tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68741866380510572132024-03-17T13:00:15.477-07:00Poet's MusingsHans Ostrom. Poet, professor, etc. Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.comBlogger4420125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-6915119312969199612024-03-17T12:59:00.000-07:002024-03-17T12:59:18.739-07:00Conan O”Brien - Suspicious Minds @ Love Rocks Beacon Theater 3-7-2024<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/G6WdyDB3zJU?si=UvTzBsBZ3DunhMf6" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-91425907092283285272024-03-05T13:07:00.000-08:002024-03-05T13:07:13.354-08:00March, in the Northern Hemisphere<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">March, a grunting month,</span></div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">a mound of mud, a flood</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">of flotsam, a stormy brawler</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">drunk on rain. March, a sentimental</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">sap, half in love with shapely April,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">half in hate with freezing Feb.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">We want such a month</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">because of what it portends</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">but beg that passes fast</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">because it only pretends.</span><div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Hans Ostrom 2024</span></div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-31629965225897336722024-03-02T15:09:00.000-08:002024-03-02T15:09:06.923-08:00Cinquain for a Spring-Fevered Cat<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">The cat</span></div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">seems fevered by</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">the warmth and light outside</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">his lair, this house. He yowls and runs around,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Spring-zinged.</span><div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Hans Ostrom 2024</span></div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-23871406025119497042024-02-27T15:52:00.000-08:002024-02-27T15:52:24.465-08:00Procession of Cats<div style="text-align: left;">Like a long silver ribbon,</div><div>the path from the moon</div><div>stretches to Earth tonight. And</div><div>down the path come the cats,</div><div>striding with their lazy lope.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thousands of them, leaving</div><div>their lunar lair, returning</div><div>to this ground with moonlight</div><div>in their round unblinking eyes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Arriving, they take their feline</div><div>time to scatter to homes,</div><div>hideouts, forests, plains,</div><div>jungles, mountains, and alleys.</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-12931661546488147112024-02-27T10:43:00.000-08:002024-02-27T10:43:43.487-08:00Anvil<div style="text-align: left;">Bolted to the bench</div><div>in the Old Man's workshop,</div><div>the anvil seemed to have</div><div>a bow and a stern--a ship</div><div>of steel that would never see</div><div>water. A rock of ages</div><div><br /></div><div>on which to pound things,</div><div>will things into shape. Always</div><div>cold to the touch, like a snowdrift,</div><div>even in high summer. It had jaws</div><div>and teeth to hold things if need be,</div><div>but never ate. It was</div><div><br /></div><div>indestructible and passive</div><div>like the blue bedrock over which</div><div>impulsive rivers ran. While tools</div><div>broke, rusted, disappeared; </div><div>while nuts and bolts came</div><div>and went; and jobs and tasks</div><div><br /></div><div>were asked and answered,</div><div>the anvil stayed like an anchored</div><div>asteroid, like a god of patience. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Hans Ostrom 2024</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-67110770665875150452024-02-26T17:22:00.000-08:002024-02-26T17:22:38.667-08:00Questions at a Cafe<div style="text-align: left;">The 3-year-old sips</div><div>his hot chocolate.</div><div>His face expresses</div><div>pleasure. He tells me,</div><div>"Cows make milk."</div><div>"That's correct," I say,</div><div>as if he needs my opinion.</div><div><br /></div><div>His grandma, my wife,</div><div>is at the cafe counter</div><div>getting her drink (I sip</div><div>my two shots of espresso).</div><div><br /></div><div>The 3-year old asks,</div><div>"How do cows make meat?"</div><div>I say, "Well, cattle, male</div><div>and female, eat a lot of</div><div>grass and hay to make</div><div>their muscles big."</div><div><br /></div><div>I dread the follow-up</div><div>question and in my mind</div><div>see abbattoir images,</div><div>hear horrific terrified</div><div>bellowing, smell blood. </div><div>The question doesn't come,</div><div><br /></div><div>for he sees grandma</div><div>returning to our table</div><div>with her drink--a cafe latte--</div><div>made with oat "milk."</div><div><br /></div><div>Hans Ostrom 2024</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-78775791922042412142024-02-24T13:51:00.000-08:002024-02-24T13:51:15.851-08:00Colbert & Poetry<iframe style="background-image:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3fqXDV2h_3s/hqdefault.jpg)" width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/3fqXDV2h_3s?si=VY3OXk3UB8jyI0-k" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-36397055443563944372024-02-24T13:48:00.000-08:002024-02-24T13:48:14.533-08:00TNN Grand Ole Opry - Earl Scruggs & Andy Griffith performing (11/13/99)<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/FB52uUKRe-Y?si=PsCNxfruPer-Fd1v" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-49061210682565343072024-02-23T12:31:00.000-08:002024-02-23T12:31:31.908-08:00Steven Tyler - Golden Slumbers, in The End<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/do0XC1YFZKk?si=TZiI5P4laaJjahUI" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-40268238136711009912024-02-20T16:29:00.000-08:002024-02-20T16:29:09.693-08:00WHITE VS BLACK CHILDREN IN GROCERY STORE | Ali Siddiq Stand Up Comedy<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/4LNJwTbQBQI?si=RG2E7c9AsBPOLnd-" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-33893204336696241932024-02-19T13:05:00.000-08:002024-02-19T13:05:51.452-08:00Collecting Thoughts<div style="text-align: left;">In their abode, "I'm going</div><div>to go collect my thoughts"</div><div>became a code </div><div>for "I'm going to take a nap."</div><div><br /></div><div>The euphemism's like a cat's</div><div>toy or anything a feline feels</div><div>like batting around, slobbering on,</div><div>and then--before a nap--ignoring. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, there those thoughts are,</div><div>spread out on a cloth in the mind.</div><div>Not very many, not of the highest</div><div>quality. Mostly worries, minor obsessions, </div><div>images of flowers or birds--something</div><div>pleasant, maybe, to look at </div><div><br /></div><div>as one rolls over and feels</div><div>grogginess close the eyes</div><div>and fog the conscious mind. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hans Ostrom 2024</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-8166517752215682452024-02-17T12:39:00.000-08:002024-02-17T12:39:39.810-08:00He's No Emperor<div style="text-align: left;">Well, we have to eat,</div><div>even as genocide, rapes,</div><div>atomic arsenals, and pious</div><div>bigotry persist, destroy, so</div><div><br /></div><div>I roast beets. With a paring </div><div>knife, I peel off dull hides,</div><div>reveal purple fiber of the roots.</div><div>Purple ink stains my fingers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Has anyone painted with beet</div><div>juice? Chopped into small</div><div>pieces, the beets go in a</div><div>hot oven. When they're roasted</div><div><br /></div><div>soft, I take them out, dribble</div><div>honey and shake salt on them,</div><div>serve with pasta and a simple</div><div>marinara sauce & a green salad,</div><div><br /></div><div>plus a shared slice of a quick</div><div>raisin oat-bread I baked. I like</div><div>cooking for me and my wife.</div><div>It's a good thing, basic,</div><div><br /></div><div>necessary. And about all</div><div>the influence I have</div><div>on the world, for as things</div><div>stand, I'm no emperor. </div><div><br /></div><div>hans ostrom 2024</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-38656410026389517602024-02-14T12:46:00.000-08:002024-02-14T12:46:49.954-08:00Rondeau for a Father's Hat<div style="text-align: left;">A<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">nd what am I to do with my Dad's hat?</span></div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Always a hat--he never wore a cap.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">After he died, I've kept it all these years--</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">A little token of him, it appears--</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">A cloth thing under which he sat.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">His body was cremated, so that's that.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">To me his soul's a mystery, not a fact.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">While I get old and face some stern cold fears,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">What is it I'm to do with my Pa's hat?</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I have been charged with being a pack-rat.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I'm sentimental, unlike our deadpan cat.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">For me, things link to people, it appears,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">And maybe soothe a bit some grieving tears.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">"Just let it go": advice that sounds so flat</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Regarding what to do with Father's hat.</span><div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Hans Ostrom 2024</span></div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-17687803229142956322024-02-13T08:13:00.000-08:002024-02-13T08:13:19.952-08:00Why Crows Are as Smart as 7 Year Old Humans<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/7aWL2iEb6y4?si=ydRhmHWFxHqrXG9F" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-90016956051433363472024-02-13T07:16:00.000-08:002024-02-13T07:16:34.254-08:00Luke Combs Praises "Fast Car" Singer Tracy Chapman After He Wins CMAs Si...<iframe style="background-image:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xUK93MVY6Wk/hqdefault.jpg)" width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/xUK93MVY6Wk?si=UcwWXYAn-5wQI7tf" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-46857093538994305582024-02-09T11:33:00.000-08:002024-02-09T11:33:17.267-08:00America - Lonely People (1975) | LIVE<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/A_OboeBSMdk?si=fDO-1VrJi1qIZJmG" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-36685638451708065352024-02-09T08:56:00.000-08:002024-02-09T08:56:57.825-08:00Lana Del Rey - Take Me Home, Country Roads (Official Audio)<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/muWEOXE5zeQ?si=9upPMi5Fk_e7DEqN" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-58183035576970869572024-02-09T08:16:00.000-08:002024-02-09T08:16:57.075-08:00The CEO of a company that makes a lifesaving drug refused to commit to l...<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/Tqbrx319NoE?si=2ButFWqM5e2yRNSl" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-9870486712285763702024-02-07T15:03:00.000-08:002024-02-07T15:03:09.945-08:00Bloomsbury Park<div style="text-align: left;"> (<i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16.5px;">September 2022)</i></div><div class="orig_17628032" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16.5px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br /></div><div class="orig_17628032" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141823; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16.5px;">Bloomsbury Park<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />isn't melting yet<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />in the plump heat<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />of London, late summer.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />A locust tree<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />shows tendons<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />and bends like an<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />arm at the elbow.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The only birds<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />are pigions. Brown<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />plates of stone make<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />a center square<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />and we strangers<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />sit on black benches.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />We're mostly mute.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Cornflowers persist--<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />the rest of the beds<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />are parched like a<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />hangover. On my way<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />out, one pigeon escorts<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />me to the gate. We say our<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />forms of goodbye. I wonder<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />if one of his ancestors<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />spoke to Virginia Woolf.</div><div class="copyright" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #88816d; font-family: Roboto, "Droid Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-top: 42px;">The "melting" in the first stanza alludes to the famous/infamous Jim Webb song, "MacArthur Park," as sung-spoken by Richard Harris. "MacArthur Park is melting in the dark </div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-37753122051950900972024-02-07T08:54:00.000-08:002024-02-07T08:54:34.436-08:00Lewis Black Recalls Seeing The Grateful Dead At Folsom Field<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/fvdw9VrAqWM?si=JblivpdwJBi66IO5" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-87179765222274608832024-02-06T12:33:00.000-08:002024-02-06T12:33:51.776-08:00Beware: The Billionaire is Angry<div style="text-align: left;">The billionaire's enraged. Angry</div><div>with women, with labor unions, with</div><div>"woke" people (but not mad enough</div><div>to say what he means by that word).</div><div><br /></div><div>Lava-livid with academics,</div><div>except the ones whose research</div><div>undergirds his products. He's ticked</div><div>off with a former wife and a "disloyal"</div><div>child. He's not, though, especially upset</div><div>with neo-Nazis. Meanwhile,</div><div><br /></div><div>the fellow who bags the groceries</div><div>people buy and retrieves carts</div><div>from the parking lot in cold rain,</div><div>cheerfully greets me. We exchange</div><div>polite words and laugh. He reminds</div><div>me not to forget that he's placed</div><div><br /></div><div>items at the bottom of the cart.</div><div>"Yesterday, two people forgot theirs,"</div><div>he cautions. He seems to like</div><div>his minimum-wage job and life</div><div>well enough not to project rage.</div><div><br /></div><div>The angry billionaire will "earn"</div><div>14 million dollars today. My mind,</div><div>as it doesn't forget to load the under-cart</div><div>items in the back of my car, goes</div><div>to Steve, the man who bagged</div><div>the tomatoes and rice and</div><div>so on. . . . His red-bearded</div><div>face, full of good will. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Hans Ostrom 2024</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-55909909382241867482024-02-05T08:39:00.000-08:002024-02-05T08:39:28.641-08:00Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman's Epic Fast Car Duet at The Grammys 2024<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/fQEW4kkfxTo?si=JhT8yNQnze5eByjH" frameborder="0"></iframe>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-88357251983034621732024-02-01T12:07:00.000-08:002024-02-01T12:07:14.173-08:00Party Behaviors<div style="text-align: left;"> At the party, a light turned on</div><div>inside one woman and it shone</div><div>through her skin and shirt.</div><div><br /></div><div>A man brought a private </div><div>darkness with him. He climbed</div><div>inside it but still we heard his voice.</div><div><br /></div><div>One person bent the air,</div><div>warping what we saw</div><div>making things seem to wiggle,</div><div><br /></div><div>making us giggle. And some of</div><div>a verbose fellow's words became</div><div>visible and rose to the ceiling,</div><div><br /></div><div>full of gas, helium, perhaps.</div><div>Only briefly did I become a </div><div>turtle so as to be left alone. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hans Ostrom</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-36887289824466592152024-02-01T11:41:00.000-08:002024-02-01T11:41:25.399-08:00Like a Turnip<div style="text-align: left;">It might start with the shriek</div><div>of a hawk or the ruining racket</div><div>of a jackhammer. Or with the low,</div><div>low flute note from a great horned</div><div>owl, or with the wail of a baby nearby. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, a sound that seizes you,</div><div>uproots you from your moment,</div><div>like a turnip from damp soil,</div><div>and tosses you into the basket</div><div>of a different reality. Pulled</div><div><br /></div><div>or pushed into one space</div><div>of the "real after" another,</div><div>only falsely sure we know</div><div>what's coming in the mirage's flow--</div><div>oh, such is life, life such as it is.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hans Ostrom 2024</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6874186638051057213.post-34060045771660228332024-01-30T13:39:00.000-08:002024-01-31T09:58:10.980-08:00Vibrations<div style="text-align: left;">The elevated train shook</div><div>and rattled his dank studio</div><div>apartment. A a cat sleeping next</div><div>to him began to buzz its own</div><div>body with purring. Indecipherable</div><div><br /></div><div>words from a cranked up TV</div><div>next door hummed inside wall</div><div>studs and plaster-board. Somewhere</div><div>in the city, his former lover</div><div>snored, he knew, her nose</div><div><br /></div><div>morphed into a kind of kazoo. </div><div>He listened past the dins</div><div>and thought he heard the rustle</div><div>& tap of cockroaches & now a</div><div>furnace pipe joined the noise.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>hans ostrom 2024</div>Hans Ostromhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18430196297977803990noreply@blogger.com0