Haiku
          by “Wired Clues” Abe

Baseball teams and fans,
vanished from the baseball fields—
coronavirus.

 

Tanka
          by “Wired Clues” Abe

Canadian geese,
outside of the hospital,
seek for food for life.
Doctors, nurses, techs and more
seek to prolong life inside.

“Wired Clues” Abe is a poet of Japanese forms and technology.

~~~

Afro-Anerican Female Professional Excoriated by High-Tech and the Press
          by Welard Icubese

She came from Africa; she was born in the Cameroon,
o, doctor Stella of the stars, beneath an ambe-r moon.
She has been banished by high tech, o, Ms. Immanuel,
proclaimed a witch-doc by the main stream media as well,
because she has been treating patients with the Wu Flu plague,
with doses of hydroxychloroquine, which she finds safe.

She says she has helped hundreds blighted by the dread disease,
this immigrant in Houston with her medical degree.
Another reason why her name is blasted and besmirched,
is that she is an active pastor of a Christian church.
She has strange thoughts of aliens, this fire-powered star,
illumna of the University of Calabar.

Welard Icubese is a poet of Nigeria and Cameroon. Calabar, in southeast Nigeria, is a city of about 370,00. Houston is a city in southeast Texas of about 2,000,000. In addition to hydroxychloroquine, she uses azithromycin and zinc, partly perhaps because of the widespread use of hydrochloroquine in Cemeroon for malaria. According to Beau Lecsi Werd, “illumna” is a neologism meaning shining female star.

~~~

Getting to the Gods
          by Acwiles Berude

It takes an Herculean effort to approach the gods,
and when one gets to where they are, the wary spirit nods.
It’s not because it isn’t worth it, for indeed it is,
but that one is surprised to find there is no needed bliss.
Its roads are bumpy, fairly rough, and edged by some discord.
Its roads are littered with debris, glass, plastic and cardboard.
There’s Juno’s hate, and Jupiter is throwmg lightning bolts;
each one packs quite a bit of fury and a lot of volts.
There’s Neptune too, who’s hardly friendly. He is quite a jerk.
He gets so mean, especi’lly to an epic wanderer.

Acwiles Berude is a poet of Ancient Greece.

~~~

Neptune’s Heated Pool
          by Aedile Cwebus
          “nobis meminisse relictum”
              —Statius

Although one hears of Global Warming now, apparently,
it once was warmer in the Mediterranean Sea.
Comparing ratios of calcite to magnesium,
some Spanish and Italian scientists found cooling come.
Back in the day of Martial, Juvenal and Statius.
of Lucan, Seneca, Quintilian and Tacitus,
the Sea was hotter, over 3º in Fahrenheit,
and Neptune savoured hotter waters for his bathing time.
But as the tem-per-a-tures dropped, so did the Silver Age,
and later colder climate closed the Roman holiday.

Aedile Cwerbus is a poet of Ancient Rome. The time of the Roman Empire, 27 BC to 476 AD, coincides with the warmest period of the last 2000 years for the Mediterranean Sea.

~~~

In the Mountains
          by Uwe Carl Diebes

I read much of the night. I cannot go to sleep, you see.
Perchance I dream. O, in the mountains there I feel free.
But what did you expect? It’s highly dangerous…and far.
O, so far down. I did not want to ride the cable car.
The snow is everywhere…and cold. If I may be so bold,
Why don’t we take a trip?…a rip…the cord…the door is old.
But what did you expect? There is no other way, but this.
Of course, it’s highly dangerous. You were expecting bliss?
Hold on, Maria! I’ll take you with me. Where to? Where to?
You’re working on French verbs? It’s time to go. The view. Adieu.

Uwe Carl Diebes is a poet of the Alps.

~~~

The Masque of the Wu Flu Plague
By Dr. Weslie Ubeca
          “He had come like a thief in the night.”
              —Earl Dolan Page

The Wu Flu plague had devastated planet Earth so long,
no pestilence had come to be so hideous or strong.
Its avatars were fever, cough, fatigue and shortened breath;
but sometimes symptomless before there came the final death.
There was severe, acute respiratory septic shock,
with multi-organ failure, cytokine storm, and blood clot.
Exposure time to onset ranged from two to fourteen days;
this was not quite the red death in so very many ways;
and yet it too was horrible, affecting millions more,
who wore their masks as their prosperity went out the door.

Dr. Weslie Ubeca (not an actual medical doctor) is a poet of medical conditions. His favourite short story writer is American Romantic writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). The Wu Flu plague originated in Wuhan, China, possibly in a biolab. Although the figures are likely erroneous, the total of recorded cases is over 17,000,000, and the number of deaths over 670,000.

~~~

The Bicyclist
          by Bruc “Diesel” Awe

The early summer morning air is redolent with trees,
oak, sugarberry, honey locust, cedar, elm, mesquite.
The air is palpable; it presses thick warm grayness in
upon the bike, as the bicyclist rides through wind.
Life is most dangerous when it is lived. He rides along
past the commuters speeding by; it is the breaking dawn.
It opens, like a globed fruit, so delicious, rich and mute.
He rides forth pedaling around. He could not hear the lute.
Dawn does not give a damn. Aromas flow into the nose.
Where is he going next? Where can he ever go? Who knows?

Bruc “Diesel” Awe is a poet of transportation.

~~~

The Portland Protests: July 2020
          by Ubs Reece Idwal
          “son château avait une porte et des fenêtres…[et] une tapisserie.“
              —Voltaire, Candide

The city isn’t under siege. No structures have been torched
The buildings have not been graffitied. Nothing has been scorched.
The mayor was tear-gassed; it was a shocking, trick surprise.
Nobody meant to shoot the lasers at policemen’s eyes.
The riot groups aren’t organized. Antifa’s not involved.
Antifa and the BLM want liberty for all.

The Portland riots are not riots; that’s fake news as well.
Moms bravely left their children home so they could come to help.
Concerned leaf-blowing, thoughtful dads showed up out of thin air.
The rioters are patriotic, veterans who care.
Police in Portland have not told its businesses they can’t
protect them from the peaceful crowds. Protesters do not rant.

Protesters show great discipline. They are not marxist lugs.
As Portland is a vibrant city, it is free of thugs.
It is a lovely place to go to, as a tourist or
(It even had a statue of an elk!) a visitor.
No statue of George Washington will threaten passersby.
Rose City Portland is a gem for the discerning eye.

Ubs Reece Idwal is a poet of the Pacific Northwest. Voltaire (1694-1778) was a noted French Enlightenment author.

~~~

On Rhyme
          by Wic E. Ruse Blade

I know I am unique in my thoughts on the topic rhyme.
I am indeed a writer out of place and out of time.
First, rhyme, for me, is very fluid, and oft approximate;
it takes a certain kind of mind to understand my slant.
I also like inverted rhyme, which no one that I know
would find acceptable. In this I seem to be alone.
Some think I am enmeshed in mire, like a whirling wheel,
that spins and turns, and spurned, is like a stuck automobile.
And then perhaps my worst offense—my willingness to break
anticipated sounds-—a big mistake few make—-God’s wounds!

Wic E. Ruse Blade is a poet overwhelmed by rhyme. His favourite poet is Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). This tennos was inspired by a New Millennial poetry editor.