teddywolf

The softer breezes blowing down the street
Are gentle zephyrs tugging at the leaves.
There is no need to shield from summer's heat
And so they fall in vast chaotic sheaves.
I have no lawn or garden for to tend,
No rake nor clippers needed for the yard.
And yet the smell of autumn does portend
The frozen winter shown upon my card.
But must I dwell on what is yet to be?
The day is bright with cool autumnal sun.
I still enjoy the bounty that I see
Of rainbowed leaves and children having fun.
I sense the coming of the winter snow
With calm surrender to the seasons flow.

Oh sacred Ganges, moving cleanly from the source,
I do remember how you flow,
With children swimming in your cooling streams,
And bodies floating, blackened at the seams,
Their flesh a treat for hungry crows.
How do you purify them all without remorse?
Oh Taj Mahal, your domes are splendor in the sun.
With gold and gemstones polished well
You are a lovely mystery to me.
You've lasted well, that much is plain to see,
And yet your builder set a spell:
Will his revenge upon the prince be ever done?
The histories and glories I saw in my youth
Have changed but little through the years
Throughout the joys, the blood, the tears
The beauty and the desperation both the truth.




This is not a standard sonnet. I used iambic beats for every line, but the syllable count varies through two six-line segments. Each line with a particular syllable count will rhyme with the other one with the same syllable count. There are 16 lines to this. This is a complicated variant of what would more simply be a sonnet. I will concede that it could easily be overly complicated.

It looks like this, with the letter being the rhyme and the number being the syllable count:
A 12
B 8
C 10
C 10
B 8
A 12
D 12
E 8
F 10
F 10
E 8
D 12
G 12
H 8
H 8
G 12

When people look at me, they see a man.
Obviously I earn decent money
Obviously I have not been raped, let alone sexually harassed
Obviously I will demean women without a second thought
'Cause ain't I a man?

When people look at me, they see a white man.
Obviously I have not been discriminated against
Obviously I live only with other white people
Obviously I am dangerous
Because I am The Man, right?

When people look at me, they see a large white man.
Obviously my broad shoulders mean I'm strong
Obviously I have never been bullied
Obviously I eat too much fast food
What else do you expect from a large white man?

When people first hear me, they hear a normative large white man.
Obviously I am a Christian
Obviously I have a college degree, probably advanced
Obviously I'm socially involved
I must be as normal as an apple.

When people see me walk, they watch a normative, large, generally-healthy white man.
Obviously I am not in pain
Obviously I am not sick
Obviously I am mentally stable
I'm such a healthy, healthy man.

I have suffered in my life.
You have suffered too
and I will not deny your suffering.
That is my assumption.

I don't assume that you assume all of the above
but you may.
Some of your assumptions may be correct.
But.
Even if you know me
Even if you know me well
Even if you know for sure, I have one charge for you:

Question your assumptions.

The cherry blossoms blooming in the spring
So redolent of heady summer days
All flutter in the breeze as if to sing
Of pleasantries deserving of your praise
The sun, they sing, so sticky and so hot
Brings sweetness like the orange from the tree
While gentle shade and breezes oft forgot
Will keep you cool, aye, and your company.
But cherry blossoms linger all too brief
And seem subdued in even lightest rain.
While more enticing than the humble leaf
They never last til autumn's soft refrain.
While still the blossoms' beauty ever grows
As lief I'd keep their pollen from my nose.

We turn to face the dawning of the sun
Its radiance all golden like our dreams.
The comfort of its warmth makes my heart run
Into a world that's more than what it seems.
Is this the will of something more than Man
Who has control of hydrogen in stars?
Or is the world a simple lonely span,
A lovely place, for all we do that mars?
So many call upon a God divine,
Contemplative of blessings from above.
Yet many more profane all that is fine
With hatred as a guide instead of love.
I think it is peculiarly odd
That humans have so many names for God.

The silver fox is drowsy in his lair
Inside the cage he sleeps in every day.
Adults and children stop to point and stare
At how he sleeps while red fox is at play.
Amphibians chirp loudly in their pond
As they grow quickly in the early spring.
But audiences never form so fond
Of listening to newts and tadpoles sing.
We wander through the gently shaded trails,
Alert for children going out of view.
And as we detour near the farmhouse rails,
We revel in our wanderings anew.
Another pleasant day at Drumlin Farm
Has shown again its many kinds of charm.

The Maenads drink and dance until they rest
Unslippered in the glade upon the mount.
For Dionysus, each will bare her breast
And suckle goats and lions beyond count.
Ferocity and languor hold their place
In every woman touched by sparks divine.
Her freedom and her fury on her face-
She is the god's and never shall be mine.
What drove her to this madness of the god
Who celebrates a first and second birth?
She bears no kindness now for mortal rod,
Carousing with an otherworldly mirth.
I long for her return into my arms
Yet am no match for Dionysus' charms.

(c) 2012 March 4

Electrons whirl about my senseless head
In patterns never seen by naked eyes
I search for answers 'til I am a-bed
And dream of them in wonder and surprise
For nothing ever is like what is seems
Regardless of lucidity of sight
But how is it they orbit in my dreams
A dashing twirl like dancers in the night?
Inside my room the music fills my ears
Now I shall dance to rhythms of the stars
Are these the visions whispered by the seers?
Or merely afterglow from passing cars?
The particles are dancing in my sleep
To ancient songs that fair to make me weep

It wasn't how I didn't say goodbye
That made me feel unhappy when you left.
The method of your passing made me cry
A single shining droplet now bereft.
You greeted me with smiles and with hugs
All ready to enjoy a joyful time
With happiness that came from cheerful mugs
Your reasoning with different-metered rhyme.
My heart yearns for a story not the same
Of longer times and cheerful lives ahead.
But Fate is very difficult to tame
Regrets are stuck unchangeable instead.
Twas not the way you wanted your surcease
I hope that with your pain you have made peace.

2012 January 13

Tis not for mortal man to know the mind of God,
Resplendent place where mortal man once lived and slept.
As pants were put on mortal man and feet were shod,
He walked into the land to be and promptly wept.
The garden, hardly Eden, never quite so tame
Still does provide some nourishment for mind and soul
When mortal man was sullied, did he cast for blame?
Or did he grudgingly accept that he was whole?
The mind of God is vast, as is the mind in you,
The one who would create a garden in the sun.
And should your own creation prove to be so true
You’ll sing for joy and dance with timbrels as you run.
The absent ruins of old Babel hide no arts
But can we carve a world so lush with withered hearts?

2012 January 6