| Starpoet Newsletter Vol. VIII, No. LI |
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| News - Newsletters | |
| Written by Lisa Jain Thompson | |
| Sunday, 16 December 2007 | |
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The
Starpoet
Newsletter
Vol. VIII, No. LI
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ Come a week,
The sun will be growing larger,
My heart is not that inconstant,
Neither waxing nor waning
With my love for you. Love does not diminish
As we move through space and time, Unlike the sun, Love does not vary As the universe ages
And our bodies Grow weary and tired.
Love wins out
And lives always in our hearts And in my verse.
Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2007 C. E.
 The Winter Solstice Approaches
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ As I write this it is a week to Solstice, ten days until Christmas, and a day after my mother's birthday. She would have been 93.
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ in the spirit of the season, from the time of ancient gods and warlords, when love, in the end, won out.
Xmas in Amphipolis
At Solstice time did Xena ride
Across the plain and valley, Along the river down to the sea To see Gabrielle her darling. In winter white the warrior rode
Through long night and shortened days Until her arms true love did hold Fair brave Gabrielle her darling. Once home beside both hearth and fire
Two women as one did lie, Xena, Princess, scarred from battle, And Gabrielle, her love and darling. In winter storm, true hearts did meet,
Soft flesh entwined arm and leg, The dark eyed one in love possessed By Gabrielle her soul and darling. Lisa Jain Thompson __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ we spend far too much time arguing and forgetting who we are
The Pettiness of Primates
We spend most of our lives adjusting gradation,
Refining and refocusing What should be as natural as breathing. We spend too much time worrying and reprocessing Every little thread And whether it's gotten due attention While we ignore the long range systemic problems, The warstopping civilization killers That eventually will bring us to our knees. Perhaps it's our long years in the jungle
Or our death march across the savannah That makes it so very hard for us to ever Come quickly to any conclusion And then stick with it. Lisa Jain Thompson December 2007 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ "Ike Turner, known as the meanest man alive, the ugly woman-beater' or whatever;
people always got to say some shit like that." -- Ike Turner
1931-2007 Ike made the first Rock and Roll record Rocket 88 in 1951,
Recorded B.B. King and Elmore James, Married Anna Mae Bullock who became Tina Turner. A Lousy Husband, A Great Musician, And that might just be enough. __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ the future lurks ahead, offering suggestions but revealing nothing
Arecibo
These patterns on these sheets,
These electrons on this screen,
Might be seen as signs of intelligence
But only if someone is listening.
I write, I write,
I write some more,
Strike out old words,
Make do with new ones,
Jam them together
In focused exploration
Where no one has gone before,
At least not recently.
Lisa Jain Thompson
December 2007 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ winter is a four letter word
Run to Daylight
I should winter in Australia,
Celebrate Christmas in Kiwiland, Then spend my summers in North America,
Preferably next to an ocean
With some mountains a few hours away.
Where the sun goes, so go I:
Long days, short nights,
With weekend planeflights
If I feel the need to ever touch snow.
Lisa Jain Thompson
December 2007
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ Should we elect a President
Based on the endorsement of a talk show host? If Oprah were running for President,
I would vote for her But she's not.
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ To Sir With Love:
The Trials and Tribulations of an HBS Woman By Lisa Jain Thompson
Wednesday, 12 December 2007 Springfield, VA, USA. For any woman whose voice is a husky contralto, being sir'd can be upsetting, but it is especially disheartening for HBS women.
My natural voice is a contralto in the same way that jazz pianist/singer Diana Krall's voice is a contralto: husky smoke that sounds like twenty years on the road singing in bars, drinking Maker's Mark whiskey, and smoking cigarettes.
As far as I know she doesn't smoke [1] but I have five dollars that says she sometimes gets sir'd on the phone just like any other woman whose voice is not the expected soft soprano.
Just like the majority of HBS women, at one time or another during their lives, woman whose voice is a husky contralto have most likely been sir'd . While disconcerting to any woman, it can be particularly upsetting for HBS women, especially those HBS women who are early in transition and whose self-confidence can be best described as fragile....
To read more follow this link:
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ when the Winter Solstice comes, you cannot help but look back
The Trouble With Christmas
The trouble with Christmas is
The Christmas I was raised with
Are all dead and gone save my brother,
Three thousand miles across a continent.
All that's left is in my head,
No closer to me now
Than Caesar or the dinosaurs,
But much more real come Christmas morning
When I look around for Mom and Dad,
Grandma and Grandpa,
And all my cousins, aunts, and uncles,
Wondering all the time
What may be hiding under the tree
And when I can open it.
I'm happy now with Sharon,
In love until I die, But 'twould be better
If, in the kitchen,
Grandma had ravioli
Cooking on the stove.
Lisa Jain Thompson
December 2007 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ the cheerful poet in midst of winter
Deep Into December
The night is long and dark,
The day is short and grey,
Some god is playing games with light,
Whoopee we're gonna die!
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye,
Here comes Santa Claus,
Here comes Santa Claus, Whoopee we're gonna die!
Lisa Jain Thompson
December 2007 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ The Birthday of Yeshua
By the beginning of the 4th century CE, there was intense interest in choosing a day to celebrate Yeshua's birthday. The western church leaders selected December 25 because this was already the date recognized throughout the Roman Empire as the birthday of various Pagan gods. Since there was no central Christian authority at the time, it took centures before the tradition was universally accepted:
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^^\/\/\/\/^^  Starpoet
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ historically philosophical
Rafting Down The Big Muddy
What shall we do when the war is over,
Who shall we blame when things go wrong?
It's all so simple when you have a foe or enemy,
So much more difficult when it's only
Your friends and yourself. Shall we pick on the Jews again,
Or shall we lay it on the gays,
Or is it all those uppity women Who have drug us down this way? Anyone but the man in charge,
The politicians who follow every poll,
And certainly not the televangilists Who need targets to fill their megachurch. We haven't done the blacks for a while
(Excuse me African Americans)
And France and Germany have a-hold of the AyRabs,
So we really can't go there. Tell me, so who shall we shake,
Who shall we hate When finally this war is over? Lisa Jain Thompson
December 2007 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ Here he comes.
Sliding down the chimney, Checking out the little kids
He met back at the mall. __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^  __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ reflecting
A Bit of Significant History
I have seen the Magna Carta,
I have seen the Declaration, I have seen the Constitution Of the United States of America, And even a Gutenberg Bible, But my most memorable encounter Was the moment my baby Opened her eyes and looked at me And smiled. Lisa Jain Thompson
December 2007 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^  __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ PEACE
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ Copyright © Lisa Jain Thompson 1995-2007. Further distribution of this newsletter in its entirety is authorized. Email your letters and postcards or visit her contact page at the Starpoet website.
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 15 December 2007 ) | |
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