tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297922222024-03-19T01:51:21.990-04:00The Laughorist12 books at Amazon: http://amzn.to/1TwAn5oPawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.comBlogger1701125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-538828806584112232023-03-26T16:43:00.000-04:002023-03-26T16:43:03.033-04:00Words, and Then Some<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Too many fled </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Spillways mouths<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Oceans swill</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">May flies</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Swamped</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Too many words</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Enough</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Said it all</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Spoke too much</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Tongue tied</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Talons claws syllables</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ships set sail</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anchors aweigh</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Adrift such flame</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Molten metal</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Scimitar swiftness</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Swallows at dusk</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">A vernacular</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Unspeeched</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I've said it all</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And then some</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">We've said too much</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And then some</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Gongs of regret</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Soaking it in</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The choir of silence</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Rehearsing </span><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-54323658222770495442023-03-17T16:25:00.001-04:002023-03-17T16:25:59.177-04:00Narrative of Colors*<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a brown hare (liebre marrón)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">dances</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">diaphanous (diáfano)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">as willow wind (viento del sauce)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">whispers <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">to Ganymede (Ganimdes)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">perched on a silver birch (abedul plateado)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">whose broad bean (haba)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">of muted lavender (lavanda apagado)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">waits <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">* <i>I walked into a hardware store and randomly collected paint samples. Pratt & Lambert Paints calls the strips of paper Color Narrative (tm). Then I randomly chose from my deck of 7 and arranged the words as above, with 11 words of my own added. <br /></i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-22510317105670643732023-03-09T14:14:00.001-05:002023-03-09T14:14:30.928-05:00Poem on a Lazy March Thursday<p>That was a rumor of crocus</p><p>Creeping under the myrtle</p><p>A promissory note</p><p>In the key of hope</p><p>Aside the stale snow</p><p>Stubborn against melt</p><p> </p><p>That was a robin</p><p>No doubt at all</p><p>Its singular song</p><p>Perched on a wire</p><p>Strung from Kyiv</p><p>To Kalamazoo</p><p>Its clementine breast</p><p>Battered and beating</p><p> </p><p>That was sunlight</p><p>They say piercing</p><p>Cumulus and doubt</p><p>A miracle or mirage</p><p>They say mingling</p><p>Shadow and blaze</p><p><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-3763896583495719372023-01-05T18:40:00.002-05:002023-01-05T18:40:59.569-05:00Booklist 2022<p>1.<span> </span>The Search: a biography of Leo Tolstoy -- Sara Newton Carroll</p><p>2.<span> </span>The Buddha in the Attic -- Julie Otsuka</p><p>3.<span> </span>Silverview -- John le Carré</p><p>4.<span> </span>Snow Angels -- Stewart O'Nan</p><p>5.<span> </span>The Blue Guitar -- John Banville</p><p>6.<span> </span>Great House -- Nicole Krauss</p><p>7.<span> </span>Glory -- Vladimir Nabokov</p><p>8.<span> </span>You Think It, I'll Say It -- Curtis Sittenfeld</p><p>9.<span> </span>Ethan Frome -- Edith Wharton</p><p>10.<span> </span>Life Without Children -- Roddy Doyle</p><p>11.<span> </span>Why Peacocks? an unlikely search for meaning in the world's most magnificent bird -- Sean Flynn</p><p>12.<span> </span>The Last Painting of Sara de Vos -- Dominic Smith</p><p>13.<span> </span>The Employees -- Olga Ravn, tr. by Martin Aitken</p><p>14.<span> </span>Wayward -- Dana Spiotta</p><p>15.<span> </span>Year of the Monkey -- Patti Smith</p><p>16.<span> </span>By Nightfall -- Michael Cunningham</p><p>17.<span> </span>Ocean State -- Stewart O'Nan</p><p>18.<span> </span>Time Is a Mother -- Ocean Vuong</p><p>19.<span> </span>Forest Dark -- Nicole Krauss</p><p>20.<span> </span>Gap Creek the story of a Marriage -- Robert Morgan</p><p>21.<span> </span>Leave the World Behind -- Rumaan Alam</p><p>22.<span> </span>The Vanishing Act of Esmé Lennox -- Maggie O'Farrell</p><p>23.<span> </span>The Lost Family: how DNA testingis upending who we are -- Libby Copeland</p><p>24.<span> </span>The Black Snow -- Paul Lynch</p><p>25.<span> </span>Elegy for April -- Benjamin Black</p><p>26.<span> </span>Learning to Talk -- Hilary Mantel</p><p>27.<span> </span>Something to Do with Paying Attention -- David Foster Wallace</p><p>28.<span> </span>Enon -- Paul Harding</p><p>29.<span> </span>Whereabouts -- Jhumpa Lahiri</p><p>30.<span> </span>Dreaming in Cuban -- Cristina Garcia</p><p>31.<span> </span>Unaccustomed Earth -- Jhumpa Lahiri</p><p>32.<span> </span>Ghost Light -- Joseph O'Connor</p><p>33.<span> </span>Eventide -- Kent Haruf</p><p>34.<span> </span>Noboy's Normal: how culture created the stigma of mental illness -- Roy Richard Grinker</p><p>35.<span> </span>The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri -- David Bajo</p><p>36.<span> </span>The Slap -- Christos Tsiolkas</p><p>37.<span> </span>The Comedian -- Joseph O'Connor <br /></p><p><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-36114577258274232932022-12-27T16:57:00.004-05:002022-12-27T16:57:55.277-05:00Year's End<p>I start with a lie. That's too strong. A falsehood. How about a miscalculation? The year has not ended. That's a fact. We are not at year's end, not fully, not yet, not now. I start with the half life of a half truth. I start with a start, a stutter start. I stutter my strut of a start because I have nothing to say, nothing to say except to lament the rubble and ruins, the strewn limbs and blood rivers of Putin's nightmare backward lurch into history. To think that World War Two was over? And to honor, I can't find proper synonyms, the bravery, heroism, patriotism, valor of Ukraine, its people amidst the smoldering slaughter, that mother on a gurney outside the bombed maternity ward they later said she and the baby died, that image to remember, like the silent scream freeze-frame shot to the head in Saigon, or the white man brandishing the US flag against the restrained black man, the soiling of old glory, Stanley Forman, and so on, ad nauseam, till death do us unite. Even before year's end I want to flip the calendar, turn the page, close the books, hurry before there's more, hurry up, there's time, and that's both horrifying and hopeful is it not.<br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-34562621395743688702022-08-31T20:43:00.001-04:002022-08-31T20:43:25.801-04:00Apostolic Blessing<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Freedom of Espresso scene, real life: She: a print dress, paisley to my eyes on a background of torquoise; open face, wide smaile; tall leggy; bright. Enter him: muscular, clean-shaven, taller, trim, Harley Davidson shirt but subtle. They sit at the table in front of me. Engaged. Riveted. his back was to me. She was animated, smiling the whole half hour or was it an hour. She had eyes for him. You can tell.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">They left.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Me too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I caught them in the parking lot. I accosted them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">You know, I just have to tell you both. You two look so happy. I saw you in there. So happy. You remind me of me and my girlfriend. People tell us all the time how happy we look. We are. Same with you two. You look so happy together.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thank you. Oh wow. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Man.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeez.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">They exchange glances. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Her face turns red, the verge of tears.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">We're blessed. The Universe has blessed us, man.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">But guess what? This is the first time we have met in person!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's true. Really. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">That's crazy. That's how it was with me and Faith. We knew each other fifty years ago and reconnected last year. It was instant chemistry. And now it's like we're apostles of love, apostles of happiness.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I can't believe this.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm Paul.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm J.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm M.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hold it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I went to my car and came back with a copy of On the Spectrum from Me to You.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here. That's my story, our story. Enjoy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I want to read it first.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">She got into her SUV. She had parked right next to me. She rolled the window down. She was quite oversome by emotion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't know what to do. I live in New Hampshire.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Don't worry about that. Go with your heart.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My apostolic blessing.</span><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-52563289636739724362022-08-07T17:12:00.002-04:002022-08-07T17:12:36.813-04:00Confederacy of None<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">oh say can you see</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a pox upon our land</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a Pax Americana</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">no not never<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">oh my can you spy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a flag swirling</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">in the bed of a pickup</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a rebeling with a cause</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">if hatred is so called</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">fear by any other name</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">as sordid and as sour</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">as the banner of the hour</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">this far north</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">this far gone</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">an uncivil war</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a confederacy of none</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a lunacy of race</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">and riot and roar</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a sound and a fury</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">of democracy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">out the door <br /></span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-59895851469294415422022-07-28T18:52:00.001-04:002022-07-28T18:52:12.411-04:00Exit Strategy<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The paperwork is in place</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ready for processing</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Before the spiraling expiry date</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">No it isn't</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">It never is</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Like Tony Soprano</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">All due respect</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Reaching across the table at the Jersey diner</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The jukebox's Journey's Don't Stop Believin'</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">No not yet</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Affairs are never in order</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not quite</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Prepared for</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">That rudest of rude interruptions</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">All due respect <br /></span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-66306703222543897762022-06-27T15:42:00.003-04:002022-06-27T15:42:25.909-04:00#SCOTUS v. 2022<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">gimme an L gimme an I gimme an F</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">(and an FU2)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">gimme an E</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">womb tomb BOOM</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">firing squad lethal injection guns and no butter death penalty electric chair let 'em fry more guns carry conceal reveal life penalty choice no choice gimme me a gun Johnny got his give me a bomb cradle to grave</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">through my fault through my fault through my most grievous fault</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">mea culpa mea culpa mea maxima culpa</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">pro-life pro-white pro-gun pro-men pro-right pro-wrong pro-lie <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">wave the flag</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">wear it</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">wrap yourselves in it</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">sashay in it</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">sway away</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">lipstick smeared</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">ear to ear</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">grinning gamely</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">smiling widely</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">in your robes</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">your Robespierre robes</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Reigning Error</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">rain of righteousness</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">razing democracy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">raising theocracy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Amen. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-27941699988904252942022-06-06T15:19:00.001-04:002022-06-06T15:19:37.530-04:00The Orchid Teacher (An Update)<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Back in the Time of Quarantine (TOQ), in March 2020, I <a href="https://thelaughorist.blogspot.com/search?q=orchid" target="_blank">wrote about the notion that Mother Nature teaches us, not vice versa</a>. Thus, "my" orchids have taught me they bloom and blossom, live and die, in their own time, if at all. Despite my ministrations and proddings, they rebloom when they say so. (Incidentally, are we not still in the TOQ? Some are; most aren't.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">All four of "my" orchids had thus far refrained from expressing themselves via white, yellow, pink, or purple blossoms of the sort they were arrayed with when I received them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fair enough. Have it your way.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was undaunted. Correction: I was content with who and what they were. I appreciated an applauded the new green leaves that kept on sprouting from the delta of the existing foliage. I had been obeying the most common dictum of successful orchid growers: Benign Neglect. Bowing to the orchids as my teachers, I let them do what they would do, absent resentment, rancor, or expectation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Or so I say.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Recently, one of the little plants slowly burst forth a shoot that differed from the roots that float into the air or burrow into the matrix like lazy tentacles of a small octopus. This shoot was thinner than the meandering roots and of a different shade of green, less pale. Most surprising of all, it sported buds! No question, those were buds. A half dozen nascent nodules of exuberant blossomitude. This was the secular, natural miracle I was unpraying for.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was like a kid (secular or religious, Santa Clausified or capitalismified) the week before Christmas.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And then . . . </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And, um, then . . . </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">[I can barely bring myself to admit it.]</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And then, last evening, I figured I would attach the pregnant branch to the vacant and mournful solitary chopstick the plant came with, the slender sentinel that allows one to clip a branch onto it so it grows upward, according to an unspoken, if vain, aesthetic. Why not? Let's celebrate this vernal renascence with upward mobility! Who needs droopy doldrums perilously inching downward away from the mother-ship green leaves?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I was gently and delicately trying to curl the tiny fleible clasp embracing the stalk onto the stick, it snapped. Without a sound, but palpable and visible nevertheless. I had grievously injured the vindication and triumph of my do-nothingness. (I was brought up on the Confiteor, during the recitation of which we would beat our breasts over the words "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.") The budding branch was not quite severed, but I suspect it is done for. Kaput. For good measure (really, as a quixotic gesture if ever there was one), as a palliative I curled some plastic tape around the trauma site. Perhaps it would allow some sort of mysterious recovery. This was like putting masking tape around a broken arm. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was so distraught I could not tell anyone until the next day, when I confessed to my beloved a "crime against Nature, possibly unforgivable."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Maybe it will survive and prevail. Most likely not. There are other fish in the sea, other orchids in the jungle, blah blah blah.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Right.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The orchid teacher is teaching me a painfully obvious lesson:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">LEAVE WELL ENOUGH THE FUCK ALONE.</span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-65615661490908171512022-05-30T16:46:00.001-04:002022-05-30T20:27:01.554-04:00Tragedy in Loco Parentis<p>it becomes a shorthand</p><p>a savage synecdoche</p><p>for which we have no synonyms</p><p>except blood nightmare shred death </p><p>and sinews of sadness singing</p><p>an aria without words or melody</p><p> </p><p>a broken record <br /></p><p> </p><p>Columbine Cleveland Chardon</p><p>Red Lake Nickel Mines (Amish)</p><p> <br /></p><p>they become a shorthand</p><p>these slaughters that stream</p><p>one into the other flooding</p><p>our jaded memories</p><p><br /></p><p>Sandy Hook Parkland </p><p>Santa Fe (Texas) Oxford (Township)</p><p>Uvalde (now) (this) (again) (AR-15) (again) (kids) (children) (innocents) (once) (again) (thoughts and prayers) (makeshift memorials) (flowers flowers flowers) (teddy bears) (magazines) (again) (clips) (bullets) (this) (now again)</p><p><br /></p><p>[silence]</p><p><br /></p><p>sobs cries wails sobs screams cries sobs</p><p><br /></p><p>[silence]</p><p><br /></p><p>. . . and then the inevitable onslaught of cliches promises jingoism flag-waving theories speculations loner angry boy boy boy male man young troubled loner rage pent-up why why why NRA July 4 lobbyists money money money marketing male rage against the what the who my rights my rights my rights protect me from me the land of the free</p><p><br /></p><p>except for the cost</p><p><br /></p><p>the incalculable cost</p><p><br /></p><p>[silence]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ ]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ . . . ]<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Memorial Day <br /></p><p><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-68243636953944266602022-05-08T15:27:00.002-04:002022-05-08T15:27:21.432-04:00Mother's Day Song<p> </p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Mater Jubilaei / Mother of Joyful Things</b></span><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This
was originally posted on Mother's Day, 2021. I happened upon it either
accidentally or providentially, your pick, on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R8TefGH_4c" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R8TefGH_4</a>
It's a mystery to me as to who wrote the words. Is it Tosca Donati, the
Italian singer and actress featured on the YouTube linked here? Is it
an old hymn? After all, it's in Latin, is it not? I fake-translated the
Latin words below (I can't remember how I found them) into this poem,
from a memory of Latin, undictionaried, laden with a memory of my
mother, who died in 2018, at 102. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you. </span><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I look for one</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">expecting all: sure that more is to come</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">why expect so little</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">pray it to your falcon wings </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">tell me what you ask of me</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">seeking the core of better things</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mother of joy, joy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">of motherhood, Mother of eternity . . . </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Eternal Mother</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">of all things Everlasting Motherness<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>circumspicio una<br />Omnes expectant : certe aliquis veniet<br />Cur exspectetis mini<br />dicite vos peregrini.<br />Quem quaeras mihi dic,<br />cor meliora petens.<br />Mater jubilaei, jubilum<br />matris, Mater aeternitatis...<br />Aeternitatis mater,<br />Aeternitas omnium Matrum</span></span></i></span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-24621545856595779442022-05-06T13:28:00.002-04:002022-05-06T13:28:43.985-04:00Birds of a Feather<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">stick together</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">more or less</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">some more than others</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">hummingbirds a thousand</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">and penguins eighty times that</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">we're talking feathers here</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">not rathers or druthers, mind you</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">feathers</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">birds of feathers</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">feathers of birds</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">tough as leathers</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">smooth as lies</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">thick as thieves</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">coats of armour</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">anti-harmers</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">so, what of humans</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">what of us</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">unfeathered and untethered</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">flights of fancy</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">fighting nights of fire</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">what about us</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">humans, unwinged and unhinged</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">skinned alive</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">or skinned dead</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">humans, if only we could soar</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">where would we fly to</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">who would we be</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">and how</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">tell us, oh Phoenix</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-16400756362201119612022-03-30T13:39:00.005-04:002022-03-30T16:44:19.297-04:00The Measure of a Man<p><span style="color: white;"><span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>for Thomas F. Coman Sr. </i></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Just one</span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> Of a kindness </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Unseen</span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> These days</span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> A mensch among men </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Placid amid the storm </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Sheltering steadiness</span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> Rising above it all </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Anonymous not clamorous </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Good and faithful servant </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Well done </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Done well </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Light perpetual </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Shine in silence </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">So be it </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Be it so </span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Ever and anon </span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">Shore-ward sailing<br /></span><br /></span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-24504047805776362162022-03-19T00:04:00.000-04:002022-03-19T00:04:11.881-04:00Six Feet<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">remember that yardstick?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">(more like two of them)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a metric that mattered</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">(so we were told)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">social distancing</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">defining where</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">one aura began</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">another ended</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">(I should have said era)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">up there</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">aboveground</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">not <i>that </i>6 feet</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">for god's sake</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">and then today</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">or was it yesterday</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">(time has become so timeless)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">as I walked by the school</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">elementary, so primary</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">colors, I saw those chalk outlines</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">body shapes</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">pastel designs</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am sorry to report</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">that reminded me </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">of a TV crime scene</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">(a not-very-parenthetical aside</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am told)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">all kidding aside</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I wish I didn't go there</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">don't you</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I wish we all did not</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">go there or anywhere</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">like that <br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-84786180983042273702022-03-10T12:11:00.005-05:002022-03-10T12:11:59.627-05:00Ukrainian Rain<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">on a field of blue and yellow </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">sky and gold</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">on plains of wheat</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">and cities of old</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">an ancient rain falling</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">fresh as blood</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">and raw as meat</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a lone baby crying</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">an aria forgotten</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">and a mercy unsuckled</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a prayer still screaming <br /></span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-82411347253299771982022-02-28T12:25:00.003-05:002022-02-28T12:25:23.240-05:00war<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">how foolish we thought</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">we felt so retro</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">that war was</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">just <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a thing</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">an ancient artifact</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a boomer anecdote</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a cold memory</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a hot flash</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">war so old-fashioned</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">framed out of history</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">texts and rubble</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">sepia photos</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">black and white</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">either or</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">infants' limbs</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">family shrapnel</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">silent shards</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">blood so loud</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">we thought</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">that was all over</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">war and peace</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a novel idea <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">it was just beginning</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">the recurring nightmare</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">an endless loop</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a rosary of mercy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">we need</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">and want </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a garland of roses</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">we pray</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">beseech</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">beckon</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">we beg for</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">peace<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">now</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">in our time</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">this now</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">this time <br /></span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-85343343725674224282022-02-22T13:53:00.001-05:002022-02-22T13:53:41.547-05:00cancel culture<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">cancel culture</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">as in what</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">culture</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">such as it is</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">or was</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">or will be</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">world without end</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">canceled check</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">balance overdue</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">canceled cells</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">cancered sells</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">checks in the mail</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">chain mail</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">ancient artifacts</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">like paper</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">and facts</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">themselves</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">cc: blind copies</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">can-can culture</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">no can do</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">yes we can</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">bel canto</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">incantatory</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">stories</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">ad infinitum</span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-89696885942284334822022-02-09T18:14:00.002-05:002022-02-09T18:14:51.562-05:00rearview solstice<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">they said it was the shortest day not a D-Day but a December diurnal one a solstice they said something about the sun earth nexus something about the failing light flailing to find itself on the upswing stretching out the light the definition of day and now I am flailing to see that in my February-drenched rearview mirror the one with the solstice memory the one with the solstice promise winking at me the driver me the one masquerading as something someone whose name escapes me </span><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-28881529160916543792022-02-06T22:31:00.006-05:002022-02-06T22:31:56.694-05:00The Nicene Creed<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">nice not the first thought<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">nicene being</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">its adjective twin</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">yet nicene enough</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">insense and all</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">maker of all things </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">of all that is</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">seen and unseen</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">(that infinite comma up there)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">think about it </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">all that is</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">both seen and unseen</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">shrouded by skin</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">shaped by veins</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">eternally begotten</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">not made</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">faith more than creed</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">creed more than doubt</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a twig</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">to stand on</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">seen not seen</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">felt not felt</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">in time</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">forever</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-49902932208089647282022-02-02T16:14:00.002-05:002022-02-02T16:14:46.944-05:00Anything's Possible<p>except I hate absolutes</p><p>or is it fear</p><p>any thing</p><p>solid liquid air</p><p>possible</p><p>might </p><p>could</p><p>would</p><p>should</p><p>anything be possible</p><p>including me</p><p>or you</p><p>excluding no one</p><p>anything's possible</p><p>it's been said</p><p>so I've been told</p><p>even this</p><p>these words</p><p>bursting into</p><p>nothing's impossible</p><p>kingdom queendom</p><p>come</p><p>worlds without end</p><p>in thralldom</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-60907488637010570552022-01-03T15:07:00.003-05:002022-01-03T15:07:50.474-05:00Hello, Hello, L2 Halo<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">a million miles away</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">give or take or </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">take or give or</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">hullo hello halo</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">within one's orbit</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">climbing the gravity ridge</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">from Earth <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sun's thermal grasp</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">one last gasp</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">before nothing</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">before everything<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">O second Lagrange point</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">en pointe</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">"riding up and down and over and along the shallow saddle contour at L2"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">cresting on words</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Webb's scope and scale and view</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">what a trip</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-44925305288285786242021-12-20T15:58:00.003-05:002021-12-21T15:44:39.915-05:00Essential Tremors<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">the 3 a.m. knock</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">text or call</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">screen flash</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">DO NOT DISTURB</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">disturbed forevermore</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">there's that</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">essential tremor</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">who wouldn't shake</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">straight to the grave</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">hands heart feet soul<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">shoelace signature shaving</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">rendered impossible <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">who wouldn't</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">feel those quakes</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">down to one's essence</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">having heard the news today</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">oh boy <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">brother, who wouldn't</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">but what about</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">all the others</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">so-called nonessentials</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">the barking dog</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">curling cat's ears</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">birthing every hellish fear</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">in ordinary time</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">the never ever reply</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">those Carrara marble moments<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">cold and hard</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Van Gogh granite</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">smooth as sin </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">hiding the fissure</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">threading through</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">our ancient bloodlines</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-62078002322311655392021-12-13T14:39:00.003-05:002021-12-13T14:39:32.834-05:00I Always<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I always</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">want</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">need</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">surrender</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I always</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">don't</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">want</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">need</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">always</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">hope</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">harbor</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">harvest</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">always I</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">bow</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">before</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">what is</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">world without</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">end</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">amen <br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792222.post-77778209366510106372021-12-12T14:24:00.000-05:002021-12-12T14:24:02.978-05:00I Never<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I never thought it'd come to this</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Truth as lies</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lies emblazoned</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">On a confederacy of dunces</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I grow old without my trousers rolled</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I never imagined so cold<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">An insurrection's unkenneled rage</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The dying embers of another age<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">January 6 that old time Epiphany</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Showing Three Kings and all that</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I never saw</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My eyes so closed</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I never knew my pledge of allegiance</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So hollowed out</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I grow old, so old</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I can't remember that boy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Palm over his heart</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Reciting the flag-soaked prayer</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In a classroom</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shadowed by Joe McCarthy</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I never expected</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">He'd never die</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">We never escaped</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">That America</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Did we </span><br /></p>Pawlie Kokonutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12974388685662241108noreply@blogger.com1