Solutions

Book Cover Illustration by Tom Adams

 

the magus knows all

secret sorcery

stirred in the boneyard

by light of ill moons

poison potions for sale

to panjandrums

in want of some wisdom

congenital addlepates

desperate for any advantage

to compensate moiety

minds of half measure

in need of black magic

some potent elixir

to grow common sense

where a wayward

tomfoolery flourishes

nothing too difficult

quick easy answers

the coin of the realm

spare the prayers

theirs is not holy work

no souls in danger

when they do not believe

in the soul to begin with

the prize demands

pay any price

and they will

fingers crossed that

the devil’s own agent

this once and this only

won’t sell them a lie

but if worse comes to worst

what’s a few dozen more

of our children who die

Angels

“Angel Encounter” by Joanne Kraft

 

never doubt angels

live among us poor sinners

behold a child’s eyes

 

 

(originally posted March 2013)

What Price Ignorance?

 

“Eye of Ignorance” by Alina Mar

 

 

what price ignorance
wretched unschooled
who number in billions
no continent free
despite our technology
interconnecting
live communication
where the teachers
where the classrooms
where the outrage
how did it happen
how does it resolve
how can we help
when lessons lost
when concern blunted
when hope dashed
why pay attention
why give a damn
why dream of more
which ideas unimagined
which talents untapped
which thoughts unheard
what cures undeveloped
what books unwritten
what histories unread
mean circumstance traps
too many young minds
in merciless jaws
of vicious illiteracy
will it end then or ever
will it end now or never

 

 

(originally posted April 2013)

Arno

 

“Florence, Italy – Arno River” by Hall Groat II

 

 

I was born of a river
stone arches first spanned
by legions of Cassius
here where the dear
Ponte Vecchio
gives me my shade

Tuscan watershed drain
fills my veins with the
coursing of Renaissance
runoff infusing my
essence with arts
of the hand and the mind

I carry a legacy
heir to the Medici patronage
deep in the rush of my
currents that charge
new young streams
in pursuit of their paths

there is love in my waters
enough to bathe history
think of me, drink of me
sail on my shoulders
until you decide
where tomorrow will run

 

 

(originally posted November 2013)

The Cycle

 

“Three Generations” by Jennifer Vasquez

 

 

parents gave me life
a wife gave me manhood
children gave me wisdom

 

 

(originally posted December 2013)

Society’s Pain

“Lost Child” by mjr

pain is
pandemic
among young
defectively
loved mere
annoyances
coolly dismissed
ignored brushed
aside so much
chaff in the
smug adult
self-possessed
winds of failed
models each
child left to
navigate
fate’s harsh
vicissitudes
only to land
in some
mordant
dark place
where pain
grows into
anger matures
into hatred
inflicting
a rippling
broader
ranged pain
on us all

love the child
tend his needs
spare her pain
save the world
or else
stand as
accountable
owning the
consequence
but if you
can’t or you
won’t concede
guilt then at
least have the
courage to weep
for the loss
of a child
gone astray
for the wound
it creates in
the skin of
humanity

Wistful

“Sandbox” by Elena Salnikova

 

 

overgrown sandbox

retains barefoot echoes of

yesteryear laughter

 

Stickball

oh what elation
when my sawed-off old broomstick
smacked the rubber “spaldeen”
sailed it over three sewers
down the center
of one-way Lafayette
Mickey Mantle
in my dungarees pocket
black high-tops
on my eight-year-old feet
king of the cobblestones
hoisting my homely scepter
to the Saturday sky

Death on a Beach

“Cold Beach”
Painting by Hendric Buenck
From deviantart.com

toddler tossed on the sand
disenfranchised by the sea
with emphatic regurgitant
heave no emotion no regret
from an indifferent tide just
a heartless reminder of the
sheer overwhelming cold
power of water of rejection
so fluid so easy a message
that something unwanted
will not be embraced or
admitted to peace with its
comforts not even a something
that happens to be a most
beautiful innocent boy
he was called Aylan Kurdi and
he left us before he arrived

Proud Parents

“Family at the Beach”
Painting by Elizabeth Blaylock
From elizabethblaylock.blogspot.com

we made six halves
three new wholes
birthright powers
and passionate traits
two bold cultures
gave sumptuous arc
to the edges of Europe
her eastern and
southernmost reaches
come finely aligned
find their futures
emphatic Americans
taking their place
in a turbulent history
still in the writing
two daughters
one son share a
sibling nobility each
with deep well defined
character each a
contributor giving the
lie to gen x sociology
standing their opulent
ancestries proud