Poetry
• Rise Venice Rise - Jim
Smith
• Auction - Sherman Pearl
• Just once - Lynne Bronstein
• The Sky - Hillary
Kaye
• reflection - D.T.
Jenkins
Rise Venice
Rise
(An open-source
poem)
By Jim
Smith
Venice
A
dream so sublime
A fate so
unfair
A planned city by the
Bay
So unlike the city of the
Devils
In 1905, we floated down the
canals
Cars - you are not welcome
here
We'll ride the
trolley
We'll pedal the
bi-cycle
We'll have streets for
walking
ocean front Walk - no
driving
But to the east, they despised our
culture
The oil men said it was bad for
business
So they faked an election, back in
'25
And there our independence
died
Rise Venice
Rise
Venice, they filled in your canals,
destroyed your pier,
They tore down your
buildings, bulldozed your beauty.
They seduced
the weak, and targeted the strong
And if you
don't like it, take your protests -- down
town
Rise Venice
Rise
They came like vandals, waving court
orders
They destroyed our dreams, and ruled
like conquerors
They sent in their
black-shirted army
Arrested our poets, our
poor, and our dissidents
They built a big jail
but even it became too small for them
Now amid
the bars are paintings and murals of
liberation
Rise Venice
Rise
They swamped us with code enforcers and
parking inspectors
They sent us their traffic,
and kept the receipts
They drove our poor from
their homes
and then harassed them because they
were homeless
Rise Venice
Rise
They prowled
Oakwood
Planting their drugs and harvesting
their criminals
They even came in the night to
steal our statue
named Freedom, from our lonely
circle
Rise Venice
Rise
Even our pagodas weren’t
safe
Destroyed and replaced with
plastic
They pulled down our
buildings
And made a parking lot of beautiful
St. Mark’s
Rise Venice
Rise
One morning we will come out of our
homes
with picks and shovels and dig out our
canals
We’ll come with hammers and
saws
and build homes for all of our Venetian
family
We’ll come with guitars and
drums
and sing a song of peace and
freedom
Our dead poets and artists shall guide
us
and we will be as relentless as the
sea
Venice will rise, Venice will
rise
------------
AUCTION
ITEM
1 - THE MAGNA CARTA
12th Century document, the
foundation of Western law, fragile
condition.
Only American copy, the last one in
private hands.
Hurry, won't
last.
ITEMS
2 through 11 - THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Cherished
constitutional amendments. Guiding
principles
of the Republic, tattered but still
legible. Ten in all, sold
separately.
Come early to acquire entire
set.
ITEM
12 - THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Magnificent statue,
speech on freedom and reconciliation
engraved.
Past president's glum expression can
be modified to taste.
Moveable to preferred
site.
ITEM
13 - ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Official site
of heroes, 200 acres of scenic grounds, prime
location.
Headstones, caskets, flowers. flags.
Tomb of the Unknown can be yours.
Naming
rights
included.
ITEM
14 - U.S. ARMY
Fully equipped, trained, ready
for action. Entire service placed
under
command of purchaser. No restrictions on foreign
contracts.
Draft of civilians
negotiable.
ITEMS
WITHOUT END - THE MOUNTAINS, THE PRAIRIES, THE
OCEANS
of God-blessed America. All rich
in resources. Inestimable value
to the
can-do entrepreneur. Assistance with regulations
provided.
NO REFUNDS, NO
RETURNS.
–Sherman
Pearl
------------
Just
once
For a warm summer
morning
To last all
year
And to always
be
The first
hour
When I wake
up
When I fling the door
open
And the softness of the beach
air
Drifts
over
Sans
fog
Plus
roses
Sans
cars
Plus
hummingbirds
No worry
yet.
Just
once
For
worry
To turn out to
be
Nothing to worry
about
And a last
sigh
Relieved
Before
pulling the covers over
And closing my eyes to
dream.
–Lynne
Bronstein
------------
The
Sky
By hillary
kaye
The
sky talks back to us
it says blue is still
possible among the rubble
blue is still
there
blue is still calling out from the
sky
saying
now
not later but
now.
-----------
We
ran this poem last month but attributed to the wrong person. It was written by
D.T. Jenkins. The Beachhead regrets the
error.
reflection
I
looked for you, you were not there.
All the
birds flew away at sunset. Were you awake
then?
Seemed everything got really quiet. I was
well aware of the
approaching
insanity.
I’ve
seen tomorrow, so how to live today?
Pull me
down and I will bless you as the saint.
Big
men, with big talk have less to say. In fact they said "it’s
over."
But if you scream at the sun, we can
hold our position in time. Rip its
hands off,
laugh at the day.
We will eat tomorrow and sing
the songs
to commemorate what she
said.
Posted: Tue - January 1, 2008 at 03:48 PM
