A monthlong celebration of poetry

April is National Poetry Month, a monthlong, national celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. To mark the occasion, Tinian English teacher Joseph Connolly submitted the following poems for publication:
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Waxing poetic on Ukraine and Crimea

By JOSEPH CONNOLY
Special to the Saipan Tribune

Here are four classic types of poetry that I have used to deal with international headline news. Haiku, a Japanese form, is traditionally written about nature. When it is written about human matters it is called senryu. Limericks, of Irish origin, are usually funny. The 14-line sonnet as used here was usually written about love and or death. The form is called a Shakespearean or an Elizabethan sonnet. Queen Elizabeth I ruled England during a time when they flourished. Shakespeare mastered and wrote more than 150 love sonnets and his are considered to be the best of all time. The villanelle is a 16th century French style with a strict rhyme and line structure. These poems have been written over the past month as the crisis in Ukraine and the Crimean penisula has unfolded. Please enjoy these and other poems during National Poetry Month.

HAIKU for UKRAINE and CRIMEA

Ukrainian cold spring
raining down in Crimea
Europe twitches

been through this before
mother bear shuts the door
after Tatars home at last

a river of realistic tears
folks going ballistic with ethnic fears
Crimean linguistics

A LIMERICK for the UKRAINE

ex KGB boss Comrade Vladimir Putin
has a mouth he seldom puts his foot in
he moved on the Crimea quite quickly
now the Ukraine is feeling quite sickly
so far at least there has been little shootin

A SONNET for SEBASTABOL and CRIMEA

Thousands of protestors rally out in the spring rain
Massed in a large city square call out for democracy
In Kiev, the capitol of the Ukraine, they all long
To join the European Union and be more free
Their motives—economic mobility—quite noble
after months of protest they get rid of a corrupt boss
unaware of coming events in the port of Sebastobol
when the whole Crimean peninsula would become a loss
Putin felt oustering the boss made push come to shove
he took a checkmate move from his KGB master book
and slipped a classic Communist iron fist into a glove
Annexing the entire Crimea was the chess move he took
Now Russian troops mass on Ukraine’s eastern border
As Putin puts his paratrooper knights and pawns in order

SISTER COUNTRY IN CRISIS – Spring 2014
– a villanelle for the Ukraine & Crimea

a sister country in crisis
big brother bear gives it a shove
using military vices
borders cut up into slices
from the cold east and from above
a sister country in crisis
big bear heeds its own advices
little bear squeezed by iron glove
has no nuclear devices
Tatars rank lower on indices
now back in the country they love
a sister country in crisis
Putin plays chess, cool cat and mices
carefully plotting every move
using military vices
eagle opens its orifice
and offers up a peaceful dove
neighboring countries feel crisis
money lost in trade crevices

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Boomer Sonnets: An introduction

By JOSEPH CONNOLY
Special to the Saipan Tribune

BABY BOOMERS – ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE

We all grow older daily with every breath
filling casinos, buffets, hospitals, and spas
dealing with aging and inevitable death
replacement knees, hips, ’push em up’ girdles and bras

Spending millions on balding and dyeing gray hair
falling arches, sagging guts, butts, shots of botox
waking up each morning with new pains everywhere
specialists give us bad news and a price that shocks

Pricing new models of an electric wheel chair
trying new fad diets and old vitamin spin
ignoring our flab and farting everywhere
rationalizing the fattening food we eat is no sin

Hoping, praying to cure our cancer and tumors
another day in the life of Baby Boomers

BOOMER SONNETS – THE ’C’ LIST

Copping out, coming out, cleaning out the neural cobwebs comes first
when the Boomer ’C’ list comes along the old glass ceiling path
champagne, cocaine, chilblain, children who complain of fiscal thirst
in the background, behind these is ” The Big C “(Cancer)—you do the math

Chief among killers and disease ridden Boomers today is “The Big C”
from head to toe Boomers know someone, if not themselves, with cancer
cures for many types seems evasive, and perhaps in some cases not to be
scientists young and old, in labs, in heat and in cold, search for an answer

More pleasant C’s can be found in cookies, cupcakes, assorted ice creameries
cabbage, coleslaws, corned beef, croissants, cous cous, chicken chow mein
celebrated chefs, and us common folk fix food at home for Boomer’s dreameries
laying low now on the fancy chow and stressing the beauty of vegetables plain

So chill Boomers chill, give those crippled fingers a massage for a crutch
buy a ’green’ tech Boomer car, lower your carbon footprint, and use no clutch

BOOMER SONNETS – THE ’D’ LIST

DUH! don’t dare to say you don’t know what’s on top the ’D’ list
it has to be DYING or trying to avoid it, businesses exploit it daily
the inevitable event Boomers wish they could somehow miss
so pharmacies parade pills with a charade and the pills sell gaily

Death at an early age? Oh missed it? Now it comes without trying
comes creeping up when you fall down, pay those insurance bills
waking up everyday with a headache that won’t go away, crying
just thinking about what you have now and about all your future ills

Lay down your weary dreams and wake to a new and delightfil age
dig in, dig out, dance a duet, doo wop, drag more and more out
don’t let the ’D’ list drag you down into Death Valley without some rage
get up and boogie down the desert strip with plenty of ’Twist and Shout’

Delighted now to find, now knowing better than to accept a death dirge
don’t delay joys, make some noise Boomers ! whenever you get the urge

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The vagaries of education philosophies

By JOSEPH CONNOLY
Special to the Saipan Tribune

After over a quarter century teaching in the CNMI, before that in a hospital in New Orleans, and up in S.E. Alaska’s Panhandle, I have seen many educational philosophies and movements come and go. Here is a triad of sonnets that address in a slightly humorous and somewhat skeptical manner some of those various directions education has taken. Enjoy!

MOVEMENTS – common, core, life, and more…

Well friends, some movements are thought to be fair
then there will be those believed to be fouls
some movements are so small we don’t even care
necessary movements come from our bowels
there are folks who join every single one
there are those that have absolutely no choice
serious movements may precede some quite fun
hearing musical movements make us rejoice
through our lives we move from stage to stage
at home, at work, at school, from room to room
not enjoying change sends some into a rage
while others wear masks of impending doom
best roll with the punches, go along with the flow
learn from each movement, you’ll be in the know

CONNECT the DOTS and COLOR MY BRAINBOWS

So what color is inside your brain?
what color is in hers, his, or mine?
Emergenetics tries hard to explain
giving brains some colors to define
so if you think socially with your head
you’re in a brain state colored red
if conceptual thought gives pause to mellow
you’re in a brain state painted yellow
when your analytical brain thinks through and through
say, “hey other analysts, paint me blue too”
if a practical thinker, you practically know what I mean
broccoli, lettuce, politically in? – correct, you are green
if this new stuff gives your brain more puckers
“Keep on truckin”…there are plenty more suckers

IN BLOOM’S ROOM

For a blueprint of taxonomy by Benjamin Bloom
take a short walk through his theoretical room
in the beginning there was KNOWLEDGE
we must not forget to mention
it helped us find our way through college
talk specifics and grasp COMPREHENSION
once we’ve assessed the learning situation
looking at the difference between that and this
then we can start to use APPLICATION
and break it down to actual ANALYSIS
using synergistic solutions for our SYNTHESIS
learning comes through in waves of bliss
we’re alive and well in the realm of education
perhaps without fear of EVALUATION