Newsflash:
Saturday, 12 July 2008 20:00
Last Updated on Sunday, 13 July 2008 09:05
The Starpoet Newsletter
Volume IX, No. XXVIII
Volume IX, No. XXVIII
Suddenly
A kiss,
Lip to lip,
Breast to breast,
Her ebony skin
Glistening
In the candlelight
A kiss,
Lip to lip,
Breast to breast,
Her ebony skin
Glistening
In the candlelight
Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2008 C. E.
I have been physically out of balance since Wednesday. This might be a little short in addition to being a little late. Listening to John Stewart and Ami Mann.
excuse from my body
Headache
This is the third or fourth day
Of the current headache,
A sharply dull roller coaster
of pain and frustration
Situated alternately behind
Either eye.
Of the current headache,
A sharply dull roller coaster
of pain and frustration
Situated alternately behind
Either eye.
Sometimes, for diversion,
Both eyes simultaneously
Will throb between a migraine
And a septic sinus infection,
Shifting the world two degrees
Out of phase.
Both eyes simultaneously
Will throb between a migraine
And a septic sinus infection,
Shifting the world two degrees
Out of phase.
I doubt that this
Is a localized phenomenon,
Effecting only me while the universe
Is left untouched.
Is a localized phenomenon,
Effecting only me while the universe
Is left untouched.
I have no reason to think
That time drags only for me,
I have no special observations
Or the hubris to assume
My creation was unique.
That time drags only for me,
I have no special observations
Or the hubris to assume
My creation was unique.
It’s a small universe after all,
And pain sucks the whole galaxy around.
And pain sucks the whole galaxy around.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
politics
Outline for a Candidate
Health
Energy
Housing
Oil
Energy
Housing
Oil
Intelligence
Taxes
Budget
Service
Taxes
Budget
Service
Freedom
Democracy
Equality
Democracy
Equality
And that War Thing
Of course
Of course
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
Thomas Disch
. July 4, 2008
by his own hand
Age 68
by his own hand
Age 68
Author of
Brave Little Toaster,
Camp Concentration
334
Camp Concentration
334
Wings of Song
On June 17, 2008 wrote
What is so tragic as the lethal blast
Of thunderbolt or .38
That turns what had been present
Into past? There he stood
And here he lies at last.
Will you not shed a single tear
For any such? Is that too much to ask?
Of thunderbolt or .38
That turns what had been present
Into past? There he stood
And here he lies at last.
Will you not shed a single tear
For any such? Is that too much to ask?
-- Thomas Disch
here and then, a thing a beauty
Morgain @ Tintagel Watching
Guinevere I would be,
But Morgan le Fay would be better,
In control of my own fate
Without the King’s good wishes.
But Morgan le Fay would be better,
In control of my own fate
Without the King’s good wishes.
I would wield Excalibur, bind Arthur to me,
Follow Merlin whenever he should lead
And hold him tightly within my wound
Until everything he foretold was mine.
Follow Merlin whenever he should lead
And hold him tightly within my wound
Until everything he foretold was mine.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
Me and God and a Dog Named Cedar
Acrobatiacs
God and I have an agreement,
He will not nag me about my life,
I will not whine about
His lack of proper engineering skills
Or his less than stellar attempt at design.
He will not nag me about my life,
I will not whine about
His lack of proper engineering skills
Or his less than stellar attempt at design.
Both of us agree to disagree
Except in those cases we do agree,
I won’t argue against his beliefs
As long as he doesn’t against mine.
Neither of us is as crazy
Except in those cases we do agree,
I won’t argue against his beliefs
As long as he doesn’t against mine.
Neither of us is as crazy
As the other one is,
But it would be less than truthful
If I failed to point out
That only one of us has ever claimed
To create a universe.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
People always call it luck
When you've acted more sensibly than they have.
When you've acted more sensibly than they have.
-- Anne Tyler
on the Fourth last
Fourth and Six
The steaks on the grill
Are racing the thunder,
First one to dinner wins;
Are racing the thunder,
First one to dinner wins;
The corn in the oven
Is slowly roasting,
The only sure bet on the table.
Is slowly roasting,
The only sure bet on the table.
Tonight the fireworks
Will be fifty-fifty,
Man made or storm provided;
Will be fifty-fifty,
Man made or storm provided;
One or the other
Will cover The Mall,
Showering the crowd
With Independence fire.
Will cover The Mall,
Showering the crowd
With Independence fire.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
I only started going to political rallies
to meet men.
to meet men.
-- k. d. lang
love
Every Wandering Bark
She had to marry me,
I'm the only one she's ever met
Half as smart -- at least -- as she
Whose first name was not Grace
Or their last name not aRand .
I'm the only one she's ever met
Half as smart -- at least -- as she
Whose first name was not Grace
Or their last name not a
We both have met Allen,
Separate colleges, separate years,
But neither of us thought Aha!
This is the best of his generation
Or desired to strip down naked with him.
Separate colleges, separate years,
But neither of us thought Aha!
This is the best of his generation
Or desired to strip down naked with him.
I talked to Ken Kesey once,
Long after acid had blown his talent,
Whoever had written the Cuckoo's Nest
Had fallen off during the bus trip:
Long after acid had blown his talent,
Whoever had written the Cuckoo's Nest
Had fallen off during the bus trip:
All that remained was the merry prankster.
I have been drawn to poets and musicians,
She to multiple spouses since undone;
Until our paths almost officially crossed,
I was most always the brightest in the room,
But seldom let myself be present.
She to multiple spouses since undone;
Until our paths almost officially crossed,
I was most always the brightest in the room,
But seldom let myself be present.
Now, far down this road, we find ourselves
Thrown together in this, our final embrace,
Drawing life from each other, a union of spirits,
Binding us with love until the very edge of doom
Ends a true marriage even the gods must love.
Thrown together in this, our final embrace,
Drawing life from each other, a union of spirits,
Binding us with love until the very edge of doom
Ends a true marriage even the gods must love.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
true chronicle historie of the life
Neon-Light Diamond
Despite what the pages of a calendar may say
Or the learned treatises of practicing historians,
The Sixties begin and end with the death of Kennedy,
A lifetime compressed in a half-decade handful.
Or the learned treatises of practicing historians,
The Sixties begin and end with the death of Kennedy,
A lifetime compressed in a half-decade handful.
The Beatles arrive as the war begins in earnest,
The President leading us deeper into the Big Muddy,
Camelot crumbles, reborns, shatters on the tile floor
Of a kitchen passageway on the way to
Chicago .
The President leading us deeper into the Big Muddy,
Camelot crumbles, reborns, shatters on the tile floor
Of a kitchen passageway on the way to
In the streets and dark lit clubs, the music rises
Long before the money realizes what they’re sitting on;
Pick up a guitar, girl, we’re all going down to Frisco
To revel in rebellion in the bright Golden Gate sun.
Long before the money realizes what they’re sitting on;
Pick up a guitar, girl, we’re all going down to Frisco
To revel in rebellion in the bright Golden Gate sun.
On the stone stoops that once were our grandparents’
We laughed as we passed our poorly rolled joints
– Panama Red, Acapulco Gold, Taiwan One and Two --
And watched the passing police cars watching us.
We laughed as we passed our poorly rolled joints
– Panama Red, Acapulco Gold, Taiwan One and Two --
And watched the passing police cars watching us.
There was the war, always the war, still, always, the war,
We saw friends come back, missing arms and legs,
Some as freight in flag draped blue barked coffins
That appeared unannounced on the silent tarmac.
We saw friends come back, missing arms and legs,
Some as freight in flag draped blue barked coffins
That appeared unannounced on the silent tarmac.
The poets in their bright antic finery stood shouting,
Chanting slogans from the safety of the sidelines,
We stood by our boyfriends, urged them not to fight,
Knowing the choice was theirs and we could only watch.
Chanting slogans from the safety of the sidelines,
We stood by our boyfriends, urged them not to fight,
Knowing the choice was theirs and we could only watch.
The Sixties have been a memory illy conceived,
A fable constructed by those who did not participate:
A fable constructed by those who did not participate:
For one short moment, we won and lost it all
As the firefight shifted and consumed our world.
As the firefight shifted and consumed our world.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
Listen, pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My father was in the Navy.
My grandfather was in the Navy.
We in the military service tend to move a lot.
We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world.
I wish I could have had the luxury, like you,
of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place
like the First District of Arizona, but I was doing other things.
As a matter of fact, when I think about it now,
the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.
My grandfather was in the Navy.
We in the military service tend to move a lot.
We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world.
I wish I could have had the luxury, like you,
of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place
like the First District of Arizona, but I was doing other things.
As a matter of fact, when I think about it now,
the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.
-- John McCain
© 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
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email this
Comments (0)
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide commentsWrite comment
Show/hide comment form
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Starpoetby Lisa Jain Thompson.
I welcome your comments. You can use the public forms that appear throughout the site or visit my contact page and leave a private note.
For your own email copy of my weekly Starpoet Newsletter, you can subscribe here or (sadly) unsubscribe there.
