http://slow.writerscafe.org/ronnow The original writings of author Robert Ronnow en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1775985155 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 I watch the television evangelist Joel Osteen with Josephine from Ghana. God wants you to succeed, he says. I think God died or lied, same difference. When everyone holds up their Bibles and thumps themI make my nervous laugh.                 &n.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/3131323/ Always doing something plus I have opinionsWinning the war in Ukrainepain I can’t explainSaving for retirementkayaking to the huckleberries across the River StyxKisses sweet or smell of shitdon’t pretend you don’t careIf you just watch the sky an hour each day you’ll nev.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/3128346/ Have you ever considered how your shoes will look without your feet?I should call Dr. Killeen this afternoon, find out if I have cancerbut I’m enjoying the extra weekend of not knowing.Strong oscillations gather rhythm and expel me or accept me.It’s annoyingbeing.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/3125751/ To hear the mermaids singing. Not quite.To make sense of life. No experience, no nonsense.To make life better for future generations.Why care about the future? The dead don’t live to see it.To save people or nations. Poets just wanna have fun.To exceed one’s limits, derivatives with.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/3122472/ I searched upstairs and downstairs, mask of fright,repositioned machinery, turned on lights,called my doctor and the operator,tried passion and dispassion, meditationand my morning crap, sang out of tune,passed a school bus on the double yellow line.A clock, a calendar, a ruler,a min.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/3119896/ And complain about sentience. Tell a joke. Make-- Us sad or depressed, less afraidEarth into homes, earth into mud Their peaceMe a fossil of societyOur own decisions, the universe having reversed its decision on us A sound or noiseEcho makeThe body healthy I doThe feelings in the mind.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2962700/ It’s 2022, we’re in the final battle for the soul of the world.There is no Indo-European root for soul,the Greek and Germanic roots mean quick-moving, fleeting, mercurial.I’d add evanescent, impermanent, ephemeral disappearing, diminishing, dwindling tenuous, brief, short.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2955887/ In the debate between dubbing and subbing I side with subs to savor the original mellifluous French, Tamil, Korean, Italian...Reading the subtitles assists the deaf and hard of hearing although voiceovers benefit the blind and vision impaired.Historically dubbing was employed&nbs.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2947436/ Thanks for another dayOthers curse their luck, stale breath Eventually our enemy becomes our brotherCancer checkup, another swinging dick who fears his deathTo not necessarily sacrifice each and every day for another dayI’m going to go to my grave unsung like almost everyoneNumerous number sys.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2943815/ Everything is normalso not much to sing or say. No summer thunderstorm,the snow was magical only for an hour.Old menaren’t removing women’s panties with removable dentures.A belly laugh now and then,an empty belly’s holy.With simple joymortals may forget to fear their deaths. Simpl.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2930005/ The dead woman’s cat in the furrows of the gardendoes not let herself be picked up although hungry and thin after five dayswith the dead woman and a night in the rain.It has gone to join the other feral catsamong the junk behind the house.On my way to work I try to entice itwith false friendsh.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2926010/ Back from the desert and loving itboth the visit and the return.The powerful plane deiced in Chicago.Brittlebush, difficulty distinguishing acacia from ironwood.Mesquite, and plenty of paloverde.A good jazz band in Phoenix, their own style, no apology.Could you also love your cancer? The vicious att.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2905546/ The day after my Aunt Ro dieda doe approached within a few feetas if confused about where she wasand what she should be doing.I could neither comfort nor advise her.I let her be not considering until later maybeI had witnessed the transmigration of a soul.But in the end I applied Ockham’s razo.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2897882/ Spring morning,quiet. One coyote,three deer running in snow.What else have I seen?A sparrow hawk in mid-air snatcha robin, a sharp-shinned hawk catcha rabbit in its talons.A deaf mute in a pear tree.Not one wolverinein Utah or Italy.Nor a famous samurai.A young black beartraverses the lawn in August.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2895111/ I have a special interest in telling about my colonoscopy.The doc cheerful, secure in his specialty, colon cancer beingthe second leading cause of cancer death after lung tumors.They can snip the precancerous polyps right out of you during the test.At first the doc gave me the statistics but having .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2889334/ Books to the libraryphotos to family.Paint cans and lumberfrom renovations years ago.Most of the furnitureincluding the piano.Fastest way to do thisis rent a dumpster.On the internetnothing’s permanent.I like that.Photosynthesis, evaporationas if your spirit disappearswhen the sun appears.It&r.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2882422/ There are 12 types of joy:simple joyalmost joysystemic joySaturday joyexpressing joyknowing joyall joymax joyconstant inputs of joysingle greatest joysacrifice or joythe face of joyat the periapsis of earth’s orbit. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2878738/ Nicky, the neighbor’s dog, drags a road kill home.A beautiful pelt like those fox shoulder garments women wore in the forties.But the head is crushed beyond recognition--maybe it’s a fox and that’s why      Nicky, a canine, is conducting this wake on our fr.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2875523/ Black lives matter. Me too.Not my president. Give peace a chance.Luck runs out. I like immigrants. Power must be challenged by power. Equal and opposite reactions.God is the answer. Love is the answer.Walk on the sunny side of the street. Meat feet.Learn to drive. Wait for the train in the rain. A g.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2870362/ On one of the myriad baysalong the Maine coast. Keep the holocaustat bay I said to Dave becauseyou’ll spend all day gathering2,000 calories and still be miserable hungry.An undiminished population of humans is risible.Black spruce and balsam fir,you can eat the inner barkin a starvation emerge.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2863070/             --slightly out of tuneAm I right to hedge my bets on being famous, ply my arts all day alone,silence, no tv? Mark said, the difference is people are actually listeningto Mick Jagger, but I thought that’s not so big a difference.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2857162/ Part of me says stay small, part go bigPart says eat your fill, part don’t pigKenko says: long life brings many shamesI say the gray sky brings winter, no blameThe impassable mountains we revereModerate the force of wind and waterGet the cement truck into the refrigeratorWe shall honor all of .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2853635/       “There’s nothing you wish for that won’t be yours         if you stay alive.”  --BeowulfWinter mix. Don’t relax. Leave me alonewith autumn, an autumn like last autumnor running in new snow, lovin.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2847974/ I, too, dislike poems.I’ve tried runes (and rampikes)but that’s affectedrather than merely effete.So I call themfigments.When people queryWhat do you write?at a barbecue or birthday partyI say soliloquies,fractals,fragments.Self-similarities,singularities,sculptures (scriptures), geometr.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2844599/ There are actual peoplehalf woman half manrunning mornings anddream people in movieshalf language half light.Tomorrow is John’s funeral.* * *This is my minutemy momentOops, gone!Anything can happenif you don’t resistResist!* * *But who am I? You think bullets won’tkill? I’m t.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2841555/ I’m busy as a bus.Ten hours on the telephone, research resources,school staff, counsel clients.Some sleep.Then invite Lorraine downtown, the lovely loyalsecretary, to hear jammin jazz crew. By taxi tonight,sans subway.I’ve never been to this joint beforebut admire the women in their dres.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2838938/ Across the track, a rail yard workerbig innocent bear of a guy, beerbelly, embraces his girl. She’sa conductor, comes up to that belly,reaches arms not quite aroundhis back. They separate and embracethree times while the train preparesfor departure.       &nb.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2835840/ I’ve seen it myself sometimes.Shooting pool with a Marine I liked, a buddy.He’s drunk. Always had a booze problemand women had disappointed him,no more than any other man.Anyway, the only gal in the unit, honest, hard working,blonde comes into the room. We allwanted herI’d shown he.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2833679/ I spoke with two people at the party Saturday.A young police officer, short-haired, fit,chiseled face who had two young children.He felt constrained by the law, without discretionto question mopes (perps) aggressivelyor to let go those who were obviously no threat.Even at a family function he seemed.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2830710/ Come May. Come what may.The most significant thing todayfirst Monday in Maymy wife six months pregnant with twinssays she’s scared what we’re getting ourselves into.Like the time I moved into an apartment uptownI mean way uptown, Bronx uptown, uptown where I’d never beenbomba echoi.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2828168/ Sometimes we like to do something for the storywe’ll tell afterwards. Buy a ’58 Pontiac, climba mountain in the dark. Lamar tells dirty jokeswith class, knows how to wait awhile, benda syllable and savor the laughter.Absurd work, building a fence miles longwaste of steel and strong strai.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2825847/ Tonight I stayed at work until 7:00.It was dark when I locked the front doors.Winter approaches again, soon the great coathuddled like a rug around me. The streetswere active as usual, block residentshanging out front steps. I said goodnightto Nydian Figueroa, after school counselor.I bought a beer .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2822011/ Late April and onlycoltsfoot--Tussilago farfara--breaking leaf litter.Our daffodils, peonies and crocusesare also making signs.April is the cruelest month, I forget why.A sweet slow Springno sudden changeseach leg and leaf unfolds deliberately. You can't miss it.New York City's spring rushes like a .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2817866/ You can acknowledge the emptiness at the core of your beingor go crazy when the world goes crazy.The numbers of us overwhelm, an impending tsunami, my hopeful eulogy about our responsibilities to each other, 2 jobs 2 hobbies, the biomass in the crosswalks, fears that rend and own us, the Muslim-Jude.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2812836/ Should I become a middle school math or English teacher?Leave my bed early in the morning and return with test papers to grade.With what authority will I persuade those kids to sit still and perform       calculations and interpretations.I won’t be allowed to teach A G.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2807435/ A walk around the block in my parents’ neighborhood at dawnwearing mom’s sweater and pop's sneakers with a clown hole cut out for        toe infectionI was stopped by a cop in a cruiserthis was during the Vietnam War long hair agohe was angry at everyone I w.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2802233/ I’ve written enough small poetryto start a nuclear war.Do you want to die in trafficbehind the wheel of your car? Or in yr rodeer camp next fall.Control eludes us. The heroloses urinary control, the unified nationloses missile control, lost my timepiece, lost my metronome,now my music is ether.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2797361/ From marble and granite to steel and glass,we were discussing Rhina Espaillat’s On the Avenue in class,was it 1950s or 1980s NYC and were the fiftiesthe city’s halcyon days or is it now, the 2020s,the boroughs teeming with immigrantsfrom the round earth’s imagined corners,Hasidim a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2792443/ Quiet, dawn, Covid.Biggest accomplishment yesterday: buying toilet paper.Thanking the young cashier for doing her job.Feeling a little sick, wearing my mask and gloves,Spring oblivious to the virus, an idiot like Millay said.At least we’re not beheading each other--yet.Symptoms mild so far. To.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2787448/ Start now knowing joy,that’s an order,overcome a deepening solitude.Like a bee at a bugleor me at the delion Third Avenue.I said to Joe when do you think this weather will break?He jokes, April. That’s no joke. Weak creatures die and the strong barely survive. Half a year goes byanother .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2777071/ Carrying a sleeping baby.Cleaning after a successful party.Camping beyond mountains more mountains.Playing trumpet on the streets of New York City.Eating although the food supply is deeply compromised.Flying with Democrats and Republicans, evangelicals and atheists.Flying like a fruit fly that won&r.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2767824/ I’ve never put a candidate’s bumper sticker on my car before--why not take sides--"what are you waiting for?Death puts a stop to daily low intensity warfare but in the meantime--      fight on!What are we fighting for? Let’s see--clean air and water and roo.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2761906/ Nothing more intimate than sleepwake before dawn, go downtownprepare for tomorrow, come home from work late.Most cities prosper undisturbedsleeping peacefullywhile the tide goes out.Are we asleep or are we dancing,surrounded by buildings,a primitive fertility dance in the forest?Sleeping in my cloth.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2479876/ The Stop & Shop strike v. Game of Thrones. In Game what’s not made plainis the condition of the peoplecompared with warriors and queens.There’s no mention of land-clearance, tree-felling, pruning, chopping, digging, hoeing, weeding, branding, gelding, slaughtering, salting, tanning, .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2348083/ The moon gazesthrough April’s silver maple.Earth’s half-in, half-outof the sun’s habitable zone.Powerful with eternity, blinding with intensity.The rushing stream topples old trees; the peaceful father, mother.Lazy, happy, mirror, desert.Zazen position,necking in the.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2173711/ One will not live to see the endof the geopolitical drama,the existential dilemma--"the small choices people make that change their lives.They ought to be terrified but they’re blithebecause you can’t know what you’re doing until it’s done.Acting silly, solving problems.Scien.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2168668/ While I pretty much opined for this impeachmentmy fellow Americans voted for this guy and they could be rightI’ve been wrong before, stuck as we are with a systemthat generates some perplexful leaders, democracy being the worst form       of government--except for all .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2161466/ The question should not be in what ways writing and utterance trope each other, but how both are involved with number. Without relating the technology of writing to number (as opposed to sound or drawing), it is impossible to discuss it meaningfully as an aspect of versecraft.   &nbsp.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2158530/ Summer rain, melting Arcticsand the lipids lining the nervesin your brain. These are the metricsof our times. Mere resolveis not enough to take carealong the highway--you need wheels and prayer.When you realize there’s no there therethat’s a scary day. End there.August, the extinction is.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2153189/ Soot on LA highway signs. Billboard of you,a real estate agent. All endeavor slidestoward inertia, extinction, forgetfulness.It’s very tropical. Vegetation invadesthe house unless constant inputs of joyapply. The scientist in you feels thegreat ape in you. The great ape feelsdeath growing wide.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/ronnow/2146158/