May 27, 2013

I was going to post an old poem today

by jhon baker

I was going to post up an old poem today but my wife put better what it was I wanted to say – here are her words – may all have a thoughtful memorial day…

On Memorial Day

We remember all those whose chance at life was cut short and those whose lives were forever changed because of the ugliness of war.

We remember those who died thousands of miles away from home.
Who never enjoyed the scent of their mother’s perfume again.
Who never had the chance of experiencing fatherhood and motherhood.
Who never got the chance of holding their babies.
Who will never again wake up in a warm bed.
Who will never again enjoy being in the arms of their loved ones.
Who never got the chance to experience love for the first time.
Who died surrounded by death and destruction.

We remember, those who came back, their innocence lost.
Innocence lost on a field amid blood and limbs.
Who forever have to live with brutal scars both inside and out.
Who will forever wake up from nightmares the rest of us can’t begin to imagine.
Who will endure for a lifetime the awful visions of evil war.
Who will never again be the same innocent boys and girls they were before the left.

In Memory of both my Grandfathers who served In World War II. In Memory of my 4 Great Uncles who served in WWII, including Robert Wych who died on the U.S.S. Indianapolis.

To my Father, Robert Van Wych, who served on the front lines of Vietnam, forever haunted by the evils of war.

 

– Kara Baker

May 13, 2013

what I say is holy

by jhon baker

but it’s no good,

the secret out,

and I am on my knees.

 

what I say is holy,

holier than the tomes of great men

whose bodies are dust;

 

I can no longer blow them for good graces

except by exhale,

 

head buried to the lap

of dead gods turned to ash.

April 21, 2013

a luddite in the 21st century

by jhon baker

I have a subject in mind

but that isn’t what this poem is about.

 

Judas Iscariot, and I’ve been writing him

for months

but that isn’t what this poem is about.

 

drinking coffee and listening to the symphony

with projects that need attention all around.

at one time I thought I would stand while writing

to allow the body to sway into part of the meter.

but now I just sit here and type.

BANG BANG BANG

on the keyboard of a typewriter

a luddite in the 21st century

attracted buy the trappings of Steve Jobs innovations

but preferring to still use my old IBM

but that isn’t what this poem is about.

 

I’m trying to reach Judas Iscariot through song

to no avail, through prayer

but I don’t believe.

a hard poem to write and little is known

so I make it up and type on

BANG BANG BANG

really striking the keys though it makes no difference

to the imprint on the paper

but that isn’t what this poem is about.

 

later today I will rewrite this poem into my iMac

computer that’s sitting twenty feet away

and wonder why I didn’t write it there in the first place

but I know I know I know

and I will sit here again tomorrow and do the same thing

with coffee, symphony music and projects all around

that need attention that they will not receive.

but that isn’t what this poem is about.

 

what is this poem about?

I don’t know.

April 11, 2013

Ramble

by jhon baker

I am willful and my mind is scattered. I have nothing to write about at present though my moleskine is filling with ideas and treatments. short thoughts. Once, when I was young I thought to be a cartoonist was the ideal for me – but I made a better comedian and only made the family laugh once at the kitchen table – I am not depressed but hauntingly even. Not going insane is a new thing for me and I haven’t been enjoying the anxiety that comes with waiting for the other side of this enjoyment. The drugs work but I don’t like how they work – this is normal. Call me Mr. Jones.

But my main ambition as a child was to be a writer and catalog what made my aspect seem to feel as though I had been ill my whole life. I still feel that way and now am broken by this and an SUV that blew off a stop sign. Such is life.

Listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with my family while my son works on a research report on Beethoven and this is a wonderful moment. I can never write to Beethoven – as if he had said everything that there is to say and the power with which he says it cannot be matched.

I recently finished a longer poem – long for me stretching to three pages and am now mostly concerned about where to place it.