Sonnet 24

Cloud Formations

Pilots are inexorably tied to weather. Under certain conditions, it would be certainly hazardous to fly. One day, when I was working at Edwards, one of my pilots was standing and staring at the weather. I stopped to watch him. It was so organic. His entire being was going up there, and he wanted to understand it, that day, to it’s fullest. The weather report would not be enough. Like a businessman reading the file on a prospective client, like an HR person reading about a prospective hiree, a farmer looking to see if it’s time to plant and of course, a sailor wondering where the prevailing winds will take him.

Sonnet XXIV

Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be held on a sunny day. – Layton A. Bennett 

You stood there and gauged the patterns of air,
the clouds and the turbulence. Yet, the wind,
not robust enough to tousle your hair,
was able to make clarity rescind.
To and fro your eyes scanned the perilous
landscape. In your mind, a scenario
evolved, with way too many mischievous
heroics to feed your growing ego.
Then you pitched up into the nasty sky
as if you were controlling the weather.
Regardless of the conditions up high,
you would return on wing without feather.
Thus, as each day goes by in your young life,
you reappear to your offsprings and wife.

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I am responding to the prompt, “Write about a memorable encounter relating to work .”

Post for:

POETICS: Workin’ For It

Also posted on:

Photo credit:  Bat-Ami Gordin  © 2012 all rights reserved, credit if you use it, please.

haiku and senryu about annoyances

A satellite image showing a haze of pollution over part of China caused by te country’s reliance on coal

waves pound on beaches
bad weather annoyances
powerful tycoons

trouble multiplies
filthy land based pollution
human garbage piles

dirty Chinese air
greenhouse emissions travel
across Pacific

screaming sick infants
cats fighting in the allies
dogs looking for fights

unhealthy disdain
pernicious urban status
no emission laws

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Written for:

This week’s theme is: Annoyance

Also Posted on:

Thursday Poets Rally Week 68 (May 17-May 23, 2012)

Photo credit:  the UK Guardian BlogTeam Vision – TAM

Those Shoes

The first step propelled me
into an assemblage
of misty columns,
terrifying bone-white vapors,
and sadistically whining
two-faced tears.

The next step was a leap
into an arid sandy valley
where the brutish winds
set spiders twitching
and rattlers hiding
beneath the moldy thistle.

I stepped into an ocean
commanded by microseismic eruptions
and prosaic waves converted
into hyperactive disruptive
mudslides of the continental shelves.

In vain, I did attempt to step
back into civilization
whence overwhelming fright
nullified my ability
to untie the laces
and remove those shoes.

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A quicky Sunday morning write up (again, instead of writing my screenplay) for

dversepoets “Poetics – On your feet.”

Brian Miller challenged the poets to write a poem with shoes as the inspiration.

Also posted on:

Written for:

Poetry Picnic Week 29: Art, Music, and Poetry By Kavita and Olivia

Where did I get the images? I’ll admit. Yesterday, along with the local ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) I was present for a briefing by a NOAA scientist He was trying to recruit volunteer weather watchers.  Did I sign up to volunteer as a storm watcher? Those of you who know me, can guess, with confidence.

Oh, yeah…if you couldn’t guess, this is a metaphor for taking control of your own life, psychological state of being, and all that mental health theory.

Fear of Happiness

You are a puppet to your greatness.
You are the amplifier of its voice.
When you peak, you are amazed
and query your accomplishments.
Since your imagination has no limits,
a mirror exposes the bulges of your greatness.

With humility, you smile, relax,
and a fall asleep to sweet dreams.
You command a well timed silent dominion.

With the authority of laser like radiance,
envisage persistent obligation.
If your vision lies dormant,
Rub influence as you zip by;
Inspire with the scent of your perspiration;
Cajole with poise and assure with consolation.

Walk not with the gravity
of one who lost a child.
Even those outside the household bubble
are with blustery flares of disposition
in place of beaming manifestation of pleasantness.
If those shocking moment laps,
don’t accede to benign complacency.

Don’t accede to unhappiness.
Happiness leads not to empty hedonism.
Without it, authority disappears like sounds in a blown speaker;
Influence vanishes like weather in the eye of a hurricane;
Elucidation meanders about like a hungry, lost coyote;
And inspiration is not more than a fading spot light.

Make happiness tantamount.
Penalties are not mandated
on your subordinates
for you, your self
are endowed with merry gifts.

Make corrections.
Prevalent mistakes minimize your greatness.

Though in some domains you have lost control,
life, as a whole, averages it out.

Express your voice
In tones of utter determination.
Use your limitless courage to put right
what you now bemoan.

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Here’s another “One Stop Poetry Challenges.” This this is the One Shoot Sunday – Independence Day, 2011.” In other words, Fourth of July Eve.

Also posted on:

Midweek Motif – Happiness

 

I wrote this back in 2001 for now Brig General William Thornton.