Category Archives: Uncategorized

Great Author Above

Clouds above

Great Author Above

I’m tired of emotion. I’m up to my ears
in hysteria, sadness and terror and tears.
Bloodcurdling screams have become commonplace
along with sirens and gunshots and mace.

Our souls have been dirtied by leaders who lie
as they help themselves to their pieces of pie.
If there is a God, then this is the time
for him to step in and infuse some sublime

grace in a world that has gone much astray.
Yet we pay and we pay and we pay and we pay
with innocent blood while the rich all get fatter,
as though this whole world’s ruled by the Mad Hatter.

If this is true and we’re living a fable, 
great Author Above, if you’re willing and able,
write a new ending, preferably happy,
and hear my plea to please make it snappy!!!

 

Prompts today are emotion, dirty, bloodcurdling and tears.

Charles Ponzi in Hell

Charles Ponzi in Hell

He is a shrouded shyster, an adjunct to the Devil—
a ghostly apparition not remotely on the level.
He peddled false indulgences and cut-rate lots in heaven
on a sliding scale from heaven one right up to seven.

He was as suave as men can get clad in just a sheet,
with no face to speak of, not to mention sans his feet.
And though his sins were constant, every day a new adventure,
thanks to the realm he dwelled in, his pranks came without censure.

 

Prompt words today are thanks, suave, apparition, adjunct and devil. Image by Erin Minuskin on Unsplash.

A Sunset Walk on the San Juan Cosala Malecon, Oct 7, 2021

 Click on photos to enlarge and read captions.

Canna: FOTD, Oct 8, 2021

 

For Cee’s FOTD

Hibiscus Fist: FOTD Oct 7, 2021

 

For Cee’s FOTD. See her gorgeous cabbage rose HERE.

Veiled Mercy


Veiled Mercy

Home after a summer hike, a picnic and a swim,
while taking off your sun hat and dusting off its brim,

you find a tiny spider who has caught a ride—
one who would be better off if he’d remained outside.
Of course you cause a fracas, so upset I cannot quash it,

demanding that we find the harmless bug and promptly squash it.
When I respond with reason, saying it’s benign,
as usual you discount any argument that’s mine.
You won’t be contradicted, insisting out of spite
that the tiny hitchhiker is bound to take a bite.

Handing me a tissue, you demand I do the deed
before the evil insect has the chance to breed.
But, tired of your edicts, I even up the score.
I gently swathe it in the Kleenex and toss it out the door.

 

Prompt words for today are seal, quash, spider, fracas and swim.

Raquet Club Rock Slide and Water Flow Video: Oct 5, 2021

See a video of the water and rock flow at 1:30 P.M., Oct 5 , 2021. I love how the small black rocks caught in the flow pop up  like popcorn from the rush of the water. This “river” is not normally here. It  is the product of heavy rains and perhaps a waterspout that lifted from the lake and spilled its water out on the mountain above us. It has carved out a channel with the huge boulders that rolled down hill with it and gouged out the cobblestones and soil all the way to the carretera (main road) more than a mile below. Lots of force in that water.

 

To see still photos of damage in other parts of the Raquet Club, go HERE.

Rockslide in San Juan Cosala Raquet Club, Oct 5, 2021

At 7 o’clock this morning, my gardener called to say there had been another rockslide coming down from the mountain in the arroyo where I’ve been walking for the past few mornings. I published those views of an idyllic scene  and wildflower tangles that were taller than my head over the past few days. Today it is a very different scene. I went out to take videos. Check the first one out here: https://youtu.be/7iZiWdM5mmE

Here are some stills of the slide at its top end at the corner of Ilie Nastase and Pancho Gonzales – a block from my house. Click on photos to enlarge:

Here is my post on the bigger rockslide 14 years ago: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2015/11/10/one-word-photo-challenge-pick-your-own-avalanche/

And here are photos taken three days ago of my walk up the same ravine (arroyo) all these boulders and all this water just came down. I imagine it is a very different scene now: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2021/10/02/proof-of-a-wild-mountain-walk-a-wild-redemption/
And here are more photos of today’s slide: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2021/10/05/more-rockslide-photos-oct-5-2021-san-juan-cosala-raquet-club/

Obituary of a Jerk: Wordle 521, Oct 3, 2021

 


The Obituary of a Jerk

We are loath to depict his despicable face,
for when it came to living, he just used up space.
He first saw to his own comfort all of his life,
never thinking of kids or parents or wife.
No slur to his family was ever avenged.
He had little time as he gorged and he binged.

One never knew if he could or he couldn’t.
Maybe he would or maybe he wouldn’t
get places on time, even given a ticket—
advance plans “a bit of the old sticky wicket.”
A fact all his family found a bit lame,
for he wasn’t British—in lineage or name.

And no matter how crammed the sofa might get,
he’d never stand when he found he could sit.
He’d say “Pull up a chair,” and when you had done it,
he’d use it himself–just plop his buns on it!
And although you may think that’s as bad as it gets,
don’t make any wagers. Don’t take any bets.

I’ve got so many stories depicting his greed
that you’d have to stay here for hours to read
the tales of his excesses, selfishness, binging.
They’re unbelievable–really unhinging.
He frittered away his kids’ college savings
on fishing trips, camping and personal cravings.

Their summer earnings bought his new car,
then he spent all the rest for rounds at the bar.
So  when it comes to expressing our grief,
you’ll find all his eulogies startlingly brief.
He was born and he prospered, then sickened and perished
unmourned and ungrieved-for, unloved and uncherished.

 

For the Sunday Whirl Wordle 521 the prompt words were avenge, lame, sit, ticket, cram, here, gets, pulls, maybe, used, space, comfort

Proof of a Wild Mountain Walk (A Wild Redemption)

 

Click on first photo to enlarge all photos. The poem it illustrates has been edited in this version. To see poem in its entirety, go HERE.