POLITIC

POLITIC

POLITIC

Caution

Ev’rything you’re about to read

contained herein, is haiku

(almost)

Conversation in Haiku

Not true haiku

Not true to Japanese roots

Allen Ginsberg asserted

Haiku did not fit

(the) English language

Ginsberg proposed the Seventeen syllable American Sentence

POLITIC

Campaign in American Sentence

POLITICK

Politician

Campaign in American Sentence

Fit for the twitter-verse

Politician

Don’t keep up with the Joneses.

Drag them down to your level

it’s cheaper.

Politicians and diapers

need changed often

for the same reason

Elusive mythical creature

(the) honest politician

POLITICK

Action Seeming sensible

Judicious

Under the circumstances

Prejudice in favor of a

particular political cause

Relating to or

Acting according to,

Int’rest of status

Organizational power

rather than matters of principle

This part is for listeners with rules

mandatory rhyme part

Sort of

Politicism

journalism, activism, anarchism, narcissism, 

chauvinism, criticism, cynicism, egotism, 

feminism, humanism, fed’ralism, conservatism,

lib’ralism, leftism, socialism, fascism, 

communism, Leninism, Marxism, Stalinism,

optimism, opportunism, symbolism, materialism,

patriotism, hooliganism,  extremism, racism,

radicalism, obstructionism,  unilateralism,

authoritarianism, totalitarianism,

antidisestablishmentarianism

Thus ends the optional mandatory rhyme portion of the poem

MODERATOR

In this debate

we’ve decided whether or not to have a handshake

To have a bell or a buzzer

The audience should remain silent

Unless something extra-ordinary happens,

then, you’ll be scolded

With seeming narrow path to the Whitehouse

(and)only one adult on stage

He can’t be president

He had something on his lip when he spoke

She can’t be president

A giant fly landed on her shirt

while she spoke

Not a soul knows what she said

Ev’ryone was mesmeriz’d by the fly

TRUMP

This guy,

he’s a choke artist

This guy,

he’s a liar

Lies all the time

This guy

This guy here

He repeats himself

I don’t repeat myself

TRUMP

I saw him repeat himself

five times last week

I don’t repeat myself

TRUMP

He repeated himself three times

five seconds ago

I don’t repeat myself

TRUMP

Plus

He’s a liar

He’s the biggest liar since

the Mexican American war

He’s a liar

He’s too Canadian

He’s too low energy

He’s controll’d by lobbyists and donors

You know bing bing bong

you know

He’s a lightweight

He’s a nasty guy

He’s the single biggest liar

BERNIE S

Democratic Socialism

Gonna be HUGE

Free College for all

We can save capitalism

from itself

It’ll be huge

JOHNSON

Aleppo?

What is Aleppo?

KRUZ

I’ll enact Solutions

not create slogans

The nuclear triad is not a rock band

from the 1980’s

  

HILLARY

Half of your voters are from

a Basket of deplorables

racist, sexist, homophobic,

xenophobic, Islamaphobic

You name it

CARSON

Counting on the uniformed

making use of useful idiots

MODERATOR

You call’d women you don’t like

fat pigs, dogs, slobs,

disgusting animals

TRUMP

Locker room talk

our biggest problem is political correctness

HILLARY

Trumped up, trickle down.

My father was a drap’ry maker.

My husband did a pretty good job.

TRUMP

NAFTA is the single worst

trade deal ever signed

in hist’ry

Anywhere.

HILLARY

That is just not correct.

I was against it once.

But now I’m for it

TRUMP

You called it the gold standard.

Called it the gold standard.

You have no plan

HILLARY

You can pick up my book

at the groc’ry store or airport.

You make all these claims.

TRUMP

Facts.

HILLARY

I know you live in your own little reality.

Look at my website.

TRUMP

Look at my website.

HILLARY

I have a feeling

that by the end of the evening,

I’m going to be blamed for everything

that’s ever happened.

TRUMP

Why not?

Typical politician,

all talk, no action.

sounds good, doesn’t work,

never gunna happen.

HILLARY

It’s My granddaughter’s birthday

for her the wealthy must pay their fair share

TRUMP

Release your emails

I made a mistake

using a private e-mail server.

TRUMP

It’s not a mistake

when it’s done purposefully.

Release the emails

BERNIE S

The American people

are sick and tired

of hearing about your emails

HILLARY

Release your tax return

Maybe he’s not as rich as he says he is.

Maybe he’s not as charitable

as he claims to be.

Maybe he doesn’t

want you to know he’s paid nothing.

TRUMP

That makes me smart.

HILLARY

That’s zero for troops,

Zero for schools,

zero for health,

zero for vets.

Something terrible he’s trying to hide.

Can only guess what it is.

TRUMP

My father gave me a small loan

Turned it into billions and billions.

HILLARY

I’ve met a lot of people

stif’d by you, your comp’ny.

Drap(e)ry hangers

TRUMP

That’s call’d business by the way,

I take advantage of the laws.

Don’t like it? Change the law.

you’ve been doing this for 30 years.

Why haven’t you fixed it?

HILLARY

Our biggest enemies are not the NRA,

not the health insurance companies,

Not the drug companies,

not the Iranians,

It’s the republicans

Syria is a quagmire in a quagmire

Chaos in the middleeast

Russia

TRUMP

China

JOHNSON

Aleppo?

TRUMP

Benghazi

  

HILLARY

You encouraged Russia

to engage in cyber attacks

TRUMP

You don’t know it’s Russia.

You keep saying

Russia Russia Russia,

maybe it was.

It could Russia.

It could also be China.

It could have been anyone.

It could have also been someone

sitting on their bed

 that weighs 400 pounds.

HILLARY

You’re Putin’s puppet

TRUMP

No, you’re the puppet,

You’re the puppet.

It all sounds good.

HILLARY

Fracking is a crisis of historical consequence

Suicide course

TRUMP

Wrong. It’s all words

Our leaders are stupid

polititions are stupid

HILLARY

Im just gunna let you talk.

I’m just gunna scratch my nose

blink my eyes,

Occasional incredulous smile

Economic dislocation

TRUMP

It’s china, and mexico.

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

Reduce taxes.

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

HILLARY

It’s easy to diagnose the problem,

harder to do something about it

TRUMP

China built a wall

3000 years ago.

Nobody gets through that.

JOHNSON

Aleppo?

TRUMP

Nobody likes you

HILLARY

I’m committed to raising taxes on the rich.

My contributions will go up.

His contributions will go up.

As long as he can’t figure out how to get out of it.

TRUMP

Such a nasty woman

Such a nasty woman

With pneumonia

HILLARY

Purveyor of hate

Close the gun show loophole

End straw man purchases

TRUMP

That’s all very nice

But it’s wrong

 I’ll Jumpstart Manufacturing

HILLARY

Are you sure?

That doesn’t sound right.

Punish the gay marriage decenters

TRUMP

I don’t think you heard me right

You’re having a hard time tonight

Aren’t you?

HILLARY

I’m not going to contradict myself

A third grader understands

TRUMP

There’s no statute of

limitations on lies

Tell the truth

It’s easy

HILLARY

I’ll work for

Jobs and education

not jails and incarceration

TRUMP

You didn’t answer the question

Are you or are you not

For or against

HILLARY

He said about what I said,

After what I said about what he said

TRUMP

You have a tenuous relationship

with the truth

You always have

HILLARY

That’s a completely ridiculous answer

You’re just blowing hot hair

TRUMP

Undergird the insinuation

Terrorism counterterrorism

HILLARY

ev’ry time you say another crazy thing

Raise the minimum wage.

JOHNSON

Aleppo?

TRUMP

I fought the entire Washington establishment and won

I’m still here

HILLARY

Today

Fathers will say to their daughters

you too can be president

TRUMP

We must bind the wounds of division

Come together as united people

Carson

As one nation, under God

Pick up the baton of freedom and run

HILLARY

We stand together

Work together

With respect for our diff’rences

Strength in our convictions

Love for this nation

our best days are ahead

Star and stripes will wave high

God bless the United States of America

Jim

Writer's Dream Update

Update on "Abandonment of a Dream" post. A few asked me about the numbers, but no one noticed the April Fools date of the post. Some of the amounts were exaggerated for shock premises. Here are the real numbers. After the recent purchase of some new books, (most of which will be given away) diminishing previous earning totals, my new hourly wage works out to 0.00029 cents per hour.  Yes. That's an average wage of less than 3/ten-thousandths of a penny. In my case, that makes it around 0.30 per year.

I always thought the writing would be the hard part. Then you could just sit around and rake in the dough. Not so fast. I never stopped to think that getting people to actually "purchase" a copy of my book would prove the much more difficult task. I would think my friends and family would at least buy a copy of my greatest labor of love. Not so much.

Speaking of dreams, My most recent project is to convert my story "Dream Hunters International " into a feature length screenplay.

Here's to still tryin'. In other words, "Can't quit my day job." Ha.

Jim

SPENCER MURDOCH AND THE ISLAND OF MAGIC

On July 11th, the second novel in the SPENCER MURDOCH saga will be released in two formats. SPENCER MURDOCH AND THE ISLAND OF MAGIC will be available in large format with the author's original hand drawn cover, as well as a compact version with professional designed cover from Rightly Designed. On July 11th, get THE ISLAND OF MAGIC at CreateSpace or Amazon.

It's Hard to Fool an Old Fool

For those of you who wondered, no. I'm not giving up my dreams. I know I said I was, but there are several clues that point to the fact that I was lying. Not the least of which is the date the Rant was posted. Does April 1st mean anything to you? By the way, have you fooled anyone this month? I'd love to hear about it. Another clue to my deception; 2000 rejections. Not even I have that many. I am getting close to 200 though. So, you can look for something from me in the near future. Keep you eye on this space.
Peace
Jim

Abandonment of a Dream

I’m saddened to announce, I must abandon my dream of succeeding as an author. I do not arrive at this decision lightly. After more than twenty years and over 200 projects I have received my 2000th rejection. What does this tell me? It’s time to hang it up. Many other determining factors have contributed to this painful decision. Not the least of which is the pay grade. At the calculated rate of 0.003 per hour (yes, that’s three tenths of a cent per hour), I’ve had to work and entire year just to buy myself a cup of coffee. With five children that have grown up with a recluse father and a wife that rarely sees me, I’ve decided to come out of the cold, dark recesses of my writing cell. So, to the one poor soul out there eagerly awaiting my next masterpiece, I bid you farewell. Au Revoir. Adios. Auf Wiedersehen. Sayonara. Goodbye. Now I can follow my dream of becoming a chimney sweep in London.

Word-Art

In my last post, I whined about having too many irons in the fire. I'm happy to report that I finished one of my projects. Last night I presented the poetry lesson on word-art at the Nebraska Writers Workshop. Here is the piece I created using the knowledge from the lesson.



Haida
Raven Tribe Raven Tribe
Ancient sea warriors
Canoes with sixty paddlers
Sixty Great canoes
Great canoes carved from single red cedars
Sixty canoes with sixty paddlers
3000 Raven warriors
3000 Raven warriors
Pike adorned Canoes
Pikes for the heads of my enemies
Their women and children my slaves
Two hundred thousand moons
My ancestors came
Over the water from the setting sun
Sixty-eight-thousand seasons
My ancestors came
Across the icy sea
Filling the red cedar forests
Trading with the eagle tribe
the sea lion warriors
the river people
My totems tell the story
The mother of my mother's mother
Mother From Inside the Glacier
From the Direction of the North Wind
My people came
Filling the islands
Do not resist
I strike with honor
With the outside Edge of a Branch
You will taste bitter water
I will burn your bones
I will paint your skull
with Raven tribe symbols
With symbols of the raven people
I will paint your skull
Paint your skull



That's one project down, 285 to go.
Next up, synopsis.

Too Many Irons in the Fire

Welp, I did it again. I sail along on a work in progress, Spencer Murdoch and the Island of Magic, while thoughts of other projects I want to write bounce around in my head. Then, I dabble on the other works and everything slows down. It's not the first time I've done this. I jus' cain't help it. Inspired by fellow poet and local, world-travelled professor David Prinz Hufford, rather than finishing the final edits on my latest novel, I wrote a Shakespearean sonnet. In preparation for an upcoming presentation on word art at the Nebraska Writers Workshop, I've delved deep into indigenous northwest art, particularly Tlingit and Haida. This highly stylized art form is poetry without words. Using inspiration from Michigan artist Keemo, my current favorite, I'm going to insert words into a Haida inspired painting.

Not only have I done numerous sketches for the painting's design, I've also gathered information for the poem, which I think will also be Tinglit and Haida inspired. The raven is and essential in their culture, so I almost feel compelled the add some kind of Edgar Allen Poe influence. Maybe even a little Lewis Carrol. I have a wonderfully energetic writer Annie Douglas Lima asking for an in depth interview. She has many good writing questions. I'll see what I can do to answer her. I'm writing a script about a high school class discussing TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. And there's that pesky new round of query letters waiting to be written. Oh, and I took time out to write this blog just for you.
Speaking of you.
Do you ever get too many irons in the fire?
How does it affect your production?
Or, are you one that finishes a project before moving on?
Jim

Spots on Pluto

Spots on Pluto
James M M Baldwin

Pluto splashed his haunted mind
Onto the underworlds' souls

His Ambitions beaded on the surface until fermented
Hunting gateways through the thought fabric protecting inner layers

Inside, minuscule particles spread across a vast blue synapse expanse
Bit by bit, literary granules seep deeper

Wrapped in damp fog blankets
Gathering,
condensing into clouds
Forming puffy white images
floating
A bear
A lion
Growing darker
Growing larger
A dragon

Lightning bolts race from synapse to synapse
Thunder's rumble portends catastrophe

Teardrops fall on a windblown path
An explosion of understanding
Hitting fertile neurons
Gushing torrents

Nourishing the sapling as it sprouts and rises
Branching out, producing fruit

Aspiration achieved

New Horizons Pluto Flyby

At more than 3,000,000,000 (3 billion) miles, flying between 30,000 and 50,000 MPH, it has taken our New Horizons spacecraft nine years to reach Pluto. How long would that same trip take using the ship in my short story "Son of Thunder?" At one-tenth the speed of light, my fictional series III nuclear propelled space shuttle could make the trip in 5 days. To read more about light speed space travel and my proposed methods, see my blog post titled, "Light Speed Travel, Part I." Read the story "Son of Thunder" in "Orion’s Arm; Tales from the Milky Way" here https://www.createspace.com/3836037 .
‪#‎NASA‬ ‪#‎NewHorizons‬ ‪#‎PlutoFlyby‬

Spotify Top 50 Rock (A Poem)

Next Wednesday I'll be presenting a poetry lesson on observations for the Nebraska Writers Workshop. The object of the lesson is notice unusual things in your surroundings. The observations won't necessarily become a poem but could wind up being just the right detail to get across a particular intention.

I love my Spotify. I listen to it almost every waking hour. I've discovered many new bands I otherwise would have never listened to. While listening to Spotify's current top 50 rock songs, I noticed how poetic all of the names of the songs, albums, and artists are. I know, that's kind of the point of music. But anyhow, I wrote them all down in the form of a poem to show you. Let me know what you think. Maybe next week I'll turn out a poem using titles from the top 1930's jazz recordings.

So, without any further ado

Spotify Top 50 Rock
James M M Baldwin

Hit the Lights, Bring Me the Horizon
Cried the Man Overboard
Drowning, Neck Deep in a Brand New All Time Low
A Low Lower than Atlantis

Spilling Royal Blood
Of The Earl of Grey
The Pale Emperor
As it is, All of Them Witches

I Survived the Great Flood
The Days of War
Play the Gaslight Anthem
Telling the Story so far of Three Days Grace

The Muse Refused to lose
Entering as Romans do, Breaking Benjamins
The Offspring Puppy of an Incubus in Early November
36 Crazyfists Carry the Fire of Jekyll and Hyde

Real Friends Finding Superheaven
With a Bullet for My Valentine
Perfecting the Art of Dying
What's Next?

With Next to Nothing
With no Way Out
When God Comes Back
With Lightning at the Door

Heavy is the Head in the Church of Noise
While She Sleeps Beyond the Gates
of a Broken Generation of Mice and Men
We Explode in Brainwashed Madness

Lonely the Brave
Sleeping With Sirens
Skeletons in the Gallows
Get Out of the Way

Feast and Famine
Time and Trauma
Man is not a Bird
Fly! Fly Like a Leaf

Rise Up, Set it Straight
Stay Vicious, Get Hurt
Move, Shake, Hide, Bloom, Breathe
Something's Gotta Give

Get Lost, Find Yourself
Find the Gold Hidden on the Black Map
On Backroads, On Sonic Highways
An Odyssey with No Way Out

Imbue the Great Beyond with Your Smile
Set me on Fire Between the Stars
I Don't Love you Anymore
Everything Will be Alright in the End

The World I Used to know
Is Coming for You
I Am Machine
No Mercy
*