Election Day Eve

The phantoms of disorder

dance across screens

but from whence they were conjured

no one can say.

On election day eve with naysayer cries

they'll don placards like

cheerleaders outside

a car wash brigade.

They walk along byways

like bad actors

on the dole,

whisper and hiss

intrigue and lies.

The republic is under siege

with three days to go

by jackals that feast

on the leavings of fear

while the acolytes of the lie

with their camo and guns—

        as fungus grows best

        out of the sun—

repeat what has spewed

from the maw of the king.

For Shay's Word Garden List Poem.  The challenge to compose a poem using words she has taken from the lyrics of Jim Morrison and his poetry collection "The Lord & The New Creatures". I'm a huge fan of The Doors and everything Morrison so this one I could not pass up. If you are likewise a fan of the Lizard King check her link. Also, linking up the Poets and Storytellers and the power of three. And won't we all be glad when this election season is behind us and we can relax with a cold one, or hot, as the case may be. Cheers!

Blue Moon

As the year comes to a close I must post one final missive in 2009. Tonight there will be a blue moon, an astrological phenomenon. The term "blue moon" generally refers to the second full moon in a month and occurs just once every 2.7 years. But the last blue moon to shine on New Year’s Eve was 19 years ago, in 1990. So, you could say that a blue moon on New Year’s Eve happens only once in a great while. While I’m not one for resolutions, one can’t help but think it a good time for a fresh start, on a personal level and on a national level. “America needs a break,” a friend at work said. And I agree. It’s once in a blue moon, and America deserves a break. Of course, he could have been referring to another invasive, humiliating, random drug test Americans are being increasingly subjected to. So, yes, Americans need a break. And I think we are all looking forward to a better decade ahead.

I already like the sound of 2010. Off years bother me. I like even numbers, colors that match, and straight rows. In the year two thousand and ten, I’m giving away the rest of my cookies and pulling out my yoga mat. I’m going to earn my Superior Scribbler award from Tricia O’Brien (thanks Tricia!) and I will pass it along after serious thought. I will also pass on my Humane Blog award from Andrea Cremer in the coming year. It’s only once in a blue moon one receives such honors. We don’t pass these out like cupcakes . . . do we?

I am thankful for all my new blogger friends. I am thankful for my new Christmas books—A Prayer For Owen Meany, Men Who Stare at Goats, A History of Love, and Gathering Blue, and—from one who knows me well—a vintage copy of early poems from the voice of a generation, The Lords and the New Creatures, by Jim Morrison....

"What sacrifice, at what price can the city be born?"

He was an environmentalist before his time- "What have they done to the earth? What have they done to our fair sister?" And I think it amazing that someone had those thoughts in the sixties with everything else that was going on.

But here we are on the eve of 2010, and I’m thankful for heat and blankets and cranberry daiquiris and people with whom to share them. I’m thankful for a chance at a Blue Moon. May the new year bring peace to the world and reward to all those who work hard and do good things.

So here's to all of you.