Meanwhile on the Set

A Work in Progress
58

Meanwhile

On the set 

two unemployed rarely loquacious

unable to improv 

poets

discussing possibilities

Director Glenn Hughes joined them

with the script

we can teach children grammar

said Donal who had just learned Latin grammar 

then they will know how to parse time

not grammar but business

grammar can take care of itself

said Ezra    

we live like dogs

only for the moment

savoring odors wafting from the kitchen

flavors sipped from a glass

colors shining in sunlight 

as we bottle our wines

that’s not in the script said peachie

from afar sitting on the edge of dark matter

watching time pass by

who wrote this script they asked looking at Glenn

we’ll write it together he said

we’ll parallel modern times 

with one foot in the future

we’ll straddle the present 

with one foot in the past

we’ll ride across daylight not stopping for night

for everything’s global there is always light

we’ll be prime time no matter where

our chariot will dare to circle each day 

we won’t go high not close to the Sun

but we will have visibility on everyone

I’ve read Asimov’s The Martian Way

space travel beckons just not today

we’re in an age of discovery an atomic age

poets and playwrights must lead the way

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                        2025

Catullus Calls on Urania

A Work in Progress
57

Beautiful Urania astronomer’s muse

our eyes open to all your wonders

portents you show us will reward us

for where else can answers be found

when political peril confronts us

a dictator who sane was already unbound

now increasingly insane has been found

guilty of assault when he had a stiff member

he’s now’s so old he cannot remember

where else for advice but ask Urania

on timing a bribe to stay on his good side 

or who should we pay now that he’s gaga

among those that protect him who has the power

to keep him from suing us if we should speak truth

say he’s a fat farter and in person uncouth

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                         2025

Sunlight 

A Work in Progress
56

Sunlight shows what sound waves signify

trickles from a fountain fill a bowl 

with water which magnifies

trickles into a bigger bowl below 

which also overflows

trickles into a much bigger bowl where the pump is

held up by a sturdy base 

decorated with acanthus leaves

dust pollen air-borne seeds glint in the sunlight

silently seen from inside the window 

then there’s a gurgle and a vortex spiral

down the plug hole into the world where Trump is

There are two towel racks on the oak paneled walls

sunlight falls on a white bath towel 

morning sun fell on the facing wall

where another white towel hangs on a rack

as our sun traverses a summer sky

each day taking a less westerly tack

we begin serious harvesting

strawberries are over blueberries coming in

green peas won’t last this heat

bean plants grow taller 

each day more news of bigger bombardments

more missiles shredding Ukraine’s defenses

while there’s growing hope for rearmament if

the USA will come to its senses

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                   2025 

 Words Offered to AI (Revisited)

                           For Jorie Graham

A Work in Progress
55

Italic words on thin almost transparent paper

with irregular length of line

characterize something likely to be labeled once scanned

by AI

                        1

when Donal closes his eyes, he can still see

an image of what he was seeing 

as he lay back in the bathtub 

bunches of thyme hanging from strings

below them trays of oregano, other herbs

future herbs de Provence

backlit by sash windows open to the air

an evening sky with dwindling sunset

with eyes closed his thoughts can proceed

away from fragrant bunches swaying in the breeze

inward where once when feverish and young

he imagined model airplanes made with balsa wood

weaving in and out of the trees

like miniature bumble bees

navigated by imaginary pilots

                        2

a pleasure to lie back while hot water fills a tub

steam fogs the windowpanes as Donal towels dry

black patches in an overcast sky forebode more rain

oak paneling glistens

bath water gurgles

headline crises can wait another day

sleep succeeds a bathtub soak

once it was a cold stone flagged floor

a wooden stand with a basin of water

hot from a kettle carried in from another room

where Donal kept a coal fire going in the grate

once it was a washstand before a window

overlooking a garden and a view of a valley

now it’s an antique tub on iron claw feet

in a custom-built bathhouse with windows and skylights

once it was as it was before piped water and plumbing

now it’s hot water on demand preheated by solar

then it was Vietnam now it is Ukraine

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                       2025

Note: The first lines reference Michael March (peachie le nic).

Words Offered to AI

                           For Jorie Graham
A Work in Progress
55

italic words on thin almost transparent onion skin paper

with irregular length of line

characterize something likely to be labeled once scanned

by AI

a pleasure to lie back while hot water fills a tub

steam fogs the windowpanes as Donal towels dry

black patches in an overcast sky forebode more rain

oak paneling glistens

bath water gurgles

headline crises can wait another day

sleep succeeds a bathtub soak

once it was a cold stone flagged floor

a wooden stand with a basin of water

hot from a kettle carried in from another room

where Donal kept a coal fire going in the grate

once it was a washstand before a window

overlooking a garden and a view of a sparsely populated valley

now it’s an antique tub on iron claw feet

in a custom-built bathhouse with windows and skylights

once it was as it was before piped water and plumbing

now it’s hot water on demand preheated by solar

then it was Vietnam now it is Ukraine

Dick Russell © Richard M Russell

                       2025

Note: The first lines reference Michael March (peachie le nic).