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X is for, well, X

X is for, well, X

 

ten in the Roman system

 

the unknown planet in

old sci-fi films and maybe

new astronomy

 

the name of the ray the

Curies made in life and

death that we might see

below the skin

 

first letter in in the name

of the Persian warrior

on the other side of

Thermopylae,

 

same with a saint (a

university), a musical

instrument, and the

musician named Cugat

 

and, yes, the name that

gave the X to comic

books, television, graphic

novels, and films

 

first letter (transliterated

from Aztec) for

Xochimilco, the floating

gardens of Mexico

City,

 

which fed the center

of empire and now feeds

beauty for the city

 

first letter for a queen

who challenged Roman

might; her people

feared those from the

outside and for good,

tragic reason

 

her name became a

modern term, Xenobia

to xenophobia

 

it’s what we sometimes

use to correct; lefties

prefer it to writing a

check-mark

 

it starts the sequence for

both genders

 

it is a shape

 

it’s what’s used when a

whole signature is not

required

 

mostly, though, we know

what it’s for: in song, in

verse, in story—and the

human heart—it is

 

a symbol for the searcher

 

X marks this, doesn’t it?

where the treasure lay

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

4

Canada’s First Family

Canada’s First Family

 

Attawapiskat

First Nation

Northern Ontario

Where the compass

Points

 

They die there

At their own hand

Killing the present

The future and

Relation to the

Past

 

Rich culture made

Impoverished

Reservation life

 

Ten times more

The young men

Die, for women

Twenty-one times

 

A child of nine

An elder seventy-

One

 

A tear (a rush)

A tear (in tragic

Sadness) of

Counselors

Has been hurried

There, but where

Is the missing

Part of life

 

What will

Resolve the hole

Of promises

 

Where harsh

Unappealing life

Without prospect

Fifteen living in

A house for

Three or four

 

Community

Structure minimal

And faulty

 

A solution is re-

Connection to

Heritage

 

A renewed climb

To meet sibling

Spirits in the

Skies

 

Yet once on

Earth again how

Does renewed

Tradition survive

In mortal people

Pushed to the

Edge

 

Forced into

Living prepared

To push over

 

The government

Hears; maybe it

Sends the staff

 

But will it in

Fate complete

The rift of a

Spirit-people

Needing better

Earth to walk

Upon

 

 

Notes

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/21/canada-indigenous-people-first-nations-suicides-refugees?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Version+CB+header&utm_term=168344&subid=16706344&CMP=ema_565

 

U. S. Suicide Rate Surges to a 30-Year High

by Sabrina Tavernise, 22 April 2016

WASHINGTON — Suicide in the United States has surged to the highest levels in nearly 30 years, a federal data analysis has found, with increases in every age group except older adults. The rise was particularly steep for women. It was also substantial among middle-aged Americans, sending a signal of deep anguish from a group whose suicide rates had been stable or falling since the 1950s.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/health/us-suicide-rate-surges-to-a-30-year-high.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

3

V is for Vixen

V is for Vixen

 

A female fox, I think

Moving in from the country

To the London suburbs

 

Fox-hunting was outlawed,

You know, giving all the

Red-fur, sure-footed

Creatures and creations

 

A chance for a shopping

Life, residing maybe in

Duplexes

 

Red herring, reality before

Fallacy, was used to train

Hounds in fox-hunting:

 

What if it’s a delicacy for

Foxes now (red herring,

Not the hound)?

 

Fallacy become fact in

Reparation

 

With foxes in chaise

Lounges, leaning back

Into beneficent afternoon

Sunshine, snacking on

Salty fish

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

3

U is for (Unseen)

U is for (Unseen)

 

What we are we cannot see

Values, mores, inclinations

Preference toward criminality

Or toward the light

 

Words make these real,

Sometimes more than actions

Actions become lessons in

Addition to what happened

And what was achieved

 

 

(môr′āz, thanks to freedictionary)

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

3

Notebook Poems with Psalms 34 and 35

Notebook Poems (while downstairs)

with Psalms 34 and 35

 

Three O’Clock or Thereabout

 

train sounds out back

from the first floor

bells

deep, uneven thrumming

circles of wheels

train sirens cry and split the local sky

nostalgically, we might still call that

a whistle

 

after time, train finishes with us

our cars may go

ebb and flow returns to town

until Moses-like the tide of trains

halves us again

 

(haiku)

 

child at table works

lead pencil scratches paper

timely task now done

 

Psalm 34

a song of tears

 

Lord

hear my cry

and when I’m through

hear my chafed whispering

 

Psalm 35

song with a question

 

Lord, are you there

it’s not Margaret of the book

it’s simply unwritten me

 

Machine-Less Listening

 

I hear a trumpet call

shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits

(two bits a quarter from

pieces of eight)

Gabriel’s apprentice practices

for the final fanfare

at the end of school in June

 

Still-Listening

 

at table round I write

who knew Arthur should meet here

liege folk

talking of charity

T. H. White’s “Might for Right”

until Mordred and Lancelot

ruin everything

1

Appalachian Highway

Appalachian Highway

 

Moving life and death back

And forth: death dominated

On an earlier day

 

With eight persons shot in

Pike County homes, south

Of Columbus

 

Where the mountains rise

And God looks deep into

Vales

2

T is for Tarantella

T is for Tarantella

 

It’s been set to music,

And I like the story

That goes

 

That if one dances

Fast enough with zest

And spirit and need,

 

The poison will

Withdraw from out

The spider’s bite

 

Perspiration, perhaps

Perhaps reward of

Tribute to Arachne

 

Who knows, maybe

To the mischief of

Ananzi, too

 

Now let’s make our

Own tale of such

Movement and lost

Consciousness in

Dance to take us

 

To a place where

Divinity gives

Healing

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

2

Bard’s Day

Bard’s Day

(23 April)

 

It’s a word that without

Context is simply one

Strange sound

 

Add a letter, the hair

On the bottom of his

Face has definition

 

Instead substitute

A letter, the word

And man (he was a

Man) take flight

 

Happy birthday, man

Of words that fly

4

S is for Science

S is for Science

 

Science is skill

Practice and progress

Discipline, consistent

Method and trial

 

So is poetry-making

Poeia in ancient Greek

(The process of

Making)

 

Both are spiritual acts

Dealing with creation

And miracle

 

Though scientists and

Poem-makers might

Not see the fabulous

Beyond amazing

Accomplishments of

People

 

In effect, the miracle

Being us

 

Well, so be it

 

I see the soul, and

That’s my science

 

Global, adhesive

Respect will keep our

World together

 

And so I will look

Forward to your way

 

And we may measure

And skillfully remake

The cosmos together

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

2

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