Black Friday: Target Shoppers Step Over Walter Vance As He Collapses, Dies

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/27/black-friday-target_n_1115372.html?ref=mostpopular

We stepped over him,

Barely noticing how convulsions turned to stillness,

Focused, instead, on the symphony of televisions,

Each singing its own siren song

Svetlana Alliluyeva

Lana Peters, Stalin’s Daughter, Dies at 85

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/world/europe/stalins-daughter-dies-at-85.html

Wherever I go,” she said, “here, or Switzerland, or India, or wherever. Australia. Some island. I will always be a political prisoner of my father’s name.”

Father’s simplicity butchered us all

His love, his cruelty

Created and destroyed us

Born Stalin’s ‘little sparrow’,

Pampered as a princess,

While millions slaved in his forced labor

Brother Jacob, murdered by the Nazis,

(Father wouldn’t stoop to trade a single German general for him)

Brother Vasili, killed by the bottle

Mother ‘s self-mutilation

(They claimed appendicitis, but I saw the gashes)

My youngest  love banished  to Siberia

There could be no other

All of my marriages withered

No man strong as his steel

(Father would grab me by the throat, rip my hair, make me dance)

Setting my Soviet passport on fire

Wandering citizen of the world

Rootless, nameless,

Little sparrow no longer

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/238280-Stalin-s-Daughter-Lana-Peters-Dies-at-85

The Hidden Cost of Chocolate

Nestle 'to act over child labour in cocoa industry'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15917164

In the Ivory Coast

Children wielding machetes

Hack through golden cocoa pods

They squat in muddy tee shirts

Skinny legs scarred with past mistakes

Silently harvesting our delight

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15681986

Unknown Namesake

I.

There is a danger in such ignorance

Scanning names on a parchment family tree

Isadora? Lily? Sadie? Rose?

Great grandmother’s family wiped clean from memory's slate 

II.

Who will know Sadie was the only one on Seeley Avenue

With two coins to rub together during the Depression?

Backyard bordered with peonies in bright fuchsia and soft pink;

She wouldn’t share a bloom.

III.

Who will know little Rose Mendelsohn died jumping rope

Braids flying, her heart exploded

Mother’s screams were heard blocks away

At the “Five and Dime”

Blood curling shouts to wake the dead

But little Rose was gone

IV.

Unknown namesake

Legacy unspoken

Like an antique wedding band

Bequeathed by souls long asleep at Waldheim

Double Death

The funerals that cost families dear

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15890662

Ironwood, Kiaat, Oak, Walnut

Deep woods of forest

Sanded smooth by craftsman’s hands

Lined with silk for hereafter

Bright robes in crimson and vermilion

Brilliant scarves, beaded black braids

Pose at the cemetery

Coffee and tea

Pastries and liquor

Meats and nuts

Must serve hundreds of mourners

Music and wine

Dancing and laughter

Send off the departed

Years will be lean

After death

Hunger will plague us,

Memory won’t feed empty bellies

Promise and Plenty

Black Friday Is Busy, but Are Holiday Shoppers Spending?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/business/black-friday-shoppers-fan-out-in-the-dark-of-night.html?_r=1&hp

Big screen televisions tower over the crowded aisles

Christmas carols blare

Shoppers in pajamas jostle for blenders, baby carriages, diamond studs

Everything screaming of promise and plenty

Snapped up by tired hands

Shoved into overflowing cars

Coupons and flyers lining dirty floor mats

As the hunt continues

Turkey

In This Town, Turkey Picks Up Bill for Dinner

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/us/ozark-ark-a-town-that-runs-on-turkey.html?pagewanted=1

Stunned

Plucked

Slashed

Gutted

Cleaned

Injected

Stuffed

Sent

Served

Rough Judgement

Texas High Court Suspends Judge In Beating Video

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/23/142695227/texas-supreme-court-suspends-judge-in-beating-video?ft=1&f=1001&sc=tw&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Put away your robe, Father

Your throne no longer awaits

You’ll no longer wield your gavel,

Passing judgement on those beneath you

Put away your belt, Father

Your rough justice is over

You’ll no longer beat me into submission

Passing judgement on those beneath you

On Lucks Lane

Grandmother's walnut table
Covered in rain
Proud red velvet seats
Glistening in the gloom
Expelled from dusty dining room
Bathed in mist
Abandoned to gravel and weed

Rising Unbidden

Survivors Seek Answers at Khmer Rouge Trial

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/world/asia/cambodian-survivors-seek-truth-at-khmer-rouge-trial.html?hp

Sandalwood burning

Jasmine petals adorn pyramid of skulls

Monks in saffron robes chant

Teeth and bone still emerge from mass grave

During monsoon rains

Rising,

As memories

Unbidden, to a foreign land

Stolen Words

Elizabeth Nichols, Occupy Portland Protester Pepper Sprayed in the Face, Identified

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/19/liz-nichols-occupy-portland-pepper-spray-in-face_n_1102895.html

Her mouth opened in silent scream

Pepper spray rips down her throat

Words awash in poison

Education

UC Davis Pepper Spray Video At Occupy Protest Launches Probe By University

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/19/uc-davis-pepper-spray-video_n_1103075.html

On their knees,

Deferential yet defiant

Silently resisting,

Youth link arms.

Hit by plumes of pepper spray,

Eyes shut to the fire

They openly weep,

And so do I.

She Lies

Kate Prout murder: Husband to reveal Redmarley farm grave

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-15788696

Her body lies

Under the orchard

Apple and pears trees will bloom

From blood and bones

Her words lie

As she demands papers for divorce

Her foolishness would have destroyed the farm

Now she lies here

At dawn and gloaming

Safely tucked under the greening earth 

Modern Slavery

The Face of Modern Slavery

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/opinion/kristof-the-face-of-modern-slavery.html?_r=1&hp

Sold at six.

Arms and legs tied to the bed.

Sold night after night.

Sewn up,

Sold as a virgin again.

And again.

Finally free

Though other girls remain.

When will we save them from the nightmare? 

Bridal Slave

Bridal Slave
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/slaverya21stcenturyevil/2011/10/2011101013102368710.html


Henna will not decorate slender fingers
Gold necklaces will not drape her neck
No diamond will stud her nostril
She will have no embroidered sari
He will not feed her sweets from loving fingers
Neighbors will not bless and celebrate


$120
For a bride like a mule
Who will labor in burning sun by day
And be used by him each night

Gather

As the Police Moved In, the Word Went Out: ‘It’s Happening’

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/nyregion/zuccotti-park-protesters-its-happening.html?_r=1

Strangely quiet now

Wordless after destruction

Like an abandoned village

Without a hut left standing

Protestors, tents, tarps,

Gas masks and goggles,

Drums and American flags

All ripped away

Zuccotti  Park hosed down

Stripped clean.

Nerve center crippled

Yet still we gather

Green

Your Prius' Deepest Darkest Secret

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/10/rare-earths-prius-molycorp?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+motherjones%2FTheBlueMarble+%28Mother+Jones+%7C+The+Blue+Marble%29

Young workers in Inner Mongolia

Hair, a shocking white,

Teeth, falling out one by one,

Youth reduced to radioactive waste

For rare earth mining

To gather  Neodymium

That fuels your Prius

And runs your wind turbines

We will clear dense forests in Malaysia

Soon defects will mar village babies

Women will fear water in the rivers

You, however, will drive your Smart car, 

Play with your toys,

Congratulating yourself for treading gently

On a poisoned planet

Preparing for the Games

In Pictures: Brazil police seize Rio's largest favela

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15711132

100,000 crammed in candy colored apartments,

Paint fading in Brazilian sun.

Drug runners abandon their corners

As winding streets are overtaken by tanks.

Soldiers bear rifles

Besides mountains of trash.

Let the games begin.

My Parents Were Home-Schooling Anarchists

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/magazine/my-parents-were-home-schooling-anarchists.html?pagewanted=6&hpw

Mom and Dad  embraced “all things counter, original, spare, strange.” 

Wandering in Mexico with us, 4 young children

Visiting mummies in Guanjuato

And ruins of a castle in England

Tramping across continents

Afternoons spent doing Yoga and drinking tea

When finally forced to attend prison-like school

In Saint Louis,

Having no jeans, no feathered hair,

Unable to recite Star Wars lines or multiplications tables

We learned to sit in rows,

To defend ourselves,

To disappear  

What Remains

Dover mortuary landfill dumping: Congressman asked Pentagon about practice in Sept.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-warned-about-landfill-issue-months-ago/2011/11/11/gIQAdLWbCN_story.html?hpid=z4

After the folded flags

And the solemn bugler playing taps

Far away from the endless white crosses of Arlington

Soldiers remains

Molder in a landfill

Thank you for your service.

May God bless America.

“Success with Honor”

Penn State’s Motto 

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf

My obituary is being written

Though I’m still alive

Year upon year of sunlight and green fields,

Cheering crowds, beautiful passes,

Tainted by inaction.

I knew about Sandusky and the Second Mile

All of those troubled boys

Victim 1,

11 or 12 years old

Sandusky brought him to church

The kid slept in his basement

Coach claimed to be working on wrestling moves

He had 61 phone calls on log to the boy

Not one returned

Victim 2

Just ten years old,

Caught in the showers with him at 10:00 pm by some teaching assistant,

Who heard water, slapping, and crying…

He told us; we did nothing

Victim 3

In the seventh grade,

Wore gym shorts to bed ,

Lay on his belly, trying to prevent it

Victim 4

Just a kid

Given Nike, Air walk,

Trips to games around the country,

In exchange for his childhood

He hid in the closet when the coach came calling

Victim 5

7 years old

Trapped in the shower

Not understanding why he couldn’t feel clean

Victim 6’s

Mother noticed his wet hair,

She reported the incident to police

And confronted Sandusky

Who said, “I wish I were dead”

Victim 7

Haunted by blurry memories,

Phone calls not returned

Victim 8

Witnessed by a janitor

Who sobbed at what he saw. 

Veteran of war and sorrow,

Shocked by a middle aged man’s mouth on a young boy

Incident never reported

Janitor now suffers from dementia

I wish I too could forget,

That memory would blur

And curl at the edges like paper warped by water,

But when my moment came,

Words perished on my tongue

Now I too feel trapped in the showers
Stifled by steam
Praying for new baptism 

Life Begins

Mississippi Voters Reject 'Personhood' Measure

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/09/142164176/personhood-amendment-rejected-by-miss-voters?ft=1&f=1014&sc=tw

I remember marching on the campus green

Armed with a bent wire hanger, chanting “never again”,

Feeling as if my adult life began with protest

Friends confessed the procedure

Tears streaming down youthful faces,

Not ready to be mothers

Yet I’ve seen when life truly begins

Tiny cluster of cells singing under the microscope

I’ve wept  for their death,

Prayed for their growth,

Envisioned their endless multiplication

Unraveled

The strange and curious history of lobotomy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15629160

Men in stark white lab coats

Severed connections from the frontal lobe 

Arms deep in neural swamp

Casting about for cures

Thousands of people

With unstitched minds,

Faulty connections unwoven like an unraveling shawl

Legions of mindless,

Soon to be apathetic, catatonic,

Among their last words, “Thank you doctor”.

Stain

Reports Detail the Chase for Freed Exotic Animals

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/us/reports-detail-chase-for-freed-exotic-animals-in-ohio.html?src=recg

Debt ridden

Divorced

I set my animals free,

Liberated to run through ravines and prairie

Little did I know

Before my suicide

50 would be murdered,

Poached, shot dead for their father’s sins

I took my own life

After opening the cages.

Never expecting the white tiger

To gnaw on my bones

African tigers.

Mountain lions.

Grizzly bears.

All slaughtered.

Their blood will stain my name.

Blue

Doctor Trials Laser Treatment to Change Eye Colour 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15596885

Iris the

Color of deer fur;

Fresh chestnuts;

Moist soil

Flooded with piercing light

(Stare directly into the laser,

As if it were an eclipse)

Until brown bleeds to tan then explodes

Like turquoise fireworks.

Blue as deep water;

Indian summer sky;

Robin’s exquisite eggs

Who would dare

Stare into the sun,

Trade earth for ocean,

Force brown eyes blue?

Guatemala Trash 'Miners'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/04/guatemala-trash-miners_n_1076938.html?ref=world#s455103

Standing atop a mountain of refuse

Swollen trash floating in a filthy river

Panning for gold

Board of Trade

CHICAGO TRADER DUMPS MCDONALD’S APPLICATIONS ON THE 99 PERCENT

http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/11/04/360500/chicago-trader-dumps-mcdonalds-applications-on-the-99-percent/

Blanket cold protestors

With sheets of job applications for McDonalds

They deserve no more

Their lives meaningless as flyers whipping in the wind

Proudly post signs in my high rise window

“I am the 1%”

Caffeine. commute. Work twelve hours. Commute. Ambien. Repeat.

I have no time for chanting and philosophy.

Claw from your gutter, or stay where you belong.

Begin Again

Purging Cells in Mice Is Found to Combat Aging Ills

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/science/senescent-cells-hasten-aging-but-can-be-purged-mouse-study-suggests.html?_r=1&hpw

Finally

Brows unfurrow as if time is a film playing backwards,

An old grainy color reel

Of your mother  as a girl,

Gamboling along a nameless beach

Finally

Cloudy eyes grow clear,

As in a polluted river,

Murky pools dissipate, and crystal water flows unencumbered

Finally

Gray hair to sable

As if in a dream,

Where you are always twenty-one

(Age is suspended in the mind’s timeless eye)

Forever beautiful, your life, always beginning.

Failed Prophet Regrets Wrongly Predicting All Those Raptures

http://gawker.com/5855133/

Words warp into riddles

Seek truth through careful divination

God swims beneath the surface,

Haunting, elusive

Humble followers squandered modest fortunes

Following my failed prophesies

I sit in the dead stillness of night

Ear pressed to Holiest Book

Listening for Him