A Declamation by Stan Raines
I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United State of America
and to the people and co-signers
for whose constitution it stands
to which I do subscribe-
Battered old whore as she is
in and out of bed with slavers and churchmen,
taking in nine elder opinions for a quick feel;
yes, shrunken old Eunuch as it sits
beaten [...]

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The Schedule:
Spiritual Reading and Desayuna (San Juan) - Poetry focusing on spirituality and religion
9 - 10 am, Missionaries of Jesus Convent
Host: Brenda Nettles Riojas and featuring Brenda Nettles Riojas, Vanessa Brown, Lina Suárez, Airlee Sattler Rose, Stan Raines, Steve Vera, Diana Dominguez, Lady Mariposa, Daniel García Ordoz
NOTE: Please bring something to eat or drink, preferably [...]

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Crowd gathers for Poetry Pachanga.
Good times were had by those that wanted them last night as the major events day culminated with a poets’ dinner at the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts center followed by the Poetry Pachanga in the San Benito Community Center Auditorium.

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A Poem by Thomas Thornburg
(for Manisha)
John Peterson the potter’s throwing
Pots in his shop; the turning day
Beholds him at the world’s fairs showing
His canny cups in crafted clay.
Midsummer and in solsticed snows
John Peterson the potter throws
Visions before him there and births
Objects of art from pummeled earth.
John Peterson with hands of steel
Labors before the turning wheel
Reflecting there [...]

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The Valley International Poetry Festival Continues for Saturday
Events scheduled for today include:
Registration
9 - 6 pm
Narciso Martínez Cultural Arts Center
Potluck Brunch
9 - 10:30 am
Narciso Martínez Cultural Arts Center (Private - Registered Poets Only)
Workshop: Tribute to the late raúlsalinas
10:30 - 11 am
Narciso Martínez Cultural Arts Center; Presenters: Joe and Rosa Pérez, Rumbo al’ Anacua
Readings: Narciso Martínez Cultural [...]

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A Poem by Patricia A.
I watch my dad as he looks past the floor,
pensive,
sitting on the edge of his bed,
the edge of his life,
about to run out of ground on which to walk.
His knees are apart
at shoulders width.
His hands clasp loosely to each other,
not as if praying or holding on to life,
but just to keep [...]

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A Set of Poems by Thomas Thornburg
Poor Eddie Poe
collapsed in the snow
and exhaled no more
in old Baltimore.
Poor Mary Mallon
wept o’er many a gallon
of soapsuds, avoiding
the cops, and typhoiding.
W. B. Yeats
believed in the fates,
but on Sunday
in Spiritus Mundi.
Fenimore Cooper
did not make a trooper,
but wrote some novels
about hovels.
Geoffrey Chaucer
wore a hat like a saucer
and [...]

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A poem by Stan Raines
I see him, Lord of the Porch,
And all that he surveyed,
Weaving a web of words
From the old world,
The old, old world,
Raising again the cry
Of man against injustice
Of man against man,
And smack and smack and smack
The shaggy heads of school boys,
Errant bullies, and school men alike
With the All that had not changed
Not [...]

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A Poem by Stan Raines
For Don Rumsfeld
One hundred thousands souls or so
Fit the measure quite nicely.
Every mother’s child can count that high
Don’t need a reason why
Every body’s count still adds up
How many grains will fill the cup?
How do you measure the oil
You’ve brought to a boil?

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A Poem by Stan Raines
Love, Love,
The weak sister
Must wait upon
Those who would love Love
But who wait upon
The things of love-
Who draw pictures of starry nights madly swirling,
Or build fortunes on the wasting of factory towns,
Or plot the downing of an unlucky race,
Or dance till morning in maddening circles.
So Love takes a day job,
To speed the [...]

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Celebrating National Poetry Month
And it’s still on here at NunnaYerBizness Today. So, if you have poems ready to read and would like to TEST MARKET them here, send ‘em in. Meanwhile, here’s what’s scheduled for the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival today.
Friday, Apr. 25
Poets In The Schools
8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Valleywide at Pre-Registered [...]

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I had a pleasant conversation a little while ago with Ms. Estela Von Hatton, Brownsville City Secretary, on my pending requests for information on the construction and costs of Pablo Kisel Boulevard. She listed the dates that she had e-mailed Public Works on the matter, and they corresponded nicely with records of my own [...]

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Texas Monthly has an important article this month on the decline of sexuality education in our schools, “Faith Hope, and Chastity“, and I highly recommend its reading. I confess that I have a dog in this fight since I joined the board of Planned Parenthood of Cameron and Willacy Counties last November. but I [...]

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A Poem by Eugene Novogrodsky
They started side by side,
Another couple, bags in hand,
Crossing back to Mexico,
US stores’ chickens/toilet paper/
Sodas/soap powder/toothpaste.
Suddenly, in the middle of the bridge,
The river’s green and brown water
Fast below, he stops and
Leans on the railing - traffic side.
She’s walked on, and then
Knows he’s not at her side.
She stops, too, leans on the [...]

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Memoir
Memory is such an untidy thing; leaves cabinet doors open, clothes on the floor and crumbs on the counter. You can’t sweep it away, and no matter how you try to clean it up, it is what it is.
Jimmy R. and I were drinking at the Carriage House, the only gay bar, at the time, [...]

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An opinion
I’m sorry to come back to Brownsville’s streets as a topic. The poetry and literary discussions on the site are much more to my liking and the readership seems to have broadened out and deepened quite a bit since the shift.
I started this series—not knowing it would be a series or at least thinking [...]

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A poem
Treasure
Search your trash!
You missed the one thing
of true worth.
Where are your shells
And the bones of all
You have consumed.
What odds and ends
you have in there.
Surely they glow and glitter.
And there’s a rhythm
You can keep for life
In your swing and sway.
Why, the ancient ones
Built their Gods
From oysters and broken shanks.
They raised towns
On their dead
And planted lost [...]

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Memoir
Memory is a scourge, unless conflated, synthesized and expressed. All memoirs are fiction. Initials are only used to protect the not-so-innocent.
This must have occurred in 1978, I suppose. NunnaYerBizness was still a working musical concern, and S. and I were winding down from a gig. He was driving me home in that robin’s-egg blue Chrysler [...]

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If you count today, then there are still eight days left in National Poetry Month. That’s eight days more to get that gem of a poem you’ve been hiding in that notebook in the left bottom drawer of your desk out and post it for others to enjoy and appreciate at last.
It’s also the day [...]

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By Patricia A.

Silent Lullaby

under my chin
above my chest
there is a cave
where you can hide

my arms are doors
i’ll locked them tight
to keep you in
inside my cave

your forehead near
a kiss away
so near I feel
tears down my neck

i have no words
except to pray
your broken spirit
in me finds rest

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The Sunday Times Magazine ran an incredible piece on the ethics of going green–with a couple of pointed suggestions that go beyond Al Gore’s, “Well, you could change your light bulbs.” Click above to check it out.

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When five retired generals publicly criticized the war in Iraq in 2005, the administration put together a team of their own retired officers with ties as to the businesses benefiting from the war to make an answer. New York Times writer David Barstow describes the psy-ops directed at your head here. If you missed it, [...]

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In Brownsville
In Brownsville did the Chertoff a mighty wall decree
Its ramparts tall and gleaming with turrets jeweled blue and green
Built of sturdy stone quarried from la Cerro de la Silla
And set in place by los manos de muchos albiñiles;
Many hands, many days and nights stretched to weeks and months,
Oh, how they labored and the wall [...]

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