Global

Holiday

the day
     is in danger of passing without wickedness
                –Frank O’Hara, “Washington Square”

let’s hope tomorrow’s the day
when the substitute newscasters have nothing to say

when everybody everywhere … Read more

This Poem’s the GOAT

It is what it is which isn’t
as obvious as it might seem.
Could be your answer
if you’re being cross-
examined for doing the right thing
such as leaving … Read more

Fifty minutes to sunset

they appear  down the hill onto his land. Sticks    metal pipes    M16

no faces    just eyes intent    piercing the air. He held onto his hoe

the … Read more

Lying in State

Celebrity cults on public display
from Academy Award ceremonies
to World Trade Center tributes,
farewell funerals to space station
concerts where droning bagpipes
shatter interstellar serenity; wheezing
bellows nurture reeds … Read more

Hazards

~ I don’t condone human rights violations at all: Phil Mickelson

May your drive slice toward London fog,
vanish in a stand of trees that lie in wait.

May the … Read more

Last Normal Outing

 

We didn’t know if we should be meeting
for breakfast, but there we were,
eating our eggs and toast

with a hefty serving of unease,
the invisible danger lurking… Read more

The Generous Stranger

 (For Irpin, Ukraine)

Carried on the back of a generous stranger,
an old woman takes only what she can
hold in her bare hands as they cross
a shaking plank … Read more

Not Over COVID-19

Photo of the author by Sok Ho Song

First came a headache to fell an ox,
a dull inconvenience to be sure,
followed by cold symptoms ‘round the clock
which … Read more

A ROSE FOR HER SISTER

She takes the garden shears with her,
Long handles, sharp blades

Crops burn in the Caucasus.
Aurora Borealis shimmers,
Streaming lilac over Chicago.
The irradiated night sky.

She steps lightly … Read more

As Greta Thunberg Says

We go on about
greening and building back better.
Our kids and grandkids say blah blah blah.

Corporations bandy about terms like
carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions.
Those who’ll pay … Read more