Detour

Today, downtown Ft. Lauderdale, there is an Art Walk at Fats Village, Flagler Village, Sailboat Bend etc. I am even hosting poetry reading today. A very busy day indeed!

Yet with all this hustle and bustle, they are repairing/preparing the tracks and have closed the tracks on Broward Boulevard. So plan accordingly either follow the detour or take another route but I hope to see you soon.

Colonization: Then and Again

I have been thinking about space exploration recently especially since I've been imbibed by newspaper articles. Should I be happy that Pluto will regain its planet status? Next I read about the failed shuttle which burst open like a piñata over the Florida coast. It setback hopes of economic travel to Mars vacation and possible colonization. Before that I read about Venus and how it is earth like because they sensed active volcanoes. It had me thinking. Oh why not? Here are some thoughts which hopefully are poems:

Colonization then and again

Europeans wanted to colonize America

To escape the wars and life of strife in Europe:

Religious persecution and economic blight

To set up colonies far from the crown 

Then they made it their own.

They chased them and cornered them onto reservations.

They took land and made it their own.

They traded for them and made them work on plantations.

They achieved a status in the new world like never before.

They want the status quo to stay but others demanded change

And wars were fought that brought about some rights.

They cry that rights should never extend to all

As that should clearly cause the human race to fall.

Such as the right to marry should stay ordained

But it always had a civil consequence

For serious illness and who can visit in hospital.

Then there is employer sponsored healthcare

And even intestate where some states recognize

common-law wife but not your domestic mate.

The status quo has never been the same

Not when Europeans crossed the Atlantic

And Americans they became.

So why do people expect things to stay the same?

Now Humans want to colonize Venus or even Mars

To escape the wars and life of strife on Earth

Religious persecution and economic blight

To set up colonies on earth-like planets

To explore new worlds and make it their own.

Will they chase the Venetians and Martians away?

Or will they use them for slave labor?

Will they create a new status quo?

Will the human pattern repeat itself?

Politics and Poetry

Politics can evoke strong emotions. That passion can inspire poetry. A couple politicians have been known to be poets too. One that comes to mind is A.P. Herbert and I think of his titles:

I Like Them Fluffy
At The Theatre: To The Lady Behind Me
I Cant See What He Sees in Her

My favorite three of his doesn't seem to have much to do with politics but they are quite entertaining.
Another poet, the Jamaican poet, Louise Bennett Coverly (Miss Lou) informed us, criticized us and entertained us with her poetry. Political issues of the day such as brain drain where talented people were leaving the island and going to England provided much fodder such as in "Colonization in Reverse." Miss Lou's poetry not only entertained but provided historical and political insight of events.

So to honor my influential poets at a time when so many Republican candidates are running for president and our former governor released thirty- three years of his tax return, my poem of the week:

Late Night Humor

I can't stand watching the news but I will read it online and the newspaper. I get the Sunday paper (ok, also for the coupons) and update myself with what's going on locally and the world. National news was that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Affordable Care Act. I laugh at the late night humor usually on the opinion but I had an issue with Jimmy.

Let Jimmy Laugh

Laugh as you're neither unemployed or underemployed 

Laugh as you're the rich employee on TV

With perks and benefits wherever you go.

Laugh that "we could drink, smoke, jump mini-bikes off bridges

Or play chainsaw tag if we want to."

Laugh that "if we get hurt, it's not our problem.

It's America's problem...."

For many years, for many people

Full time jobs with benefits like healthcare

Stayed out of reach. Many people made ends meet

By working two or even three part-time jobs

And couldn't afford to buy themselves

Or their family basic healthcare.

Yet so easily go bankrupt if they 

Or a loved one became seriously sick.

They needed some healthcare

And the Affordable Care Act provided that.

Be glad for your TV gig and keep up your ratings

So you can laugh and make frivolous health things

That other industrialized countries provide for their denizens.

Your example of people doing stupid things

Mock the people who need medical coverage for serious conditions.

So you can laugh until you're no longer on TV,

broke or just working paycheck to paycheck -

Don't get sick if you have no medical insurance

Then you'd have to laugh at yourself!

Copyrighted 2015 Suzzette Dawes

Source: Kimmel, Jimmy. "Late Night Humor." Sun-Sentinel. 28 June 2015. 18A. Print.