Magpie Tales 115: Economic Recovery

Image by Manu Pombrol, 

Shared by Tess Kincaid

cubicle

opportunity is waiting 

for anyone willing to 

fill the space available. 

or just fill the space. 

© 2012 R. Burnett Baker

Champagne Lives

Photo © 2012 R. Burnett Baker

complete me. again 

salutations are waiting. 

goblet lives hold court

in unison expecting 

grandstand recognition: 

sports heros, intelligentsia, 

artistes, politicos, lovers, and 

cads; 

we have no time to 

inventory our import, yet 

waiting for the buzz is 

all the rage.  waiting for 

anything that fills 

secret voids 

is salutation enough 

for this stage. 

Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Magpie Tales 114: Slumber

Image by Alex Stoddard

Shared by Tess Kincaid

slumber 

as if 

sleep had 

the inside track 

to an end 

and future 

of this 

clockwork 

construct, I 

waver: 

slipping

into sheets, 

under cover 

seems automatic 

and my routinized 

dealings with

night are as 

well.

there is fear

only when 

wind threatens 

a clean sweep 

but 

I'm safe 

for now. 

sheltered. 

insular. 

no need 

to tell nightfall

that I'm incognito

in his 

darkness. 

Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Thursday. A Poem

post script 




aftermath is 
ready for an 
accounting


our 
residual lives
quantified by 
events; by 


reflections we 
acknowledge 
in the 
offing. 


©2012 R. Burnett Baker 

What Do YOUR Kids Value?

I came upon this photo some months ago and was immediately struck by the composition and the expression of joy and gratitude on the boy's face.  Unfortunately I don't know where I found it, and cannot give it proper credit.

But the image makes an impression and suggests deeper questions about needs, wants, and happiness.  It puts into perspective our particularly self-driven society and how we have been teaching the younger generations about what's important in our lives.

There are, perhaps, many stories embedded in this image.  And many lessons, as well.

UPDATE April 18, 2012:  Almost as a postscript to this short commentary, I read the following article from Consumer Reports on "kid friendly" cars.  Not that it isn't important, mind you, but still....

Here's an excerpt from the article that ties in with my thoughts on what we emphasize with our children:

Remember life in the back seat when you were a kid? There wasn’t much to do on long trips beyond counting Volkswagens or punching your sister in the arm. Nowadays, if your budget and propensity to spoil your kids allows, you can provide pint-size passengers with a virtual theater on wheels. But first, think about the basics that will be used every day.

Stockburger advises that you look for cup holders in the backseat, especially those that can accommodate a juice box, and storage areas such as pockets in the seats, which can keep plenty of toys and books within easy reach while also keeping those items from becoming dangerous projectiles in the event of a crash.

Such features, in part, are what sold Melissa Larrey and Tracy Bouton of Falmouth, Mass., on their 2010 Toyota Sienna. As the parents of 10-year-old and eight-year-old boys, they totally appreciate the Sienna’s “seemingly everywhere” cup holders.

“It’s great that the kids can reach things and get to their own stuff,” Larrey said. “It makes such a difference.”


 Cup holders.  Lots of them.  Teach your children well.  And be proud!

proud parent of "______" 

soccer-mom offspring 

strapped to a Town & Country seat

ignore running movies on car ceilings, 

instead fixate on smart phones and texts, 

their mindless stomachs demanding their 

next meal that no one has prepared with 

any thought, no labor of love factored 

into its presentation. 

what will be the joy and true happiness 

these ingrates-in-waiting seek as they 

claw their way from one distraction to 

another, as they flash-mob their lives in

malls and store aisles, as they grow to 

protest what they have not earned and 

demand justice from Blackberry prompts, 

as they cackle over who has what, and 

how unjust it is that they don't? 

who will teach them where life begins 

and ends, 

and how frivolous pride of this, that, 

and the other is?  

if they were left to the wilderness of necessity, 

how many would smile with 

joy in their eyes and 

humility in their hearts, 

and realize even 

one 

simple 

blessing 

of 

being? 

Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Magpie Tales 113: Ritual

Red Roofs, Marc Chagall, 1954.  Shared by Tess Kincaid




daily bread




I picked a flower 
for your grave.  in 


the old neighborhood
dilapidation on every 
doorstep offered no 
prayers for deliverance as
stale air flowed 
across garden tombs
of rooftops.
  
a collective 
of burnished effort, 
of silent stillness 
is our ritual resurrection, 
with a tear for water -
  
for blossom petals
clinging to 
a stem.   




Poem ©2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Question

Can life be sometimes 

tragic and sad 

because it's 

so good? 

©2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Hunger

seeds 

at last, birds of many colors 

have discovered the feeders full: 

insatiable 

is the menu and condition 

of every season. 

©2012 R. Burnett Baker
Drawing by R. Baker, 2001 

Distant Selves

past lives

farmer, cowboy,

Tab Hunter:

he manned them 

all

without knowing

or 

caring about 

representations.

he rode 

cold wind, 

stick horses- 

fought fires of 

imaginings 

raising lifetimes of 

possibilities. 

Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Photos taken by Ina Jean Stovall Garner

Magpie Tales 112: L'Eggo My Eggo!

This Magpie Tales prompt would have been perfect for my previous "serious" epigram post from yesterday.  But as I was reading various "news" stories this evening, and wondering what I would write for Tess's prompt, I came across the following story.  


Forgive me, all, for I know this is Easter weekend and such, but this story just had me giggling my butt off in my chair.  And holding my legs tightly together.  No doubt, there is a place reserved for me in hell, but yes, I'm still laughing!  Isn't it horrible to be laughing at someone's misfortune?  But still...... 


So here it is, my contribution of sorts to Magpie.  The ex-girlfriend in the story below has certainly taken Easter egg hunting to a new and um, colorful level.  Forgive me, Tess!! 

Angry ex-girlfriend goes ballistic, rips off man’s scrotum

By Taylor Bigler - The Daily Caller | The Daily Caller – Fri, Apr 6, 2012

• 
  

Talk about a ball buster.

An Indiana man was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after his scrotum was the victim of a vicious attack by an ex-girlfriend, The Smoking Gun reports.

The victim told police that his former girlfriend, Christina Reber, stormed into his apartment as he was innocently sitting at his computer. Reber, who he had severed ties with a few days earlier, first struck him on the head and then grabbed his scrotum and began “squeezing as hard as she could.” Naturally, he told officers that he “was in incredible pain when [she] grabbed his scrotum and began digging in her fingers.”

The police report indicates that the scrotum area was “completely torn loose from his body.” Reber reportedly “refused to let go of his scrotum,” but that the victim was finally able to remove his balls from her vice-like grip.

As if the story isn’t already good enough, the victim, who has not been identified, was taken to BALL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. As far as we know, the hospital is not only for scrotum-specific injuries.

In an interview two days after the incident, the man told police that after his ex was done breaking his balls, his family jewels are so swollen that he is unable to work, and he isn’t sure if there will be permanent damage.

Reber was charged with two felonies: aggravated battery and illegally entering the victim’s home. She was also charged with a misdemeanor domestic battery.

Image by Djajakarta, shared by Tess Kincaid. 

Another Meaning, Perhaps, For Easter Weekend

Never second guess your 

creation. 

Never underestimate 

your ability for 

re-creation.

©2012 R. Burnett Baker

Bowl Of Plenty

Photo ©2012 R. Burnett Baker

    by the spoonful 

       there's no denying 

 the concept of 

           half full, half empty. 

                  empty, however, provides 

                profound perspective for 

         those surrounded by 

                          plenty they have not consumed. 

Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker

City Scenes XI: Environmentalist's Foot Fetish

Photo © 2012 R. Burnett Baker

Photo taken by R. Baker on Yonge Street, 

Toronto, Ontario.

Yes, we must protect the environment.  

We must reduce our collective

and individual carbon footprints.  

Looks like this shop in Toronto 

has come up with a plan.  

Just be sure, if you wear these 

"Kleen Air" shoes, that you've washed your feet.  

And ladies, or men, if you're so inclined, 

paint your toe nails, too.  After all, 

being green and kleen doesn't mean 

abandoning style! 

RB

4-5-12 

Magpie Tales 111: Grandma Tried To Warn Me

empty nest 

never could wrap my head around 

tree hugging,  those activist glory days

so dope-fueled with ideals;  the Long-hairs

and their Chickie-LaLa's singing songs of whales,

saving snail darters,  and sleeping under the trees. 

my grandmother warned me about mite bites, 

those birdie bed bugs that parasitize man and fowl: 

"throw that damn nest away, boy, before you 

get eaten alive!" 

Poem © 2012  R. Burnett Baker 
Photo by Robert ParkeHarrison, shared by Tess Kincaid