Gogyohka - he leaned in

I've some across a form of poetry that could lend itself to science fiction poetry: The gogyohka.

It's a relatively new poetry form based on Tanka poetry.
It has five lines.
Each line of consists of one phrase with a line-break after each phrase or breath.
There are no restraints on numbers of words or syllables.
The theme unrestricted.

The form was created early in the 20th Century, but didn't get a name until 1983!

My first attempt at a science fiction one:

he leaned in

to smell the roses

only to learn

they weren't roses

and they were hungry 

I might try more.

Pax et bonum

Peanut the Squirrel, RIP

Pax et bonum

American Solidarity Party Results

I am a member of the American Solidarity Party. I joined it in 2016. I ran as an ASP write-in candidate for Gates Town Board in 2023.  I got 86 votes even though I only entered the race at the end of September.

The Party was created in 2011, and it was incorporated in 2016, the first year it ran a Presidential candidate. 

Here are the results nationally, and in New York, where the Party so far has only been able to run its candidates as write-ins.

2016 (Mike Maturen/Juan Muñoz): 6,697 - though not all states reported results; 409 in New York
2020 (Brian Carroll/Amar Patel): 42,305; 999 in New York

We'll see how we do in 2024.

Pax et bonum

Skateboarding Limerick

The once was a young man from Gates,
whose skateboarding tempted the fates.
He tried a new trick,
but landed on brick -
now six months of rehab awaits.

Pax et bonum

Presidential Elections in New York: Vote Third Party (Update)

I've been predicting for a long time that the Democratic Presidential candidate - first Biden, then Harris - will carry New York by more than a million votes, and so I'm free to make a statement by voting for a genuinely pro-life candidate, Peter Sonski of the American Solidarity Party. I'm voting for him not only because I agree with him and the Party on the issues, but I am also trying to send a statement to the Republican Party to stop wading deeper into pro-abortion waters.

I've gotten criticisms from pro-life friends saying we have to vote for Donald Trump because, even though he's very flawed on life issues, he is far better than Kamala Harris. 

I agree Trump is better than Harris when is comes to abortion and related issues - even though he is clearly not pro-life - and if I lived in a battleground state I would probably vote for him. But I live in New York, which is not a battleground state. 

Here are the rounded results since 1988 - with the Democratic candidate winning every time: 

1988 - Michael Dukakis beat George H. W. Bush by .25 million votes

1992 - Bill Clinton beat George H. W, Bush by 1 million votes 

1996 - Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole by 1.9 million votes

2000 - Al Gore beat George W. Bush by 1.7 million votes

2004 - John Kerry beat George W. Bush by 1.4 million votes

2008 - Barack Obama beat John McCain by 2 million votes

2012 - Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by 2 million votes

2016 - Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 1.8 million votes 

2020 - Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by 1.9 million votes

Because New York is not a battleground state it's been mostly ignored by the pollsters, but there was one poll put out last week. Harris was up by 19%. I seriously doubt the margin is that great, but I still think it is large. 

So, unless there is some dramatic development in the last week of the campaign,  I stand by my prediction. 

We'll see if I'm right November 5. 

UPDATE: 

 

There were indeed some developments in the last week of the campaign. 

Joe Biden called Trump supporters "garbage," then his people tried to backtrack. But he said it live. Trump subsequently did his clever garbage truck stunt, and his followers began wearing garbage bags.

Bill Clinton also said a few things that confused the campaign,

Harris appeared in more public situations, and did not do well even when she had a script.

And Joe Rogan endorsed Trump.

So Trump began building a lead in many states, or to narrow the leads Harris had in some states.

That apparently happened in New York.

I had predicted Harris would win in this state by more than a million votes (barring late developments). 

At the moment, with counting still underway, Harris has won New York by about 900,000 votes. 

So I was off, but not by much, and I did say I could be off based on late developments.

Meanwhile, my comments about voting third party hold up.

Pax et bonum

Helen Steiner Rice

I've often declared before that my two favorite poets are Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson. How American of me!

I also really like the works of several other poets: Yehuda Amichai, Seamus Heaney, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, and Masaoka Shiki stand out. 

Oh, and of course, E. C. Bentley, the creator of clerihews!

Now all of those are highly regarded poets in literary circles. But there is another who, while many academic sorts might turn up their noses at her work, I really like.

Helen Steiner Rice.

Rice wrote inspirational and Christian poetry. She also wrote poetry for greeting cards.

I read her poetry for encouragement and pleasure. She touched many lives.

Isn't that what good poetry should do?

I'm not alone in liking her poetry. Pope St. John Paul II also appreciated her poems, and no one can accuse him of being an intellectual lightweight.

I was inspired to post this because at our parish's ongoing rummage sale room I spotted a copy of Prayerfully, a collection of Rice's prayer poems.

Naturally, I bought it! 

I now own several collections of her works.

A few years back, I even wrote a clerihew about her (hooray for Bentley):

Critics of Helen Steiner Rice
say her poems are just too sweet and nice.
But I suspect those poems will be read
long after those critics are dead.

But let's end with one of Rice's:

The Bend in the Road

Sometimes we come to life’s crossroads
We view what we think is the end;
But God has a much wider vision
And He knows that it’s only a bend.

The road will go on and get smoother
And after we’ve stopped for a rest,
The path that lies hidden beyond us
Is often the path that is best.

So rest and relax and grow stronger
Let go, and let God share your load,
And have faith in a brighter tomorrow
You’ve just come to a bend in the road.

Pax et bonum

Ancestry Strikes Again!

Ancestry has updated my results again. Yes, I know they revise as they get more results from others to compare and refine my results. 

The new results include some new regions.

Ireland (Northern Ireland and - new - Ulster): 41%

England and Northwestern Europe:                 38% 

Denmark (new)                                                10%

Scotland:                                                            6%

Iceland (a new region!):                                     3%

Germanic Europe:                                              2% 

Ireland remains on top, only very slightly changed. And England and Northwestern Europe remains second, and rose slightly.

Hmm. Scotland only 6%? With my mother a Scottish immigrant? Down from 16% just two years ago? Okay, I get that her family has roots in Ireland, but ...

Iceland is an interesting addition. Denmark used to be Denmark and Sweden. Now it is just Denmark, and it rose from 7% to 10 %.  Ah, Vikings! 

Here are previous results:

August 2022.

Ireland 42%
England & Northwestern Europe 35%
Scotland 16%
Sweden & Denmark 7%

May 2022

Ireland 39%
England & Northwestern Europe 29%
Scotland 28%
Sweden & Denmark 4%

So now more Irish, English/Western Europe, and Sweden/Denmark, less Scottish. And overall less Celtic.

They have updated multiple times as they have gotten more people in their data base -

September 2021

Scotland - 57%
Ireland - 33% (with ties to Donegal)
England and Northwestern Europe - 10%.

2020 

Scotland - 54%
Ireland (with strong links to Donegal) - 29%
England and Northwestern Europe - 13%
Wales - 3%
Norway - 1%

2018 

Ireland/Scotland/Wales - 58 %.
Great Britain - 36 %.
Scandinavia is now Sweden, and dropped to just 4 %.
Germanic Europe - 2 %.

2014

Ireland - 56 %
Scandinavia - 16 %
Great Britain - 10 %
Iberian Peninsula - 8 %
Western Europe - 5 %
A few odd traces - 3 %

Pax et bonum