On Watching My Dog Chase a Cat the Day I Put Him Down
I would like to be like you in my final hour
To let the old electric impulse spring
My tired carcass in one last show of power –
O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?
To let the old electric impulse spring
And flower the path towards fate –
O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?
Proserpina, knowing, causes Doom to wait
And flower the path towards fate
By pouncing at the life that, unobserving, strays!
Proserpina, knowing, causes Doom to wait
(She also pines and longs for those younger days)
By pouncing at the life that, unobserving, strays,
Death will surely overtake, but never truly kill.
She also pines and longs for those younger days
But my mother, unlike you, is stolid, cold, and still.
Death will surely overtake, but never truly kill
Those who leave sweet memories to flower
But my mother, unlike you, is stolid, cold, and still…
I would like to be like you in my final hour.
Disneyland City Hall Blues
“I thought this was the happiest place on earth!”
Lord, I’ve wanted desperately to maim
The diabetic wheelers who shake beneath their girth
And demand the world in Walt Disney’s name.
Lord, I’ve wanted desperately to maim
America’s entitled youth who fake a disability
And demand the world in Walt Disney’s name!
I have witnessed the lame cheerleaders walk and the blind ones see!
America’s entitled youth who fake a disability
Complain that they have seen no “magic” here today – Yet
I have witnessed the lame cheerleaders walk and the blind ones see;
I have seen a Rumor born, live, on the internet!
Complain that they have seen no “magic” here today, yet
You must admit that, in this world, that is not the worst
(I have seen a Rumor born – live! – on the internet)
Before I met an Annual Passholder
I thought this was the happiest place on earth.
Example ghazals by J.D. Isip
The Psalmist
When he came to the palace, the boy would meet a man –
The crowned prince, Jonathan. He played to know that man
Who, fresh from every victory, swept past him in the halls.
And the sweet song on his tongue would be about that man
For it sounded like the desperate prayer of longing and despair
From a man who thirsts for God (and he hungers for that man!) –
Which spoke to Saul’s soul, retracting from the grace of God.
“He brings me peace,” proclaimed the king, father of that man
Who looked upon the handsome face, listened to his song
And later, in the courtyard, young David stood before that man
Trembling, he whispered, “Have you understood the songs?”
Jonathan said, “I have, but answer you, that I am not that man…”
You see, David’s songs were about Israel’s next great, chosen son –
But Jonathan loved him and, loving, knew that David was that man.
Polaroids, 1983
Our parted fingers making V – what that means, who knows! –
We were the Asian tourists, our cameras ready for the pose
It’s the Magic Kingdom! There’s no place, back then, I’d rather be –
Look! There’s… what’s-his-name! Come on, get into the pose!
And Sleeping Beauty Castle, so much bigger and brilliant, then, for me
Like every year that passes, I wonder, “Who was in the pose?”
Every new adventure was better than the last, and in every line
My dad would shove us into a family-tree, known as just “the pose”
Which is why he never went to Disneyland with us, or so
The pictures show that all of us, but dad, were present in the pose
When the divorce came, and my father left us on our own
I’m not sure what he said that night, but I can recall the pose.
Example English/Shakespearean sonnets by J.D. Isip
Off the Coast of Carthage
Just past the sparks, she sees his ships depart
through the rising smoke, Aeneas fades away –
sent by Mercury. He shatters her heart,
the broken queen left begging him to stay.
How strong she had been when she fled from Tyre
and her murderous brother’s greed and hate…
One more memory upon the pyre
fueling the flames she will not abate –
In her course toward fiery destruction,
she unsheathes her lover’s blade, giving in
to Aeneas’ final thrusting motion
as he sails away to begin again…
As she once bravely did so long ago,
victim of his love, smoldering Dido.
Against a Rock
He could not miss the miserable girl
chained to the rock, against the raging sea
strapped for sacrifice. She was still lovely,
draped in virgin white, gleaming like a pearl,
awaiting penalty for her mother
whose arrogance and boasts had brought her death –
Until Perseus look’d and lost his breath;
struck by love, he would have no other.
And when the giant beast broke through the tide,
with the sword that split Medusa’s vile head,
the warrior struck another gorgon dead,
winning fair Andromeda for his bride.
Before you speak a prideful word, recall:
A hero may not find you when you fall.
Example Italian/Petrachan sonnets by J.D. Isip
Imogen
In her secret chamber, she cannot see
the eyes within the trunk wagered on her
by her own promise to, “Pawn mine honor.”
Avoiding payment of the handsome fee,
Iachimo succeeds at his deceit –
as the plotting queen has fooled the father,
Cymbaline, to doubt his faithful daughter –
And Leonatus sinks in misery…
How hastily a man, in confidence,
will claim the utmost love and loyalty
yet withers with the wind of bitter lies.
But, princess, you’ll meet better men than this,
your equals in strength and constancy
who esteem you as sister, not as prize.
The Oak and the Linden
The strangers came to find a little rest,
knocked upon a thousand doors, but never
was a town so unworthy. Could they guess
that they had turned away great Jupiter?
In another time and another town:
Sodom was more wicked to her strangers,
not knowing that the act would burn her down
in the brimstone of God’s holy anger.
Yet, even in the dark a light is found –
Baucis and Philemon open their door,
offering them a drink and meat to eat.
The humble old couple fell to the ground
because they could not offer anything more –
so the gods offered them eternity.
