Ponderable polemics, poetic

WordPress site of poet Mark Lucker

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  • Unsung resistance hero #333

    The clerk at Speedway gastwenty-three, finding his way paying his bills, nonplused bydaily c-store customer bravadofront-door panhandlersdrunks, stoners, general crankshappily suffering fools all sources of intoxicationQuiet Wednesday, mid-afternooncommotion at the pumpsimmigration commandos trying to fuel their vehicles beset upon by yellingwhistle-blowing, horn-honkingneighbors, legal observersraising a ruckus, officer’s iresinister looks as agents eye theircolleagues working pumpsA Read more

  • Talking ‘bout my generation (in less than complimentary ways)

    My generation has failed this country How we emerged from the sixtiescame of age inthe seventies morphed as a wholefrom justice-seekingto profit makingabove all by holding tight to old waysold men‘leading’ us This is what has gotten us to where we are nowWe should have jettisoned them all those old men likethe dried, used upold Read more

  • The Poet Takes His Meds

    I recently had a ‘heart procedure’doctor clearing out nearly blocked arteryeliminated offending clog with a new stentNow I take medication to keep my blood thinnerflowing more freely The med’s name – clopidogrel – amuses me greatly asI have composed plenty of doggerel inmy many years ofwaxing poeticBut knowing nothing of pharmaceutical naming conventions Ihave to Read more

  • Beings, being

    I was once hanging out with an eclectic group one of whom casually asked if any of us believed in ghostsbefore I could answeranother said “Not ghosts, but angels”bringing awkwardnessblank looks all around While I couldn’t see myself I like to think I was more contemplativethough it got me pondering whysomeone would staunchlybelieve in one Read more

  • Pseudo 23

    Modern-day Psalmistsplying their trade via pithy sayingsbasic fonts, splashy backdropsportmanteaus of varying interpretation revelationsshifting dunes rounded byprevailing winds as arid, accepted gospellacking lyricism posted for the world byself-anointed prophetsclaiming persecution, occasionally lapsing into lamenting angstbitterly masquerading as witpleading cases to merciful gods/laptop Pharisees issuing agreeable protestationsnever to grasp ‘liking’ is not prayerweeping ideograms donot denote Read more

  • Ghosts of Niemöller

    First they came for the immigrantsAnd I did not speak out Because I was not an immigrantMy ancestors were, but that was differentThen they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Even though America is kind of socialistBut real socialists are evil – so they sayThen they came for the trade unionists Read more

  • Mapped. Out.

    Our path to perdition startedat not eating French frieswound through calling gasoline ‘freedom molecules’imagined ‘wars’ on Christmas, culture veering torepeatedly shooting upcases of light beer light-on-logic moves, each For the past few generations Americans have done more of their critical reading in supermarket checkout lines than libraries Eliminating our nation’seducation department only completes the process Read more

  • January, won

    The first day of a new yearcliché is the currency we traffic innew pages are turnedexpectations for whateverlies aheadexceedingly optimistic self-talk, public proclamationspersonal plans for change, regenerationrenewal carries vagueexpiration date mentally stamped at factorywarning us with certaintylike a gallon of milk ‘hopes will curdle if not used by…’Those with calendars still hanging from walls,refrigeratorsripping last Read more

  • Inheritances

    This is a dark time for many Americansamong the more somber of my lifehopefulness has trouble finding any sort of foothold, sense of balanceMonths away from retirement I already see the tarnish descending on my planned golden yearssitting in a recliner with my feet up letting others take up the resistance just doesn’t sit well Read more

  • Oops.

    “I like to live my life the way I type – fast, and with a lot of mistakes.” – Anonymous Mistakes have always been madecorrections ever problematic the ancients inscribing in clayused wet thumb to smooth outill-placed < \ x = # or ^when caught before the sun bakederrors into eternity rune carvers had less Read more