StarPoet Newsletter Vol. XII, No. XXXVIII

Saturday, 17 September 2011 22:00 Last Updated on Saturday, 17 September 2011 19:55

The StarPoet Newsletter
Vol. XII, No. XXXVIII (September 18, 2011 C.E.)

I feel the post-traumatic slipping away. I do believe I'm going to put a wood stake in it.

This damp autumn cold
Rushes in upon us
Promising rain
And chill morning tomorrow
We will be warm tonight
Arm and arm in our love

Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2011 C.E.


Baseball winds down and up. In five months the pitchers and catchers report to training camp down south.

lyrical starpoet
The Reality Show
If this were real, The trees, The mountains, The river between, There would be but dimensions three And time itself would come full stop To marvel at Earth's goodly beauty; Eternity would rise in jealous rage, The moon grow dim and pale, Such is The greatness of Earth's grand majesty: The gods themselves would bow their heads If any of this proved real.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

If we discovered that, you know, space aliens were planning to attack and we needed a massive buildup to counter the space alien threat and really inflation and budget deficits took secondary place to that, this slump would be over in 18 months. And then if we discovered, oops, we made a mistake, there aren't any aliens, we'd be better – -- Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, Democrat, which just goes to show

the moment always passes
The Edge of Glory
Did you ever find a place You wanted to be, Then realize it wouldn't last Much past the current sunrise, That the moment itself was everything And moving somewhere else? You know the band will soon be golden Just like the morning's skirt length, The Beatles will become another boy group And Queen, the guitarist for Gaga's latest song. The threads are snipped, the pages turned, What you may think is hot today Will be five fathoms deep tomorrow. Presidents become rock stars Auditioning for a reality show; Each new Caesar is indistinguishable From the one before or after, Singing borrowed melodies Scarcely changed from the Top Forty With nary a competent lead guitarist To be heard at all among them.
Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

a bit more starpoet
Re-aiming the Arrow
Do I journey through time Or does time pass through me? We move through space stuck to the earth Stuck to the sun stuck to a galaxy Adrift in an expanding universe. Six points describe where, The seventh says when On a line that begins at zero And extends until the end Without finding necessary The direction of the arrow. I perceive that I live, Grow old and seem to age, No one grows younger Or withdraws inside mother, Or rises from the grave To pick up where they stopped. Yet I find myself wondering If this always must be true, Or is it a failure of perception That eventually we'll see through: Given a choice, I'd rather not die.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experience in nearly forty years at sea, I merely say, uneventful. Of course there have been winter gales, and storms and fog and the like. But in all my experience, I have never been in any accident... or any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea. I never saw a wreck and never have been wrecked nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort. -- E. J. Smith - 1907, Captain, RMS Titanic

all is true
Time Jump
Suddenly a sense memory: The scent of fresh ravioli With homemade sauce, My grandmother in the kitchen door Bringing me out more, Dry Jack sprinkled on my plate, A small salad and some french bread, A half glass of wine just like the adults; Grandparents, parents, Uncle Joe and Aunt Rose, My younger brother on my mother's other side, Grandma up and down, keeping our plates full, Grandpa presiding over family small talk -- Then it's gone and I'm back home On a different Sunday Afternoon, Listening to the thunderstorms And the Nats' game on the television While Sharon works on the website And I flesh out this poem.
Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

We tend to treat our knowledge as personal property to be protected and defended. It is an ornament that allows us to rise in the pecking order…we take what we know a little too seriously. -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb

I like this one
Counting Off
I am so old the Army Air Corps Still rolls all its caissons when I sing, And I pledge not to God But to the flag and my country, I've talked to my relatives Who survived both the world wars And visited Pearl Harbor For those who did not. I do not live in some half truck, Half beer T. V. commercial, Nor do I live for the moment My college football team Finally wins the National Championship: I have see my sports heroes Grow old before my yes And my Presidents disgrace themselves In the Oval Office. But I would not be young again, So full of inexperience and myself, A younger body would be nice, of course, Thin and limber and reasonably healthy, But not if it came with a younger mind: I would not lose what I now know For a hundred years more of life.
Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

sensitive poet patter
Log Me In
Log me in, darling, log me in, I know all the passwords That make everything work, So log me in, turn back the covers And let's make love again.
-- Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market allow you to put there. -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb

defiance
Me and Uncle Willy
So I'm commercial, So was Willy Shake, And it's better than being Obscure and pseudo-intellectual -- Nubilosity does not a poet make.
Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

against excessive intellectualism
The Mission
Tell me the mission, Give me the target, Issue the finding, Sign the authorization; We have a rule of law That's more than fine words, Quit all your talking And make a decision. Or are you one of those Who actually believes Avoiding a decision Is not a decision in itself? Commit, damn it, Then stay committed Or spend all your days Rotting in Dante's hell.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

When you develop your opinions on the basis of weak evidence, you will have difficulty interpreting subsequent information that contradicts these opinions, even if this new information is obviously more accurate. — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

the way of the world
Peter and Paul
Peter is tired of giving to Paul, He's run out of patience and wishes Paul would get a job or just go away -- What can I say? If you depend on the generosity of others, You should always make ready for the rainy day When their kindness washes away and you Are left with what skills you have And a hungry belly that still needs to be filled -- I'm not the one who made the rules up.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)

the race is on
What You See What you see Is not always what you get, We see the easily perceived And visible consequences, Not often the invisible Or less obvious ones. No government in its right minds Tells you what it's not done, No one is that stupid, Not even the Republicans Or the Democrats -- Running from conflict Is not a platform You can be re-elected on.
— Lisa Jain Thompson (September 2011)
Consider that the turkey's experience may have, rather than no value, a negative value. It learned from observation, as we are all advised to do (hey, after all, this is what is believed to be the scientific method). Its confidence increased as the number of friendly feedings grew, and it felt increasingly safe even though the slaughter was more and more imminent. Consider that the feeling of safety reached its maximum when the risk was at the highest! — Nassim Nicholas Taleb


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.