Best Departments Poems
There is never an ending
to the spending
a world of paper
and plastic to collect
and horde
clothes
and cars
and homes
and jewelry
and fine wine
and paintings
stocks and bonds
vacations
and expectations
entire vocations
devoted to
disguising the numbers
the Caribbean masquerade
to volumes of recorded
purchases and voices
of invoices
making
discreet
choices
all
to extend
the accumulation
of dates
and names
places and faces
communications
and connections
at breakneck
speed
must fill the need
must fill the need
a shouting browbeating
broadband
handing over
fistfuls of cash
to make sure
make certain
only the best
the finest
the rarest
of air is not available
for
the underwater martyrs
the silent box dwellers
the empty bottle collectors
the wheelchair drifters
the SRO limbo sellers
the workers at
the bottom
of the
fast
food
chain
and the indigent gamblers
who line the halls
to knock on doors
of government departments
crippled by reckless
and corrupt state
administrations
choking the dwindling
sources
and resources
that have
nothing to do
but
count the days
and ways
to disappoint
disarm dismay
dispute the reputations
and applications
held in sweaty palms
eager
to begin living
to end the doubt
to end the not having
the counting of pennies
the slow heroin erosion
the unbroken hollowness
the whiskey-soaked
ravages of vacant histories
better-forgotten memories
of cold emergency rooms
to end being
in a world
apart
a world
of resentment
of fear and hate and anger
of dark empty streets
empty recriminations
empty promises
made to themselves
by themselves
harming themselves
or
arming themselves
to rob to steal
to maim
to take whatever they can
for as long as they can
to approximate
the wonder and magic
of having what you need
when you need it or want it
to not have to beg
to not have to humiliate
or be humiliated
to not have to watch
the ease of others
who have a casual
contempt for misfortune
and respect for nothing
but their own wealth
of deception
to breeze through
tall golden doors
to an unbroken string
of shiny bright todays
and tomorrows
to not have to
lunge for hope
and
never grasp it
in all ways
and forever
just out of
reach
Silent in its violence
the sun lays ancient fire-fingers
on the heat-scoured concrete of the promenade:
boxy seafront chalets tilting and creaking at angles,
scorched, salt-stiffened gardens,
sand dunes, a screaming blue sea.
It is so difficult to accept a loss, a deprivation.
Innocence flaps its winding sheet behind me,
its mummy cloth of myth.
As from an isolated moon I see
the first cold breaker rush to engulf me -
an underwater undulance,
undercurrents of menace, of malice.
The sand-strewn strand stretches into infinity,
shimmering with the visions, the voices, the echoes,
the faceless departments of government and society.
I watch the insouciant people around me,
they possess a flatness, like blank paper.
They hump and lug plastic picnic paraphernalia,
ridiculously, all beach grime and blistered backs,
reduced to a red cindery glow.
Ice creams, scooped from the freezers
in trinkety seashore shops,
are clutched in sunburnt hands.
They are spreading striped sunbathing mats,
snide and smiling slyly.
Is it a mirage, a delusion,
dredged from the desert-dry air?
The air snags in my throat: the flat summer stench
of warm wood, sun lotion, billowing cotton -
blank but expansive. The creaking, the flapping.
A strange wind howls and banters in my ear
and the train shrieks through its station,
the station of my brain -
a riddled red abyss, poker-hot.
The sun is sinking -
a disc of fire, a blood clot.
Water floods the ridgy shallows,
eddying into treacherous pits.
The black gun muzzle of my mouth
blasts the oxygen from the air.
My nerves a hive of wires suffering
the scarlet atrocities.
Pokers put out my eyes.
Squeezed by the forceps of agony
I see nothing, there is nothing
but a mirage of wavering dunes closing in
and the sea splintering; a multitude of glass glittering.
You march calling for taxes on
things that you think we should not eat,
tax the soda, tax the chips,
and above all tax the meat!
We point out that you have no right,
you stamp your feet and raise your voice,
utterly convinced that we
should be deprived of our free choice.
We chose to smoke or choose to drink,
aware of the potential risks,
the fact you can’t control our acts
just seems to make you more pissed,
then you badger the government,
“Use the law to make them see!”
Mind your business, no one else’s,
keep you damn laws off my body.
You claim health care should have no cost,
and be provided without charge
by governments that cannot run
departments for registering cars.
You think I should give up my health
to those power-hungry minds
who lie and drag you through the courts
if you dare to expose their crimes?
They let people suffer so
they can win a few extra votes,
you don’t think that they would 'let die'
any ‘inconvenient’ sick folk?
Institutions ever corrupt,
and cursed with inefficiency,
have no business treating people,
keep you damn laws off my body.
You claim that every woman should
be able to kill without regret,
as long as it’s their own child,
and has not left the womb yet.
Never mind the barbarism,
there is something that I must say:
I’m not part of my mother’s flesh,
I’ve got my own damn DNA!
Some claim it doesn’t matter since
I cannot survive on my own,
but neither can a five-year old,
and yet murder is not condoned.
I’ve never seen the Earth before,
but I’m a unique entity,
You cut me up and say it’s fine?
Keep you damn laws off my body!
Silence is Deadly
Stand up
if the masses did
Trump would be a gravestone
Notes:
Some will tell you never to be silenced, yet will not mention what exactly is the issue. This is typical of people purporting propaganda, hoping to win people to their side without really saying what they believe. Let me tell you very clearly. We should never be silenced by those propagating fear and division and stating literally false facts. Hitler did this successfully. Please don't fall for this again. All those close to Trump not involved with him, have clearly stated his lack of knowledge on issues, never mind his prejudicial views and that's being kind. If one or two agencies or departments was critical well ok, almost every agency, The CIA, the FBI, The Federal Reserve, local politicians all along the border, and the list goes into the hundreds, have stated he is wrong. Listen to experts not a con artist.
Longer before becoming President he has money laundered for Russia, all verifiable facts.
By the way, the wall is not 5.7 billion, that's an installment, the actual cost depending on who you listen too is between 30 to 60 billion dollars, and that's not were most of the migrants are even entering the USA.
Do not let McCarthy exist twice!
Capitalism has been blamed by worthless people rich in power and other peoples' money.
True capitalism earns money.
Jobs are created by capitalists.
Workers earn a living from them.
Bankers gather together workers savings and use this money to create more by usury. This is not capitalism,
although they do capitalize on other peoples earnings
(and greed)
They also are "The Federal Reserve"
(They run the money!!) Not congress (They passed it off)
Politicians have capitalized on their positions to such an extent that anyone elected to congress is set for life
even if he is never re-elected.
They made these rules.
They decided their salaries and benefits.
They decided how much to tax us.
They created offices and positions of power, departments of "Government"
At incredible costs to us all.
To the point that other governments in less free countries use their peoples' money to lend to us.
We have been sold out.
The blame is being put on "Big Business" "Wall Street" and all those rich Capitalists
Our representatives, Your representatives have no alternative than to turn to Socialism in order to keep lining
their pockets and living beyond their means.
It is too late to seek and elect real representatives.
They own (have bought) the majority of voters.
America has been stolen.
Me? just another sucker! But at least now you(the reader) know what you've lost
(Or stolen)
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations can attest
That none raised a claim against him, even in jest,
And reports on his environmental conduct all agree
That he never injured a sprouting tree,
And that all he did was to the favor of Mother Nature.
Apart from a short peace-keeping mission overseas,
He worked for a charitable foundation that preaches peace,
He never skipped a day of work and never got fired.
Tax evasion was to him an unpatriotic sin,
And he paid all his levies with a mirthful grin.
All his Sacco reports faithfully indicate
That he remitted his contributions and didn’t wait
To be reminded by the office like the rest.
The media sorority remains convinced in every way
That he bought the three mainstream papers every day.
Policies registered in his name doubtless show
That he was fully insured from head to toe.
The departments of health well understand
That he was cognizant of the benefits of the National Health Insurance Fund.
He had the things necessary to a man of his day:
A radio, a piano, a car, and a house fit for his modest stay.
Researchers into Public Opinion are satisfied
That he had the right opinions for the day and year;
If things were alright, he agreed: if things were foul, he defied.
He married a pious girl and added five souls to the population,
Which experts say was the perfect number for a father of his generation.
His teachers are grateful he was never a nuisance to their work.
Whether he was happy or free is a question rather absurd,
But had anything been wrong we should have no doubt heard!
It all started when I took a typing test
I did 95 words per minute and made two errors
The requirement was 50 or more words
Human Resources was impressed and set up the Department interview
It was my history in becoming 33 years ago
This is my personal streaming flow
Now let’s start the show
The date was June 21, 1982
The name of R.H. MACY & CO., INC., but consumers know the company as “MACY’S”
My venture beginning on the 14th Floor at FLAGSHIP HERALD SQUARE TOWER
My schedule was 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM of my precise hour
The Division was the CORPORATE BUYING OFFICE
The task was Telecommunications under the title of TELEX OPERATOR
I was communicating all around Macy’s and the Globe
There is much more in suppose
Later the Department was changed to a Document & Financial Word Processing Center
I was typing Documents & Financial detail as a Lead Operator
Now I must move fast forward
But I must move onward
I worked in numerous departments such as Financial Planning/Budgets, Legal Office,
Administration, Executive Office’s and much more
Remember “MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET”
Well I actually lived the actual event of the days of MACY’S AND GIMBELS era
There was competition between the two companies
Rivalry was also accompanied
Because of a Macy’s Buyer and a Gimbel’s Buyer would often have lunch and discuss what both companies were doing
We were sent an email from our former Macy’s CEO that we are not to talk to Gimbel’s about Macy’s Business
1985, I communicated as a Telex Operator with NBC-TV of the MACY’S THANKSGIVIING
DAY PARADE
I have been trained under the LEADERSHIP OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND SENIOR
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS
I have been exposed to two mergers first being FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, INC. AND
Later with MAY COMPANY
Since those 33 years, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, INC. changed their name to MACY’S, INC.
But the funny part about that is, Federated often said they don’t want to see anything with the Macy’s name on it, but being Macy’s had the name is what brought Federated Fame
Because of the change, my future will be a rearrange
Four years from now, I plan to retire
There’s my year’s of full tenure employ
Eyes on retirement will be my joy.
The strongest woman that I ever saw
was born thirty-four years ago,
to loving parents who doted on her,
told he of the great places she’d go.
She was popular all through high school,
never failed to pull down straight A’s,
was taught to be strong, and never take crap,
a path for women she would blaze.
She had not a head for the hard sciences,
but in business she quickly excelled,
got her MBA from the finest of schools,
a master of finance, and of what sells.
Moving to the city, she got a good job
and proclaimed one day she would be in charge,
she brought in accounts all through her twenties
and was rewarded with a salary large.
She shot up the ranks, quickly at first,
found herself in the office by my desk,
though we were in different departments
it was clear, she was one of our best.
But when she turned thirty she seemed to slow,
though she stood by her stated goals,
and every so often I’d find her staring
distractedly out of her office window.
All of it charged starting one fall day
when she went up for a big promotion,
but her numbers were down, and it went to
a workaholic named Danny Bagosian.
This spurred her on to work overtime,
by coincidence I was doing the same,
alone in the office we got to talking,
what she asked me nearly fried my brain.
She said,”I’m here sixty hours a week,
I’ve no time left for relationships,
and though this may sound inappropriate
I want to ask your opinion on this.
“I could use a friend-with-benefits
to relieve stress and have some fun,
you’re a handsome fellow and it has been
three years since I have had one.”
Now I suppose the right thing to do
would be to run down to H.R.
But a woman like this has a way with men,
and I said,”I’m game if you are.”
So began a secret and torrid affair
that no man could ever forget,
in hotel rooms and there in her office…
let’s just say that I have no regrets.
But as the months went on something did grow
as often happens with ‘benefits-friends,’
at some point we dropped the charade,
no longer willing to pretend.
And in her I sensed something new,
a sadness I’d not before seen,
it came out into the open late a night
when she woke me from a restless sleep...
CONCLUDES IN PART II.
When stepping from the shower,
Dripping wet and set to dry,
I like to know a bath sheet’s
On alert and standing by.
It needn’t be expensive
Nor the fluffiest of brands,
Just large enough to wrap me up,
The simplest of demands.
For the towels they call “bath size,”
Though I guess they’d do the trick,
Aren’t quite the ones in bath departments
I would ever pick.
There are other stipulations;
As for colors – dark is best
And one tiny other factor
Really needs to be addressed.
Growing up, we shared our towels,
Which my parents thought was fine,
But the towel hanging on the right
Today is only mine!
War time department
Will not accept defection back in doors
Parody of film available
Dow Jones industrial
Cannot re accept bottom value
Lady lucks paying up the flag again
These folks don't make it
Per capita grief
Early spend
We have mess hall television also, kendall
Ventura county skid row tents not up
Zero coordination
Zero staff
No advertising industry pertaining to homekey letters
State non existent in thousand Oaks California
Federal lifeline tents not up at the ready
Diversion of speech
Diversion of federal service is
obstruction of coordinator
I am standing in
As press
Mandate dictates
Mandated law, life costs money, keep spending
At no point is order diverted
Budget in waiting needs only push forward
Coordinators not printing law lost in corruption
Inactive positions have resignation to indictment.
Reserved proactive response has limit to appearance
By defecting.
By defecting all departments are emptied
Tax is liened heavily in probe of illness
Assets and locomotion are removed
Tit for tat is always at hand
Spiralling home
The lockout is obstruction
First rotation of labor call
Paid time off
Vacation and retirement eligible personnel
Head towards water
Obstruction to relief in coordination
Please allow staff overflow outreach and key erasure
News summit of bargain as budget allows
Enjoy
"Compartmentalize your life around your dreams, hobbies,
goals even your grief and hurt and you will grow as a person."
Quote _by Constance
I like things in my life in compartments,
good at dividing and separating;
like a store with different departments.
A time to pen poems captivating,
and divide all my emotions inside;
even put to the side things frustrating.
I put my grief in a box that I hide,
my past memories in a chest to keep;
oh yes, I like to ascribe and divide.
I go to the cemetery to weep,
for all those I loved now gone up above;
but try to not let them into dreams creep.
There is a time for seeking a truelove,
assign, label, seclude, group, draw apart;
and a time for finding my own self-love.
Each day has a specific time for art,
and a time to pray and to talk with God;
my beliefs are mine and part of my heart.
my friend Buddha helps me 'cause I am flawed,
I survive by having things in their place;
for in my past from deep pits I have clawed,
Each day I live in harmony and grace,
my way may not be yours but it is mine;
happiness is when each thing has a space.
To be truly, fully present
Of consciousness and
answering why we are here,
These studies are a promising field of research
Yet by powerful backlash
research has halted
For severe depression and PTSD
Universities use micro-doses of psylocibin
Derived from mushrooms
It lowers stress and doesn’t
cause hallucinations
Follow up studies show dramatic improvement
of conditions not previously responsive
to conventional medications and therapies
This chemical is still widely banned
Except for a few controlled studies
Underway at accredited, renowned medical
and psychiatric departments
at major universities
When popular conventional
therapies prove ineffective
the 60’s and 70’s proved a fertile ground
for those seeking help
New age treatment called Primal Therapy,
When religious cults such as love Guru’s
Hare`Krishna mantras, Buddhist chants
of Nam-Myoho-renge-kio or being shakabukued
or Hollywood fix its— for anxiety’s
mental illness failed,
Came the psychotherapists
and the latest Primal Scream Therapy
new and experimental, so-called Hollywood therapists
took it to levels unimaginable and a bit too far
and should have never been licensed!
There is a network of very powerful entities.
All worship satan very seriously.
Their network ranges internationally,
engaging in a great variety of the most depraved criminality.
Their satanic ideology,
is to bring about the end of the world eventually,
so that a new world can begin,
ruled by them and satan.
They range from street people to businessmen,
and have a great influence in many departments of law enforcement,
to the high ranks of very powerful international politicians.
They are involved in the drug trade and the trafficking of children,
to feed the depraved appetites of rich, powerful, deviant men and women,
then this demonic network moves on to blackmailing them,
providing in great part this network's financing.
Many sensationalized crimes that were broadcast to everyone,
has a direct connection to this network that worships satan,
who believe that random acts of violence, chaos and terrorism,
will bring about their deity's foreseen armageddon.
where they will all forever rule under their master satan.
As fantastic as this sounds, it is really happening.
There is a great deal of cooperated documentation.
They are completely off the grid with no fixed location,
but beware, The Process Church of the Final Judgement.
oh how they don’t like it when one of their own
turns on them,
oh how they don’t like it when he gets a gun---
oh how easily they lie when their lies are exposed &
now Mr. Dorner is dead,
just like they planned.
as parallels are made with Waco &
the buzz clips show the forceful roasting of the cabin in which
Dorner hid for his last moments,
the audio exchanges of the officers in question who
intentionally deployed the burners in order to
set it aflame & reduce it to rubble,
echo a tune that we all know too well---
that the pigs oinking round in the LAPD are good at what they do &
that is wielding
unbridled violence---
as they have done in the past,
so they continue in the present.
so does it make you feel more safe, america,
when those that get paid to “protect us”
end up getting burnt to ash
because they complained about the rampant racism
that flourishes within those very police departments
in which they work
&
were subsequently fired?
will you get in line & again,
as in
EVERY CASE OF GUN VIOLENCE IN THE EMPIRE,
point the finger at the shooter &
refuse to ask any questions as to
why
someone ends up unloading on people?
is it easier for you to sleep at night,
now that one man has been burnt to ash
after being hunted by the very organization in which he was
once employed?
you don’t smell a rat in the sewer?
nawww…it’s just so much easier to think that the state
has your back &
then change the channel with one hand while
stuffing your face with Doritos
with the other
(so you don’t have to see the footage of the flames),
isn’t it.
HOLDER OF THE HEAVENS
religion of love —
the Holder of the Heavens
spurs unity and purpose
the longhouse people
strong belief in afterlife
honored Spirit…lived good life
forever friendships
less crime ~ police force null
embraced Christianity
with brotherly care
the Iroquois weave gardens
enforced with no social caste
prayer and praise to God —
tobacco like incense lifts
with thankfulness...wampum tribe
11/26/2018
Line Gauthier’s Tribute to Native Culture Poetry Contest
References:
prezi.com
http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/environmental_center/sunbury/website/HistoryofIroquoisIndians.shtml
https://iroquoisgroup24.weebly.com/religious-beliefs-and-ceremonies.html