What if the stars?
What if the stars were
angel's eyes
warily watching over us?
Their strong glance
annihilates us
in the bright night
of gazing.
Their immemorial procession
has seen dinosaurs extincted
and man ascending
out of the murk and mire.
Their silent witness
to reality
is never tired.
The constellations
are human constructs,
but look beyond them
for help and rescue
from ourselves
in this night of
earthly despair and danger,
again
for the star over a manger.
Of Money We Sing
My country tis of thee?
Nothing,around here, is free.
Maybe a trip to Ossining
(Sing Sing)...
In God we trust
is printed on our money.
Yes, true, a freudian slip.
Money is our God
and the measure
of all things.
Academic Security
I learned chemistry
by osmosis
and aced my
other subjects
in school,
but when I left
the university
I was dismayed
by the permeable,
flaccid membrane
of this cruel
world.
It is warm
within the womb
of Alma Mater.
Alma Mater
can do no wrong.
There is no need,
none at all,
to go out
and shiver
in the cold
night air.
It teaches
uncanny truths
by immersion.
R.I.P.
This poem
is my tombstone.
I left behind
no monument
save a poetic bone.
Richard Kovac (l944-?)