Innocence Attritted [Today's News Poem, April 4, 2011]

Innocence Attritted [Today's News Poem, April 4, 2011]

There's so much freshness, so much more innocence to shed.
The tide for example withdraws all the sand,
Draws all the hermit crabs, basks in the droppings of pelicans.
Fish fake the song at the crest of the swell—
Throbbing; a heart that pumps gills and ocean.
Welcome the edges of food-chain and welcome the
song of ablation,
the pockmarks of moon;
welcome births with one's mouth
and silvery slivers from eggs in the moonlight—
innocent still, for a moment at least.

"The federal government's chief climate adviser Professor Ross Garnaut believes nuclear power still has a vital role to play in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, despite the crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant."
—Evan Schwarten, Sydney Morning Herald, April 5, 2011 - 2:54PM
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/nuclear-power-still-important-garnaut-20110405-1d1wh.html

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The Midrash of Faxes and Feces [Today's News Poem, January 6, 2011]

The Midrash of Faxes and Feces [Today's News Poem, January 6, 2011]

In the hills of Carmel where the dust coats the carobs
There's a parchment of dung, there's a fax in the grass;
And the cypress boughs fertilize foothills of worship,
And the goats drop their pellets for herders to salvage.
It's the place where the priests wrote their poems with feces
On the coprophage flesh of the lambs of the desert.
From the droppings of sheep to the mouths of the rabbis
Through the grass, in the dirt, in that rapture of pasture.
They have gilded uncleanliness, called it a Torah,
And have culled from their flocks just the skin of the scapegoat.
Should one study the excrement; study the shepherd
And his he-ass, his she-ass—his breath and his writing?

"And let it be said, on this second day following the convening of the 112th Congress, newly sworn members of the House shall stand and read aloud the Constitution of the United States. And so it was Thursday, as lawmakers took turns reciting each verse and article of the document. Republicans in charge of the chamber rattled it off with missionary zeal, as if in a school civics class. Democrats pitched in, but with seemingly less ardor."
—JIM ABRAMS, The Associated Press, Thursday, January 6, 2011; 11:23 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/06/AR2011010602566.html

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Package Tours Through Spirit Worlds [Today's News Poem, September 18, 2010]

Package Tours Through Spirit Worlds [Today's News Poem, September 18, 2010]

Note the grubby toes his sandals expose.
Step inside and dodge the guard of the lodge:
Totems carved in trunks. This man is a drunk.
Still he leads the prayer to nature. The air
Stinks of hippie sweat. The tourists are wet.
Steam may conjure ghosts—our bearded guide hosts
Faces from the log: they rise from the fog.
Grizzly points through mist at me. I resist
Drinking water, rub my eyes. There's a cub
Now and both are scowling. “Hoot” and the owl
Flaps and feathers fall. I'm chapped and I call
Out, but others trance while spirits fly—dance
Right in front of me. “I own this! You see?”
This is worth the price; my money's worth—nice.
Every beast that hunted humans, we blunt.
Eat the trophy. Blood's delicious and mud
Waits beneath the creek to bathe us who seek
Wisdom from the dead: our gold for their lead.

“Following her tea party-fueled victory in Delaware’s GOP senate primary this past week, Christine O’Donnell has soared to national prominence faster than you can say “Sarah Palin.” In fact, many are likening O’Donnell to the mama grizzly herself. But some observers are beginning to see class as an issue within the GOP itself as it struggles to balance its traditional view of who should be in the club with the tea party insurgency that has notched significant wins over establishment Republican candidates in this year’s primary elections. ”
– Brad Knickerbocker, Staff Writer / September 18, 2010
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0918/Class-as-a-way-of-understanding-Christine-O-Donnell-and-the-tea-party



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