Thursday, December 15, 2016

Blackthorne--Scene 55


image borrowed from ebsqart.com


Blackthorne

Cinemagenic Fifty-Five

Alacrity

“So, in the way of writing without thinking, thou hast
a strange alacrity in sinking.”--Thomas Sackville.

1(wide crane shot) behind the five riders, with Buck 
& the Eagle facing off against them.
2(sound cue) Cheewa growling.
3(medium close-up) One of the wranglers : 
I may have to shoot that damn dog.
4(overhead drone shot ) high above the seven men,
then descending down toward them. A buzzard flew
across the frame half-way down.
4(sound cue) wings flapping over seed rattle.
5(two shot) Johnny’s flushed face & Buck’s knitted 
brows.
6(medium close-up) Buck : Your land, you say, since when?
7(sound cue) piano chord--off key.
8(medium close-up) Bronson : Ever since I’ve been running
my herds out here.
9(tight close-up) Buck : Just how long has that been 
going on?
10(two-shot) Over Buck’s shoulder, Bronson : Hell, it must 
be over a year now.
11(voice-over) Thor : More like two years.
Bronson: Yeah, I think you”re right, brother.
12(four-shot) Johnny : As far as we knew, all this was open 
range. Thor spat : Now you know different !
13(sound cue) saxophone & snare drum.
14(medium close-up) Johnny Eagle : Alright, gents, how’s it 
going to be?--his voice was like a taunt cello string, his 
cheeks fluttering, his body one tight muscle.
15(medium wide shot) Johnny & Buck with their backs 
to the camera, as an awkward second creeps by.
16(tight close-up) Buck flicked off the snap on his holster 
holding his sawed-off side arm.
17(camera pans smoothly, swiftly) over the faces of the five 
riders; they all saw him.
18(medium solo-shot) Bronson rose up slowly in this stirrups,
the fancy leather creaking, crossed his right leg over the neck 
of his palomino, then leaned on his elbows, staring intensely
at Buck, before smiling broadly : Well, Christ on a sawhorse. 
let’s all take a breath here. I’m sure that you boys worked 
real hard collecting these shabby ass jackrabbits.
19(close-up) a prairie dog stuck its head up from his burrow,
chirped, & ducked back down out of sight.
20(medium close-up) You god damn rights we did !! snapped
Johnny, his anger smoldering in his eyes.
21(two-shot) over Johnny’s shoulder as Bronson calmly
continued to smile, the man on the high pommel, in control--
Now I want you fellows to understand, I am still hoping to 
keep this visit in the “warning” category.
22(sound cue) French horn & banjo.
23(tight close-up) Bronson : The only problem is, it just 
would not sit right with my men if I was to let you off Scot-
free.
24(two-shot) Buck & the Eagle stood in silence--waiting.
25(close-up) Bronson : I’ll tell you what, in order to make
everybody happy, how about this--you give me the 
Appaloosa--and thank-you by the way for capturing him, my 
own crew couldn’t get it done--and for the present I’ll just 
pretend not to see those other jugheads.
26(close up) Johnny, through clenched teeth : How about this
--you eat shit & live.
27(medium wide crane shot) Bronson remained in the saddle,
but the other four men rose up in unison & slowly 
stepped off their mounts.
28(sound cue) muted coronet bleats.
29(two-shot) Bronson: Not a smart play, Johnny.
Thor : You fucking breed, we could take all the horses, and 
then stake your sad butt on a fire ant hill
30( quick-cut, angle on Buck) I wouldn’t do that if I were 
you.
31(sound cue) snare drum bap & seed rattle.
32(medium wide shot) Thor turned toward Buck, his hands 
on his hips just above his gun belt, his voice low & calm
: I don’t know you, Hoss, but believe me, unless you want to die 
today,  you need to stay out of things that are not your concern. 
This business is between this damn Indian & my brother.
33(two-shot) over Thor’s shoulder--Buck : I’m sorry, fella, but
you’re all mixed up.
34(medium close-up) Bronson : What are you jawing about?
35(close-up) Buck : Johnny Eagle works for me. These are 
my horses. He can’t give you anything. You need to deal 
with me.
36(three-shot) Bronson, to Johnny : Is this true?
Buck set his jaw, & the Eagle nodded yes, eying the
Rifle near his bed roll, & flicking his thumb across the 
sharp edge of his throwing knife.                          


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub OLN

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Time Travelers


image borrowed from monolithic.com


Time Travelers

“We could warp space-time so much that you
could go in a rocket & return before you set out.”
--Stephen Hawking

Quantum physics
meets
meta-physics
on a gossamer thin thread
of time--                   
                              a transparent throbbing vein,
                            shaped like the living split
                          between the left and right brain.
                              

                              Beyond the veil, time is
                        reputed to be superfluous,
                    where past-present & future
                  are One;       perhaps linear,
                                       perhaps circular,
                                       perhaps amorphous.

Beyond our tiny galaxy,            a cosmos within
a billion-billion universes          a cosmos within
gyrate like hungry pinworms    a cosmos within
devouring rotting flesh,             a cosmos within
like mountains of granite          a pea,       within
being crushed into infinite        God’s half acre--
grains of sand. like munching   beyond 
molecules in a dust bunny--      comprehension,
                                                  beyond
                              imagination, beyond thought;

those stars behind & beyond those dead ones we
see in our night skies, because we are barely able
to cope with the notion that travel outside of our
galaxy will require leaving our body behind in some
sort of cryonic stasis, embarking on a soul journey
after we learn to fold time & penetrate black holes,
expanding our minuscule consciousness--also
consider that

traveling beyond the beyond will only be the
beginning of our cosmic selves, & most certainly
we’ll need poets along on the journey(s) to insure
that posterity will accurately chronicle the 
tumultuous tale of humanity turning itself 
inside-out, to witness Time being filleted 
like a fat flounder, split open to the white
meat, probed, smoked & deboned.

We must become time
travelers in order to be

at one with our gods.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

Monday, December 12, 2016

Night of the Reaper


image borrowed from dlyonsart.blogspot.com


Night of the Reaper

“Believe that love is the strongest thing in the
world; stronger that hate, evil, or death--and
believe further that Love was born in
Bethlehem 2000 years ago.”--Henry Van Dyke.

A decade ago, my wife & I were visiting her mother
in Texas, My mother-in-law was 80, but still mentally
sharp. Three nights before Christmas, we were playing
pinochle, & she was gleefully winning. My father-in-
law was staying in a Rehab facility. Six months before,
he’d fallen asleep at the wheel of his truck & struck a
tree. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt, so he was launched
through the windshield & suffered traumatic brain injury.
He had always been a kind man, but he had turned
mean in the midst of his delirium. My sweet mother-in-law
could not adjust to his consummate cruelty toward her
& the medical staff.

Suddenly my sister-in-law showed up, telling us that my
father-in-law had died an hour earlier. We immediately
caravanned up to the facility & viewed the body; his great
chest stilled, a small smile on his lips. I watched grief on
the faces of the family wrestle with relief--hoping that
clarity had been granted to him on his journey, and that
cruelty had to hunt for a new residence.

A funeral for
Christmas bestowed mixed blessings;

so unique for each.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

Thursday, December 8, 2016

The City Stirs


image from fineartsamerica.com


The City Stirs

“Nature is a petrified magic city.”--Novalis

Sirens awaken me alltissmo & blaring;
perhaps     a meat wagon,   the police,
              or a firetruck--          charging
toward some calamity, deliberate and
              bellicoso.

A canto of pigeons coo on the edge of
the roof, all dolce & delicato--quite the
contrast to my Mickey Mouse alarm
clock blasting its brassy bell aria. I silence
it with a swift colpugno.

              Foghorns in the harbor
              bleat abafando in the
              distance. My tongue tastes metallic as
                             I burp pepperoni pizza, greasy
                             and abbandono.
               Some truck with twin
               stacks bellows & spews
               as it labors through its
                              crunching chorus of gears, before
                              fading con calando.

As I brew coffee,
     needing to consume
         caffeine devoto, I tap
            my fingers to the onerous
                  barbaro beat of a twin jackhammer
                       duet, busily reducing concrete to a
                          acciaccato dust pudding.

Mere blocks from the office, I move adante through
the´cacophony of the crowds crescendo, untouched,
nearly invisible, finding their frowns & epithets capricco,
the white noise within me fully abandono, but only in
the security of the elevator does my heartbeat return
to abattuta.
                          The city awakens
                           con allegrezza, as I

                           grasp joy in fermata.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub MTB

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Beauty Rises


image by glenn buttkus


Beauty Rises

“The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams.”--Eleanor Roosevelt.

Beauty is transcendent, 
                illusionary,
                eternal,
                sadness,
                triumphant,
                momentary, &
                ecstasy.         It can be body art, garish, eclectic
                                tattoos that use flesh as a canvas,
                           a fatal fad, a moment’s folly or love
                      in the rapture of bloom, that may lose
                  its luster as fashion becomes altered
              by cascading, tumultuous decades.

Those people who are born gorgeous as 
             models. stared at by all, once they
                  override their conceits, can come to
                        lament their beauty, often wishing to
                                 merely be an anonymous participant
                                        in the crowded landscape, rather
                                        than something akin to alabaster
                                        on a bronze pedestal;

But it is Nature, in all its guises, whether in a forested glen
swarming with golden & black Monarchs, or atop verdant
foothills at the feet of a fire mountain in early morning, 
while wild strawberry light slides across ermine glaciers,
with Mandarin orange clouds hanging like a general’s 
epaulets on the shoulders of the peak, or at a black beach
during a tropical sunset while the sea’s white caps frost the
smooth tops of infinite rows of waves & frenzied gulls pick
at the stringy pink flesh within yellow crab shells--where we
discover God’s living palette--

and finally, true beauty 
becomes the earnest appreciation
of aging, decay, and oxidation;
midst rotting wood, peeling paint
& rusting metal--where we 
re-evaluate a mature lover’s body,
though no longer hard-muscled,
but still the wondrous encasement
of the loving glow from their eyes,
the tenderness of their touch,
and the undying loyalty, sacrifice,
accommodation & reciprocity that
inhabits every fiber of their essence.

Beauty emerges from
every corner of our life.
resplendent to each. 


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub



                                 

Monday, December 5, 2016

Charred


image from hd.wallpaperswide.com


Charred

“Only the Charred Council--not angels or demons, could
hold the warring factions at bay.”--from the Darksiders,

When char replaces flesh
and bleaches bone black,
fire scars burn deep--

beyond reconstructive surgery,
beyond recognition,
beyond humanity,

where upon the bark,
protoplasm, pulp and sinew,
sentinel and soul,

are converted to
first bright and
then dark energy--

when
cremation
obliterates

the creation.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub Q44

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Blackthorne--Scene 54


image borrowed from pinterest.com


Blackthorne

Cinemagenic Fifty-Four

Predicament

“Life is just the predicament that precedes death.”
--Henry James.

1(sound cue) banjo & harmonica.
2(medium close up) Johnny Eagle staring at Bronson:
--So what the hell is burrowed up your backside so early?
3(reverse close-up) Cash Bronson:
--Aww, we’re just looking for strays & trouble--
makers. I was told that you were out here somewhere, so 
it’s a piece of luck finding you like this. I think you & 
I have some things to discuss, Johnny.
4(three-shot) angle on Buck: Anyone want some coffee; 
tastes like sawdust, but it’s hot.--tossing the inquiry like a
rock.
5(medium close-up) Bronson turned in the saddle, his dark 
eyes narrowing: So, you would be the mysterious buffalo 
hunter who has stirred up so much shit for me in town?
6(sound cue) slide guitar riff.
7(cut to overhead crane shot) the five riders facing the two 
men.
8(sound cue) Guitar strumming & snare drum baps.
9(two-shot) angle over Bronson’s shoulder, Buck smirking
--Yeah, that would probably be me
10(medium close-up) Bronson, tight-lipped, nodding his 
head:--OK, well I’m Cash Bronson, and one of these days 
we need to palaver over your mistaken notion that you 
actually can rebuild this ramshackle ranch of yours.
11(close-up) Buck, tight-jawed:  Sure, why not? I’d be 
pleased to jaw a bit with the one-eyed jack in these parts.
12(two-shot) Thor sat up tall, stretched & drawled: 
Not today, hombres. Fuck your coffee & fuck you. So 
tell them what we want, big brother.
13(hold the shot) angle over Thor’s shoulder, Bronson, his 
tone approaching a growl--Just sit on that itch, boy; then
returning his gaze to the two men afoot in front of him--My 
brother makes a valid point though. It is possible that this 
is not a friendly visit.
14(medium close-up) the Eagle: Would you call it an 
unfriendly one? as he rolled his throwing knife in his big
hands, an old Colt prominent on his hip.
15(sound cue) Indian seed rattle & branch flute trills.
16(two-shot) angle over Johnny’s shoulder, Bronson:
--It could be--it could be; kind of depends on you fellows.
17(cut to close-up) Buck: Is that a fact, how so?
18(two-shot) angle on Bronson--I don’t know where to
begin with you, big man--so let’s talk to Johnny first.
19(medium close-up) the Eagle: So, let’s get to it.
20(three shot) angle on Bronson: Come to find out
you had a big misunderstanding recently with my
auction manager over some wages?
21(close-up) Johnny: You know that pinche gordo had
it coming--that baboso doesn’t bring you any honor.
22(sound cue) saxophone & guitar.
23(medium close up) Bronson: So you gave it to him?
24(close-up) Johnny: Hell, no--Sheriff Hop showed up
& stopped the dance.
25(two-shot) angle on Bronson: You know, that’s not 
the way I heard it.
26(medium close-up) cut to Buck: That’s the way it was.
27(cut to medium wide shot) over the stiff backs of the 
five riders, with Buck & Johnny facing them.
28(series of jump-cut close-ups) Bronson, the Eagle, 
Thor, Buck, & the three cowhands.
29(sound cue) harmonica, saddles creaking, horses 
shifting hooves, & a dog growling.
30(close-up) bacon burning & smoking in a 
frying pan.
31(medium wide shot) Buck casually bent down, 
keeping Thor in his periphery, then lifted up the
blackened pan out of the low orange flames, & sat it
on a flat rock.
32(reverse the shot) Buck & Johnny with backs to the 
camera; --Bronson: Sorry about your vittles--straightening
up in the saddle, & folding his arms. Truth be told, 
Graff is a minor problem, & I choose to let you slide--
because when it comes to horse busting, I like your style; 
but get this clear, if you want wages from me, You will have 
to find a way to get along with Graff.
33(sound cue) guitar strumming.
34(two-shot) angle on Johnny, his features stoic, not respon-
ding.--Bronson: That brings us to a more serious problem--
that we need to deal with today; right now.
35( medium close-up) Buck: And what might that be?
--Bronson: I think that you boys need to know that you’re on 
my land.

36(sound cue) castanets & coronet.


Glenn Buttkus

OK, buckaroos, this is the last of the Review; from here on the episodes
will be new. Thanks to all the patient readers who trudged through all
54 scenes--and to the dozens of you who called for this review--you
are welcome. I am going on a three week road trip to TX starting next
week, so the saga continues after Thanksgiving. Hugs.

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub OLN

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Wallspeak


image by glenn buttkus


Wallspeak

Even paradise could become a prison if one had
enough time to take notice of the walls.”
--Morgan Rhodes.

There are a few of us left,
     deep in the inner cities--walls
           on ancient buildings, walls of brick,
                     that back in the 20’s & 30’s were 
           decorated with billboard art, hand
     painted advertisements, many 
over the top of others, now
resembling a decopasge,
or several layers of peeling
wallpaper, just
                           part of a musty past that did not
                  have the media options to boost sales
          & public exposure. I’m still shocked to hear 
  that most people spend 12 bucks to see a single
movie and then have to sit through a tedious myriad
of television commercials on the sainted silver screen

                        while suffering the indignation of having
                        a third of the audience playing with their
                        smart phones throughout the feature.

I am the north wall of the exalted Pythian Temple, 
crumbling bravely on Broadway in the theater district in
Tacoma. I face a parking lot, where once a department store
stood shoulder to shoulder with me. My aching bricks are
festooned with fading overlapping ads for cigars, jewelry, a
painless dentist, Turkish cigarettes, & the New York &
Washington Outfitting Co, where “a dollar a week will dress you”, 
sad smile, or at least it would in 1924.

The Temple used to house over a hundred members, rich
businessmen (all fat white cats--no Jews or ethnic minor
-ities), the Donalds of their day, rivaling the Masons &
Kiwanis. There are less than twenty members at present, old
men in moldy double-breasted suits, huddled in dark corners
smoking pungent cigars--while hybrid & electric cars
back into me, smashing my ankles, graffiti swaths cover a
section of me by the alley, drunks urinate on me after dark,
& most folks just pass by hurriedly without greeting or
acknowledging me. Such is the plight of most century old
walls.

I realize that I have a fateful date with a behemoth
wrecking ball soon. There’s a rumor that following
my unceremonious demolishment the pesky parking
lot adjacent to me will double in size; terrific--then
folks who work downtown can cough up 20 bucks
a day to park their jalopies on my proud bones. Yes.
progress can be both trollop & succubus.

Pioneer buildings
are rarely saved by those who

need a place to park. 


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Dystopia Now


image borrowed from thisiscolossal.com


Dystopia Now

“Hate looks like everybody else, until
it smiles.”--Tahereh Mafi.

It is so damn hard not to keck--
      (reeettcchh&rallphh) or visualize a wreck--
(screech--bam--splotch), contemp(silver)plating
a probable fascist malversation          within a jingo
                                                        oval (orifice),
                                               over blood(y) roses,
                                           without a garden or a
                                slender shred of hope;

all the while suffering from
       susurrous message overload
             bomBard-ing our census for 18
                   minutes of every media hour we partake.
             Never have we had to face such          
       an imbroglio, akin to a Korean          
battle axe lodged in Lady Liberty’s        
             bronze brain.                           For Christ’s sake,
                                                    even Dick Tracy would  
                                                 never have attempted to
                                   view BEN HUR on his wrist watch,    
                               and brave Buck Rogers might have
                        balked at riding in a driverless Uber Taxi,     
                  opting to utilize the manual override.                 
  
Yes, it still angers me that ten year old children have leg(ull)
ac(kk)cess(pool) to porn on public library computers, but
then obviously objectivity suffers paralysis when beautiful
breasts fill the screen, pious priests parlay for pernicious
pedephillia, demanding alter boy harems, while
                          
                          ISIS  dispatches hundreds of suicide
                          bombers to Mosul, whistling banzai ballads
                          & hatching kamikaze daydreams--
                                    where the zealous brainwashed
                                     disregard for life garrotes any 
                          thoughts of a future, a family, or any
                          kind of world where cerulean blue skies
                                      swarm with white doves--
                                  paralleling the terrible hope--
                               lessness prevalent in ethnic
                           youth incased in our inner cities,
                     who prefer gang fellowship to
                 formal education, handguns to
              hockey, & drug money to
           poverty.

Futurists re-read I, ROBOT, praying that imminent
sentient technology will not emulate TERMINATOR

projections, or the lethal MATRIX WARS, and I tell
you sadly that nuclear annihilation is absolutely still

a viable carcinogen hungry to inhabit humanity, and
I fear insane hands hovering over apocalyptic launch

codes and flashing blood-red buttons, while hoping to
grope more women, initiate ethnic cleansing, construct

concentration camps & generate genocide, revitalizing all
my childhood nightmares of atomic bombs, Russian
paratroopers & macabre alien anal probes.


Regardless, I still
soldier on, struggling toward the

light of peace and love.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on dVerse Poets Pub MTB

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Kall Me Kokopelli


images borrowed from rationalobserver.com


Kall Me Kokopelli

“The flute is a heart song, like a
sweet prayer.”--Kokopelli.

Not far from Four Corners monument,
     I crossed into Colorado and drove up a
           steep winding road for miles, emerging out
     onto a pine tree forest on a high plateau
called Mesa Verde--named by Spanish
explorers in 1776, while America struggled
to become a country in the east.

                               This National Park was created in
                          1906 by Theodore Roosevelt, who was
                      the father of our park system. Indians lived
                 there in 7500 BCE, up to 22,000 of them, finally
             abandoning the area in 1250 AD after years of
      drought, warfare, & even cannibalism.

The park is huge, with over 600 cliff dwellings
       preserved there. with names like Fire Temple,
                                                            the Palace,
My young wife was able to climb        Spruce Tree House,
up & down the very steep stone         Square Tower,
steps so she could get close               Oak Tree House, &
to the sandstone villages, but              Sun Temple
I had to skirt along the jagged
edges of the cliffs, watching her with powerful binoculars.

This gave me more time to study all the petroglyphs. I
fell in love with the rock art star who appeared countless
times--the hunchbacked insect-like flute player called
Kokopelli, a god of agriculture, a fertility deity with
feathers or antenna protruding from his head, a spirit
of music, & a trickster god.

Ancient man always
adapted--carving homes out
of sandstone rock cliffs.





Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub


Monday, October 24, 2016

The Arsonist


image borrowed from thecontroversialfiles.com


The Arsonist

“The professional arsonist builds vacant
lots for money.”--Jimmy Breslin.

Is it even
possible
to spark
more
controversy 
within a Presidential
election
than the Donald
has managed?                        
                                                This lethal
                                                demagogic 
                                                buffoon has
                                                ignited riots,
                                                disrupted
                                                our precious
                                                liberty,


                  while creating
                  a firestorm with
                  combustible
                  Trump-speak

that could
transform
democracy
into ash
and
sycophantic 

chaos.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub Q44

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Phone--Homo


image borrowed from cianellistudios.com


Phone--Homo

“We must polish the Polish furniture.”
--Eddie Snipes

As the ferry flounders, it wishes
for fairy wings.

Red rain is never as bloody
as a red reign.

The princess rose to pee,
and that’s when she found the pea.

The collar was white hare, but
the caller labeled it just hair.

Vikings loved their battle axes, and
conquered others on every axis.

When struck in the face with a hard ball,
there’s nothing to do but just bawl.

Too many folks have lost their senses as
they join Trump’s burgeoning census.

When the temps top a 100, one doesn’t need
to coax others to consume cokes.

A muddy pond of ravenous koi
can never be considered coy.

Suddenly I hear the sound of murderous caws
for no apparent cause.

A young maiden who is chaste
is simply waiting to be chased.

Crushed blackberries must certainly die
to render some Native American dye.

I feel obligated to have to add, one
never finds a job from an ad.

Though haggard and leaden-eyed,
the resistance waits for the next Ide.

Yes, there’s a manager who oversees
all produced goods that are sent overseas.

No matter how hard
the wind blew, its lips never
turned shades of blue.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

Monday, October 17, 2016

The Performance


image of me at the BSharp.


The Performance

“If you’re going to do something, strive to do it 
better than anyone else. If you’re going to half-
ass it, why bother?”--Ashly Lorenzana.

I am prowling Opera Alley, loving its cobblestones,
skipping under its gaslights. The buildings are all
painted bright primary colors, like a stroll in Little
Havana--pink, umber, red, yellow, turquoise and
tangerine. I enjoy the murals & wall art that are
splashed between windows & doors, the styles
being Asian, African & urban graffiti. There is a
light rain falling. I approach the old Tacoma 
Tribune office, which has been turned into the 
BSharp Coffee House, an esoteric space for
blues, jazz, punk rock & literary events, like the
Poetry Slam that I’m attending tonight. My two
poems are in a manila folder under my jacket.
I see there are a few people already gathered
in the dim lights. I’m feeling that familiar rush
of adrenalin as I prepare to perform.

I’m called Tacoma’s
last beat poet, brightening my
heart, conjuring smile.


Glenn Buttkus

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Prophet of Change


image from neurologicalcorrelates.com


Prophet of Change

“No one is free--even the birds are
chained to the sky.”--Bob Dylan.

Right now, folks,
stupid gathers strength, like
a virulent virus hidden within winds of change.
Admit that the waters around you have grown--
that you’ll be drenched to the bone;
even as the Donald denies global warming,
claiming it is just Chinese propaganda.

What the world needs now
is a hand basket full of poets
who will ink despair,
             spotlight cruelty,
             point out injustice--all the while
illuminating hope, morality, & love,
and of course
wearing wings
bought on Amazon,                        
            white feathers for optimists,
            brown feathers for fascists;
Come writers and critics, who prophesize with 
their pen--cuz the chance won’t come again.

The eyes of the earth,
holding their children
watch intently
as only a few weeks
separate us from our future,
when a new regime
will pick up the reins;
Come senators and congressmen, admit that
there’s a battle outside ragin’, & that the times
they are a---changin’.

Yes, we are the citizens toiling
within the fragile eggshell of democracy,
but many of us are parents as well,
inhabiting empty nests, eying the future
cautiously as our grandchildren grow
and our children vote;
Come mothers & fathers throughout the land,
try & understand--your children are beyond
your command.


Bob Dylan won the
Nobel--first song writer to
do so, praise his words.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub  

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Today


painting by Susan Brassi, borrowed from fineartamerica.com


Today

“There’s a party going on right here, a
celebration to last throughout the year.”
--Kool and the Gang.

On the cusp
of the second week in October,
celebrate 10/11, for it is a day
the Lord has made, or not,
as Autumn creeps along the
crisp edges, and the cold sun reigns
over the final few lingering moments 
of yet another Northwest
Indian Summer.

At my age, already in the winter 
     of my  life, I’m just happy to celebrate
        the distinct privilege of participating in another
           day period--as lovely Michelle Obama reminds us
        that this is the International Day of the Girl Child,
      as does the Donald amid his arrogance
and vulgarity, while he also is
     celebrating the birthday of his
             father, Fred, who certainly must
                      be so very proud of his boy from
                             on high, or perhaps low. CNN informs
                      us that also on this day the Senate 
            joined the House in approving military
       might against Iraq, and hell, here we
are 14 years later just tickled to
death about how all that turned out, 
right?

Celebrities dress up any celebration;
Eleanor Roosevelt was born on this date.
I wonder how our 39th First Lady
would feel about Hillary?
Actor Ron Liebman’s birthday is shared
with fellow actors David Morse & Joan Cusack--
this is counterpointed by 
Chico Marx.
        Redd Foxx &
                 Jean Cocteau,
who all passed away on this day.

Today, I have decided, will be an excellent day as the 
blue skies and October sun beckon me to grab my 
camera and roam about seeking fresh images, even 
though I will still be 72, overweight & short of breath,
and overwrought by the incessant political yammering,
but               
                        Every heartbeat is
                        a tiny victory, and every 
                        breath celebration.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

Monday, October 10, 2016

Cloud Therapy


image from richerramblings.wordpress.com

Cloud Therapy

“The sea and the sky looked like one fabric, as
if the clouds had dropped down into the sea.”
--Virginia Woolf.


Between majestic mountain ranges,
not far from maternal sea,
there are
clovered meadows
where souls
can lie
on their backs
and behold
dramatic cloud
formations--                        
                                           
                                           cotton-candy elephants,
                                           ghost riders
                                           seraphim's,
                                           bison herds,
                                           Jesus,
                                           locomotives
                                           lions;

whatever
you
need
to fuel
your
fevered
fantasies.



Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub Q44