Zed

Zed

 

The last English letter,

The last song, the final

Form

 

Evidently, the British

Like to say this letter

As a word, while

Other English speakers

Simply say zee

 

As I think through

My own alphabet

(More or less in order),

It seems most words

For letters are more

Or less the letter

Sounds,

 

Though double-u

Describes what it is

(In Spanish, double-v)—

 

And the eighth-letter

 

Name might be

Overwrought, long A

Followed by a soft chuh,

Ache with the K

Sound substituted

 

I like calligraphy,

Illumined text in Latin

Or another word—I’m

Sure I’d have no

Patience for the work,

 

Though I love the

Results

 

Would love to have a

Large single letter,

As if monk-made,

Framed, shining to

Illumine me

 

Which letter, I don’t

Know—I’ve twenty-

Six letters in my tongue

(On my tongue) from

Which to choose

 

What letters might light

Up my mind and what

Ones for you

 

CLC

 

 

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

Blogging from A to Zed Challenge

Pre-Dawn

Pre-Dawn

 

Birds are noisy

Waking up the rest

Of the world

 

Mist along the

Edges of the yard

A damp feel

 

Light enough for

Artificial lamps

Turning useless

 

Now earth turns

Over a bit to be

Washed by the

 

Day’s new air

Bending without

Voice the arcs

 

Of branches

Enough for them

To moan a little

 

Wind cleans night

With round beads

Of dew water

 

Surprise and

Comfort in the

Dawning tasks

Y is for Yep

Y is for Yep

 

Somewhere between yes

And a dog’s yip

 

A folksy affirmative that

Often belies

 

Impulse and instinct

Something

 

Jumping under the skin

But we

 

Say something so we say

Yep

 

‘Cause we’re too busy in

Our heads

 

Mulling over possibilities

To be much

 

More than homespun

And you know

 

What might you say yep to

I already know

 

 

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

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

Venezuela

Venezuela

 

Who knew

 

Who pays attention

 

Largest oil reserve in (within)

The world, and all of it these

Days for less than naught

 

Oil prices are low, and leaders

Of oil-supply can’t cooperate

 

So while I pay less to fill my

Car’s tank with gasoline for

Which (I’m sorry) I’m grateful

 

Those who live in another

Part of America are starved

Out of sugar and flour for

The day and even toilet paper

 

We can laugh for what we

Throw over trees, which only

Makes a nervous joke out

Of excess

 

It’s complex, for I need

Cheaper fuel for the car—I

Need cheaper for everything,

Such is the life of the older

And disabled and, at best,

Partially employed

 

But, generally, I can get sugar

When I need it, and the other

Things

 

I have access to help

 

And I am not a nation living

Not Venezuela

 

Without

One Dog, Two Cats, Two Dogs

One Dog, Two Cats, Two Dogs

 

I’m with the dogs again;

I should set out a shingle

 

Neighbor’s dog (the only

Dog from whom I’ve

Received real hugs)

 

Friends’ cats, exercises

In indifference, until I’m

The only one to feed

Them

 

These two dogs in the

Family are older, whiny,

And demanding

 

I love them both

 

What kind of irony that

Saint Francis helps me

With my pets but has not

Yet arranged for the

Curing of my allergies

Iridescence

Iridescence

 

Of carnival glass

Sky turning from dusk to dark

Iris colors blending when

The eye carries a tear

 

Colors when they coalesce

Cannot make up their mind(s)

Which color might win

And not one color has to

W is for Wisdom

W is for Wisdom

 

Wisdom sayings, wisdom verse

Aesop, the poetry of Donne

 

What Winnie the Pooh never

Learns from sticking his tummy

In a honey tree and, before that,

Rabbit’s house

 

What is wise to you, dear one?

Would you write it down?  Or do

You believe in show more than

In tell?

 

Which means I’ll learn from

Watching you more than in

Pitiless, didactic discourse

 

I will look to you for wisdom

 

Other times in the book we know

We find out back—made of living

Page-leaves,

 

Bound in round tree bark, etched

By wind and ice, illumined by

Nature’s hand

 

 

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

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

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

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