There is a sad, wry wisdom widows write
and grandmothers seventy years and more.

They do not wave surrender flags
or show false bravery - they are valiant,
court jesters, sparking wit...

Crazed patina of raku pots
bears witness to the fires
these vessels have endured.

They are just a little mad,
    busted out
from straight-jacketed gentility,
    nailing their truths
        transcendent
            flown free.

                                    (c) Sandra Wade

(for Ally Hauptmann)

You know that something

wants to surface

when you start to

dither, pause in

formless waiting

What to do but

court confusion

let that push become

a poem, painting,

novel -- something

bound to birth

First has to come

attentive waiting

(c) Sandra Wade

*song from film "Ratatouille"

Breakfast's up so

what would you like with that

classical or regular

torture news

You can pass from room to room

and sample, switch

from Corelli calm to

outrage hot enough to boil an egg

in the water used

to half-drown a suspect

not even from the country

of Al Qaida's birth

You'll be soothed by Bach

or Mozart, strings that don't

include those Arab instruments

like the oudh

(though Mozart would have liked the oudh, I bet)

(c) Sandra Wade 4.21.2009