COLONEL AMERICA CALLING

by Lynn White

The dove sat carefully on Liberty
lining her nest with down.
She cooed sweetly
but her new chick 
said ‘coo-ark’
mimicking her,
then ‘quark,
then ’yawp’
as it grew
stronger,
she saw

her cuckooed dove
hatchling
was a mocking bird,
calling
in New-Speak
straining
to be understood,
straining 
for more space, 
more gas, 
more gold, 
more

like 
a colonising colonel
balanced precariously
puffing out his dovey chest, 
as his eagle’s eye
preys south
then north,
the Middle
East
then West.
If we don’t clip his wings
where will he go next?

 

AI-generated graphic by Nightcafé for The New Verse News

Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality and writes hoping to find an audience for her musings. She was shortlisted in the Theatre Cloud 'War Poetry for Today' competition and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and a Rhysling Award. Her poetry has appeared in many publications including: Apogee, Firewords, Peach Velvet, Light Journal, and So It Goes.

GOVT DISARRAY

by David Radavich

Barnum & Bailey Circus Congress of Freaks c. 1924

Holiday Finds Congress Well Short of Goals  — The landmark Senate vote this week to end the minority party’s ability to filibuster most presidential nominees is just one symptom of the deep level of dysfunction coursing through the 113th Congress . . . The list of unfinished tasks . . .  is daunting — and time is just about out. The House will be back the week after Thanksgiving, but the Senate is taking a two-week break. - NT Times, November 23, 2013



The circus animals
have all run loose.

They can’t be seen
in the night,

but their smell
permeates the fetid air.

Some of them
must be preying

now that the
keepers have gone home.

I can’t report
any more
than what you’ve heard.

The feeding pails
are empty

and water
has been scattered
in every direction.
                                              
Don’t expect cages
to be open

in the morning.


David Radavich’s recent collections include America Bound: An Epic for Our Time (2007), Canonicals: Love’s Hours (2009), and Middle-East Mezze (2011). His plays have been performed across the U.S., including six Off-Off-Broadway, and in Europe. His new collection is The Countries We Live In.