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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See Dick [Guest News Poem, May 15, 2010, by Cuff Link]

See Dick
By Cuff Link
You like sandwiches? Dick likes ‘em too. Dick likes sandwiches that give him gas and vapid thoughts that fill his happy nose. Do you like dreams? Dick likes ‘em. Big dreams about smoking grass on Dick’s boat. Surprised? Surprised to hear that Dick's brain has two sides? Well that is disconcerting. What if Dick woke up in the wrong brain? No yacht, no grass, no mood to swing from just the overwhelming temptation to huddle into a “life fire zone”.

How weird. What a weird thing to happen. What an odd Dick thought. No more Dick love for sandy beaches, two arms full of Thai hooker. Rock hard thoughts moving us toward the water’s edge. Just an idea’s kiss, lightning bug movement into blue light. Like feeling 7.62 rip through your liver? Falling face down into that swollen funnel of conscious. once massaged with toasted rye bread and a little prosciutto. “Oh this sucks,” Dick might say. A futile hand pressed to the side, staunching the flow of all those thoughts. A grimaced glance up toward the sky. “Now why would I do that?” Says Dick. “The thought of it just makes me hungry.”

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/the-windows-of-the-soul-need-cleaning
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/world/asia/16thai.html?ref=world

--

For more Cuff Link go to http://warehouseforidlewords.blogspot.com and don't forget to read The Chicken Whisperer

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The King is a Pawn [Today's News Poem, May 14, 2010]

The King is a Pawn [Today's News Poem, May 14, 2010]

The endgame approaches. The pieces are playing
On boards that they own, for the pawn is the monarch
When fending a square from attackers: its battles,
Predestined by mystery masters. Their plans are
Inscrutable: patient conspiracies playing
The King as the puppet. Invisible forces
Resolve what's uncertain for chessmen: they struggle
As gambits unfold and the game's been determined.

“At least eight people were killed and up to 121 injured during a day of violence between anti-government protesters and troops which drew months of stand-off in Bangkok closer to an endgame.”
– The Times Online, May 14, 2010
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7126802.ece

“A chaotic day of deadly street violence in southern Kyrgyzstan ended Friday with the interim government retaking control of administration buildings in two southern cities.”
– Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times, May 14, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/world/asia/15kyrgyz.html

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Drowning in a Sea of Chum [Today's News Poem, April 27, 2010]

Drowning in a Sea of Chum [Today's News Poem, April 27, 2010]

“Chávez has nurtured economic, energy and political ties with Tehran in response to what he terms aggression from the US "empire". The two governments have not announced any military accords.”
– Rory Carroll, The Guardian, 27 April 2010 19.09 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/27/iran-venezuela-pentagon-report

“"You must not relax, in order not to permit what is happening in some republics, what recently happened in Kyrgyzstan," he said. "This is what we don't need. If somebody is applauding and rejoicing, it's not the Kyrgyz people."
Lukashenko was referring to an April 7 uprising that ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and killed at least 85 people in the Central Asian nation.”
– Reuters Tuesday, April 27, 2010; 12:52 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/27/AR2010042702779.html

“Thai protesters forced a shutdown of Bangkok's busy elevated train system Tuesday and promised to expand their street demonstrations, escalating weeks of anti-government demonstrations that have paralyzed much of the capital.”
– RAVI NESSMAN (AP) – 3 hours ago as of 12:18pm PST
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3j-vAVG1fg3kEfnogTiH8_4EXvwD9FBG6AO0

Bitterness rejects the notion
Life exists upon an ocean
Slurping all with tides of drowning.
Climb atop the chum—he's frowning
Anyway—he's going down, so
Grab the branch with honey drops, though
Frenemies demand a share—no!

Bitterness inhales the smoggy
Air until its lungs are soggy.
Blackened, choking, still it's breathing—
Gasping true, it's screaming—wheezing.
Cleanliness: one breath undoing
Years of phlegm; to stop eschewing
Promises of life renewing?

Bitterness rejects the notion.

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Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree [Today's News Poem, March 16, 2010]

Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree [Today's News Poem, March 16, 2010]
“Active Denial System, a weapon... using a beam of electromagnetic radiation to heat the skin of its targets to 130 degrees and force anyone in its path to flee in pain...”
“...the rise of television introduced a new political dynamic to the exercise of state violence...”
--Ando Arike, Harper's, p38-39, March 2010

“Antigovernment protesters pooled their blood — drawn by medical workers in air-conditioned tents — to unleash a red tide at the gates of Government House, the office of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and later at his party’s headquarters.
“We will curse them with our blood and our soul!” yelled a protest leader, Nattawut Saikua”
--THOMAS FULLER, The New York Times, March 16, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/world/asia/17thai.html?hp

Shed no blood. Instead just drain the vital
Humors—juice a human, save the beaten
Husk for later. Revolution dies when
Martyrs live so break their champs—make might crawl.
Gin can't pair with victory—it sweetens
Loss too well and addles minds—the best pen
For the best of rebels, who had hoped to
Shed their blood. Instead, lost dignity spews.



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Fraternizing With the Help [Today's News Poem, March 1, 2010]

Fraternizing With the Help [Today's News Poem, March 1, 2010]

“One man says that the real crisis is about to begin, with people out of work and hungry.”
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/americas/Chile-Battles-Lawlessness-Desperation-After-Massive-Earthquake-85842342.html

“It was still unclear how many people died in Dichato, where distraught residents wandered the picturesque tourist town trying to salvage possessions and gazing at their ruined homes in scenes reminiscent of the Asian tsunami in 2004 that smashed into coastlines from Thailand to India.”
--Mario Naranjo, Mon Mar 1, 2010 2:25pm EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6204CB20100301

“Economists' confidence in Chile's ability to bounce back from the earthquake has been strengthened by the fact its copper mines suffered minimum damage, and soon resumed operations. ”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8543816.stm

A fool takes torch to that which nature yet abhors.
Why burn or blast a place that wilts by self's accord?
When quakes, tornadoes, floods ensure whatever shore
Or neighborhood the wealthy—who are simply bored—
Desire, they get, then who needs legal theft? The shock
Of quakes can do what we would have to pay, for free.
It's true the poor are drowned again—with ink—but stocks
Appreciate post-bounce. This rising tide—it frees
A market force. Renewed. The people are renewed
With fops who found their homes on graves and rubble-bones.
The highest use for anything is wealth. Denude
The land of serfs with surf, replaced with finer tones
Of speech and class—they've carried me on broken spines
Around the world: a working man will tend not whine.
Now carry me to bed anon—I'm drunk on wine.



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