Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

 

 

 

                  

 

 

 

                 Collected Poems

                     2006 - 2010


Woe in America

 

America seeking sanctions against Iran

     for refusing to stop enriching Uranium

     we want all of the nuclear bombs

Richard Armitage leaked CIA operative

    Valerie Plame’s name to the press

     sez it was inadvertent

2,639 American military personnel killed

     in Iraq so far in the war most

     people want the U.S. to come home

Lebanon’s infrastructure destroyed by Israel

     but the two hostages have still

     not been released by Hezbullah

Secret prisons in foreign countries run

     by the CIA

44,000 spent nuclear fuel rods waiting for

     a burial ground on an Indian reservation

     in Utah

Andrew Fastow sent to Federal prison for

     six years for fraud in the Enron case

     in Houston, corporate greed, corporate destruction  

Christian megachurch evangelist preacher accused of

     buying Methamphetamine from a male prostitute,

     says I bought it didn’t use it, didn’t have sex   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                    © Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

                                                                                    November 7, 2006 2:00pm

                                                                                    Phoenix, Arizona


How Long

 

The world’s fish stocks dwindling, caused by extreme over fishing

By huge factory ships towing wide bottom trawl nets

That scoop up everything living on or near the sea floor

That belies corporate integrity that hedges their bets

By killing sixty percent of their catch that is dumped back into the sea

 

What happened to the oversight by the Food and Drug Administration

Who are supposed to protect the public and provide oversight of our

     food supply

But instead just lets the sea food become a deadly abomination

Fishing boats with long line baited hooks catch beings other than fish

Such as sea turtles that are cruelly hooked in their mouth

And now that Ogunquit fish stocks have been mostly depleted

 

It looks as though the work of Satan in the sea is almost completed

Now oysters and clams are being raised in rusty iron pens in the sea

Corporate greed and irresponsibility breeding shellfish in dirty fish farms

How long will it be before our environmentalists rise up in arms

To erase these pens that bring profit and also bring natural stock disease

Now farm raised fish is mostly in markets, catfish and artificially colored salmon

Merchants don’t know where fish come from, only interested in getting mammon

 

How long will it be before we care what we eat and care what it does to the sea

 

 

                                                                                    © Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

                                                                                    August 26, 2006 8:30am

                                                                                    Tempe, Arizona

 


Morning Breezes

 

Morning breezes have something to say

Do not go back to sleep

Do not go back to sleep

 

Having my hair cut by a rotary saw

Hold it up with my arms

Hold it up with my arms

 

Have to get up and write it all down

Do not go back to sleep

Do not go back to sleep

 

 

 

                                                                                    © Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

                                                                                    August 19, 2006 2:18am

                                                                                    Phoenix, Arizona

 


Stupidity Anniversary

 

August twenty ninth the anniversary of the partial destruction of the Gulf coast

Its been one year now and homeowners and businesses have begun to rebuild

On low land, sand bars and lots of land that are valued by everyone the most

Because they provide easy access to the ocean or offer beautiful ocean views

 

Why on earth is Government help up for ridicule by both poor and rich folks

When folks have built on land that has been prone to hurricanes for 6,000 years

High winds, high tides and tidal surges have been ignored as though they’re only jokes

Why on earth do they just stay in FEMA trailers sucking up six packs of beers

 

Instead of working hard to clear the debris in Orleans parish and lower 9th ward

Why do they think the Government must bail them out after a force 5 hurricane

When they have done nothing themselves to plan, protect themselves, move toward

Being responsible after they destroyed, raped, robbed, and killed people again

 

110 billion dollars have been approved, waiting for distribution by others and HUD

Why should they get a grant for up to 150,000 dollars to cover their expenses

To clean up, rebuild or repair the moldy, toxic stink of the incoming mud

When the rest of us have to buy insurance to cover our losses and rebuild our fences

 

 

 

                                                                                    © Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

                                                                                    August 30, 2006 3:30pm

                                                                                    Phoenix, Arizona


Blind Euphoria

 

Tall young beautiful blond and slim

She ordered a Starbucks Berry Frappuccino

Would it be daft to just go on a whim

To greet her and order a hot cappuccino

 

Interesting woman in a long black skirt

In a faded blue Volvo from Eureka

Maybe I should go there, dig black dirt

Maybe I should go there and see ya

 

Would it be too isolating in California

Even though she is serene and interesting

Or would I be going on blind euphoria

Thinking it was God, doing the testing

 

 

                                                                                    © Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

                                                                                    August 24, 2006 12:15pm

                                                                                    Phoenix, Arizona

 

 

 


Things I Like to Do in Phoenix

 

I like to walk through the Scottsdale Mall

I like to go to the Scottsdale Civic Center Library

I like to have a falafel sandwich salad at Pita House

I like to see indie movies at Camelview Theater

I like to go out for coffee in Tempe at Starbucks

I like to walk down Mill Avenue in Tempe

I like to buy vegetables at Gentle Strength Food Co-op

I like to go see indie movies at Valley Art Theater

I like to eat catfish po’ boys at Baby Kay’s Cajun restaurant

I like to have my photographs printed at Wilson Camera

I like to go to exhibits at the Phoenix Art Museum

 

 

 

                                                                                    © Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

                                                                                    September 1, 2006 7:00am

                                                                                    Phoenix, Arizona         


We Are America

 

We are America, remnants of a hurricane, prize winning pigs,

    deep fried Coca Cola, farmers poring over equipment, grocery store

    bagging contests at the Colorado State Fair, reading private longings

    of personal pages, public humiliations

Mojo farmers. determined Luddites practicing wisdom over new

    bombed patches, honoring the material voice of judgment, with no fear

Madonna in Germany, a stake through her poster, under the radar

    washing in a new collection of custom homes, firing up the corn dogs,

    cooking communities in rolling midnight kitchens,

    the tang of fresh manure to defy the blockade of local food

 

                                                                                    © Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

                                                                                    September 4, 2006

                                                                                    Phoenix, Arizona


Recession Concession

 

The collapse of the economy and financial markets

Is something that we have seen years before

In my grandparents’ lifetime and more

And now we hear dire cries of woe

 

From those who have diarrhea of the mind,

Forgetting the crash of nineteen hundred twenty nine

When men plunged to their certain deaths

From tall buildings close to Wall Street

 

From those who have a recession of the mind

Forgetting the toll of the dust bowl years

When farmers had no more crops to sell

And wind carried their top soil away

 

From those who forget about the Great Depression

And talk, like ‘buddy, can you spare a dime’

Or lines that formed next to soup kitchens

To get a bowl of broth and chunk of bread

 

From those who do not have any knowledge

Of families who lost their family farms

When local banks demanded their payments

And were forced to sell their equipment

 

 

                                                                                    © Frank Hasbrouck Bevier

                                                                                    September 18, 2008 1:00pm

                                                                                    Tucson, Arizona          

 

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