Tragedy in Loco Parentis

it becomes a shorthand

a savage synecdoche

for which we have no synonyms

except blood nightmare shred death 

and sinews of sadness singing

an aria without words or melody

 

a broken record

 

Columbine Cleveland Chardon

Red Lake Nickel Mines (Amish)

 

they become a shorthand

these slaughters that stream

one into the other flooding

our jaded memories

Sandy Hook Parkland 

Santa Fe (Texas) Oxford (Township)

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)

[silence]

sobs cries wails sobs screams cries sobs

[silence]

. . . 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

except for the cost

the incalculable cost

[silence]

[  ]

[ . . . ]

Memorial Day

Mother's Day Song

 

Mater Jubilaei / Mother of Joyful Things

This was originally posted on Mother's Day, 2021. I happened upon it either accidentally or providentially, your pick, on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R8TefGH_4 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. 

 

I look for one

expecting all: sure that more is to come

why expect so little

pray it to your falcon wings

tell me what you ask of me

seeking the core of better things

Mother of joy, joy

of motherhood, Mother of eternity . . . 

Eternal Mother

of all things Everlasting Motherness

circumspicio una
Omnes expectant : certe aliquis veniet
Cur exspectetis mini
dicite vos peregrini.
Quem quaeras mihi dic,
cor meliora petens.
Mater jubilaei, jubilum
matris, Mater aeternitatis...
Aeternitatis mater,
Aeternitas omnium Matrum

Birds of a Feather

stick together

more or less

some more than others

hummingbirds a thousand

and penguins eighty times that

we're talking feathers here

not rathers or druthers, mind you

feathers

birds of feathers

feathers of birds

tough as leathers

smooth as lies

thick as thieves

coats of armour

anti-harmers

so, what of humans

what of us

unfeathered and untethered

flights of fancy

fighting nights of fire

what about us

humans, unwinged and unhinged

skinned alive

or skinned dead

humans, if only we could soar

where would we fly to

who would we be

and how

tell us, oh Phoenix