Oceanzest Poetry (270)

cool beneath the palms
one bourbon, one scotch, one beer
ripples in the sand

dance me a samba
la fiesta in the rain
swirl of a red dress

from the heights they came
fine gossamer on the wind
seeking exodus

First we had the left-wing media
tearing Trump apart for his tweets
of course they couldn't stand an aging white guy
expressing himself with modern technology
somewhat erratically you'd have to say at times
anyway the games up for him (or is it?)
but here we go
right wing media
turning any wince
any pause by Biden
into a case for mental collapse
he's 78 how about giving him some rope here
at least he's bringing America
back into emissions commitments
and did he rage at CNN's Kaitlin Collins?
well it was a forceful answer to a forceful set of questions
sure Putin's tricky
rarely answers a question without bouncing it back
to ask you to look at your record
and on we go
and on we go
is it easier just to turn the TV off
and forget US politics exists?

soldier on the road
cold parchment letters from home
time gathers desire


implore Morpheus
regale me with restful dreams
sacrifice the day


symbols in circles
riddles of a nation state
fist on the lectern

her mouth was small
in the immediacy of the moment
that's what I noticed
she always looked good
in those cut-off jeans
and how she worked
those alluring curves
always caught me
Jesus child
finally found her man
mountaineer they said
25 years ago now girl
well at least I can
still remember it
with a grin
a jewel of a moment
which passed with the wind
never to be more
when I sit here
all I can do is hope
that that mountaineer
evened the score

I've got a white van cruiser
with windows very dark
I'm passing by the girls' school
they like to have a lark
try to give me candy
tempt me to the park
they know I'm close to 60
an easy kind of mark

Buyao weijing I enunciated
or something very similar
had the flavour right I'm sure
which was precisely the point
the waitress grinned
Shi de
Shi de
no MSG please
useful if food additives
turn your Chinese dining experience
into stomach churn
seems a shame
much Oriental food
is plagued by it
Buyao weijing
Buyao weijing
I'll keep practicing
Xiexie ni

Watching Reagan on YouTube
chat show
smoother than I remember
folksy, late seventies
having just come out of Governor of California
he looked good
didn't look like he was pitching for the White House
but '81 was coming..

Launch of neo-liberalism
which is precisely why you don't have a job
or if you do it doesn't pay
how's that possible
from a former lifeguard?

I only remember the the assassination attempt
then the mental deterioration
I guess we should be grateful things went well
with Gorby
better than the current NATO encirclement of Russia
taunting the bear.

Safari suit Lenny
never short a penny
our man in Africa
1955

Oxbridge dilettante
drinking from the font
of suntanned woman
a man alive

No compunction
is how Lenny functions
cocktails bourgeoise
with others wives

The colonial obsession
that brought repression
set Mau Mau boys
on the rise

A last whiskey with Charles
who despite the body
in the motel pool
hadn't abandoned
a good cigarette
nor a calm gait
and a figurative tale
of the debt collectors demise
foreclosure being but a concept
to Charles
rational to the core
as the sirens
and red and blue flashes
highlighted his receding hairline
we sat back
and basked
in the glory
that consciousness
and rational expression
had conquered another day

She said bring me a rose
I live down by the slaughterhouse

and in the afternoons
the boys would come
down off the ships
wheeling wagons
heaving so
while the whistling
from dark woman
along the docks
would mock them in
bright sun banter

jute days
far from the continent
shanty stories ho
rolling in the tavern
while the parrots
with majestic cacophony
regaled the banana loads

When she came
it was a murderous carnival
all sea foam and slippery back stars
I lay in the sheets
listening to the mid-afternoon traffic
Brahms never had it this good