Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 19 #TantrumTanka

Let’s do one more #TantrumTanka. This is one tweet I’d like to see from the so-called Trumpet-in-chief.

I am FUCKFACE von
CLOWNSTICK and I am truly
#TERRIFIC,
#REALLYGREAT! I’m the
Original. Great. Orange. Hope.

clownstick.png

© David Siller – 2017

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*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!

Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 18 #TantrumTanka

The so-called president has been flooding the twitterverse with a number of gems in the last few days–many disconcerting, many outright frightening. In grappling with those, though, it’s sometimes an older tweet that catches the poet’s eye.

 

How come “Every time I show
anger, disgust or impatience,
enemies say I
had have a tantrum or meltdown-
stupid or dishonest people! ?”

tantrum-meltdown

© David Siller – 2017

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*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!

Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 17 #TantrumTanka

If toddlers have their terrible twos, does this mean Trumpet is having his atrocious seventies? Not a day goes by that we don’t get one of these! Today’s #TantrumTanka isn’t found, but inspired by.

 

This judge is way too
judgy for me, and I judge
“the opinion of
this so-called judge…ridicu-
lous.” And sad! Like his black robes 😦

 

trump-judge-tweet

 

 

© David Siller – 2017

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*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!

Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 16 #TantrumTanka

Today we’ll be posting the first of what will eventually be a series of tanka based on, quoting, inspired by, or responding to, Twitter tantrums from the Trumpeter himself. Tanka (click to learn more) is a traditional Japanese form, similar to haiku, that appears in five lines with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern.

Today’s #TantrumTanka is a found erasure poem, the text lifted verbatim from a Trump Twitter Tantrum dated 8 May 2013. Admittedly, this one didn’t need much erasure, but it helps to make it more tantrum-y. Though he throws these fits repeatedly throughout the day, this lovely website has archived his little gems. Read this, then go to there and see if you get inspired.

 

“Sorry Losers & haters,
but my IQ is the highest
– and you all know it!
Please don’t feel so stupid and
insecure, it’s not your fault!”

unnamed

 

© David Siller – 2017

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*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!

Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

Posted on by waxyandpoetic · 1 Comment

#100Days100Poems Day 14

In an alternate universe, where he told the truth, Donald Trump would channel former president George W. Bush, saying, “I’m a divider, not a uniter. I mean, I’m really terrific at dividing. Just terrific.” Lucky for us we all have what’s necessary to fight that division.

 

 

Build That Wall

A cursive signature
of aggression, barbed
wire ink pierces

the refugee dream
of safe haven,
the breathing space

of sanctuary, of hope
secured for families
and all our children.

America made better.
Murky snake oil
for these end times

of walled hatred,
deportations of love,
security, of common sense.

My only pledge is to no flag; it
rests in the warm hand
of humanity.

 

 

 

© Kersten Christianson – 2017

Kersten Christianson is a raven-watching, moon-gazing, high school English-teaching Alaskan. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry through the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2016. Kersten’s recent work has appeared in Cirque, Tidal Echoes, Inklette, Sheila-Na-Gig and Pure Slush.  Her book Something Yet to Be Named by Aldrich Press along with a chapbook titled What Caught Raven’s Eye by Petroglyph Press will be published in 2017.  Kersten co-edits the quarterly journal Alaska Women Speak.  When not exploring the summer lands and dark winter of the Yukon Territory, she lives in Sitka, Alaska with her husband and photographer Bruce Christianson, and daughter Rie.  She blogs at www.kerstenchristianson.com and tweets with @kerstenak.

*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!
Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 13

It seems that we’ve been fighting the good fight forever, though we’ve only been at it a couple of weeks. Would that we could take the cheerleaders from the sports world and have them cheer us on! But we don’t need them, we have each other, and this Rah! Rah! Rah! of a poem.

 

Where Are You, America?

there you are, you
        scientists & park rangers & women & men & immigrants & 
        green card holders & teachers & stay-at-home dads & 
        stay-at-home moms & christians & muslims & atheists & 
        agnostics & taxi drivers & people 
`                with open hearts and open minds and open eyes


there you are

 
wandering
        on the National Mall at the feet of Lincoln
            ferrying the Hudson, led by Lady LIberty’s light
                navigating under the Golden Gate
                    gliding into the Port of Galveston

 


marching
       in Lafayette Park & Battery Park
       in Copley Square & Herman Square

 
       on Market Street & Lavaca Street
       on Fifth Ave & Congress Ave

 

landing and waiting and protesting
        @ JFK & SFO & DFW
        @ LAX & PDX & PHX
        @ PHL & STL & SAN & SEA
        @ IAH & DEN & RDU & ORD

 


speaking out
        from Lexington to Little Rock to Philadelphia
        from Sacramento to Albany
        from Cape Cod to Corpus Christi
        from Memphis to Milwaukee to Kalamazoo


speaking truth to propaganda
        in the Badlands
        in Yosemite & Yellowstone
echoing through the Rocky mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains

 

fist pumping at city halls and veterans halls
        in Houston & Honolulu
        in Burlington & Buffalo & Baton Rouge


America you are everywhere
        and soon you will be back
                in the White House
                                to put right
                                        the alt-right wrong
                                        the poisonous pencer
                                        the burnt orange trump card
                                        the fascist catastrophe


the World will be rooting for you
the World will be waiting for you
                                the true America
                                        the just America
                                                the free America

 

© David Siller – 2017

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*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!
Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 12

In light of recent developments that challenge the very essence of that with which Liberty is Enlightening the World, I present to you, from the Mad Sonneteer, a sonnet.

What Would Jesus Say?

For the tired, the poor, the huddled masses.


What would Jesus say if he knew those with
Abundance refuse souls truly in need?
When their ignorance serves to feed a myth
Rather than a mouth, would He call that greed?
Should His pride unfurl when hatred is hurled
At women and children by those who claim
To believe in One who made the whole World;
Or, will His judgment serve to kindle shame?
He commands, “Suffer the little children
To come unto me.” Yet, blessed with plenty,
Many fail His word, condemning millions
Of innocents to life in poverty.
   It is human weakness which makes gold’s worth
   Seem higher than our brothers on this Earth.

© Bud Koenemund – The Mad Sonneteer – 2015

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You can find The Mad Sonneteer on Twitter at @TheMadSonneteer.
His blog is located at  MadSonneteer.blogspot.com

*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!
Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 11

Sometimes you get so angry that you can’t find the words. Sometimes you get so angry that you can’t see straight. Vivian Wagner’s found poem encapsulates those very emotional moments.

Messed-up Pence

messed-up-pence

© Vivian Wagner – 2017

Vivian Wagner is an associate professor of English at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio. She’s the author of a memoir, Fiddle; One Woman, Four Strings, and 8,000 Miles of Music (Citadel), and a poetry chapbook, The Village (forthcoming from Aldrich Press). She can be found on the web at www.vivianwagner.net and tweeting from @vwagner. 

*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!
Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

 

 

Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 10

One of the joys of this country is its diversity. Except for a few, we are all immigrants, whether newly arrived, or in families long established. We have countless languages and cultures, cuisines and customs, that come together in what should be glorious harmony. Sadly, some among us choose to divide and exclude. In honor of our diversity, today’s poem, by María José Zubieta, appears in English translation, followed by its Spanish original. All our voices, in whatever language, will be heard in these #100Days100Poems.

 

The Angel

 
I walked down Fifth Avenue
in this raucous city
full of tourists that incessantly come and go.
Street lamps were on.
Holiday decorations became more noticeable
as night fell.

 
I was surrounded by people walking in the same direction
absorbed, amazed at so much luxury.
The light around us made their faces look ghostly.

 
These people surely believed -and still believe- 
in this land's hospitality.
They know nothing.

 
I'm not a tourist here and I know well
how cruel the Big Apple can be.
This apple is a triangle
like the Bermuda Triangle where
we inadvertently lose our identity.

 
Then I saw her smiling peacefully 
as I imagine angels smile.
Completely alone in her determination.
Her sign a powerful instrument.

 
I was struck by an arrow of joy
startled out of my stupor.
I read her sign out loud:
"Not My President"
and started to chant with her.

 
We looked at each other and smiled
united in the chant
united in the condemnation
of the dirty trick of which we are victims
of this fallacy they call democracy.

 

El ángel

 

Caminaba por la Quinta Avenida
de esta ciudad estrepitosa
llena de turistas que vienen y van incesantemente.
Las farolas prendidas
las decoraciones navideñas se hacían más notorias
al caer la noche.

 
Estaba rodeada de personas que caminaban en la misma dirección
ensimismadas, asombradas con tanto lujo.
La luz que nos rodeaba hacía que sus rotros se vieran fantasmagóricos.

 
Esta gente seguro creía –y sigue creyendo-
en la hospitalidad de estas tierras.
Nada saben.

 
Yo no soy turista y sé bien
cuán cruel puede ser la Gran Manzana.
Esta manzana es un triángulo
como el Triángulo de las Bermudas donde
perdemos nuestra identidad involuntariamente.

 
Entonces la vi sonriendo, pacífica
como imagino a los ángeles.
Completamente sola en su determinación.
Su cartel un instrumento poderoso.

 
Una flecha de alegría me atravesó
me despertó del estupor.
Leí su cartel en voz alta:
“Not My President”
Y comencé a cantar con ella.

 
Nos miramos y sonreímos
unidas en el canto
unidas en el repudio
de la artimaña de la que somos víctimas
de esta falacia que llaman democracia.

© María José Zubieta – 2017

You can find María on Twitter: @majozub

*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!
Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****

 

Posted on by waxyandpoetic

#100Days100Poems Day 9 – The Return of #TrumptyDumpty

In light of some executive orders (you know, the ones Republicans used to deride), it seems appropriate to update this little children’s rhyme.

 

Trumpty Dumpty wants a wall
But he hates the guys
He wants to hire to build it

Trumpty Dumpty wants a ban
But swore to defend
the Constitution that should kill it.

Trumpty Dumpty wants
To make America great
But doesn’t want to include all those fill it.

Trumpty Dumpty built a big tower
& fell on his hair
& people were like
“Aww, fuck it. I really don’t care. ”
& America was great again.

© David Siller – 2017

 

*****

For the first 100 days of the Trumpet administration, this blog will feature a new poem of protest, by my own hand and by others. They will be polished gems, or rough cut drafts of rage, or in process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered. If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. All rights remain with the author. VISUAL ARTISTS ! Do you have something visually poetic that you’d like to submit? GO FOR IT!
Please address any formatting preferences in your email. I will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day. Editing will be limited to obvious errors of spelling and the like.

Read, follow, share, re-tweet, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

*****