Abecedarians

aren't my demitasse of oolong,
but I'll try one for kicks and giggles.

Calamity, my camerado close!
Draw me a little prince.
Enchanted to make your acquaintance,
fratello-Friend who always speaks my mind.

Guide me, O thou great Redeemer:
harbour and haven me.
I long for the day when I can be
juvenescent, jejune, jocular.

Keep me as the apple of your whatchamacallit.
Lavish graces upon a poor schlemazel,
miracles of atoning for which there are
no explanations, no linearities.

Oracle: oracular. Obstacle: obstacular.
Poet's privilege, to coin joy.

Quirkiness is my métier, my wheelhouse,
radical trash that I am ---
subversive, supple, seductive.

Thanatic winter yields to lively spring,
undoing death with
verdancy, vitality.

Welcome ruin as the herald of restoration.
X will forever mark the spot where
your kisses have devastated my wounds.

Zithers, dulcimers, hautboys, maracas, Peter Quince, the whole riotous shebang.

*

by Thomas DeFreitas (b. 1969)

Zoe's Poetry Class II: A Possible Plan

Zoe and Alisha, hello!

I've been thinking about authors more than poems. I've been thinking of how to cast a wide cultural net. And I've been thinking about poems that will inspire discussion, not merely because I'm familiar with them, but because their imagery or idiom is fresh and exciting. Accordingly, here is a tentative syllabus of authors! (For some of them, I do have specific poems in mind.)

*

Zoe's Poetry Class II
beginning February 2022

1: Seamus Heaney; Lucille Clifton; Gary Soto
2: William Blake; Emily Dickinson; Margaret Walker
3: Anna Swir; Ted Kooser or Jane Kenyon; Countee Cullen
4: Ayin Hillel; Hala Alyan; Bei Dao
5: Hilary Sallick? Jill McDonough? Christie Towers?
6: Lisa DeSiro; Tim Seibles; Dan Skwire

*

We can credit my poetsister Hilary Sallick with suggesting Lucille Clifton's "The earth is a living thing" and Gary Soto's "Oranges" --- but I may use a different Soto poem.

And I think that three poems a week should more than suffice. Hoping my Basic Zoom account suffices to provide 60-75 minutes of "class time" since it'll be one-on-one. Or I might upgrade, and see if a poet I know (Hilary or Mary) could join us!

*

All input from the two of you is OF COURSE welcomed --- and indeed sought!

peace and light
Tommy

My Toppings

 Zoe DeFreitas (b. 2011)

My oatmeal’s running away!

Oh no oh no! I think my blueberries are starting to decay!

This is bad, my raspberries have turn to clay!

My Snickers are thinner than Lay’s!

Please help me, I miss my toppings dearly.

Obviously it was the Food Snatchers, did I say it clearly?

Magical Books

Zoe DeFreitas (b. 2011)

My favorite magical books!

Please don’t outlook my magical books! They’re not for sale!

I hate getting offers for them in my magic mail!

I would never sell my magic books!

They help me get ready - I want to keep my magic looks!

Shopping

Zoe DeFreitas (b. 2011)

I love to shop!

I love to buy my mops!

I love to buy flip flops!

I love to buy decorative rocks!

I love to buy socks!

I’m not rather picky!

Rice And Beans

 Zoe DeFreitas (b. 2011)

Rice and beans!

Don’t you know what that means?

Rice and beans!

I want to keep my lawn clean.

Rice and beans!

Other places smell like smelly socks.

Rice and Beans!

Now come on down to

Rice and Beans!

Notes On Boats

 Zoe DeFreitas (b. 2011)

Notes On Boats!

Will they float?

I want to watch it on TV while eating my oats!

Notes On Boats!

Please grab the remote!

I would like to vote for

Notes On Boats!

Ah man, you lost the remote?

Grab my coat!

We’re going to buy a new remote!

So I can watch

Notes On Boats!