In Memoriam

Core Members of the White Rose - Munich 1942 - (l to r) Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst.  Arrested by the Gestapo on February 18 and guillotined  on February 23, 1943, 70 years ago this month.

The notorious Nazi Judge Roland Freisler was pract… Read full post »

What do you say

when she asks

"How do I know

you love me?"

Don’t say

"I don’t.

I only love

your ass."

Don’t say

"You have to ask?"

She does.

She just did.

"You should know by now"

doesn’t work

simply because

she doesn’t.… Read full post »

"You get away cheap on Valentine’s Day!" she would quip with a smile.

Carnations were her favorite flower. Not roses. Carnations.

Long stem reds and whites wrapped in that paper that goes inside flower boxes with a bow, a card and delivered by the flower shop.  Some years, wh… Read full post »

The original banking floor of the R. I. Hospital Trust 

Once upon a time I worked in Providence, R. I. It was back in the late seventies - early eighties. My youngest daughter was born there.

I was a thirty something V. P. at the Rhode Island Hospital Trust,… Read full post »

She wore a chignon in her hair

pulling it tightly from her face

Aragon's image carved by time.

the walking ghost of Isabella.

She moved along with quiet grace

each motion filled with dignity

usually found in royalty

yet easily and naturally.

Watching closely one could… Read full post »

Hell must be empty she thought

'cause all the demons are here

in this dark lonely space

which she once thought was heaven.

He was life sucking in his perfection

leaving her an empty husk

no longer the woman she once was;

each day a dreaded hanging page,

operating system… Read full post »

A repost 'cause it's important 

FGM ceremonial knives used in Sierra Leone - photo from the U. N. News Service

Lithe and lovely

Eritrean girl

high cheek bones

pearly whites

chocamocha

café latte

has me staring at her

aquiline nose.

"Hey G. I!… Read full post »

The Huntress has seen everything
shined on all who ever lived.
Apollo too of course by day
but since Diana rules the dark
she knows full well what night conceals.

She watches as we park the car
to wait the rising of the sun
my lips upon your pillow lips
her light reflected in your eyes
we/… Read full post »

In a dream the guns came out

drowning out the voice of reason

unheard the cries of little children

no one cared who fired first.

One side killing all the godless

the other murdering the priests

both were hunting reason’s voices

the middle ground a no-man’s land

 … Read full post »

They looked up and saw the

body electric, fashioned by Eros

coming through the door;

tall, with a perfectly turned ankle

worthy in itself of worship,

limbs formed by the gods

a sculptor’s deft touch to hip and breast.

The body in age has memory;

hands and skin still fe… Read full post »

Diaspora 

Bougainvillea

passeggiatta

old men doffing borselinos

wearing double breasted suits.

Topolinos in the street

run as if on memory

pretty girls now walking by

laughing, giving boys the eye.

Un espresso piacere

evening star just visible

sitting at a little tabl… Read full post »

It’s 1975 and thirty something Toritto is going on a business trip for the great American travel company.

To Venice. Italy. Tough duty but someone has to do it.

Actually the company’s "Venice" office is in Mestre, a bit of an industrial town on the mainland.  At least it was… Read full post »

Well Super Bowl Sunday is rolling around and will soon be upon us. Game day is a de-facto national holiday. Many of the games are included in the list of the largest TV events ever. The day is the second biggest eating day for Americans trailing only Thanksgiving. The cost… Read full post »

Piazza del Duomo, Milan.  The entrance to the Galleria is through the arch on the left.   The statue is of Vittorio Emanuele II.

So it’s June 1994 and yours truly is in Milan in a serviced apartment (kitchen, living room and bedroom) a short walk from bo… Read full post »

It is the year 135 B. C .in Roman Republic Sicily The Carthaginians had been finally defeated and expelled years ago. The Roman Republic itself was already some 375 years old, dating from the overthrow of the monarchy in 509 B. C.  Vast tracts of land had been acquired by… Read full post »

Bells should ring

for our peaceful sister

mauled by the evil

come back from the grave.

Ring your bells in Warsaw

for our peaceful sister

revisited by the specter

you know so well.

In Paris, Brussels

Lublin and Krakow

Auschwitz Birkenau

and yes, Berlin

be aware the evil lurks among… Read full post »

At the corner table of a Wendy's

an old woman sits every morning,

bent over her paper,

her coffee and half eaten egg

patiently awaiting further attention.

In the banality that is old age

she thinks how little she enjoyed

the years of youth and beauty

when sh… Read full post »

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!"

Elizabeth awoke from her slumber to hear her Lady in Waiting knocking at the door to her bed chamber.

"A messenger from Cumnor Place with urgent news"

Elizabeth immediately knew  the subject of the news.  She knew who lived at Cumnor… Read full post »

Comrade Balabanoff! There is someone here I would like you to meet!

Angelica turned around to face the voice. It was Franco, one of her colleagues on the Central Committee of the Italian Socialist Party.

"Good evening! How are you!" He gently kissed her on the cheek. With him… Read full post »