Newsflash:
Saturday, 26 July 2008 20:00
Last Updated on Saturday, 26 July 2008 18:41
The StarPoet Newsletter
Vol. IX, No. XXX
Vol. IX, No. XXX
The air swells with heat
Until the heavens burst
Until the heavens burst
And deluge the world
We watch from the safety
Of our front step
Counting the seconds
Between lightning
Between lightning
And where we stand
Holding hands
Holding hands
Despite the rising storm clouds
Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2008 C. E.
poems in heat
There's a reason most soldiers grow up in rougher neighborhoods than this.
There's a reason most soldiers grow up hunting deer in the woods
instead of hunting for the right-sized designer tee shirt at Abercrombie & Fitch.
And there's a reason most soldiers come from the breadbasket of rural America
and not from west coast suburbs: we want to win the wars.
-- Lt. G, Nov. 17, 2007
keeping perspective
She is the one who is asked
To kill Liberty Valance
After the music has played out;
To kill Liberty Valance
After the music has played out;
It falls to her to be the one,
To do what must be done
What no one else seems able:
To do what must be done
What no one else seems able:
To rid the world of Valance
Before he rids the world of her
And murders my sweet
Liberty .
Before he rids the world of her
And murders my sweet
The poet waits by the window,
Listening for the gunshot echo
That answers her only question.
Listening for the gunshot echo
That answers her only question.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
the reality of mid-Atlantic summer
July Moon
Full moon out tonight,
The fabled suck the air
Out of your lungs July moon.
The fabled suck the air
Out of your lungs July moon.
Come this August, however,
The Goddess will be on vacation
And there will be no moon.
The Goddess will be on vacation
And there will be no moon.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
Does Obama get a battle ribbon for visiting Iraq and Afghanistan
or merely equity in war story bragging rights
about being under fire like Hillary?
-- LJT
bureaucracy
The Way Ahead
Meetings and clarifications,
Work-arounds and mitigations,
Federated systems interfaces
Filled with Quantitative realizations.
Work-arounds and mitigations,
Federated systems interfaces
Filled with Quantitative realizations.
User test participants
With prerequisite pilot training
Scoped to simulate the op environment
And ensure functional compliance.
With prerequisite pilot training
Scoped to simulate the op environment
And ensure functional compliance.
The constraints of cost and schedule
Confronts the demands of immediate satiation:
Shall we eat at McDonalds come this Monday
Or wait until a restaurant is built next year?
Confronts the demands of immediate satiation:
Shall we eat at McDonalds come this Monday
Or wait until a restaurant is built next year?
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
my love
Originial Text
Sharon walks in silence, like the night
In deep mined jungles under unstarred skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet within her secret heart and eyes
That speak only in the closely held light
That we, foresworn, must to all others deny.
In deep mined jungles under unstarred skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet within her secret heart and eyes
That speak only in the closely held light
That we, foresworn, must to all others deny.
Fiery her angel fell, beneath the roaring thunders,
To burn upon the far, unforgotten shoreline
Of a thousand glittering planets still unnamed
By history or by kings; known still in the silent whispers
Drawn out across the darkness by the unquiet dreams
Of aging knights and their unsleeping poet lovers.
To burn upon the far, unforgotten shoreline
Of a thousand glittering planets still unnamed
By history or by kings; known still in the silent whispers
Drawn out across the darkness by the unquiet dreams
Of aging knights and their unsleeping poet lovers.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
Extreme Green
The planners for Obama's convention have hired the first-ever Director of Greening, the environmental activist Andrea Robinson. She in turn hired an Official Carbon Adviser to "measure the greenhouse-gas emissions of every placard, every plane trip, every appetizer prepared and every coffee cup tossed."
The "lean 'n' green" catering guidelines bar fried food and instruct that, "on the theory that nutritious food is more vibrant, each meal should include 'at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white.' (Garnishes don't count.) At least 70% of the ingredients should be organic or grown locally, to minimize emissions from fuel during transportation."
I can hardly wait for the next four years.
application of gender theory
Reversing the Flow:
An Experiment in Re-Gendered Behavior
An Experiment in Re-Gendered Behavior
She watches from the bushes along side the path,
Watches for a tall man with long hair running
And begins to jog behind him.
Watches for a tall man with long hair running
And begins to jog behind him.
He glances over his shoulder, tall and blond,
His five foot eleven frame moving steadily
Along the parkway trail.
His five foot eleven frame moving steadily
Along the parkway trail.
Suddenly, someone quickly behind him,
Arms wrapping tightly around him,
Tumbling into the ravine.
Arms wrapping tightly around him,
Tumbling into the ravine.
A flash of blade, knife to the chin
-- He screams: she covers her mouth,
Orders him to shut up.
-- He screams: she covers her mouth,
Orders him to shut up.
Ten seconds, a peaceful jog,
Twenty, a life hanging on a rapist’s hand,
Terror, struggling, then silence.
Twenty, a life hanging on a rapist’s hand,
Terror, struggling, then silence.
The attacker relaxes, loosens her grip,
He screams, kicks, starts to strike
And screams again.
He screams, kicks, starts to strike
And screams again.
Startled, she flees, disappears into the woods;
Up the ravine, cut, bruised, and shaken, he climbs
To flag a motorist down.
Up the ravine, cut, bruised, and shaken, he climbs
To flag a motorist down.
A police station description: medium build
White tank top and black baggy shorts,
Last seen running in fear of a tall young man.
White tank top and black baggy shorts,
Last seen running in fear of a tall young man.
Another day, another genderless run for life
Along the razor edge indifference
Between tomorrow and today’s sure death.
Along the razor edge indifference
Between tomorrow and today’s sure death.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
we helped my daughter move apartment to apartment
The State of the Contractile Filaments
No one ever bothered to mention
How much muscle mass you will lose;
A lot depends on your neurobiology
And your body’s hungry need for hormones;
With estradiol two b and progesterone
All things become possible with a good genome:
Full breasts, rounded hips, and a waistline
Where no waist ever dared go before.
How much muscle mass you will lose;
A lot depends on your neurobiology
And your body’s hungry need for hormones;
With estradiol two b and progesterone
All things become possible with a good genome:
Full breasts, rounded hips, and a waistline
Where no waist ever dared go before.
My upper body was never muscled heavily,
Preferring speed and reflexes to massive bulk;
Muscles shed quickly, shrinking shoulders and arms,
Height fell five centimeters as back muscles relaxed;
At first it was only the occasional jar
– Needing help to unscrew a stubborn lid --
But now when helping my daughter to move,
There were boxes I couldn’t lift that she did.
Preferring speed and reflexes to massive bulk;
Muscles shed quickly, shrinking shoulders and arms,
Height fell five centimeters as back muscles relaxed;
At first it was only the occasional jar
– Needing help to unscrew a stubborn lid --
But now when helping my daughter to move,
There were boxes I couldn’t lift that she did.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
The Difference Between Men and Women
Monday, July 21, 2008
(07-21) 05:15 PDT San Luis Obispo, CA (AP) --
Two practical jokers are behind bars for setting their passed-out drinking buddy's crotch ablaze while boozing in Grover Beach. Matthew Craig Pillers and Jack Brent Nicholas Keiffer pleaded no contest to a felony great bodily injury charge. Prosecutors say the 22-year-old Pillers, a parolee, was sentenced to two years in prison and the 19-year-old Keiffer got 45 days in San Luis Obispo County jail.
Elliot Tuleja was passed out when the men poured cologne on the man's groin and set him on fire on Jan. 18. Tuleja had second-degree burns on his testicles.
borrowing on the 60s
Little Children
Little children, on the metro train,
Little children made of sticky stuff,
Little children, little children,
Little children all the same.
Little children made of sticky stuff,
Little children, little children,
Little children all the same.
There’s a red one, and a white one,
And a brown one and a yellow one,
And they’re all made out of sticky stuff,
And they all look just the same.
And a brown one and a yellow one,
And they’re all made out of sticky stuff,
And they all look just the same.
Little children, with their parents,
Little children full of laughter,
Little children, little children,
Little children, all the same.
Little children full of laughter,
Little children, little children,
Little children, all the same.
There’s a Buddhist and a Hindu,
A Muslim and a Dharma Jain,
A Muslim and a Dharma Jain,
A Christian and a Jewish one
And they all look just the same.
And they all look just the same.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
the other night
All The Stars and Boulevards
I spent the night writing
And listening to early Dylan,
Watching the Nationals on FIOS
And sipping Earl Grey tea.
And listening to early Dylan,
Watching the Nationals on FIOS
And sipping Earl Grey tea.
Such are the dreams of the middle-aged
-- Housewife
-- IT Semi-Geek Logistician
-- Poet
-- Journalist
-- Softball Coach
-- Upright Primate.
-- Housewife
-- IT Semi-Geek Logistician
-- Poet
-- Journalist
-- Softball Coach
-- Upright Primate.
I’m no longer counting
The decades behind me,
Only the ones yet to come,
A half dozen, probably,
Maybe, at most.
The decades behind me,
Only the ones yet to come,
A half dozen, probably,
Maybe, at most.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
I'm a soldier first, and orders are orders. So it is.
If you think, please think of us.
If you pray, please pray for us.
The second half of our deployment will be just
as challenging and dangerous as the first half.
If you pray, please pray for us.
The second half of our deployment will be just
as challenging and dangerous as the first half.
Thank you for caring.
Agree or disagree with the war,
if you're reading this, you are engaged and aware.
As long as that is still occurring in a free society,
there is something worth the fighting for.
Agree or disagree with the war,
if you're reading this, you are engaged and aware.
As long as that is still occurring in a free society,
there is something worth the fighting for.
-- Lt. G, June 27, 2008
history, the poet, and the evening news
The Jokers On Us
An end to all your jokes...
-- P. Aelius Hadrianus Imp
Sedatives, tranquilizers,
Opiates and cold medicines,
Son of a charlady and a porter,
A boy from Oz who became a star
In Hadrian’s court long, long ago,
A roamer and a charmer.
Opiates and cold medicines,
Son of a charlady and a porter,
A boy from Oz who became a star
In Hadrian’s court long, long ago,
A roamer and a charmer.
A beautiful lad who pleased the emperor,
Died young, quite drowned in fame,
Murder, suicide, a tragic accident,
Made into a god of silver and celluloid,
An unlangorous luminescence
Who looked quite good on horseback.
Died young, quite drowned in fame,
Murder, suicide, a tragic accident,
Made into a god of silver and celluloid,
An unlangorous luminescence
Who looked quite good on horseback.
Lisa Jain Thompson
July 2008
July 2008
© 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.
