Hot,Hotter,Scorching.Temperatures spike,Engulfing the country,Expect a heat wave.Excessive,Extreme,Little relief in sight. Summer has not been able to escape. Source: “Another Major Heat Wave Sweeps the U.S.,” The New York Times, August 2, 2022.
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ScientistsAre not opening a portal to hell. ScientistsRestarted their accelerator—The world’s most powerful accelerator—To learn more about the origins of the universe. Social media suggest a different purpose:That scientists are using the machine to open a doorwayFor demons, Wicked spirits, High Evil Principalities. The claim is baseless.Scientists are engaged in scientific-related activities. Experts use the
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Variants run freelyAround the world.Countries grapple with fatigue. New waves,Rising cases, Straining systems,Apathy. The virus pushes at us.We must push back. Found poetry from “WHO warns covid ‘nowhere near over’ as variants spike in U.S., Europe,” The Washington Post, July 13, 2022
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No contritionOr regret. The mob?Stormed lives?Totally appropriate. Sidestepped questions?Deadly riot?Totally appropriate. Defiance.Assault.Violence. Ransacking.Anger.Violence. His mob.His anger. He should leave.Leave everyone alone. Found poetry from “In first public appearance since the Capitol siege, Trump expresses no contrition for inciting the mob,” The New York Times, January 12, 2020
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Or, Mother Goose for the Covid era. Twinkle twinkle little star,How I wonder how you are.Up above the world so high,Socially distanced in the sky.Twinkle twinkle little star,Text and tell me how you are. Little Miss Muffet,Sat on a tuffet,Waiting for curds and whey.But the Instacart driver,Came unmasked to find her,And frightened Miss Muffet away.
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Fading light, dark of night,Ashen embers from the fight.Warm hands on them, don’t walk away,Embers hide sparks we’ll need come day.Pause now and take a deep breath,Blow coals, see how they glow red. (To the tune of Silent Night.)
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This year, Let’s not stop with casting Bread onto the water, Our stale old sins Confessed and forgotten. This year, Let’s cast the water, too, Cast it so far the river sinks Beneath the dusty earth, So far the sand Bakes into clay and shatters. So far, To parched lands where Thirsty travelers pray, Not
In 1903 Emma Lazarus famously wrote “The New Colossus,” a poem the Statue of Liberty that concludesGive me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door! In 2019–specifically, earlier this week—Ken Cuccinelli infamously edited
“… a torch whose flame is the imprisoned lightning” Read More »
The most excellent Larry Hammer released Ice Melts in the Wind this week, a gorgeous translation of seasonal Japanese poetry. The water I cupped in my hands, drenching my sleeves, has long been frozen— today, with the start of spring, will it melt in the wind? Find out more about Ice Melts in the Wind,
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Split Borders Parents are property, Children an immediate danger. Mean, this humanitarian crisis. The democratic republic Separating parents from children— Families fractured by policy. Unconstitutional, Cruel, Unlawful, A violation Of due process and Equal protection. Vexing. The administration appeared Unprepared for the fallout “The child has rights,” a spokesman conceded. “This is a complex situation.”
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