Literary Spat

A noted literary critic writing
a scathing review of a poetry anthology
edited by a noted poet does have
the sheen of a fresh gleaming
hound's turd--this much is true.

Also true is that review, critic,
poet, anthology, and opinions
about opinions will dessicate
as rapidly as the hound's deposit,

turn chalky white,
then go to fine dust,
which is then worked
into soil by water
from a noted rainstorm.


Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

Relatiionship Weather Report

Take a look at our radar map,
and you'll see that by tomorrow morning,
a low-pressure area will move in
over our relationship.

This could create some moisture
by mid-day, in the form of tears
and perspiration.  As we get further
into the week, the temperature

between us will drop, and by week's
end, we could be seeing an extreme-
relationship-warning. There is a 50%
chance of a break-up by Saturday,

so you'll want to dress 
appropriately. Please visit our
me-and-you-ologist's site for 
up-to-the-minute information. 


Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

A Casino

A casino's like Heaven.
Everyone's from somewhere else
and they focus on metaphysics:
chance, fate, grace, fortune,
and suspension of time.

It is like Hell.
It accelerates desire,
distracts from rest.
Crowds circulate
zombically, and sounds
of jangling mocks music.
Theft jeers kindness.

A casino's like us,
who pretend to be callous,
corrupt, and daring,
but who lack sufficient 
guile (and funds), tire
easily, and need to go
to the bathroom.

It banishes subtlety.
We love it for that.
It is humorless,
puritanically crass.
We don't forgive it that.
It is life. I always wins
because it never gambles.


Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

HOW NOVELS BEGIN: The Catcher In the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

"New Shoes," by Carolyn Weisz

"The Discourse on Peace," by Jacques Prévert

White Silence

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White Silence

Emily, I love you, but some
truths can't be told slant.
This country's never made
right what it did and does
to Black folks. On that score,
its soul is rotten and always
will be until it makes things
right. Its edifices will forever
be without foundation until
it makes things right.

Emily, more White folks
need to break this White silence,
which covers the U.S. like
Antarctic ice. It is White folks
who must insist at last
that this nation face itself
at what it did, and what it does.

Copyright 2012

"Rattlesnake," by Brewster Ghiselin

Fat Man on the Radio

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Fat Man on the Radio

There's a fat man on the radio
who thinks he knows it all.
My truck is stuck out on I-5.
I'd settle for a crawl.

I have to get this load to Texas
or else I won't get paid.
The blowhard on the radio--
he won't come to my aid.

Fat man on the radio,
jerking people's chains.
The fat man: hell, he just
pretends to know our pains.

Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

"Museum Vase," by Robert Francis

"Sleep," by Langston Hughes

see so many just

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see so many just

i see so many just
hanging on, or not,
staggering in wind
without a coat (as
TV heads mock
people-just-getting-
by); keeping upright
in a job while worrying,
weary, ill, afraid to miss
a shift, target, quota, goal.
see so many

ground down--
and the grinders:
well ensconced with
cosmetic surgery,
lawyers, gates, and
lies. see so many:

cubes and cubes of
housing, broken street
after broken street, &
slashed by alleys. something's
coming. don't know what.
maybe just more of
same. maybe reckoning--
a gray wind chasing
indifference and evil
across a plain full
of smoldering phones
and melted ear-buds.

see something staggering
in the cold, walking past
an empty police cruiser,
strolling toward a swarming
crowd, sound of cockroach-
scuttle coming out of
speakers. and a wailing.


Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

"Fascination," by Langston Hughes