Devastation


Went out into the yard today, and what did I see,
Twigs and branches everywhere;
A limb of a large tree almost hit the house;
Barely missed a big Insurance claim,
And an even bigger mess indoors.

Still, I am fortunate.
Pasrkersburg, Iowa was leveled by an EF-5.
Sights of people gathering scraps of belongings,
Amongst devastated piles, formerly houses.
Lives were lost, family tragedies wreaked.
Will take them years to recover from this blow.

But the summer storm season has barely begun,
More tornadoes are on the way I am sure;
Seems like we delude ourselves with temporary,
Fleeting pleasures and hopes, while Mother
Nature prepares to deliver her next punch.

Life is like a series of brief oases of
relaxed happiness, bounded by lengthy
Periods of unceasing struggle against adversity.
"Where is the happiness?" small part of me wonders.

"Might as well get used to it," real life responds.

It was a nasty weekend in parts of Iowa last Saturday.

Consumption Crash

Watching gas prices soar,
Am reminded of the times before...
We had several warnings about this,
Ignoring them all, in our hubris.
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1973, the first OPEC oil shock,
Then only ten percent of our stocks;
Threw everyone into consternation,
Began talk of energy conservation.
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Measures were adopted, large and small;
Soon reneged on, as prices began to fall;
Another round of shortages in late 1970's,
Renewed concern, brought back measures.
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Early Eighties, and prices sunk once again,
Drillers went broke, Motorists bought bigger.
Nine-eleven, 2001. Price shock repeated.
Brief station gouging, followed by charges.
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Today, there is no relief on the horizon.
Our only hope, relief from four-dollar gas,
To discard our pride which caused it all.
Consumption of petroleum must crash.
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Lowering pride, and riding a bicycle;
Humbling oneself, and taking the bus,
Daring to be different, walking to work,
Finding another way, buying a smaller car.
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Our time is running out. Our pride
In what we drive, image of our "ride"
The biggest thing standing in the way,
Between ourselves and a solution.
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Do we have any moxie left as a people?
We could be better than previous generations;
Discarding profligate consumptions,
Humbly returning to simple transportations.
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We must crash the petroleum market,
Crash our fuel consumption,
Crash the greedy traders who profit from our pain,
Crash the whole energy-guzzling infrastructure.
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Returning to simpler times,
With cleaner air to breathe;
Life might get more fine,
A cleaner world, we can leave.
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-One can hope anyway

No Slavery

What if the USA had never enacted slavery?
What if no state ever deemed it economically necessary
To turn a race of African people into property?
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Would we have electged a black president by 1876?
Would there have been more rapid interbreeding,
a more thorough mixing af races, more half-and-halfs?
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There probably would have been less resentment, less
Intergenerational hatred, less ineriority complexes, less
Drug addiction. Having never been made unequal,
There would never be any questions of equality, period.
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Because of an economic and political set of decisions,
Mainly by sourthern states, in the 1790-1810 time period,
We wreaked a disaster upon a race of human beings,
And we as a country are still paying the price for this.
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In America, it seems, there have always been big winners,
And even bigger losers. We should learn from past blunders,
Strive to do better in the future. Morality counts as much
In economic affairs as it does in sexual ones, if not more!
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Just musing today

Busy Saturday

Got the groceries bought, all put away;
Time to plant more flower seeds;
Things line up for another busy saturday,
Chores and pleasures plentiful indeed.
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Thank goodness I got to sleep in,
Rest uninterrupted by shrill alarm,
Body energized for work and sin,
Weekend pleasures should do no harm.
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Perhaps after all the frenetic running,
Scrambling around, doing variety of tasks;
There will be time to sit and do nothing,
Take deep breath, stretch, relax at last.
Put on a movie or documentary,
Peacefully lazy, contentedly sedentary.


So sedentary, I did not enter this until Monday.

Three power world

Since China is a major player on world stage,
Possessing nukes, missiles, warheads galore;
New world strategic framework is presaged,
Time to include them in Start talks and more...
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America, faded glory notwithstanding,
Is still a Superpower nevertheless;
Russia's military is still outstanding,
Capabilities give US planners no rest.
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China has advanced military power,
Largest army, giant navy, missiles galore;
Strategic nuclear arms make them tower,
Over other Asian nations, and more...
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Now is the time to forge a new treaty,
Limit three sides to deterrent-only capability;
If USA, Russia and China - the Big Three,
Sign strategic compact, peace is a high probability.
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We should do it, in my ever so humble opinion.

Bikeride

I rode my bicycle again today,
Was out on a cool April evening.
Softball teams playing out a ways,
Boisterous groups of girls competing.
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Two locomotives tugged railcars lazily along,
Seeming not to be in any particular hurry;
I rode past the screaming softball throngs,
Their frenetic catcalls not my worry.
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A car would occasionally roar past me,
Thankfully giving me a wide berth;
Crossed a bridge over a swollen creek,
Frothing waters seemed to burble with mirth.
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Finally reached the main bike trail,
Flat tunnel through tree-lined prairie,
My scenic exercise landscape, holy grail,
Toddlers and kids out, had to be wary.
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My legs churned along on automatic,
Deep, steady breathing similarly routine;
To watch attentively for pedestrians is pragmatic,
Appreciating attractive ones, without acting obscene.
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Frogs, insects serenading in shallow pools,
Left by rains alongside the trail;
Deposited in long ditches, temperature cool,
Parallelling trail and nearby rails.
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Bright green grass, flowers on lawns,
Greeted my eyes pleasantly as I rode;
Not going to be any television pawn,
Trapped by obesity in my humble abode.
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Though I endured the usual catcalls,
Bratty teen idiots making sarcastic remarks;
Exercise, fresh air, beauty - I enjoyed it all,
Head and body recharged; health and hope sparked!
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Not even all the smart-assed alpha males on the East Side dampened my mood that day.

In praise of prose 2

Free poetry diction from form of tradition,
Set yourself off in a new direction;
Let loose one's poetry from restriction,
Explore virgin worlds without protection.
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Shakespeare waving wand of discipline,
Petrarch insisting on romantic minglings?
Milton inscribing formalistic epistles,
Even Lear formatting Limerick jinglings --
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Rather, launch creative verbiage outward,
String sentences in various combinations;
Shift one's mental focus laterally,
Casting out the technical restrictions.
Savor novel essence of precision verse,
Liberated from prison of meter and rhyme.
(Ironic how a Sonnet can turn into a rant)


Rewrite of a workshop poem, one that morphs from formal to informal.

A clean religion

Others go to church, worshipping a diety.
Attending regular services, gossiping regularly.
My own preference is to clean on Sundays.
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As I scrub off, dust, remove last weeks' dirt,
Shrug off and remove resentments, hostilities;
Clear my mental field of last weeks' useless clutter.
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Reset and renew commitments,
Forgiving and releasing others
From responsibility for any pain.
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Vaccuuming up and throwing away
Memories of harsh words and slights,
Misunderstandings and stumblings.
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Communing with nature while filling compost heap,
Enjoying the renewed sense of hope that comes,
With sparkling clean countertops and a shiny floor.
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Throwing away old mental trash and junk,
Leaving my livingspace clean and pristine;
All set for another busy, productive week!
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Has worked well for me, although it has not done much to alleviate the disapproval of society, directed at anyone who does not attend a "real" church.

Earth Day part 2 - realities.

Torrential rains give way to afternoon sunshine,
April's favorite trick, first torture and then tantalize;
Balmy evening air, greening foliage sublime,
Find springtime nature fantasies realized.
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Airwaves are full of Earth Day chatter,
Green promises, proposals, suggestions;
Make pleasant-sounding verbal pitter-patter,
Darkened by vistas of stark realizations.
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Soaring gas prices a grim, daily reminder,
Developing economies soaking up every drop;
World politics keep hobbling oil finders,
Shortening period to next price shocks.
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Could it be time for a bold, counter-intuitive move?
Throw open Alaska, Continental Shelf, let the Majors groove!
Responsible exploration and development possible today,
Maintain our modern economy, standard of living this way.
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We have a national resource piggy bank, and it is called Alaska. Time to tap it, like it or not.

Earth Day 2008

A salute to Karl Albrecht and Brain Power
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Feeling stupified by complexities of life?
Overwhelmed by choices, large or small?
Don't give in to external or internal strife,
You do not have to suffer a mental fall.
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Just crack open a book called "Brain Power,"
Written by lecturer-consultant Karl Albrecht;
Learn about ways to make creativity flower,
Sharpening skills like a scholastic veteran.
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Spend time daily setting better habits,
Making freewheeling associations;
Twiddling knobs on your concepts,
Improving memory and visualization.
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Go out and try new things,
Do puzzles and play games;
Give your imagination wings,
Stoke your creative flames.
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Problem solving, Crap Detecting,
Learn to think on your feet.
Modify paths you are selecting,
Never acknowledging defeat.
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Building cognitive skills,
Enhancing your brain power;
Finding new mental thrills,
Read it all in a few hours!
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So here is a big salute to Mr. Albrecht,
For causing us to take a look;
Inside our brains, all wired and wet
With one simple yet critical book.
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Some of the origins of digital revolution,
Computers, Internet, devices galore,
Surely derives from thought evolution,
Outlined in this one information store.
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Want to unleash your true, hidden potential,
Inventions, ideas that could change the world?
Read "Brain Power," gain your credentials,
As another innovator, shining mental power unfurled.
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Every adult in the USA should try and get, read, study this book.

Scoring bananas
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Payday finally arrives, just in time,
I've been broke, charging on my Visa;
For work change, down to my last dimes,
Finances more precarious than Tower of Pisa.
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Big paycheck generates weekday excursion,
Trip to Hell-Vee for cash and groceries;
Was reminded of my personal aversion,
To this location for scoring necessities.
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Verbal jabs coming at me out of nowhere,
Confused teen clerks trying to multitask;
Shoppers queuing up in lines everywhere,
Twitching, glaring, fidgeting, moving up at last.
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Once again, a simple attempt at shopping,
Finds me wading into pile of problems popping.
Clutching bananas, made my escape at last,
Abandoning problems intractable and vast.
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A train was going by on my road home,
Resultant delay failed to perturb my mood,
Grocery store stupidities will fire my hormones,
More than any railroad delay will make me brood.
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Whew!
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One fine April day,
My crazy cat, feeling like going astray,
Leaped out an opened door, happy and gay,
Stalking through the snow, looking for prey.
-------------------------------------------------------



My silly, stubborn Snick.....

Midwestern Precipitation

Spring rains keep coming down,
Falling in unceasing waves;
Weather keeps a perpetual frown,
On exhausted midwest wage slaves .

Other bad news adding to misery,
Economic meltdown, bank foreclosures;
Oil prices continue to increase rapidly,
Joblessness conspires to upset our composures.

Midwestern folk keep getting deluged,
Bad news, worse events keep conspiring;
People beaten down, seeking refuge,
Lousy things just seem to keep transpiring.
Gives new meaning to definition of Midwestern stoic,
Getting through a normal day can be downright heroic!

Sonnet on the continual rain of bad news nowadays.

Stuff of Space and Time
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I recently read a science-fiction novel,
In which material was made of "space-time"
Rules of mathematics, physics wobble,
As one moves across a surface sublime.
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Humans discovered artificial construct,
Upon entering giant conical asteroid;
Journeying through levels, were struck,
With changing values in encased void.
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Reality is, everything made of substance,
Spacial stuff combined with linear timeline;
Houses, cars, ships all attain permanence,
Through craft combined with material design.
Physical values remain, unique forms manifested,
Each made of Space-Time, differently suggested.
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The books were Greg Bears "Eon" and Eternity".

MLK assasination 40th anniversary


Grainy, black and white footage shown,
Marchers arm in arm, singing and chanting;
Police cars, dogs hover, as teargas blown
Across peace activists, angry bullhorns ranting.

Social justice changed hearts and minds,
Bought at high price in blood and tears;
A preacher left his church, commited acts divine,
Won equality and justice, despite threats and jeers.

Dr. Martin Luther King and his peers,
Changed history, paying the ultimate price;
America stayed intact, despite peoples fears,
King went to memphis, ignoring safety advice;
By giving his life in peaceful martyrdom,
He gave an entire race new hope and freedoms.



Written on Friday, april 4th, 40th anniversary of MLK assassination.

One in Fifty


Helpless infants, one week old,
Only control they have is crying;
Burly, badass boyfriends, ever so bold,
Find their incessant noises trying.

So they pick up baby, slam into a wall,
Shake it, kick it, slap it around;
Anything to stop that confounded bawl,
Throw it up, let it drop to the ground!

So many broken families today,
Single parents caring for little ones;
High-risk boyfriends come over to play,
Frustrations taken out on daughters and sons.
One in fifty kids today are neglected or abused,
Grim statistic on our society, we all stand accused.


Did this after hearing about this today on the news.

Lofty and mundane


Reading science fiction, watching science fact,
Brain cells illuminated with remote possibilities;
Mind travels back and forth, across factual tracts,
Landscapes of ascendant technological probabilites.

Then one comes crashing back to Earth.
Got to get chores done, get a damn haircut;
Meet society's expectations, prove one's worth,
Clean house, clean car, pay bills, make the cut.

Forced to intermingle with judgmental beings,
Needing, requesting, paying for their services;
Fighting traffic, struggling with computers, seeing
That yesteryears' miracles are todays nervousness.
As I slog through daily trials with bitches and glitches,
Lofty predictions of futuristic ease leave me in stitches!


Another sonnet about the shitskies of daily living.

Everything is Tentative

Life is so ephemeral,
Fleeting like the wind;
One day you are a juvenile,
The next struggling to get thin.

Those long, endless days of youth,
Afternoon hours stretching sunnily,
Little thought given to status or couth,
Traversing moments, hours, days happily.

Another friend passed away the other day,
Commonality, acquaintance all too brief;
Add him to the list, those who have gone away,
Building ever larger my internal store of grief.
A seven-month battle with cancer, Randy finally lost --
I still live, older, having survived fate's coin toss.


In Memory and honor of Randy Van Hosen, who passed away recently.

Financial Gyrations


Markets swinging up and down,
Moving to latest buzz or news;
Business analysts smile or frown,
Pontificating latest Wall Street views.

Federal Reserve pumping money in,
Inflating hopes and stock prices alike;
Cutting interest rates, hoping to win
Economic battle, aiding banks plight.

Foolish lending standards started it all;
Giving money to poorly-qualified borrowers;
Bad loans led to subprime mortgage freefall,
Housing defaults burning bond insurers.

Stocks of banking institutions tumbled,
Losses and red ink multiplied;
Freezing effect left CFO's humbled,
Stock, derivative traders petrified.

When, how will this all end?
Recent Fed actions seem to help;
More positive signals to send,
To battered consumers needing help!

Those struggling with high prices,
Scrounging to pay for gas;
Giving up treats and vices,
Slogging through economic morass.

Future looking bleak for common folk,
Outsourcing, plant closings crushing blows;
Endless Iraq warfare diminishing any hope,
Sapping U.S. commodity and oil flows.

Alternative energy our only glimmer,
Single bright spot on the horizon;
Motorists forced to drive slimmer,
Give up those giant expeditions!

Trade in SUV's for compact transportation,
Cut back on usage of heat, lights,
Welcome to 21st century consumption,
Everyone affected by Fossil Fuel plight.

Possible that citizenry will come out ahead,
May well be that USA will be far better off;
Clean enviornment, energy independent,
Our hopes and dreams once again aloft!



Lets hope so anyway. (c) 2008 Mike Wilson