A Cold Villanelle

 

When the cold war ended, we yelled “Yippee!”

Seemed like all the paranoia was done with.

The victory went to the land of the free...

No more fallout shelter lacking windows to see,

The concrete curtain was deconstructed!

When the cold war ended, we hollered 'yippee.'

Our gaze turned inward, fretted about the economy.

We watched movies about some evil Sith!

The victory always went to the land of the free...

We could safely reduce the size of our military,

Invest peace dividends in dot-com behemoths.

When the cold war ended we bellowed “Yippee!”

We threw parties and soirees with much glee,

No more eastward glancers, fear replaced with glitz;

victory was assured in the land of the free...

Now a resurgent Russia is baring its teeth,

Here we go all over again forthwith;

We thought the cold war ended and yelled “yippee!”

No victory cheers today in the land of the free!

(that was mine.  Here is Chat GPT4s villanelle.)

Whispers Beneath a Frosted Sky
(A Villanelle about the Cold War)

The silent world stood balanced on a wire,
With missiles poised and eyes behind a screen.
No warmth could thaw the frost of hidden fire.

Steel birds took flight while leaders would conspire,
Their smiles masked intentions cold, unseen.
The silent world stood balanced on a wire.

In shadowed rooms, the threats grew ever higher,
A chessboard sprawled in diplomatic sheen—
No warmth could thaw the frost of hidden fire.

Each side proclaimed their peace as they drew nigher,
While spies crept through the cracks that lay between.
The silent world stood balanced on a wire.

A breath, a spark, could raise the funeral pyre,
The world held hostage by a cruel machine.
No warmth could thaw the frost of hidden fire.

Though walls may fall and silence may retire,
The echo lingers in what might have been—
The silent world stood balanced on a wire,
No warmth could thaw the frost of hidden fire.

(that one is very good.)

Survived the Heat

 

The air outside is heavy and damp,

heat emanates from every surface.

The sun blazes down relentlessly,

burning away any remaining optimism...

How can it be so miserable?

It takes an effort to walk through it,

like wading through a sea of miasma,

carrying odors galore and pollutions too.

As the white torturer slowly sinks west,

an agonizing watch of the thermometer takes place.

By 9 PM, it has gone down several degrees –

but you can’t tell from how the air feels.

The only place to be is indoors,

with an AC blowing from one side,

a box fan circulating from the other.

It feels better, but not wholly so.

The AC compressor cycles on and off at 84-86.

84 degrees is still too damn hot!

One can try to do things inside;

watch more TV, play on the Internet, etc.

Flopping around from one thing to the next,

a fish out of water trying to be content.

Then a day of storms, and cooler air comes.

Ahh, what a total relief. Nighttime bliss

with cooling air, and the next day it only,

only reaches 85 with a breeze.

Never mind the smoky air...

Cooling the living room is now a breeze too,

as the AC merrily chills the room to the low 70’s.

Sweet! Wonderful. I can feel alive again.

Maybe alive enough to go outdoors and clean up

the yard from all the storm damage.

Gratitude Practice

 

Que Bueno!  The large, fluffy foliage and flowers on the Cosmos nearby;

Happy for the big blackberries forming up on the giant bushes.

Glad for the purple cone flowers getting ready to show their colors.

Grateful for my compact house that still holds together,

and provides me with a comfortable place to live.

Grateful for the ability to make modest amounts of income,

and keep myself going financially.

Grateful to be well-fed, with an abundance of fish and ground beef.

Glad for the capability to use the web and smartphone to

access the world and interact with many people all over.

Grateful for the friends who swirl in and out of my life,

like so many sparrows, sometimes lighting awhile

and imparting songs of meaning and pleasure before

departing, leaving their virtuous trails.

There are a lot of things to be thankful for.

Even the mosquitoes that bite me,

reminding me that not all is perfect,

life goes on whether I want it around or not.

The annoyances and typos and political warfare

can be real downers, but they will not stop

the show that is me from going on,

as long as I am able to take a breath.

I’m grateful for breathing,

steady and regular,

day after day.

as long as that will last,

Thank goodness.

Trillions to the Future

 

In the past, only national governments were

launching satellites into space. No longer.

Now you have companies around the world,

financing and launching orbiters – the

connections cross many borders.

The financial investment is booming,

and Low Earth orbit is getting crowded.

But people want to get out there, for

whatever reason, so the boom continues.

It’s a good time to get a foothold on

some space companies’ stocks. A

trillion-dollar economy holds lots of

income opportunities for investors.

The militaries of many nations continue to

drive a lot of investments, but this is

morphing into more private investment too.

There will be more and more investments out there,

some with big payoffs, some without.

Should be an exciting time…

And unlike in the past,

we can watch it all unfold in real time,

on our computers, phones, smart glasses, etc etc.

We will vicariously experience everything.

Such excitement!

Pieces, not Peace

 

Russia is in full on Soviet mode,

trying to crush Ukraine, threatening the Baltics.

China is aiming lasers at German aircraft.

The US is ramping up defense spending,

and arms shipments to Ukraine and Israel.

The eagerness of humanity to end itself is astounding.

We keep eschewing war, claiming to want peace,

then in the next instant we are ready to claw

each others’ eyes out.

So WWIII keeps on smoldering,

ready to break out in flames any day.

This might be a good time to stock up

on non-perishable food and medicines!

And beware, wars are not usually helpful

to bull markets, on any bourse or exchange.

Any still left standing after a nuke swap,

that is. Survivors will regress to tiny

local markets, trading bones and scraps.

Where will the pieces fall?

How many will be edible,

or non-radioactive?

I can remember as a child,

waiting for the world to end every so often

back in the 1960’s when such warnings were common.

Now, as an older guy, once again I’m wondering if or when

death will come from governments getting very stupid.

Wouldn’t it be great if people could act

non-human for a change, and actually

bring about an end to so many inane wars.

That might be the biggest benefit of some

arriving alien civilization –

stamping out human squabbles!

Never know…

No Longer a Terror

 

A huge predator with wicked rows of teeth,

designed to kill and tear flesh from bone…

For thousands of years we feared them.

They could have hunted us more effectively,

but we weren’t preferred menu entree.

From mariners in ancient times,

to luckless WWII sailors in the Pacific,

It seemed like humans were a favorite

snack of sharks, especially great whites!

Then along comes someone like Ocean Ramsey,

who starts to swim in the water alongside tiger sharks.

She deduced from experience how to approach,

present herself as an equal predator, arm extended out,

vertically positioned. And indeed it worked.

When the creature got too close, she just pressed its head

away to the side, or down, and off they went.

No threat, no problem on either side of the species divide.

Remarkable – a feared apex predator reduced to an

oceangoing pal, or at least a fellow vertebrate chum.

She swims around them, underneath, over their backs...

Holds the fin of a great white and cruises the currents.

The people filming while in cages underwater must feel

like last years news now. No help for it.

Another year passes, another wonder happens, I’m amazed again.

One slender blonde woman has upended and advanced inter-species

communication, and also done a lot to protect a threatened lifeform.

Will wonders never cease. I’m glad to be here to see such wonders.

Monumental Movements

 

Etched in granite bases,

carved in a realistic fashion,

Stately statuary depicts humans that were

highly esteemed in some past generation.

Some celebrated local hero,

or the head of a powerful movement.

Perhaps a great leader or president,

honored and revered for several or

many generations. Before historical

revisions caused these heroes to be reviled.

Hysterical crowds hurry to tear them down,

removing in one day some figure that had stood

proudly for at least a hundred years.

Is this right? It depends on who you ask.
Right or wrong are fluid concepts that can change.

Nothing is permanent in the propaganda world.

Not a newspaper that can fade or be shredded,

or burned casually as a fire starter.

Not a book, nor even a solid granite statue.

Human animosity, though, seems permanent.