Tuesday, March 29, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 36:42


War of Northern Aggression



Digging in the reddened clay, through the dust, 
scraping with a butter knife tunneling; 
with all means necessary total robust. 
 Our pick ax singing ding a ling, a ling.
Freeing Jim with all their wits and might.
Huck and Tom fur flying, setting Jim free.

Israelites freeing the old Ishmaelite.
Right or wrong depends on the view point, you see,
no true way on slavery, with the bible as your guide. 
  
War of Northern Aggression? 
War of Black Liberation?

Right, wrong, blistered hands, couldn't let it slide.
backs grew tired, strained, they sweat and sufferth
Right, wrong, blistered hands, couldn't let it slide.
backs grew tired, strained. they oft lose breath

Plantation owners, nice as they could be;
they were blind to why slaves being set free.

War of Northern Aggression? 
War of Black Liberation?

Monday, March 28, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 34:42


True Southern Hospitality?


Tom and Huck arrive, to JIM's benefit.
Hear the thump, thump, thump, of a buried heart.
JIM was buried in a shed full of shit.

As by the truth he gets no other light,
But to see Vice, a restless infinite.

The flies loved 'em He was their true sweetheart.
Tools disregarded use, once were like star-dust,
but now were forgotten, laid in disgust.

They showed True Hospility: hypocrite,
great actors, (John Wilkes Boothe), Southern Art
there is a difference between showing
                                     and knowing
Excuse it, as just that Southern Way.


A boat, to which the world itself is Sea, 
Wherein the mind sails on her fatal way.

sun, soaked illusions, set in the mire 
to serve, to honor, to love and obey
works, and works, and never does retire
until the sun sets and ends the long day.

Tom and Hom working in secret, at night,
        scratching out freedom
to release JIM into the truth set in light
        they scratch out freedom  
breaking laws of Jim Crow is a delight
There is no reason to complain
about the Sear Sucker's bane.










Friday, March 25, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 33:42



Betwixt You and Shekels:

"An Owdacious Puppy!"



At the crossroads, "betwixt you, and shekels", a haunted day,
when Tom Sawyer decided to help Huck commit a sin.
Tom inspired lads to stow away,
their noisy dreams and love for a win.
He welcomed all with "Come in, come in!"
He a boy filled with Southern Hospitality!
A dynamic duo, Tom and Huck, together again,
always able to share jokes filled worthily;
for Cracker Culture that had been sorrowed and had lost its felicity.
They long apart, a dynamic duo, Tom and Huck, together again.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the world is as it ought
to be again, they are here to steer us, they are here to entertain,
and laugh at all the lessons those darn boys taught.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

1855


 Old Addresses Moved On From 


150 South Clarkson
Dog friendly Washington "Spot"
Ordering Fat Tire


I know I need to move on from these old places.  Wow! It seems so long ago that I frequented these Spots....but sometimes they mess with my head... old dreams and old places are clogged up in my memory....Feelings of loss for every place I dreamed of living in.    I pray that these dreams can get unclogged from the space inside my mind that I hold onto.  I also pray that my quest has not distanced me too far from old friends and old places.   I pray also that I forgive my own mistakes and people that may have tried to harm me along the way.    I pray that one day all will be made full in the likeness of my LORD Jesus Christ, the ultimate balm for all that we use to do harm.   (I know this is not a necessarily a Christian website but my principals are shaped as a reformed Christian).   



42 Days with Huck Finn 32:42


Black metal robots work the ash grey Grove,
in the heat of the day, sun shines the place.
The spinning wheel spins more and more and more.
Huck's lips quivered at the red clay disgrace.
Hear a quite hum, a blue note, dirty soooul.

Huck/the Hounds quickened to an embrace,
as if dancing to a beat out tune, to and fro,
foxtrot,side steps, a dance, a duet, of foes.
Backward went Huck's feet trying to exit, to leave,
but where was there to run. Would no one want
to change the path Crackers yearned to cleave?

God's providence is a mighty pursuivant,
Huck finds Tom Sawyers kin here amidst the plant (ation),
Cracker wives will  watch carefully and duly ward
the duties found for "pine-wood inhabitant"
And all for love, and nothing for reward:

O! Hounds a-smiling, but don't make good guards.


42 Days with Huck Finn (Mark Twain's Description of a Plantation)

"Phelps' was one of these little one-horse cotton plantations, and they all look alike. A rail fence round a two-acre yard; a stile made out of logs sawed off and up-ended in steps, like barrels of a different length, to climb over the fence with, and for the women to stand on when they are going to jump on to a horse; some sickly grass-patches in the big yard, but mostly it was bare and smooth, like an old hat with the nap rubbed off; big double log-house for the white folks -- hewed logs, with the chinks stopped up with mud or mortar, and these mud-stripes been whitewashed some time or another; round-log kitchen, with a big broad, open but roofed passage joining it to the house; log smokehouse back of the kitchen; three little log nigger-cabins in a row t'other side the smoke-house; one little hut all by itself away down against the back fence, and some outbuildings down a piece the other side; ashhopper and big kettle to bile soap in by the little hut; bench by the kitchen door, with bucket of water and a gourd; hound asleep there in the sun; more hounds asleep round about; about three shade trees away off in a corner; some currant bushes and gooseberry bushes in one place by the fence; outside of the fence a garden and a watermelon patch; then the cotton fields begins, and after the fields the woods." Chapter 32. Huckleberry Finn. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 31:42


We float down great wetness.
Then J.I.M. was captured from his flight,
"LORD" Huck prays "get me out of messiness!"
He knows you can pray a lie with all your might,
but a lie can not take hold.
JIM would be sent to his last breath:
"N'Orleans"; if Huck did not grab hold,
of JIM and save him from death.


The Son of man; 
The skies, the heavens, the earth the tomb,


Wherein we rest till then;* 


B'twixt two paths Huck toys 
with writing a letter that told 
the Widow of JIM'S certain doom.

Among the smell of saw dust Huck conquers the crest,
on the Road to Lafayette his feet did ran,
Huck ran and ran till his heart thumped in his breast.
40 pieces of trade for JIM sparked this plan;
the Dauphin then bought bottles of Old Crows.
All Huck wanted now, was his robot and some relief
from troubles brought by "Rapscallion Crows",  
                                          With gunshots of belief.*










Tuesday, March 22, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 30:42

Ernest Leonard Blumenschein



"Where's was yous when lights grew dim",
says King to Huck, "They ate our hide. 
Our lives turned white like lilies.
Townies were ready to give us a trim.
And Huck you, like an Ostrich hide.
You will do what the king's will is." 


To sing by and by, comes the day.

"I scampered swiftly away"
says Huck, "I was in a fright! 
I ran so quick that heads of lilies
turned towards my dismay.
I did not want to take flight,
but I do what our LORD's will is."


To sing by and by, comes the day.



Monday, March 21, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 29:42


English-Men, with right flare;
tell the truth, straight, just so.
"King" is of freebooting breed,
English paint us, Frauds indeed.
Tension, intrigue, feels the air.
The truth told straight, just so,
takes care.

We could not avoid their eyes,
peering into our souls with mite.
Gold buried, we in need
to keep from being hung indeed.
We hoped to feed the home breed
with more and more and more lies,
lies could paint everything a white-
disguise.
Form based on Verse by William Dunbar fl. 1547-1549 
Davie, Donald. The New Oxford Book of Christian Verse. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1981. pg 5 

Friday, March 18, 2011

Support the Arts - Jobsite Theatre


Fanni Green and Jim Wicker in Jobsite's Yellowman. (Photo by Brian Smallheer.)





Support the Arts go see a Play in Your Town's Theater

42 Days with Huck Finn 28:42

A Swan At Bok Tower - Lake Whales-Polk County
Central Florida
TICK TOCK TICK TOCK Goes THE CLOCK 

Dead beat frauds the king and dauphin cower;
at the "awesomeness" that is "girl power".

Odoriferous, the nose picks up the scent,  
the smell of rotten lies 
attracts a swarm of flies
or so the stories told went
on and on, just so, perfumed lust.

Huck tied up, caught in the  rapscallion torrent. 
Jim with other Robots can only trust,
that they will not be sold on the auction block.
"Tick Tock" replies the grandfather clock.


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Haiku between Mom and Son


Bok Tower:  Lake Whales-Central Florida 


White Tale Picture Makers 

Perfect day for a road trip too, 
lonely swamp land
cedars,
sky blue.

White tale doe flickers 
across highway twenty four 
our brakes hit hard

______________________________________________________________________________________


I first wrote this to my mom in our Poetry Correspondence.  Find a partner to share your muse and writing with, it may be a wife, mom, or best friend, but find someone who will kindle, amusing your creative spark.  Enjoy the journey Gregory D. Rothbard 

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Haiku between Mom and Son



Haiku From My Mom who witnessed the Tsunami this week in Maui Hawaii:

Tsunami creeps in
slowly , it covers the shore
'pac man' of water

42 Days with Huck Finn 27:42


Corpse candlelit on display,
witness-watchers of the coffin today,
they sat to see the coffin lid stayed as before,
shut off from the living by a door.

The day moved on and watchers play aside,
mourners come in, and fail to bury tears inside.
Black Robots work steady beside

the dead - work is always on their eyes;
for fears of the auction block arise
silently work, overcome their sighs.

Hyms sung, and our saddened blood
calmed, an icy balm to our tearful flood.

They buried him with prayers to Father on high;
"Through all our wounds to us we cry!"

Based on the Poem: Thou Who Createdst Everything





 Davie, Donald. The New Oxford Book of Christian Verse. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1981.








Friday, March 11, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 26.A:42


Boys and Girls back to their houses.


Innocents tell no good lies, they leave holes
in their Gospel reply, the king does not attend
church in Sheffield-not anymore






The HOLeY GOSPEL

According to Huck.


"Honest Injun, haint you been selling me
Swamp Land in Deed"
Asks Mary Jane, "Lay your hand
on the Good Book and tell me true."

Huck replies with his eyes crossed turned upwards

"Hark from the Tomb, I swear on this Dictionary."

Thousand Sinful Lies

Thousand Sinful Kisses.





Thursday, March 10, 2011

Support the Arts - Irish Music Groups

Music that Will Stimulate Your Creative Soil:
Hope these songs remind you of a time
where the green fields of Derry
beckon you to journey home.
Christy Moore:








Saint Patrick's Day is March 17th



42 Days with Huck Finn 25:42

Feininger Longeuil

Democratic Intelligence 


Mississippi Pilgrims come
back "home" finding Madam
Death.  Who has made a deadly call?
Small coffins on Arkansas ground,

Duke thinks, "What great Profits in Death?"
"A golden laced dream", replies Huck.
"Lets play this emotive scheme!"

at a somber hour, songs from hymnals cry,
the crowd joins in triumphant melody,
music rises heart, better than sugared words.

Funeral Orgies, Public Scene-
Funeral Orgies, Public Scene?

A pruple storm cloud charged on by,
truthfully lit, lightning zigged from
Doctor Robinson's lips, "These men are bad,
frauds!" Pointing at the Holey Pilgrims.
"Their English accents betray 'em."

Townies sang back in repose,
a note of wary defiance.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 24:42



Wigwam 
on Mighty Water 
Escapes Mob Mad Men
Wigwam on Mighty Water
a haven from Mob-Mad-Sear Sucker
Vampires. Men who craved the oil sucked
out of Black Robots.
Black Droids are left  
immobilized.

J.I.M. laid up 
on the wigwam tied down with 
Rope,  Neutered
tin armor rusting
in plane air
shamed of 
the human race.








Friday, March 4, 2011

Passover's Open Shutters

Marc Chagall 


Sarah opens shutters,
pulls back the heavy
curtains,
she sweeps
the dust from old books.
Porcelain birds nest on her mantle.
She breaks up old spider webs.
"Grandma" Sarah Pearl
opens her
home  
to the crisp, spring day
red blossoms
white legs
welcomes 
Elijah in to share
with her family's
Passover.

42 Days with Huck Finn 23:42

Sketch from (or inspired) by
Charles Demuth

The Democratic Played


  
Rigging up scenery for 
a heist lit by candles. 
Tragedy played for eager Marks,
(nothin' much happens here)
Martyred Men to Regal Thieves 
Commoners sing old tunes, 
the ones about Freedom
from Tyrants, gold filled Coffers. 
Too poor to die, they know the smell:
rottenness of Kings.


Wednesday, March 2, 2011

42 Days with Huck Finn 22:42


Dark
blind to, 
the  civilized cruel 
clown-painted boys,
sneaking out of front 
windows,
in order to 
smoke joints,
in front of Main Street's closed 
businesses, 
down alleys,
they spray paint 
on unlit walls:
Vacume Cleaners Suck.
Scribbled-totems of their
whittled out 
lives.


The boys crawl back 
in bed before the 
extraterrestrial 
suns ascends.
They hide under 
comforters, 
from
real Vampires 
allergic to 
Night
and 
Fun.   

*The arrangement of dark and light utilized in a pictorial representation.

I attempted here to do a poem contrasting dark and light, thinking back on the days when a boy embraces the privacy offered in the night.  



Reviews - Modern Library 100 +


Angle of ReposeAngle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A beautiful book, full of beautiful questions.


The narrative is two stories.  One is the story of a grumpy, frumpy old man who is limited to his wheel chair.   The other is the narrative that the grumpy, frumpy old man attempts to construct about his grandmother.   The narrator in retelling the life of his grandmother hopes to freeze time.   Freezing time allows an author to record a snap shot of time.   The book is a discussion about books deadened on library shelves.   The narrator uses American History as a personal fetish.

The narrator in the story hopes to nail history to the time of 1890.  He can't get past the human flaws that intersect to tell a story.   The fault lines make up the flawed man.  The author hopes to bend these fault lines into a particular shape of his choosing, and liking.      The shaping of truth is what an author does, but all truth is limited to the scope of what the writer keeps and what he edits.

Angle of Repose, also shows that American Democracy is never simple but a complex system run by men who are screwed up, and do the best out of their circumstances, with the weak and strong cards they hold.

 A great discussion on truth telling in a particular time.  I enjoyed this book a lot.





View all my reviews

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Poetry Old Addresses Forgiven


I write 
1893 miles from-
the start of the connect 
the dot puzzle,
(Start) Lakeland Florida
to Atlanta Georgia,
to Chattanooga Tennessee
to St. Louis, Missouri,
to Lawrence, Kansas,
to Denver, Colorado,
up to my home Longmont.
(End)  
29.5 hours trapped
behind the steering
wheel, and day dreaming
like a little train headed
across I-70 and down I-75.
I think I see a picture 
emerge, one that looks 
like a rabbit 
with an enormous 
carrot. Did you 
think I would 
be crass?
Or sick?
Use teenage boy humor 
to amuse his friends? 
Did you perhaps, 
want me to disturb
you?
Well too bad, so sad 
for the route
is long
and
fat.

Search This Blog