Is the Reichstag Already Burning?

Is the Reichstag already burning?
I'd like to ask
At the next
Press conference

And how deep into these allegations
Of deep state interference
Must we all now go?

A deep state of what --
Would be my follow up --
Misapprehension, malfeasance
Or mirth?

Farce (whether of the
high or low variety)
Always takes us lower
Than we otherwise
Might choose to go
And all too often it
Ends up in tragedy


Please note when a world view
Unravels quite suddenly
Like a bandage being
Ripped from the flesh
It causes consternation
And pain but ultimately
May prove for the best
Having our nation's grievous
Wounds thus exposed
To public view may better
Serve to put any further
Self-delusion to rest

Kikayon (or Jonah's Song)

I dreamed of writing a great poem

Words that could scald the earth

With the truth but then I woke up

And realized no one gives a damn

About anything I’ve ever written or said

And no, no I won’t go to Ninevah

Why should this prophecy be any different

From all the others

Anyhow can one poem more or less

Matter in the grand scheme

Of creation -- I think not very much

Yet still I must find a way to Ninevah

With or without the help of a big fish

At least that’s what I thought you said

And then there came up

A great and sudden storm

When the sailors drew lots and

I knew it was neither sink nor swim

But inside the big fish that I’d soon

Find myself in

There would be plenty of room

For redemption

And always, always I know

We must keep on singing

No matter how hot it is while

We’re sitting under the gourd

Such are the mysterious ways of the Lord

Sending us truth that proliferates

Like a shrub springing up quickly

Spreading and standing by virtue

Of its own ubiquitous stem

Heavy Wet Snow

This morning the woods are

Alive with the gob and smack

Of heavy wet snow that keeps sliding

Off roof tops and tree limbs 

Onto the earth below

Now is the time for letting go

Winter has just agreed

To let loose its grip

And the world in its entirety

Heaves a sigh of relief

As muck prepares

To take the place

Of frozen turf and snow

Spring Willow in the Snow

Last night she was

Taken by surprise

In the mid March storm

Already beginning

To grow loose and limber 

But suddenly she found herself

Encrusted with

A thin layer of snow

Diadems of ice clustered

Like blossoms along her

Drooping branches

Sparkling like an

Ingénue’s eyes

At the last ballroom 

Dance of the season

But this morning

She is resplendent

With a green aura 

Though around her base

Still lies the blanket

Of yesterday’s snow

Now in broad daylight

She has sloughed off

Her winter coat

And her long slender

Limbs are already

Aglow with the
Blush of spring

A cloud passing overhead
Is a diminished fifth
To her splendor
Yet taken down a notch
Her hue only deepens
The anticipation and
Bracing freshness
That engulfs the senses

Five Roads Diverged

Five roads diverged in the

Moment of my hand

And sorry I could not travel them all

And be one traveler still, long I stood

Undecided, until demiurge that I am

I merged them all into a single

Roundabout path that brought

Unity to the world in the form

Of a far more coherent plan

From the Extension Chord series by Brad Melamed

Of the Mani Pearl

Of the Mani pearl

To have seen it so clearly

And touched it so nearly

An ovoid rolling and released

Towards the lower mudra bound

Yet never touching down

It remains undefiled

Luminous and pure

Illustrated and illuminated by Brad Melamed

The Dowsing Rod Universal

Today I feel

The thrum of electricity

In the near constant tingling

And intermittent spark that 

Leaps across my fingertips

And crackles in the air

I am the dowsing rod universal

And the same energy courses

Within and without

With the humidity so high

And the pace of change

Accelerating the plot

Yet again thickens

To the consistency

Of a rich béchamel

But not yet nor ever

Do I imagine there will

Come a day when I rue

The discovery of the

Golden Flower within

From the Extension Chord series by Brad Melamed

The Willow (by Li Shang Yin)

Brought to life by spring

Without limit

Your branches tremble

Without cease

As daylight breaks

I’d pay a pretty penny

To hear whatever words you

Would choose to speak

But your only answer

Is to continue dancing

While inside flutters a

Butterfly’s wing

And an oriole sings

For a taste of your

Sweet nectar

Even an empire falls

Short of the grandeur

With which your

Lithe body speaks

Though a shrug of the brow

Is your meager  reward

柳

動春何限葉

撼曉幾多枝

解有相思否

應無不舞時

絮飛藏皓蝶

帶弱露黃鸝

傾國宜通體

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