Diatribe

“Underwater River Rocks” by Dixie Distefano

 

brooding stones suffer anger

ignored by the sun beneath waters

too rushed to give them a care

left to wallow in mud of neglect

all their prettiness lost to admiring

eyes of the world noticed only by

coldblooded philistine fish with

their miniscule brain-hearts too

full of themselves nothing left

but to wait for the next glacier

era to scrape them from dull

deep obscurity raising them back

to their freed rightful place among

nature’s own objets de vertu

derisively flaunting their sheer

indestructible lifeless antiquity

mocking pathetic mortality

walking the crests of creation

 

 

From my book Bohemian Scents

Dominion

 

“Autumn Evening” by Emil Nolde

 
unafraid

I walked among storms

standing bold

to the wind

until menacing thunder

asserted itself

Of the People

“Crooked Politicians” by R.L. Alexander

 

legislate keys
to secret back doors
framed and fit
to the slouch
of your arrogance
cut off the
citizen rations
of vinegar wine
and stale bread
meager leavings
from those fed
too well at your
sumptuous sideboards

hide in plain sight
among statues
where duty
can’t locate you
crank up the
partisan static
in microphones
mimicking empathy
tell us you love us
then piss in our pockets
and shit on our shoes
to remind us just
how much we matter

 

 

(originally posted October 2013)

Laicismo

 

Painting by Giovanni Camprio

 

 

faith oversails fear
but founders on arrogant
shoals of conceit

 

 

(originally posted December 2013)

Old Waters

 

“Water Abstract” Digital Photo by Carlos

 

in the belly of seas
ancient rains
once washed
truths taught
by myths
of Olympus
gave glisten to
Greek golden age
under Pericles
bathed the
inquisitive impulse
of Socrates
seeking for answers
to questions
that in themselves
elevate man
and morality

in the belly of seas
down and deep
the same waters
that nourished
antiquity mix
with new fluids
the discharged
remains of the
modern democracy
drained by neglect
of minds moved
to an arrogant
dryness of dogma
truths fixed by
presumptions of
self-proclaimed
demigods

Teredo

Model of French Warship “Le Soleil Royale”

the worm in the wood

subtle seaborne invader

soft mouth who makes meal

of hard lapstrake in deadrise

of commonwealth destinies

hinders the smooth sail

of maritime conquest

pernicious bold parasite

given to stubborn defiance

unfazed by the theater of

thrones under ukase of kings

here is ample example of

seemingly powerless creatures

the homely and humble

whose instinct is honed

to create with destruction

the only skill left to its

primitive purpose

a thwarting impediment

though it be small

to the brazen advances

of unreserved arrogance

speaking resistance

to undeserved power

Diatribe

“Underwater Stones” by Lorenzo – from Pinterest

 

brooding stones suffer anger
ignored by the sun beneath waters
too rushed to give them a care
left to wallow in mud of neglect
all their prettiness lost to admiring
eyes of the world noticed only by
coldblooded philistine fish with
their miniscule brain-hearts too
full of themselves nothing left
but to wait for the next glacier
era to scrape them from dull
deep obscurity raising them back
to their freed rightful place among
nature’s own objets de vertu
derisively flaunting their sheer
indestructible lifeless antiquity
mocking pathetic mortality
walking the crests of creation

Figments

 

“Red Dragon” by Milen Tod

 

 

the dragons come at midnight
when the guns are asleep
fire rains with the stench of dead angels
humanity thinned of its arrogance
stripped of its guardians
carbonized corpses retaining
no more than stilled shadows of life
fly ash scattered and blown
in the draft of grim leathery wings
man paying the ultimate price for
asserting dominion of nature
what irony unnatural creatures
meta-ethical figments of vengeance
deliver the strike that dethrones him
and yet they find need to come
night after night burning bodies in beds
human hubris so deeply inbred
that acute fears of dragons and death
never last past the morning
each day man climbs back on his throne
spouting same old same vacuous edicts
all lessons of darkness forgotten

 

 

From my books Onionskin and Legacies (vol. 2)

Quatorze

Louis XIV
Portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud
From theredlist.com

(Regarding Louis XIV)

ruled the sun
amid splendid
mirrors of vanity
avid for flattery
hungry for war
of exclusively
catholic cant
no room in his
realm for good
protestants
no taste for
peace too long
on the throne
as pretender
to culture a
most pompous
patron of arts
that appealed
to the blood
in his eyes and
his arrogant heart
his legacy rampant
extravagance
certain with seeds
for a violent future
of stark revolution

“It is legal because I wish it.”
– Louis XIV

Political Theater

Belasco Theater, New York City
Photo from newyorktheater.me

civil dialogue dies
barely noticed
underplayed dimly lit
without violins
her grim opening
death scene
a poor scripted trope
for the end of an era
whose eminence
quietly stilled
bleeds into the boards

prima donnas emerge
utter vapid soliloquies
chewing up scenery
thumbs-in-vest bombast
performed to applause
of each gullible half
in their turn
from intransigent
audience seats
bought by shadows
concealed in the wings