Along with the headline news I read the prompt (at https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2024/05/friday-writings-129-what-do-you-hear.html ):
"
I invite you to explore the question, 'What do I hear?' You may definitely include what you do not hear! Other possibilities include what sounds (human or non-human) you hear around you, what you hear on the news or in the street, what your heart tells you, what messages the past may have, and so on.
"
Under this Strawberry Moon
I do not hear the joy of June.
The kittens scamper, bounce, and squeak.
The calico is growing weak.
Bold energy's what won my heart
Spray poison's tearing her apart.
I do not hear contentment purr.
Don Trump is guilty: he once "sawrr"
Daniels for what her type are for.
Reciprocation? Ho, Ho, Ho,
Harris must be the next to go.
I do not hear that he loves her
(not any he
not any her).
Meanwhile Joe Biden, not to be
outdone by Trump's publicity,
sees that his presidency's o'er,
leaves Number 47 war.
I do not hear the dear word "Peace."
O Air! I sighed, where will it end?
Have health and peace of mind one friend?
Does every place upon the globe
lament like the longsuffering Job?
Does any voice bid storms to cease?
"Yes, many; but storms take no heed,"
The air sighs through leaf, pine, and reed.
From out west, "The next town's a wrack!
When will I get my a.c. back?"
I seem to hear my father say...
Men who think that way aren't okay.
(Contract demands a paraphrase.)
Still in the privet hedge I hear
the cardinal sing "Cheer! Cheer! Cheer!"
And to his disappointed friends,
The Teacher says, the Comforter sends
Help for this kind of days.
Hi Priscilla. If you are wondering why you have no other comments yet, it may be because you posted the wrong link! Even though it's permitted to ignore prompts and share old poems, it just didn't feel right to me in this instance, so I went on a hunt, found this, and have now corrected your link.
ReplyDeleteNow, to your poem – oh yes, I can very much rekate! (I think if I lived in the USA I might be tempted not to cast a vote in the next election! It does seem like choosing between the lesser of two evils, and hard to see which would be lesser. Maybe Trump worse at home and Biden worse internationally?) Thank goodness for the reminders in your last verse! We can't always see the big picture, let alone like what of it we see –but it is still possible to find cheer in small but precious things, and to feel the unseen help available to help us through the rest.
*very much relate
DeleteThank you very much for correcting the link! (It's possible...the computer offers to reuse old entries typed into forms, and the mouse pad sometimes clicks when a shadow moves above it, and when Chrome is pasting an entry into a form it doesn't receive a second entry for the same form, so it would be easy for the computer to have put in an old link where I thought I had put in a new one.)
DeleteWell written and entertaining
ReplyDeleteI'm with Rosemary "It does seem like choosing between the lesser of two evils, and hard to see which would be lesser." I just can't believe that there isn't someone somewhere who would put the problems in the US over greed and power. I've never known so overtly a corrupt government as we have now.
ReplyDeleteI'm heartened by your last stanza.
Well, there is an Independent candidate who at least talks like the best of the classic Democratic Party, the liberal-moderate point of view that actually has popular support. But there are serious concerns about whether he'd survive four years in the White House, especially since he's picked a running mate who is neither liberal nor moderate. Y'know, the first time Americans voted for a President Kennedy, they got that tacky Johnson character...
DeletePK
Political poetry that packs a punch ,, and I thoroughly enjoyed every word!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Helen! I've enjoyed some of your words that I've not tried to comment on, lately, so thank you for those too.
DeletePK
"I do not hear the dear word "Peace."
ReplyDeleteAnd that sums it up!
Aye.
DeletePK
Thank you,.
DeletePK
Very interesting and that Cardinal singing - Well done
ReplyDeleteThank you. (I think cardinals are well done.)
DeletePK
Fascinating observations. I think we must be our own heroes in the end.
ReplyDeleteJust about, Rommy...though it's nice to look up, and nice to have had elders who could be looked up to--mine were far from perfect but, still, rather splendid.
DeletePK
The troubles of the world, and now there are many, do not phase, so they think, the birds and most of Mom Nature. And when the payment is due they still won't know it's humans that have caused. Nice poem, Priscilla.
ReplyDelete..
Thank you. Who knows what the birds know, or how long they'll be here...but whatever else happens, as long as they are here, most cardinals will sing "Cheer! Cheer! Cheer!" Brave birds.
DeletePK
PK
Power, once tasted, is hard to let go.
ReplyDeleteOur last two Presidents have certainly demonstrated that. Thank you for visiting! You've been missed.
DeletePK