Poems
by KJ Hannah Greenberg

 

 

Parvenus’ Pals

 

Upstart. Climber. Former Minion. Arriviste. Nouveau-famous. Kip.

When coupled with a recherché mate, with a rare, exotic, obscure, yes,

Exquisite, unusual, extraordinary being, they tend toward indolent ways.

Sometimes, erstwhile the unknowns seem meretricious, i.e., lack real value.

 

Otherwise, such creatures, filled with integrity or not, appear erroneously

Vaunted. They’re unwarrantedly praised, maybe elsewise boasted about until

Their personal apotheosis becomes that singular moment when their popularity

Peaks. Such culminations, those true anticlimaxes, provide no prelapsarian event.

 

Rather, innocence lingers as the province of their partners, of those stellar

Beings framed as unspoiled successes. Subsequently, the “glamorous” halves

Get discarded as measly, appendicular sorts. They’re no longer of use to lovers

Nor entertaining to themselves. At such times, they make grand valedictions, wither.

 

 

 

 

Inside My Zeda: Word Police

 

In my patrol car, I appreciate how titles’ impact matters. See,

Neither handfuls of cash nor neighborhood rankings equally

Demonstrate prestige. Likewise, nothing of reputation ought

To compensate for others’ perceptions.

 

Yas! Sometimes, I succeed in calming laity. Otherwise, I

Gloze, attempt fawning language in lieu of rational words

(Dog scouts, girl and boy scouts excluded.) Semantic cops

Gotta be aware of fagins and influencers, alike.

 

Intrinsic property, uniquely unanalyzable, like motes annexed by

Lexicons as normal terms for “reginas,” “ranis,” “ghetto queens,”

Creates accounts of communication practices plus achievements

(Rhetoric stumps many bystanders.)

 

Altogether, relativistic views, akin to sirens or flashing lights, can

Confuse degree, depth, the nature of variation. Commensurability,

Like conceptual origin, has no functional embodiment lags when

Dissimilar identities heed fascistic ukases.

 

It’s accepted that situational constraints, too, if not sanctioned, pick

Both philosophy and linguistic foci vis-à-vis morality and meaning.

Yet, educing them moves the uninitiated to hiss all manner of hatred

About externally imposed limits on contending.

 

Entwined ends and means, that is, experiences’ processes, products,

Best protect people if supported by us folk in blue. Enforcement’s

Not the nexus of weaponized terms, but the marshalling of bygone

Sentiments that allude to shared origins.

 

 

 

 

Grateful for Tiny Toes

 

It’s not fluctuations in the housing market,

Nor the relative esteem of specific hair dyes,

But ears so tiny as to seem unreal. Similarly,

It’s sleeping infants’ hushed, ethereal breath

That oozes up the best of human intentions.

 

Parents’ lives, in the end, remain not an iota

Focused on cooking dinner, taking out trash,

Admiring our neighbors’ gardens. Fain, we

Snuggle our babies in “nursing chairs,” stay

Up too late even as regarding downy arms.

 

Territorial arguments as find favor with our

Furry judges rarely take into account button

Nose beauty, round bellies, wee toes. Moms,

Dads tend, instead, to let pets freely sleep in

Cribs, on sheepskin mats and changing tables.

 

Recycling’s not limited to cans, nor sorting to

Laundry. Adults become craven confronting

Miniature people, newly baked boys & girls.

Our gratitude’s muddled with awe, our hope

With wisdom, our fostering’s gladly tattered.

 

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