| Starpoet Newsletter Vol. VII, No. XXXVII |
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| Newsletters | |
| Written by Lisa Jain Thompson | |
| Sunday, 10 September 2006 | |
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The
Starpoet
Newsletter
Vol VII, No. XXXVII
Orion and Sirius greet fall cooly
Low in the sky before dawn's early fingers Mist curls up from the rivers Floats across the path Leading towards our home Where I left you in our bed
Still curled in the memory
Of my body's warmth While I watch the sun rise Alone Lisa Jain Thompson c. 2006
 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ <><><><><> Only when we understand our biological drives
Can we transcend them. __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ Early september, summer slipping away. Already leaves turn and the night grows too cold for tomatoes.
__/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ life goes on
Crocodile Dreams
1.
Steve
Death by stingray
While swimming the coral reef,
All cameras rolling
For a nature documentary. Six inches of stinger
Straight into the heart,
Fish and man surprised, one dies,
The luck of the draw.
Better to meet your end
Living as you wish That rust away in safety
Braindead before your body. 2.
Germaine
Germaine Greer,
In a fit of huffiness,
Has determined that Steve's death
Is a good thing:
Man should not fool Around with Mother Nature -- It's such a Male Thing, after all,
To go traipsing after animals.
The world should be New York,
And, if you please, She would rather not know About any Wild Things That might disturb Her intellectual serenity. 3.
Life
This is all so fragile,
One moment you are alive,
The next you startle a stingray.
God, if he exists,
Has little to do with it, Or, if he does, Must spend his time Inventing new ironies
For our deathly amusements. Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2006
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ Biggest Win Since Our Database Kicked In
Couric's anchor debut on CBS is one of those milestones that coeds will be forced to memorize in Women's Studies 101 at universities around the country for the rest of time -- you know, the very first broadcast by the very first woman to get her very own network-TV evening newscast .
__/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ change of season
Board Certified
Eyes open to lurking headache
No escape in sleep Pain impervious to aspirin and caffeine Submits only to codeine
Or some magic potion That shoots through my veins
To separate mind and body And let me slip back into my dreams. Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2006
__/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ science stuff
Dimension
This eleven dimensional point
I reside in Is not a spectrum.
My presence in discrete,
My consciousnes singular,
Existence is simultaneous
In all directions.
That I call that the past,
This the present,
Provides coordinates
For my persistent vision; About, above,
Up and down,
Are useful tools
That anchor my sanity.
I am, I am not,
Notwithstanding my desire,
Is a binary;
Male or female,
Alive or dead,
At the beginning, at the end,
I, and the universe,
Move as one.
Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2006 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ OF CONCERN TO ACADEMIA
"The Effect of Education on Cognitive Ability" by Torberg Falch and Sofia Sandgren, working paper published by the economics department at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Two economists find that every year of formal education raises a student's IQ an average of about 3 points, regardless of family income or parents' educational levels, raising new doubts that genetics alone determines intelligence.
-- Alternately, IQ tests may not measure intelligence at all -- just how well you assimilate into the Educatoring Academia.
"The Effect of Ballet Dance Attire on Body and Self-Perceptions of Female Dancers" by Brena R. Price and Terry F. Pettijohn II, Social Behavior and Personality, Vol. 34, No. 7. Two Mercyhurst College researchers find that female ballet dancers hate the way they look in black leotards with pink tights and think they look better in loose-fitting clothes.
-- Doh, do you think I look better in the hideous black leotard and pink tights that outline my genitals or the cute yoga outfit?
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ you gotta eat
Lunch in the Sun
Lunch,
Pentagon courtyard,
High skies, warm sun,
I find myself on sidewalk
Between 3-4 and 9-10,
Approaching the workmen
Relaxing on the benches
And watch my every step,
The way my hips move,
The length of my legs,
My eyes, my lips,
Betting whether I would or not.
I take a deep breath,
Continue walking
Without acknowledging their gaze
Or denying it;
As I pass,
They turn their attention
To the next one Who dares traverse their territory. Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2006
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ competition
Writing as Profession
Scott Fitzgerald may have another novel out,
Drunken fool that is he is; Melville might still be chasing whales,
Searching for gods he can kill;
Somewhere another Shakespearean play
Lies lurking on the shelves, And Sappho's parchment may still be found
In some dusty Vatican corner.
What we do slips through the cracks,
Slides between time's long edge,
Gone today, here tomorrow,
Long after we are dead. What is it to be great
When you no longer hear The cheers of the crowd
Or the whispers of your lover? But that is the best
The world allows us, For when we are here,
No one ever seems to care.
Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2006
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ BE SURE TO USE ONLY LICENSED ALTERNATIVE HEALTH PROVIDERS
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Tribal healers, often known as witch doctors, are to be permitted to give patients official sick days recognized by employers, the state media reported Wednesday.
Deputy Health Minister Edwin Maguti told a gathering of traditional healers and herbalists that only members of the 1,500-strong state-approved Traditional Medical Practitioners Council would be allowed to grant sick leave of up to a week, The Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece, said.
As government health services crumble in the ailing economy, the move was part of efforts to improve the collaboration of traditional healers in providing health care.
Maguti said medical doctors would also be encouraged to refer patients to traditional healers for additional treatments.
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ revelations
Divine Right
God told me not to run for mayor,
Not to participate in Vietnam,
And to to eat fish on Fridays
-- He has a rather odd perspective.
God said I should walk with Martin,
Build houses with Cesar,
But, above all, please
Please stop maturbating
-- I caused all sorts of moral issues
When he watched. On my first day, God said,
"Let her be Trannsexual," Then started constructing obstacles
To test my will to be so, Sending religious disciples
And cross-dressing zealots To protest my desire
To follow God's will
-- No one ever said
God didn't have a sense of humor. If God wishes to stop me, he may
-- I could be dead tomorrow --
Some divinely designed worm
Could infiltrate my synapses
And bring my mind full stop; But until then,
I will do what he intended And be the best Woman born transsexual My human brain allows. Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2006 __/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ Famous Last Words
Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter:
"Crikey!"
Psychiatrist Dr. Wayne Fenton who was shot to death by a patient:
"Why do you think you want to kill me?"
President George W. Bush:
"We are winning the war on death."
__/\/\/\/\__
^^\/\/\/\/^^ when the hurricane passed
Early Saturday Looking Out At The Rain
Lightless until dawn
Fingers the sun awake,
Gooses his bright rays
Through the remnants
Of the hurricane.
Without electricity
But not without power, I write, pen and journal, Scribble my imagination
On paper rather than electron, Though the truth be told,
Both are the same In everything that matters. I would pun a layered metaphor,
Hint at correspondencs
Between earth, paper, and poet:
My web, like the poet,
Assembles on the fly; My flesh fades like poor ink
On cheap, elementary paper; My words, ethereal,
Vanish when the switch turns off.
Dawn should come quickly
Before the candle melts to carbon And useless waxy drips.
Lisa Jain Thompson
September 2006
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ PEACE
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^^\/\/\/\/^^ Send your letters and postcards to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it © Lisa Jain Thompson 2006
Further distribution of this newsletter in its entirety is authorized. |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 17 September 2006 ) | |
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