Newsflash:
Saturday, 30 September 2006 21:00
Last Updated on Saturday, 07 October 2006 08:06
The
Starpoet
Newsletter
Vol VII, No. XL
lovely night descends
bringing the stars
and the moon's reflection
shadowed in the lake
we lie here
before the gods
who watch with envy
our glistening bodies
embracing the waters edge
the gods who have no end
cannot understand
love's moment
made more precious
by death's
Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2006
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leaving for the Shenandoah this weekend, by the time you read this we will be there.
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The Constitution provides two specific circumstances, rebellion or invasion,
for which the writ of habeas corpus may be suspended.
There is no exception for foreign combatants, people who disagree with us,
or those are not citizens of the United States.
or those are not citizens of the United States.
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just this morning
Praecipito Ex Astra
Three in the belt,
Two and Andromeda,
Big W high above;
Double star in the handle,
Sun not yet over the horizon,
Poet checking in on her commute.
Washington Masonic,
Reagan National,
Airplanes, tunnel, Pentagon;
Airplanes, tunnel, Pentagon;
Out into the sunlight,
Back into safety,
Automatics, Good Morning, then coffee.
Lisa Jain Thompson
October 2006
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today's news
A Thousand Words
77 corpses in Baghdad this week,
The holy month of Ramadan underway;
Insurgent attacks in Iraq are rising,
The holy month of Ramadan underway;
Insurgent attacks in Iraq are rising,
U. S. Military Commanders say.
Murders and executions, sectarian violence,
Sunnis and Shiites at war;
Sunnis and Shiites at war;
Attacks on Mosques, evening prayers and bullets,
A country fatally scar'd.
Coalition forces, Iraqi interpreters,
A President in blissful ignorance;
American blood, election votes,
Politics overriding governance.
Politics overriding governance.
Immigrants, same sex marriage,
Abortion, religion, and t.v.;
Congress is as congress does,
Re-election more important than reality.
Lisa Jain Thompson
October 2006
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The problem with many conservative Christians
is that they claim that God's truth is knowable,
that they know it,
and that they are able to reduce it to legislative form.
is that they claim that God's truth is knowable,
that they know it,
and that they are able to reduce it to legislative form.
The popular question, 'What would Jesus do?'
can be difficult enough to contemplate
with respect to everyday interpersonal relations.
can be difficult enough to contemplate
with respect to everyday interpersonal relations.
It is mind boggling when applied to the complex world of politics.
-- John Danworth, former Senator (R) from Missouri
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liberty lost
The Staging of Idomeneo
They've dropped the beheaded prophet opera,
Something about calculating security fears.
Can Superstar be far behind,
Mozart hasn't been censored in years.
Mozart hasn't been censored in years.
This is the way the world ends,
Not with bullets, missiles or bombs,
But with a failure of conviction and courage
And fearful offerings to priests and mullahs.
And fearful offerings to priests and mullahs.
If we choose to surrender our democracies
To every religious belief and intolerance,
We might as well resurrect The Holy Roman Empire
And ask the sacred congregations
If we should burn our constitutions
Or merely add them to the Index Prohibitorum.
Or merely add them to the Index Prohibitorum.
Lisa Jain Thompson
October 2006
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looking around
Problematic
The problem is,
That for all our sanctimonius piety,
Not everyone has a place
To go home to.
Not everyone has a place
To go home to.
We can build super stadiums,
Fight multi-billion dollar wars
And still find it to difficult
To feed and clothe our citizens.
Ravaged houses and empty neighborhoods
Are left to thugs and drug dealers,
Three teenagers shot dead
Are a photo op body count.
And still find it to difficult
To feed and clothe our citizens.
Ravaged houses and empty neighborhoods
Are left to thugs and drug dealers,
Three teenagers shot dead
Are a photo op body count.
No one governs,
Everyone runs for re-election,
Greener pastures,
Everyone runs for re-election,
Greener pastures,
And the suburbs.
The dying and the dead
Walk our dysfunctional streets,
Not even able to be called jobless,
So distant are they from the lives
The rest of us lead,
The rest of us lead,
Gathering in our churches each Sunday
To praise the lord in our rich apparel
And pass the collection basket
For the minister
Who tells us what we hear.
The problem is
That there's no problem
We'd work upon today
That would interest us tomorrow:
That would interest us tomorrow:
Life goes on
In our pulpits and our podiums,
Life goes on.
Lisa Jain Thompson
October 2006
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White Boys Overloaded With Testosterone
--James Wolcott
The New Republic
Watching the Mommy Wars makes me mighty glad I'm not a Daddy. To be sure, there's a lyrical part of me that longs to savor the joys of fatherhood; to jam a stroller into the trunk of a taxi in the pounding rain, to trade nanny horror stories with the other fellas in the support group, to lie awake at night worried sick over tuition fees and dental bills, and, most of all, to deck myself out in the official uniform of the Middle-Aged Dad: baseball cap, team jacket, hip-pouch cellphone holster, and thick-soled white sneakers suitable for a lunar landing.
I often spot such dedicated MADs wheeling their sticky offspring along the sidewalks of upper Manhattan, bracing themselves as they bend over to pick up the juice cup that Jeremy has dropped for the five-thousandth time. Yes, that could be me stooping and retrieving. Married and childless, I'm missing out on so much.
Personally, I'm glad he doesn't have children.
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My favorite science fiction TV show of all time is THE WEST WING.
The way-out SF premise is that responsible people could infiltrate
the US government in large numbers,
the US government in large numbers,
that politicians could deserve their offices.
What a thrilling dream!
Of course they had to cancel it
when reality diverged too far for us
to maintain suspension of disbelief.
-- Spider Robinson
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autobio
An Age Inappropriate Girl
When I was young
-- If I were to admit to such a thing --
The world was already old,
My grandparents aging,
My parents, survivors of the second war,
Already slipping past the middle.
I grew used to air raid sirens
And baseball stadiums
And baseball stadiums
Praying to Blessed Mary,
I rooted for Jack, cried for John,
Watched Oswald on live T.V.
Before changing the channel
To the Beatles and Sullivan
Then doing my homework
For school next day.
For school next day.
Lined up across the room from the boys
While the music played from the stage
While the music played from the stage
And started up this long road
That shows no sign of ending
That shows no sign of ending
Or boring me to death
Before I choose to leave it.
Lisa Jain Thompson
October 2006
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Rules of Life
(what I learned from Robert A. Heinlein)
(what I learned from Robert A. Heinlein)
Keep treaty commitments and promises.
Support your troops.
Never leave a fallen comrade behind.
Never accept defeat.
Never quit.
Challenge accepted wisdom.
Ask uncomfortable questions.
Kick sacred cows.
Make outrageous pronouncements that make sense
when thought about really hard.
when thought about really hard.
Live long and stay active.
Never retire.
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more autobio
Regeneration
I remember when everything could be cured
By ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys
And how proud I was when I finally did something
The Father wouldn't resolve
The Father wouldn't resolve
With a few Pater Nosters.
Sex, it was,
Sleeping with the enemy
Without the blessing of Mother Church:
The sins of the daughters
Make for a lot of little children.
I suspect if I had named names,
I would have been paroled
With a lesser offense,
'Tho he was more than a trifle miffed
That I had used articificial protection,
That I had used articificial protection,
The Pill, that is.
Such are the ways
Of wayward Catholic girls.
Lisa Jain Thompson
October 2006
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I remember thinking,
`Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it.'
I looked out the window, and Bindi was skipping,
skipping along outside the window.
And I thought,
`Oh, my children.
He wouldn't have wanted to leave the children.'
And I knew it was an accident.
It was an accident so stupid.
It was like running with a pencil.
-- Terri Irwin
Wife of Steve Irwin
Wife of Steve Irwin
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Values are not the same as policies.
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Peace
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© Lisa Jain Thompson 2006
Further distribution of this newsletter in its entirety is authorized.
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Starpoetby Lisa Jain Thompson.
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