New Poem: OLD MAN POETRY

if I was a tenured professor 

previously published

by universities and prestigious

small presses, plus literary journals,

I could be very lazy indeed

writing with feeling only about my youth

while sticking out my elevated tongue 

at the foibles of much younger people—

secure in the knowledge 

that my esteemed poet friends

will look the other way,

continuing to lay carpets

over every place I walk

to keep me from stepping on splinters—

gilded and otherwise 

New Poem: HEAR THE POP (1970) VERSION TWO

HEAR THE POP (1970) VERSION TWO

this is a story of someone I knew

who wanted to make easy money

by delivering a box of marijuana

but the police saw him,

told him to stop,

fired a pistol shot near where he stood

> 

there was the arrest, the bailout, the trial date

could hear him crying very loud one night

because there was a lot of pressure on him

to cut his hair short to impress the judge

because long hair meant "hippie"

and "hippie" was defined as a threat

to prevailing notions of social order

> 

apparently he was viewed favorably

by the judge in the county seat courthouse

and the sentence was probation

> 

here’s the kicker:

I first found out about my brother’s dilemma

from a fifth-grade classmate

because my parents wanted to erect a shield

between 10-year-old me

and 19-year-old him

> 

this incident ensured I’d have a difficult time

growing to adulthood

because I was protected

as if I had a security detail

to keep me from becoming my brother

and I didn’t become my brother

spending on/off periods of his life
preferring to get and stay high to cope—

instead, I learned to be shy and suspicious

giving in to keep the peace

spending quiet time imagining

an extroverted life

with an abundance of friends

something I couldn’t have

because my parents were afraid that,

left to my own devices,

I’d make the wrong decisions

and wind up on a country road

with a small town police officer

yelling put down that box of dope

and threatening to shoot

if I didn't raise my hands 

Older Poem: HEAR THE POP (1970)

HEAR THE POP

Hear the pop
Then the cop
Yells “Stop”

That’s the end
Of the payday
As the box

Of dope sits
On the ground
As your hands

Raise up high
Above your head
Then behind back

As handcuffs click
Then shoved into
Cruiser back seat

Cop smiles as
Siren turned on
And you think

Will I have
To cut hair
For Judge’s sake

Will my lawyer
Say I’m a
Good Boy

From a Good
Family who never
Got into this

Kind of trouble
And I’m in
My second year

Of college
Hoping not to
Be drafted

All of this
Because I listened
To a friend

Of a friend

Have mercy Judge

Revised Poem: HOME MOVIES

Home Movies

Film reel threaded
Lights out
Projector rattles
Silent moving pictures appear
Look how young we were
See our blue Rambler wagon
There’s Funland Park
Small Ferris wheel
Safe roller coaster
Pink cotton candy
Film runs out
White square on wall
In upstairs room
Of big Wichita Falls house
>
I’m the only survivor

New Poem: THIS SUNDAY MORNING

in churches throughout this nation
there will be hymns prayers Bible excerpts
the Lord's Prayer will be recited
a special performance from the choir
then the pastor's 20 minute sermon
>
how many ministers will gather their courage
take the risk of some members walking out in disgust
if the sermon is about President Donald Trump
and how un-Christian behavior
such as racism and anti-Semitism
demonizing foreign refugees
plus far too much rendering unto Caesar
are moral diseases infecting the mind and heart
>
what will parishioners see and hear this Sunday morning
Jesus will be watching with great interest

NEW YORK’s Sarah Jones on Nancy Pelosi’s allergies to holding the powerful accountable

Excerpted from a column in NEW YORK:
[Nancy Pelosi’s] intransigence does encourage some unsavory speculation: that Pelosi might want to protect prominent Democrats. Before he went to jail in 2008, Epstein was friendly with powerful members of both parties, including former president Bill Clinton. But there’s no evidence that Clinton abused underage girls while in Epstein’s company, and right now, the federal case in New York against Epstein seems focused on Epstein alone. Her evident willingness to allow a wide-ranging investigation suggests she’s not afraid of what supervisorial spadework might turn up. But there’s a likelier explanation for Pelosi ruling out, even prior to an investigation, impeaching Acosta. She’s clinging to an outdated view of the world, which makes her unfit for the challenges of the moment. Pelosi is willing to confront Trump, or his officials, but only to a point. She not only believes the center will hold; she seems to think that it will, once some unspecified red line is crossed, topple Trump and his administration without any direct intervention on her part.

Best Movies/TV of the first half of 2019

In no specific order:

US

THE SOUVENIR 

DIANE

HER SMELL 

CHARLIE SAYS

TOY STORY 4

LATE NIGHT

APOLLO 11

THE MUSTANG 

ECHO IN THE CANYON 

LEAVING NEVERLAND 

AT THE HEART OF GOLD

WHEN THEY SEE US

QUALIFIED 

Flawed, but worthwhile: 

THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO 

BOOKSMART 

FRAMING JOHN DE LOREAN

THE LEGO MOVIE 2

THE QUIET ONE

ROLLING THUNDER REVUE: A BOB DYLAN STORY

VANITY FAIR ‘s Bess Levin on Donald Trump’s Show-of-Force 4th of July.

Excerpted from Bess Levin’s VANITY FAIR newsletter:

As you’ve probably heard by now, Donald Trump is forcing the military to throw him a giant parade on Thursday under the guise of celebrating the Fourth of July, because he witnessed France’s Bastille Day festivities in 2017 and demanded the same thing for himself, just bigger. There are a number of issues surrounding the event, including the millions it will cost, the fact that lots of troops are at home for the holiday and will have to return to D.C. to move and guard tanks, and the desire probably felt by many Americans to not have one of their favorite holidays tainted by association with Trump. Also: the fact that the aggro displaydemanded by the president may damage one of the most beloved monuments in Washington and cause a bridge to collapse, because the laws of physics are apparently trying to send a message about the dangers of having a narcissistic man-child in the White House.

According to the Washington Post, engineers have been examining the Lincoln Memorial—where Veruca Salt wants to give a speech flanked by military tanks—to “determine if the weight of stationing armored vehicles there would affect the Lincoln Memorial’s underground rooms,” after National Park Service officials warned that such a deployment could damage the site. While the symbolism of the Lincoln Memorial literally collapsing under the weight of Trump’s asinine display would be poetic, we can probably all agree that it would be better if the monument remained intact. Similarly, it would nice if the event didn’t cause a bridge to collapse, which it could!