earthly voyages

January, 2022

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Poems for Palestine by BRT

“I see poetry as spiritual medicine.” Mahmoud Darwish

POEMS FOR PALESTINE

    Israel and Palestine borders…

    Law Stories

    Tales from inside the courtroom and the streets leading there…

    LAW STORIES

      Stories from my time as a lawyer.

      Miscellaneous

      Exactly what the concept of miscellaneous is needed for as reflected by the range of subject titles to the right.

      MISCELLANEOUS

        Miscellaneous, different, other, etc.

        Organizational Affiliations

        “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller

        Building with Organizational Affiliations

        Sports Writing

        When the game is afoot, I find the field of sports to be a great source of inspiration and entertainment.

        SPORTS WRITING

          Sports Writing category image.

          The Chief

          This is where I share stories of a man of magnificence, a person of power, and a character I call The Chief. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_Society

          THE CHIEF

            Travel

            Many travel books and travel videos are immensely well done, although no amount of reading about or videos of the pyramids at Giza or a village in India can compare to the overwhelmingly physical and sensual experience of being there.

            My travel writings all seek to convey something intimate about the setting I am describing, to capture the “feel” of a unique place on the planet as experienced at a unique point in time by a unique narrator briefly passing through.

            Coyote in the House

            coyote strolls into the house,
            on a balmy night
            after the rains have ended,
            a night remembered for the sound of crickets
            and coyote’s toenails|
            tap tapping on the wooden floor.

            coyote smells everything,

            old newspapers,

            the knitting,

            the bowl of fruit she finds

            with one paw up on the counter,

            when she also notices me –

            having hoped for mice,

            or duck pate –

            and instead gotten human.

            then, so as to detain her briefly,

            i slide the door closed,

            holding in her beauty,

            as moonlight breaks through the cloudy night sky,

            a ban on nuclear weapons is announced,

            health care is guaranteed to everyone as a fundamental right,

            palestinians and israelis form one democratic state,

            music appreciation classes are funded and returned to the curricula of public schools,

            and a symphony orchestra of children under twelve

            serenades our congress

            while coyote walks round my bedroom,

            squatting to pee near the bookcase,

            as i pull the quilt up to my neck

            and fall asleep

            trusting in dreams

            Poetry

              Poetry

              Beach Body by Publius Ovidius Naso

              Mane erat: egreditur tectis ad littus; & illum
              Moesta locum repetit, de quo spectarat euntem,
              Dumque moratus ibi; dumque, Hic retinacula solvit,
              Hoc mihi discedens dedit oscula littore, dicit:
              Dumque notata oculis reminiscitur acta, fretumque
              Prospicit; in liquida spatio distante tuetur
              Nescio quid, quasi corpus, aqua; primoque, quid illud
              Esset, erat dubium. Postquam paulo appulit unda;
              Et quamvis aberat, corpus tamen esse liquebat;
              Qui foret, ignorans, quia naufragus, omine mota est;
              Et, tanquam ignoto lachrymam daret, Heu, miser, inquit,
              Quisquis es, & siqua est conjux tibi! fluctibus actum
              Fit propius corpus. Quod quo magis illa tuetur,
              Hoc minus, & minus est mentis. Iam iamque propinquae
              Admotum terrae, iam quod cognoscere posset,
              Cernit: erat conjux. Ille est, exclamat: & una
              Ora, comas, vestem lacerat: tendensque trementes
              Ad Ceyca manus, Sic, o carissime conjux,
              Sic ad me, miserande, redis? ait. Adjacet undis
              Facta manu moles: quae primas aequoris iras
              Frangit; & incursus quae praedelassat aquarium.
              Insilit huc: mirumque fuit potuisse; volabat:
              Percutiensque levem modo natis aera pennis,
              Stringebat summas ales miserabilis undas.

              Poetry

                A Poem is Born

                A poem is born
                By describing what is sensed or seen
                And never saying the word it
                Without describing what “it” is.
                Admiring yellow squash flowers
                Among the riot of purple morning glories
                In the gardens which greet the day.
                Crows standing pensively
                Rocking back and forth on their toes
                In black wing tipped dress shoes
                Hands intertwined behind their backs
                Engaged in a familiar dialogue
                About roadkill
                The harbor
                And their diving neighbors the cormorants.
                Transplanting small sprouting vegetables
                Who convey their gratitude for soil and love.
                After a demonstration at the bank
                Calling for corrupt lenders
                To hold very long meetings inside federal jail cells.
                After yoga, and music,
                And even an unwelcome creeping sense of paranoia
                That emerges of its own accord
                And leaves the station on its own schedule.
                At the end of a good day,
                A present day,
                Where pain and stiffness are at a minimum,
                The mail is taken to the post office,
                And you approach life and death with hands raised high
                In the universal sign of surrender.
                Welcomed home
                By the lover you’ve awakened
                Eating pumpkin pie made with home grown pumpkins
                Roasted seed, and ginger.
                .

                Poetry