Reposted "the World According to Cosmos "(https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com) SIgn-up! |
writer's digest chapbook https://wp.me/p7NAzO-2JP Writer's Digest Chapbook Cosmos Reading List 2023 This is the third time I have entered the Writer's Digest annual chapbook challenge. The challenge was to write one poem per day in November then select the best 20 for the chapbook contest. Here are my poems. Index November 1 Declaration Poem Favorite Childhood Object Problem Solvers Problems Mike Johnson Ain’t No Christian, Jack Dreams Of a Better World Problems 49-Year Love Story Barbados Calling Me Hometown Calling Me Gun Ghosts Speak Up Saga of Big Daddy Attack of Neighbor Bob Terrorist Back in the Old Days, Trump Would Never Have President Lucky in Love, Unlucky in Cards President Trump on Vermin cosmic cat from Berkeley We Must Carry the Light Presidential election Cycle Writer’s Digest Berkeley Time Travels Insomnia Wild Things AI Love Poem November 1 Declaration Poem Birthday On my birthday I like to reflect. On the year that was. And make plans. For the year ahead. Including a declaration Of my basic goals For the year. And as always End with a declaration Of love For the love of my life. Who joined me? 41 years ago Marrying me On my birthday. I declare to her. That I will love her With all my heart Until the end of time. And vow To see her In my next life. Favorite Childhood Object piano One of my Favorite objects As a child Was my piano. I first started learning. To play at age 6 Kept going with lessons. Until age 18. Briefly thought of Becoming a professional composer Until I flunked out Of Oberlin Conservatory. Thus ending my music career. Lately, I have resumed. Playing the piano Thinking back In my childhood, Problem Solvers Problems There are so Many problems Facing the world. Climate change Inflation Lingering pandemics. Gunmen on the loose Violence on the street Wars in Ukraine and Israel Terrorism threats. Unending political chaos In the United States And elsewhere. But the biggest Problem of all Is the lingering political. Dysfunction. And the growth Of neo-fascism. That is the real problem. Facing us all. Mike Johnson Ain’t No Christian, Jack Mike Johnson Has been catching. A lot of flack As his right-wing Republican Jesus faith Becomes better known. Particularly, catching flack Over his homophobic views And bigotry. May people making Brash callous remarks About his Christian faith. And his open homophobic views. He does not seem to understand. His brand of extreme evangelical Christian faith. Is anathema. To many people These days. Who views his MAGA faith? As hypocritical fake Christianity As it violates all of Christ’s teachings. As Christ was the ultimate Social justice “woke.” Warrior of all time. If Christ came back He would scream. I ain’t no Christian. Before being crucified Again, by the so-called Christian leaders. Dreams of a Better World I often dream. Of a better world Of a better future. Asking what if What if we solved The climate change problem? What if we just stop The mass gun violence? What if we just stop The endless wars And the threat of terrorism. . What if we stop All the despair, and fearmongering. The hate all around us And replace it with love. And peace and goodwill. That is my dream. Everyday Waiting to make A better world. 50-Year Love Story when I first met you on that date I met my fate. That was the beginning. of a 49-year love affair that began. when I first dreamt of The dream of meeting you. Barbados is Calling Me Barbados is calling me, On a winter’s day. The tropical beach paradise. I want to just be. Ending up on the beach, no matter what happens. Drinking rum and coke with ice. Berkeley Calling Me I am a Berkeley boy. Through and through Went to BHS But did not go to CAL. My grades did not measure up. I have wandered the world. Living overseas Yet everywhere I go. I remember my Berkeley roots. Berkeley is calling me. Someday I will return. To my homeland Until then I will keep it. Berkeley in my heart And my soul A Berkeley boy To the end. Gun Ghosts Speak Up gun The Association of Gun Ghosts Held their annual meeting. Thousands of gun ghosts Gathered together. At Columbine High School At midnight No one saw or heard them. As they were ghosts They decided to issue. A manifesto To the world And released it. On the internet Where their simple plea Went viral. The note read. People of earth Particularly Americans Please put away your guns Your weapons of war. Too many of us Are being gunned down. Because there are so many guns More guns than people. You talk about freedom. What about the freedom To walk down the street Without fear That a gunman Will shoot us dead? And politicians do nothing. But offer useless prayers. And thoughts We don’t need to hear that. We demand action. We demand responsibility. We demand you just quit. Killing people With your guns. And stop lying. You all know. That gun kills. That is what they Are designed to do. And they do it so well. We know. Because we are the gun ghosts Killed by your guns. But in the end If you continue this way You too could join us. And become gun ghosts. Saga of Big Daddy Big Daddy, aka Sam Adams was the man who always had a plan. He was an ex-University of Arkansas and Dallas Cowboy player who had worked for the CIA? The agency fired him for murdering enemies of the state at home in contravention of agency rules, but they retained his services from time to time. He supplemented his CIA payments And bar income from money laundering, drug smuggling, human smuggling and other assorted crimes, big and small. Big Daddy had lots of enemies Many people wanted him dead Relatives of his many victims Of the covert wars, he waged On behalf of his nation. He was hoping to stay out of trouble But one day trouble found him. He moved to Bangkok, Thailand Where he opened the Cosmos Bar With the assistance of his manager. Kuhn Lek, and her uncle The police chief and his cousin The biggest drug kingpin In the Northern Triangle. The Cosmos Bar Became world-famous The spot to go to is Bangkok. Located in Soi Cowboy It was an after-hours club Secretly owned by the Thai police, One of the few places They served alcohol 24/7. It was filled with Criminals, drug dealers, government agents Journalists, prostitutes, pimps, spies, counter-spies, sex tourists, tourists, undercover cops, and assorted other low-lives, From all over the known world. Had the best-looking woman The best-looking travesties too, The best beer, wine, and liquor list In the city, And the best burgers in town. It looked like the Bar In Star Wars Filled with probable human life forms And perhaps a space alien or two. One day a mysterious Korean woman Came into the bar asking for him By his universal nickname “Big Daddy” Maria Lee was a Korean-American Drop-dead gorgeous woman Who was on the lam from her rich Korean husband. She had one question for Big Daddy. “The word in the Korean community is that you are a man who knows how to launder money. Can you launder 50 million dollars?” “Hmm for a fee.” “What’s the fee?” “A night of wild sex with you.” “Done, but only after the deed is done.” She smiled sweetly. He called his underworld contacts and they laundered the 50 million dollars and he gave her the bank receipt. He had parked the money in a Cayman Islands account. That night she honored her agreement with Big Daddy. The next morning while drinking his cup of coffee, she revealed that she had poisoned him because she did not want anyone to know about the transaction and her affair with Big Daddy. She smiled, “Thanks, Big Daddy, I liked last night, You are a real stud, Big Daddy, Perhaps that is why you are called, ‘Big Daddy’ But hey it is nothing personal, Big Daddy.” After all, it was just a business deal in the end. And that was how trouble found Big Daddy. Attack of Neighbor Bob Terrorist One day A man fell. A rabbit hole. On his computer, Lost in thought. when an odd event occurs, the event that led. to his untimely death. He did not hear. The footsteps, Of the white Christian nationalist Domestic terrorist next door. Who took exception? To Sam’s living there As Sam was not white And an atheist “libtard.” And his neighbor Was a white supremacist. Christian Nationalist. His neighbor Bob. Came at Sam with a chainsaw. And struck him in the heart. Killing him instantly. Then using a torch To burn the body. Before using dynamite To blow up the house Despite the rain clouds Outside. All streamed live. On his wifi. trump jpg Back in the Old Days, Trump Would Never Have President Back in the old days when political decisions were made by insiders. White men of power who gathered. in the proverbial smoke-filled rooms. smoking menthol cigarettes and cigars drinking whiskey martinis and beer while enjoying a steak dinner and plotting political plots in such a world Trump would not have been. allowed to become President. as the political elites would not allow. such a Buffon from taking power They would despise. such a vulgar low-class new money guy. Lucky in love, unlucky in cards There is an adage That sums up my life so far One can be lucky in love But unlucky in cards That sums it up nicely I have been lucky in love Met and married The girl of my dreams Dreamed of meeting her For eight years Then she came into my life Became my wife But I have never been Lucky in cards I mean I have played Poker with friends But always lost Won a little bit of gambling But usually lost more Then I won Eventually gave up Just not fun anymore As I lost the gambling fever Yet to get a jackpot But then I think I hit the jackpot of love And that has made All the difference President Trump on Vermin AI Poem A leader of a nation, a speaker of lies. A spreader of hatred, a divider of ties A mocker of the weak, a lover of the strong A builder of walls, a singer of wrong A hater of the different, a scorner of the same A caller of the vermin, a blamer of the blame An ignorer of the facts, a denier of the truth A creator of the chaos, a destroyer of the youth A loser of the election, a claimer of the fraud A refuser of the concession, a violator of the law An inciter of the violence, a fomenter of the storm A deserter of the office, a traitor of the norm evil cat cosmic cat from Berkeley I next encountered the divine Many years later in Berkeley, California I had gone home to be with my Mother While taking leave from my job in the Foreign Service I had two weeks there by myself My wife came later near the end of the trip Every morning I woke up Had my coffee, and breakfast Did yoga while listening to music And looking out at the garden Then spoke to my mother Who was sliding into dementia? Day by day losing her reason Then I would go out And explore the city Go to a museum Go to one neighborhood And just be there Rediscovering the Bay area After years of being away Having dinner with old friends Seeing movies etc Every morning a black cat came to visit The cat was friendly and waited for me And then would join me in my morning rambles Following me to the bus stop I started talking to the black cat He looked at me with a spark of divinity In his dark eyes I called him the cosmic cat He seemed to like that He would look at me And I opened up to me Told the cat all my dark secrets As I walked the streets Of the old neighborhood Every morning and every evening the cat Would be there to greet me And to carry out our endless conversation Then I had to leave And in our final conversation I asked the cosmic cat Say, Cat are you just a cat Or are you a demonic cat Are you possessed by God? Or by Satan The cat looked at me And I realized that God Was indeed residing in the cat But that god was residing everywhere All I had to do was open my mind And the rest would follow So I said Goodbye to the cosmic cat And he purred and came up to me And I felt the comforting presence Of the divine spirit of God As I said goodbye to the cosmic cat And said goodbye to my mother As this was the last time That we would be able to talk I told my mother about the cosmic cat She smiled and said that the cat was there for me and her to comfort us both in our hour of need and that the cat was indeed a cosmic cat Carrying the light We must carry the light It is not so bright Embracing the light with my wife Still the center of my life We both fear the dark Nothing more to avoid strife. Carrying the light until the end of time chasing away the darkness that haunts. my soul. Presidential Election Cycle The U.S. Presidential election cycle Is a long-drawn-out affair. Starts the day after the last election. And ends a month after the votes. Have been certified, and the winner is determined. As usual Twenty candidates are announced. For the election cycle A year or so before The actual vote. The most important part The donors chose. Which candidates will get? Their money and support In the so-called invisible primary. By January of an election year Five to six serious contenders Have emerged. Battling it out nightly on the news As the pundits weigh in And voters begin to choose. on multiple Super Tuesdays. The candidates race across. The land Offering their vision, Their hopes and fears. As the public begins To wake up And start to choose. The game is on foot. with almost weekly debates where the candidates try not to make fools. of themselves. It continues until the summer. When the conventions nominate Someone as the standard bearer. The losers concede. But the intra-party feuding Does not end. In the end There will be one person. Left standing. At the end of the roughest Most competitive race In the world. That determines. The fate of nations. Voters in the end Making the final call As the presidential election season Comes to a final decision point. Berkeley Time Travels I grew up in Berkeley, California In the turbulent fabled late '60s And in Berkeley in those days Time seems to stand at a standstill. On the corner of Dwight and Telegraph Across from People's Park It seems to be always May 1969 With the man Down the street Oppressing the hippies On the street As they smoked their weed Dodging the bored cops Who looked the other way? If they did not partake And then I went to college In the valley As I drove into Stockton I felt I was traveling again. In time Back to the fabled '50s Stockton was also. Stuck in a time warp of sorts. And as I left the Bay area. And traveled the world. I would come back. To that corner And just be there. Stuck in May 1969 Again Marveling at the changes That had and had not occurred. To the corner of the land Forever stuck in time And space Last Night I could not Get to sleep at all Last night I could not Sleep As my mind wandered Down dark rabbit holes Of fevered imagination At 0 dark hundred hours The wild things came out To play Torturing me Until the sunrise Blasted them Back into the dark Corners of my mind. And the nightmares Faded away With the dawning sun. BIng AI Love Poem Angela Lee, you are the light of my life. You fill my days with joy and my nights with dreams. You are the reason I smile and the reason I breathe. You are the one who makes my heart skip a beat, Angela Lee, you are the beauty of my world. You shine like a star and sparkle like a gem. You are the one who catches my eye. and the one who holds my hand. You are the one. Who makes me feel alive? Angela Lee, you are the love of my soul. You touch me with your kindness and your warmth, You are the one who understands me. and the one who supports me. You are the one who makes me whole. |