1/21/2009

With God on Our Side


Obama’s inauguration was inspiring, yes. The media, as usual, did its absolute best to make it more so, and quite unnecessarily, I’d say. For as most of us know, Mr. Obama is a genuinely inspiring and charismatic man. And the near-landslide election of an African American to the American presidency is incredible enough; we hardly need Tom Brocaw’s unctuous slathering to remind us of its uniqueness. But when the ass-kissing and the fashion shows and the unfounded comparisons with Lincoln were finally over, I came away with a slightly foul taste in my mouth: the taste of religion being stuffed down my throat. Last I heard, this government’s strength lay in keeping church and state at a distance, yet this inauguration was so full of preachers, prayers, and pious pleas to the Christian god that I began to wonder whether those time-honored 1st amendment strictures had been cast into the fiery pit. George Bush’s belief that he enjoyed a direct line to his maker was responsible for some of the most reprehensible policy decisions in recent history. One would hope that Obama, in spite of his sincere belief in a personal higher power, would keep it between him and his god, instead of requiring the rest of us to join in. Yes, he called for unity among the world’s most contentious religions, and, yes, we need all the help we can get, but where’s the unity in a script that features two Protestant clergymen (one a homophobe), a musical petition to the Christian god to protect American liberty, a mass recital of the Lord’s Prayer (the best known prayer in all Christendom), and, so help me God, an oath sworn on the Christian Bible?

1/14/2009

Corrine and Larrybob


Bed, San Francisco. August 2007.
Corrine was less than forthcoming about her extramarital activities
and who could blame her
doing it was one thing, talking about it quite another
that’s why Larrybob was forever loath to inquire
after his wife’s nocturnal whereabouts
he knew he risked a shot to the mouth
or a slap across his lightly bearded face just for asking
like for example the rain-soaked morning she arrived home
panties in one hand, flip flops in the other
you must be freezing, he said
having risen from a fitful slumber to answer the bell
mind yer own beeswax, she’d countered
sauntering to the shower, tracking mud down the hall
Larrybob for his part was civil and obedient
he’d never known a woman like this
she was a wild mystery and in the thrall of that mystery
he was gutless, putty in her hands his father used to say
Larrybob could no more protest her infidelities
than he could defend his own pathetic obsequiousness
he simply loved every inch of this woman and had long ago decided
that he would tolerate any abuse she might see fit
to rain down on his empty head
so long as he could daily inhale her divine scent
so long as he could sleep most nights at her side 

and so long as he could, 
in his dealings with the fair citizens of Farfetch, 
refer to her proudly as the queen of his kingdom
and the light of his life.

it's always always


Sky consciousness, January 2008

beyond the icebound lake
the universe blazes
behind the canvas
a crow cries
the sound of all sounds

the stars between the trees
the trees beyond the stars

in that mountain
this mountain
in these rocks
all rocks
sleeping the life of always

this drop of day is on fire
this is what you are
adrift in the endless dream
in this time
in all time