a backdrop
Counting down the days.
Fifty or a hundred,
There was little chance
That anyone would notice,
Anyone would giving a damn,
Whether I breathed or not.
There was little chance
That anyone would notice,
Anyone would giving a damn,
Whether I breathed or not.
Time shifted, love appeared,
The earth shook and rumbled,
Where once I stood dying,
Pages falling from a calendar,
Life began at last and continues.
The earth shook and rumbled,
Where once I stood dying,
Pages falling from a calendar,
Life began at last and continues.
Lisa Jain Thompson
June 2008
June 2008
George Carlin 5
And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:
In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!
© Lisa Jain Thompson 1995-2008.
Further distribution of this newsletter in its entirety is authorized.
Email your letters and postcards or visit her contact page at the Starpoet website
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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