Photo by Jared in Kansas, poem by me.
Line across a great expanse
runs reddish barbed wire;
It never came to much,
perimeter of ranch ire.
Twisted and tied
to strangle post rock;
Does it bring freedom
or just startle livestock?
Category Archives: Poetry
Facial Recognition Technology Blues
by Eddie B. and the G-Spots (as noted by Bruce Schneier)
I can’t recognize a face
yes I am just a big disgrace
A failure of security
you think they’d have enough of me
that’s rightLie-lie-lie-la-la-lie
Gotta find Bin Laden, Osama
instead, I stop your old grandma
Though I came close, when I did stop
those bearded guys from ZZ Top
last nightLie-lie-lie-la-la-lie
Failing, yes I keep failing
No, I ain’t nailing
one single faceFailing, yes I keep failing
Though they keep hailing
me as a saving gracePut on mustache glasses for a lark
and I’ll think that you’re Groucho Marx
Thought Kathie Lee was Busta-Rhymes
and I spotted Elvis fifty timesLie-lie-lie-la-la-lie
Can’t tell gender, not at all
exploded when I saw RuPaul
Though, even I am at a loss
how I confused Al Roker with Kate MossLie-lie-lie-la-la-lie
Failing, yes I keep failing
No, I ain’t nailing
one single faceFailing, yes I keep failing
Though they keep hailing
me as a saving grace
Meeting at Night
Photo by me
Poem by Robert Browning (1812-1889)
The grey sea and the long black land;
And the yellow half-moon large and low;
And the startled little waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
And quench its speed i’ the slushy sand.Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match,
And a voice less loud, through its joys and fears,
Than the two hearts beating each to each!
Where your bare foot walks
by Rumi (translation by Coleman Barks)
I want to be where
your bare foot walks,because maybe before you step,
you’ll look at the ground. I want that blessing.
A blessing perhaps if all you want is consideration, but not such a blessing if you still get squished like a bug by someone’s bare foot (someone who has factored the costs, or is oblivious to them). An African proverb has a slightly different take on the same theme:
When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
Do the elephants look at the ground? Would they, if the “bare foot” theory of Rumi were true?