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Beauty School

At the Medford, Oregon, airport,

the Sky House Bar and Grill
(one floor up) looks past runways
to flat baked grass and green,
lumpy hills. The server

says she's going to Beauty
School--which takes me back
to when women went to
"beauty shops," not salons

or spas. I hope she earns
a Ph.D. in Beauty and becomes
a noted scholar in the field.
Her ways, wit, and face

suggest she has the aptitude.

hans ostrom 2025

Shakespeare's Flow

(At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival,

Ashland, Oregon)

Lithia Creek pours out

of Oregon springs and stair-step-
rolls over dark boulders.

Its braided riffles ruffle foam,
then ease into pools. All
the trees--alder, cedar, oak,

fir, sycamore--drip dappled light
on the eager stream. It's a big
creek, known to flood,

and as it flattens, it runs
through Ashland, where
Shakespeare's plays

migrated to Far West 90
years ago and found stages
in a snug valley. Shakespeare's

language, rhythms, wit, wonder,
and knowing pour forth from
an eternal spring, it seems,

and feed streams of drama
& reading round and round
the planet--in how many idioms?

hans ostrom 2025

Surgeon breaks down in parliament explaining how IDF drones target children

Oregon Bartender

 Ashland, Oregon

Pretty young and pretty,
she wears faded Levis
sans belt and a sleeveless
shirt. Blue arm tattoos

include butterflies and
vines and a cube with
a heart inside one box.
"It gets s-o-o-o hot

in Ashland in August,"
she says, going nearly
baritone for "so."
Blue bartender-eyes

don't miss a trick. She says
she tried a city--Portland
--but came back to Ashland
as most do. Oh, what

would William Shakespeare
do with you? I wonder
to myself. She sets a
mocktail mojito before

me on dark wood. I
think he would  do something
spritely with her--
                           mischievous.

hans ostrom 2025

Knuckle Skin

It's fine how skin

over knuckles bunches 

like upholstery. Or like

a stack of wrinkles. 

Epidermal accordions?

Bend a finger, the skin

smoothes itself, stretches

tight. Nice! I would like to

leave you with a final

pronouncment on knuckle

skin but I can't think of one

and anyway knuckle skin

is such a personal topic. 

hans ostrom 2025

"Love, Come Out of the Shadows," by Roger Ilsley

A Way to Grow Old

Laboring, I used to power

though lassitude like a lorry
going up through the gears.

Digging trenches, mixing
concrete, hauling hod,
pounding anils, house-painting,
weed-slashing....

Tired? Take a breath
or chug water & get back
to it. Engage the will
like a lever. Age

inforces hard limits.
Heat and humidity
level me. So too cold
weather. I say to myself,

"That's it. Tools down:
done for the day."
One way to grow old:
realistically.

hans ostrom 2025

"Mademoiselle, Where Are Your Clothes?" by Roger Illsley

Hey, Grace, Say Grace

May I have your cursory

attention, please. Green peas,
brown beans, and golden corn
attend our blue plates. All
we have is today: grace.
Bon appetit. Let's eat!

hans ostrom 2025

Watercolor

The painter sharpened blurs,

smudged lines, herded blends,
let pigment and water dance
in cosutme to visual elliptical
tunes. That is not a poplar,
that is not a house, nor is
that a field! Yet, once wetly,
now dried, they seem so very well.

hans ostrom 2025

Hot Day, Cold Watermelon

   Pink tongue (the center)

tastes. Sweet. Around it the mouth
  praises water: cold!

hans ostrom 2025