Poems by Jake Cosmos Aller 2017

JOHN (“JAKE”) COSMOS ALLER is a novelist, poet, and former Foreign Service officer having served 27 years with the U.S. State Department in ten countries – Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Korea, India, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Spain, and Thailand. and traveled to 45 countries during his career. Jake has been an aspiring novelist for several years and has completed two novels, (Giant Nazi Spiders, and the Great Divorce) and is pursuing publication. He has been writing poetry all his life and has published his poetry in electronic poetry forums, including All Poetry, Moon Café, and Duane’s Poetree. (under the name Jake Lee). He is looking forward to transitioning to his third career – full-time novelist and poet after completing his second career as a Foreign Service officer, and his first career as an educator overseas for six years upon completion of his Peace Corps service in South Korea.

April 1 Berkeley California

Growing up in the 60’s
In Berkeley almost 50 years ago
I think back
At those turbulent times
Those crazy wonderful times

Berkeley is a wonderful place
In many ways
Stuck forever in 1967
A true time travel experience

Every time I go back
And relive the memories
Of the 60’s

The 60’s never died
They continue
In college towns
Across the world

And Berkeley
Remains the mecca
Of the counter cultural revolution

Many things have changed
But the organic food revolution
Became mainstream

Marijuana spread out
The sexual revolution
Became mainstream

So much of the world
Is but a reflection
Of the revolution of the 60’s

And the conservative counter-revolution
That we are still fighting
So, I salute
My homeland

Berkeley
The center of my universe

—

April 2 Lithia Springs

Staying at Lithia Springs
Soaking in the healing waters

Soaking my pains away
Renewing my life

Renewing my love
As we both soak away

As the pain of life go away
And our love grows

With each soaking session
Life is good

At the hot springs water
Sooths us and smooth us

And we fall in love
Again and again

—

April 3 Walls

Trump wants a wall
Between America and Mexico

A wall against the southern hordes
A wall based on fear and hate

A wall to make America safe
A wall to make America great again

And yet I wonder
Will his wall fall

Like the Berlin wall
And the great wall

And all the other walls
They all failed
All of them

Walls divide us
Walls make us
Into different tribes

Between the pure
And the impure

St Reagan
Said Tear Down this Wall

Will future Presidents
Tear down this begotten wall

Or will it become a tourist attraction
Another great wall
Against barbarian hordes

—

April 4 Changes

I reflect upon my life
As the sun comes up

What could I have changed
What would I have changed

If I could go back in time
What would I tell my earlier self

What would I do differently
And what have I learned

The one thing
that I would not have changed
is meeting the women of my dreams

the chance meeting on a bus
that changed everything
in a moment

I met my fate
That day on the bus

And that is the end of the story

—

April 5 Facing Life’s Challenges Together

Woke up at 0 dark hundred
Vowing to boldly go forth
And face the challenges of the future
Without fear

Knowing that I have you there
Makes all the difference in the world
As we meet our fate

Together
Until the day we die

—

April 6 Wagontire, Oregon
1973

In 1973, I went on a road trip
With my father

We left Berkeley to go to Yakima
Where my father had a summer cabin

He was a college professor
And had July and August off

And we spent the summers
Every summer from 1968 to 1978

Our whole dysfunctional family
Our annual road trip to hell and back
As we did not get along at all

We decided to drive through Eastern Oregon
Just my father and me
Just for the hell of it

The rest of the family was already there

My father and I shared a travel lust
One of the few things we shared

This was one of our best trips
We got along
Which was unusual

Normally our relationship
Was fraught
As we were so different

We left Klamath Falls
A real nothing burg in those days

And headed east along highway 395
As we entered the desert of eastern Oregon
We entered a different world

High mountain dessert
Almost no one on the road

Then we saw the sign
Wagontire Oregon
100 miles ahead

99 miles ahead
98 miles ahead

We counted down the signs
Miles after miles
As we drove into the gathering dusk

We speculated that Wagontire
Must be a giant truck stop
In the middle of no where

We pulled into the town
Nothing there but a gas station
Motel and café

We decided to stop
Last gas for 100 miles
According to the highway signs

In the morning
We chatted with the owner

He was the sheriff, the fire chief
The owner of the motel, gas station
The only business in town

And the only place open
For one hundred miles

I noticed a highway sign outside
Welcome to Wagontire, Oregon
Population 2 ½ humans 10 dogs, 50.000 sheep

I asked the Sherriff
Say who is the ½ human?

My idiot son!

And we left.
200 miles later
We finally left Eastern Oregon

2016

In 2016 my wife and I drove through Eastern Oregon
As part of our epic cross country trip
10,000 miles
31 states in three months

On the way from Medford to Yellowstone
We drove along highway 395

The signs for Wagontire was gone
And we drove through the town

The motel was abandoned
Nothing there at all

And that sign was gone too

I said I suppose the idiot son
Never took over the business

And we speculated about Wagontire
And all other nothing burgs
We drove through that summer

Heart of Trump’s America
True fly over country

—

April 7 Watching Cats Hunt

Early morning
Watching two white cats
Hunting a white dove

The cats hunt in pairs
Tracking the bird

The bird flies away
Safe for now

And I think about the cats
And the hunt goes on

Such is life
And the fate of cats
And birds

—

April 8 Landlord Blues
I am a landlord
Owner of property

Here there and elsewhere
Have been for years

I have tenants
and tenant issues galore

I receive rent from the tenants
it seems money grows on the proverbial tree

but at times
from time to time

I hate being a landlord
I suppose in my heart

I am a socialist with a blending heart
But my wife is comfortable as a landlord

She calls me a hypocrite
And a wild romantic goat
Born under the sign of the goat

And I call her a capitalist pig
Born under the sign of the golden pig

—

April 9 Pane e circus 2017 Redux

By order of his excellency
Emperor Donald the First

The merciful,
the Christian King of Kings
The Sultan of Sultans
The Emperor of North America

Be it hereby decreed
That the ancient honorable gladiator games
Of the old Roman Empire
Have been restored

Each city in the Empire will host a team
They will compete for the honor
Of the national championship

The games will start
With fighting animals

Fighting fish
Roosters
Cheetahs
Tiger
Bears
Wolves
And lions

Then a man lion contest
With a heretic thrown to the lions

If he or she lives
They will be pardoned

Then then main games
Six men/women teams compete

Armed with swords, knifes, mace, clubs
They fight until one man or women remains
The victor of the game

Those who are prisoners
Can compete for their freedom
And a full imperial pardon

Let the games begin
Long may the games reign
In the new North America Empire

Praise be to the Emperor
Donald the First

—

April 10 Long Live Emperor Donald the Ist

Ladies and Gentlemen
My fellow American citizens
Greetings and salutations

Today is a momentous day
The old corrupt USA republic is no more
The constitution that once protected us
Has been overthrown and violated

The barbarians at the gate
Have taken over

And ruined the once great land
The last hope of the world

And so, I had no choice
But to kill the old rotten regime
And restore American greatness

To save democracy
I must destroy it

And so, starting today
I will serve as the Emperor of North America

I welcome Canada and Mexico
And the Caribbean islands
To join The North American Empire

As we rebuild America
Restoring American greatness
And making us all proud again

Proud subjects of the New American Empire
May the Empire reign forever and a day
Triumphant against all enemies

And so, I take this burden
Sadly, but gladly

I will serve you
As your Empire

And my son Donald
Will serve as our second emperor
Once I pass from this world

His son will serve as the third emperor
And so on until the end of time

And we will reign in our new capitol city
Colorado Springs
Until the end of time

Washington will remain in our hearts
As the capitol of the old Republic

But the heirs of the Roman Empire
Need a new Imperial Capitol

And soon we will conquer Mars
And expand our Empire to the Starts

Long Live the Empire
Long Live America

Good night
And may God Bless
This great Empire

—

April 11 3 Am Nightmares

3 am

The bewitching hour
When the wild things come out
And play

And torture you
With endless wild accusations
And nightmarish visions

As I toss and turn
Trying to escape

I look over at my wife
And as always
Repeat the mantra
Everything will be alright

And the wild things are banished
To the dark corners of my mind

And I recover my happiness
And I smile
As I look at the sleeping beauty

Still the most beautiful women in the world
Still the most alluring women in the world

Still in love with her
After 35 years

The love gets stronger and stronger
As she overcomes my despair

And the sun comes up
And I think to myself

What a wonderful life I have
With the women of my dreams

—

April 12 Zombie Apocalypse