Breadlines and Roselines [Today's News Poem, February 26, 2011]

Breadlines and Roselines [Today's News Poem, February 26, 2011]

Make a date: the Ferry Building Farmer's Market.
Wait in a civilized line for a sourdough.

In gray we trust the bridge of shadow, steel, and sunlight
To conjure the dungeness claws for an altar:

Motor oil and seagull bones; a coil of feces
Nearest the merchant with roses from Bakersfield,

And nearest where we kiss, the first of many kisses
(Enormous, between and beneath, we're impressive)—

Nearest rust we trust will wait—our lives beginning
Ordered disorder, with roses and sourdough;

And ready for bridge or pier collapse,
And ready for kiss and crab and rust.

"Workers were still hastily painting over graffiti calling Colonel Qaddafi a “bloodsucker” or demanding his ouster. Just off the tour route were long bread lines where residents said they were afraid to be seen talking to journalists."
—DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, The New York Times, Published: February 26, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/world/africa/27libya.html

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A Soldier Discovers the New Pastoral Dynamic [Today's News Poem, May 19, 2010]

A Soldier Discovers the New Pastoral Dynamic [Today's News Poem, May 19, 2010]

You want me to dig it? I'll dig it. Don't bury
The farmer who struggles to pay off the city.
The treasure's interred in the paddy I reckon.

I welcome you back to the earth that sustains us.
Your grave will have flowers and incense for Buddha.
My treasure, you're hidden from duties and honors;

My friend, you're a grain that is full for the harvest.
The mouths that will feed on the corn that you sprouted
Shall praise what is given from that which was taken:

Together the proxy and source—both combining
The scythe from the forge and the crop of the planet
Together—recycled like souls in the nothing.

“Thaksin, ousted in a bloodless 2006 military coup, is denounced by adversaries as Thailand's most corrupt politician. To his anti-government supporters, who set Bangkok ablaze on Wednesday, he is a savior.
Speaking from an undisclosed location, Thaksin said the crackdown on "red shirt" protesters, which killed six people and wounded 58, could degenerate into widespread violence.
"There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment and these resentful people will become guerrillas," Thaksin told Reuters as troops fought protesters in Bangkok, sparking violence in outer provinces.”
– Nopporn Wong-Anan, Reuters, Wed May 19, 2010 6:05pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I5NX20100519

“Armored vehicles and snipers may win the battle to push the red-shirt protesters out of Bangkok, but the government is losing the war to hold back the course of Thailand's history. The nation's economic and social aspirations have outrun its elite-focused political institutions. The key to understanding Thailand's current conflict, which is a grim reminder of murderous confrontations between protesters and security forces in 1973, 1976 and 1992, is rural Thailand, where about two-thirds of the population lives.”
– Andrew Walker, The Wall Street Journal, Accessed online MAY 20, 2010, on May 19, 2010 at 4:26pm PST
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703691804575253720692249514.html?mod=wsj_india_main

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