StarPoet Newsletter Vol. XII, No. XXXVI

Saturday, 03 September 2011 22:00 Last Updated on Saturday, 03 September 2011 21:44

The StarPoet Newsletter
Vol. XII, No. XXXVI (September 4, 2011 C.E.)

If the world would end tomorrow ... If? Hell, what more could it do? It's only missing a volcano and an asteroid in the last week.

The wind, the rain,
The scent of hurricane:
As darkness falls
We tumble headlong
Into the unknown
Disasters of morning.

Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2011 C.E.


Labor Day Weekend. 9-11 comes next. Oh, you've noticed. No one seems to want to be left out. Learn the real truth only with us. Yeah Right.

so there was this hurricane ...
Waiting on Irene
Out here, on relative higher ground, Watching the hurricane's track Safely from our televisions, We have maybe a dozen hours or more Before we must all begin to worry About the rain and high winds. Irene will be a hundred miles east, Somewhere along the coast as it passes: We've moved all our plants to ground, Turned tables and chairs on their sides Hard up against the railings; All we can do now is wait, Prepare our flashlights and our candles And hope the 'cane doesn't alter its course To follow the earthquake up into Washington -- Our Border Collie would not like that much.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

HURRICANE, n. An atmospheric demonstration once very common but now generally abandoned for the tornado and cyclone. The hurricane is still in popular use in the West Indies and is preferred by certain old-fashioned sea-captains. It is also used in the construction of the upper decks of steamboats, but generally speaking, the hurricane's usefulness has outlasted it. -- Ambrose Bierce

the internet problem
Privileged and Elite
I have never been a cotillion debutante, Mama didn't raise no rich white girl; I've always lived paycheck to paycheck, Grew my children meal by meal, Clung to life nail and brain before finding Myself charged with privileged elitism By angry, resentful fanboys With little determination and less desire To earn anything on their own Or drag themselves from the wallow They get off in.
Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

sometimes short is best
Sparrow
Sparrow, feather spread, Sunning herself on the redwood fence, Crouched raptor, arms and tail, Tooth and claw, waiting patiently.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

Two things Florida can teach the other 49 states: how to make a good margarita and how to deal with the aftermath of a hurricane. -- Tom Feeney

the nuns taught me there was this angel ...
Guardian Angel
My Guardian Angel has long since departed, Perhaps some time in the eighteen hundreds, I assume she was perceptive enough to see I don't cotton body slaves, angelic or otherwise; After the nuns got a hold of me, There was little doubt how I'd turn out, A science oriented agnostic christian Who thinks for herself and seldom consults The gods or their angels or their saints.
Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

The hurricane flooded me out of a lot of memorabilia, but it can't flood out the memories. -- Tom Dempsey

a place in the timeline
A Swan in Winter
I am unpredicted, Obviously not obvious, I am not as smart as some, Not as beautiful, tall, or young, Voices have not told me I am a prophet, Nor have they charged me to lead a great army Or tasked me run for president, I was not born for that. The best I can tell, All things considered, I'm a gimpy legged accident of nature, A rather lyrical poet who knows her place And the limitations of the world she exists in, I will not throw myself from the cliff, We are far too ancient, odd and infrequent To resolve ourselves in one hundred forty characters.
Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

starpoet and rather well executed
Life Among The Starways
If nothing exists long enough, Something will, If something exists long enough, Life will. We exist in all our varied forms, Creatures smaller than the eye can see, Carbon forms larger than we'll ever be. Life is not a one night stand Or a singular occurrence For the benefit of mankind; Wherever we look The building blocks exist, Water and oxygen, energy from sunlight. Life will be and multiply Until the universe overflows With goodly humanity: Your mileage may vary, Given your shape and size And breathing apparatus.
-- Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug White Protestants who live in the center, in the serene eye of the big wind. -- Norman Mailer

morning observation
Star Rise
Orange-red sun just above the horizon Lifting slowly in a brown-blue haze, Earthbound mid-August long summer day Struggling to consciousness at star rise, Sleep deprived humans along for the ride.
Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

business nonsense
Blessed Be
Blessed be the Six Sigma, Its black belts and its masters; Blessed be the Enterprise's All seeing eye and it's glorious son Cloud Computing; Blessed be the prophet Steve For he truly is the Way, He is both the alpha and omega, Lord of all he surveys, Perfect in his perfection.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

It is better to meet danger than to wait for it. He that is on a lee shore, and foresees a hurricane, stands out to sea and encounters a storm to avoid a shipwreck. -- Charles Caleb Colton

a prequel to Sunday next
Before I Left
I saw the explosion, I felt the building shake, I tasted the burning flesh and jet fuel As we walked down Corridor A. There is no memorial or remembrance That will ever erase that Or make it any better than it is. We were not saints, We were not heroes, We were only men and women Doing what we were paid to do, What we chose to do For God, for Country and All Mankind.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

in the darkness while the power was out
Dancing with Irene Roar of wind, lightning lit, Crash of doors, gates unlatched, Roll of aluminum, clashing steel, Groan of trees, halfway bent. Unquiet night, storm unrested, Contested sleep, mind infested With every mother possibility As wind and waters rise outside.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)
The first rule of hurricane coverage is that every broadcast must begin with palm trees bending in the wind. -- Carl Hiaasen


Copyright © Lisa Jain Thompson 1948-2011. Back issues are in the Newsletter Section of the StarPoet website. Visit my contact page and get in touch.