Childish, stupid, hurtful behavior
stared him in the eyes —
She’s gone; too late to apologize.
Was there nothing left to savor?

Guilt and shame followed
on his heels —
an infinity of appeals;
he heard only echos so hollow.

Then he looked at one constantly grooming
who couldn’t care less —
nothing to confess,
only finger-pointing, blaming and repugning.

Maybe it would be better
to live with a solipsistic mind —
so narcissistically unkind,
to live with a conscience unfettered.

No! Such a life knows nothing of love.
Thank God for expiation —
the chance to be forgiven,
where grief anticipates the descent of the peaceful dove.

The boys and now the girls,
too, stand in lines, feet stomp-
ing, rifles on shoulders, deep
breathing through the nose
Beowulf and exhaling through
the mouth Grendel, shouting
Grendel! Grendel! Grendel!
and Oorah! Hoorah! Hooyah!
and then they leave the field
with torn limbs of the vanquish-
ed lying all over the ground,
blood soaking into the soil and
the drill sergeant shouts, “Good
work, macho, macho men and
(in hushed tones as if not even
to be heard) macho men in
the making girls.”

*idea from a meditation by
Matthew Fox

for Geoffery Palmer

The 76th anniversary of his birth
rolls in the middle of November.
Thanksgiving rolls near the end
of November. He will not have an
in-person rock and roll celebrat-
ion for either. He will wear a
mask and social distance and pray
that there will be a vaccine for
everyone by this time next year
so that the guy in the mask will
take off his mask and have an in-
person rock and roll reunion with
his friends and family in the hope
that they still recognize the old
boy, after all, it’s just twelve
months and, Lord knows, how fast
the months fly as time goes by.

The brilliant reds, yellows, golds
are gone leaving only the remnants
of burning bushes. Everything is
gray, brown and black with giant
gaps through which we now see
home after home after home which
in spring, summer and fall remain
hidden like so much of our lives,
but the season of revelation is
upon us. We see clearly the
proclivities. They are exposed
before the snow covers them.

Indian Summer
appeared before a hard frost.
Indigenous days?

If you name/befriend the demon,
the demon loses control/power.
A positive value seeks justice.
A negative value over reacts.
Name that demon….
Make a friend….
Sort it out…
before you
get called
out….

We are told that as people
we need others, community
where some meet under a steeple,
some under a tree.

For that I used to get paid —
but after fifty years, enough I say.
My need to be with people fades
as I enter time marked by shadowed days.

While others think I’m up on a shelf,
I have just enough will
to deal with my many selves —
who prove very interesting still.

Oh, the love of my life.
She has put up with those many selves
She is my dear wife.
“Oh, dear one, (Don’t say.) has it been
heaven or hell?”

She just stares.
Oh, and the Chocolate Lab?
She, too, just stares. What a pair!
Without me, wouldn’t (Don’t say.) your life be drab?

Whatever, I’m still having fun
in my community of one.
And while I still have time to make hay
I, too, will be known as the community “they.”

Trumpelstiltskin has been hiding
since election night,
tweeting bloody murder at votes they’re finding.
Will he fight or take flight?

Maybe Trumpelstiltskin will stomp
through the floor frame,
because now everyone will romp
knowing the poor guy’s name.

Trumpelstiltskin is so good at projection
at home and worldwide abroad.
He tweets “fraud.” If anyone has an interjection
it is that Trumpelstiltskin is really the fraud.

And then Trumpelstiltskin feigned being a spelunker
while descending into the White House bunker.

We hope for the best
for the best that can be
but be prepared for the worst
for the worst that can be.
It has happened before,
over and over, tragically in history.

And so, if an occurrence of the best
appears in the offing to be,
rejoice and humbly give thanks
for what in the future could be.
If it all leans toward the worst,
take heart; it’s all been there in history.

No matter the outcome,
if great sufferings there be,
pray for the courage to stand in faith
for justice, peace, mercy, inclusivity, equality
and persevere in affirming God’s gracious will
for eternal Beloved Community —

as “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Where are they? Where are the
people in power to call out the
killer in the White House? Rally

after rally after rally with thou-
sands of supporters who rub
shoulders and breathe on each

other and cheer on the grim
reaper and now we know that
in addition to the nine-plus million

infected and the two-hundred-
thirty-thousand dead all because
of the killer in the White House,

there are, according to a major
university study, thousands more
infected and at least seven hun-

dred dead because of the killer’s
campaign rallies. Okay, let’s get
this in some kind of perspective

— one person kills another person
and the killer goes to prison for,
maybe, life. What happens to the

killer in the White House? Maybe
he gets re-elected. Say what!!!!
Say what!!!! Say what!!!!