Elegy: For Isis

Posted on January 31, 2021 by William Stubblefield

I wrote this poem some time ago, when I was first married and working to complete my doctoral dissertation. Isis was a lovely cat who, along with my wife, endured the throes of my dissertation. I wrote this elegy on her passing. I had published it on an earlier version of my website, and thought it worth migrating to my new site.

Elegy: For Isis

When I married my wife,
you had already lived with her
ten years. That is how we remained:
The old, orange and white cat,
and the new man in the house.

My wife loves cats; I like them
well enough. But when you growled
and clawed her favored Persian,
a pampered, aging bimbo,
I liked you quite a lot.
You and I, we formed
an understanding:
I became your companion
of second choice, and you
my favorite distraction. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Memoir, Poetry | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Elegy: For Isis

A Political Poem

Posted on January 14, 2021 by William Stubblefield
Image by Dawit Tibebu, from Pixabay

The day Donald Trump began his campaign
For the presidency, a few in congress
(Mainly presidential candidates),
Called out his cruelty, corruption,
Incompetence, racism, and lies. But after
He won a freak victory, they cowed and quickly
Joined the other cowards in the party, and
Republicans in Congress did nothing.

When he refused to release his tax returns,
Exploiting technicalities like a crime boss
(Can he take the fifth on tax returns?),
Republicans in Congress did nothing.

When he mocked the handicapped, and drove
His rally crowds to frenzy with a wink and smile
Beckoning racists, anti-Semites,
Sexists, gay-bashers, xenophobes,
And other inhabitants of the darkness in our society
Now freed from the bounds of shame and public decency,
When he insulted his political foes with vulgar
Names and called the press the people’s enemy,
Republicans in Congress did nothing. Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged | Comments Off on A Political Poem

For Merry

Posted on September 23, 2020 by William Stubblefield
Clayton Anderson via Getty Images

In place of the gift
I had forgotten to bring you:

A blue hemisphere,
the empty half of a robin’s egg.

I found it,
residue of creation,
in the grass beside the sidewalk.

Posted in Poetry | Comments Off on For Merry

Haiku on Faith

Posted on September 8, 2020 by William Stubblefield

Certain in your faith?
Certainty’s a dream. The fruit 
of faith is courage.

Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

Posted in Poetry | Comments Off on Haiku on Faith

How Many Minds?

Posted on August 5, 2020 by William Stubblefield
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Wallace Stevens once wrote:

I was of three minds,   
Like a tree   
In which there are three blackbirds.  

Three minds?

Why so few?

I once read that our minds
(pardon the geek-speak):
“Emerge from interactions among countless, 
Specialized, independent, interconnected,
Largely unconscious mental processes.” 

Whew.

Little minds, minds all the way down,
Workers in a vast mind factory,
Combining to create fleeting structures of experience, 
Flying up into consciousness 
Like blackbirds startled from the branches,
Only to disappear into the forest
When the next thought appears. 

Blackbirds? More like bees.

Continue reading →
Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on How Many Minds?