Posts for June 20, 2026

Remarkable roadblocks to hunger,
preventers of starvation,
enablers of survival,
food pantries hold more and more of us
in the palms of their hands.

Folks who donated
and never thought empty cupboards
would haunt their families
now face grim realities of need.

Stigma vanishes in the face of reality.    

But some things don’t appear on food pantry shelves:  
flour
corn meal
baking soda
baking powder
sugar (white or brown)
molasses
oancake syrup
olive oil (Salvation Army has corn oil)
butter (Salvation Army has margarin)            
        clients are limited to one visit per month
vinegar of any kind
Pam cooking spray
jams and jellies
soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
sour cream
cottage cheese
cheese (time was, commodity cheese was famous)
fish sticks (used to have them, not anymore)
tofu
bath soap
shampoo
conditioner
lotion
vitamins
cough drops
toothpaste
mouthwash

Nathaniel Mission
    food pantry visit once per month
        but the best produce in town
        two household products             
                laundry detergent            
                toilet paper            
                paper towels            
                dish soap            
                bleach
    clothing bank
                three garments per visit, personal care samples 
    healthy breakfast and lunch Mondays through Thursdays
    coffee and water available all day                                    
    
 God’s Pantry allows two visits per month            
        limited produce varies
        frozen meats of many kinds
        come fall, sign up for Thanksgiving basket

Sisters Road to Freedom “More than a Pantry”                        
        Wednesdays and Saturdays
        legal help                        
        DV seminars                        
        clothing (including undergarments and shoes)                        
        baby needs  

This patchwork quilt of finding basic human needs            
    requires project management skills.

Humans are disgusting assholes
An acid bath is always an option
Found families are weird too
When things are uncomfortable, patrol the perimeter
It’s OK to find comfort in soapy stories
And to steal their dialogue and plots for your own life and purposes
Take the shot even if there is a chance it could go horribly wrong
Corporates really are the absolute worst
The choices we make have consequences
Appearances are deceptive because we are all dangerous rogues
Life is just a space opera and we are all seeking sanctuary moon

           round-
a-bout

speed—————————-

           curve a-
                          head

thorofare—————–
           weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Tall suited men
Vandals in disguise
they have come to stain
our every Sunrise

So She plants ideas
with great seeds and trowel
seeing what is needed
by Moonlight and Owl

Waiting for daybreak
chance rolls out of bed
barely making sense
out of all that’s been spread

As She follows the voices
from noisy to mute
She makes the rains fall
and finds every root

Great ideas may tremble
pushing into light
but will pull us all together
for what is right in clear sight

Strike a match of words
Ignite the spine of passion             
Singe the tongue of hate
Blaze the sky with wonder
Burn down governments
Roll the heat
Between your fingers
Like a kinder cigarette          
Draw deep your heart 
Into the exhaling lungs
Let smoke tear the eye
Tap the tindered ash
The round red tip
A vortex inferno  

Alone
In the dark
Across the lake
Someone spies
Your raw red scar
A beacon in the dark
And inhales the smolder
Of hope  

dewdrops redbud leaves
    prolific at the first light
gone by mid morning  

deny it if it brings you peace
indifference was never quite your style
we both know the sorry truth
your lips always did look best
pressed to my cold and
blackened heart

We were not expecting it when they came from the stars
They looked upon the world and saw cities, trains, and cars
Unexpected guests arriving at our messy home
But mothership landed—we were no longer alone

Every person and nation and camera came to see
We simply could not believe that they were talking trees
They walked slowly with purpose and with their heads held high
They had branches and bark and wore green leaves like suit ties

They first took to the air and surfed through day and night sky
They found insects and feathers and heard the eagle’s cry
Through clear skies and rough winds and turbulent lightning storm
Then patiently waiting for a single cloud to form

And then they came to study the depths of the ocean
Even plankton and algae were given attention
There they swam with small fish, octopus, dolphins, and whales
But the greatest honor was shown to the slow sea snail

Then they moved from the sea to a great range of mountains
They climbed to the top spreading their limbs like large fountains
There they rubbed the snow and smooth rock beneath their bark hands
Enjoying the height from above and view of the lands

Next they journeyed to the desert to walk among dunes
Finding evidence of man among the ancient ruins
Out on the hardpan they watched sidewinder snake practice
But they were more enraptured by the prickly cactus

Finally they turned their gaze from the land to mankind
They studied our writing and art—impressed with our minds
But coughed on the pollution from creating our wares
Not impressed in the least by our history of warfare

Then seeing something made them root to the ground midstride
With a start they became frantic and brushed us aside
Of all things they’d seen, this was the most cruel to their eye
They fled back to their ships and flew away in the skies

Many asked, “But why did they leave? We have to know why!”
Then a man gave account of events with a great sigh
He pointed to his garden out back to clarify
Then said, “The trees fell to their knees, racking with great cries.
They discovered the trees in the pots we call bonsai…”

Let it ring so loud
The sound barrier bursts
Back to the time
It was okay to disagree 
Without being seen as a threat

Let Freedom Ring
Back to the time
It was okay to be black
Drive a nice car
Jog down a street
Wear a hoodie
Not seen as a threat

Let Freedom Ring
Back to the time
When America proudly celebrated being
The melting pot
And welcomed immigrants with open arms

Let Freedom Ring
Back to the time
When women were in control
Of their own bodies
Decided
Who 
When
Why
They were touched

Let Freedom Ring
Back to the time
When America wasn’t divided 
Where the 
Red
White and
Blue
Included All

In 2026,  as we
Celebrate America 250

Let Freedom Ring 

close to the LexPoMo solstice
weary from hours of writing
scanning and commenting
we have poems to workshop
yet keep losing our way
images baffling, ideas cryptic
Are we just plain tired?  

references bounce giddily around the room:
yardsticks         wildfires          rosary beads   
a poem as an egg with a horse inside
Big Easy taxi driver turned writing prof
grapefruit spoons           pastiche of peaches   
knives      flashbulbs       satellites      Christian radio
clothes plucked from someone else’s laundry  

puzzling our way through these scattered gems,
ah! one breath of consensus:   Yes, that is a terrible title.