Raw and unrefined, the crude reliably gushes from within him.
© Marie Elena Good 2026
Written for Robert Lee Brewer’s April Poem-a-Day challenge. Today’s prompt is to write a natural poem.
Allen Ginsberg created the poetic form he called the American Sentence. It is a complete sentence of 17 syllables.
Hundreds of billions
of stars in the universe
pale when compared to
the tens of trillions
of nonexistent dollars.
American debt.
© Marie Elena Good 2025
one trillion = 1,000 billion
this not a trickle but a wide-open firehose that is not meant to douse flames but to disorient the American people leaving us reeling feeling discounted disregarded overlooked overwhelmed overpowered and overthrown (overthrown?) unquestionably and categorically overthrown and now so unrecognizable my country looks far more distorted than even what I see through my wrinkled retina and make no mistake this firehose is intentional gish gallop in its inundation and devastation and
How can one stall a
strategic tsunami with
a spoon and a sponge?
(c) Marie Elena Good 2025
Dear all:
The first time I was eligible to vote, I registered as a democrat. I proudly/excitedly/confidently voted for Jimmy Carter. In the very next election, I registered republican to vote (shaking in my shoes) for Ronald Reagan. For much of my life, I’ve considered myself a conservative republican. After my party went too far right for me, and the democrats too far left, I haven’t known how to politically label myself. I have always voted my conscious – I have never been a party-line voter. I am, and always will be, a follower of Jesus Christ.
But in this time we are in, I am democrat. Not because I agree with everything they think and do. Not because I have seen them accomplish all they say they are about (because I haven’t, because they haven’t). But because I see them as the only path to restoring our checks and balances in this America I already no longer recognize.
In this time we are in, I am American. I am Ukrainian, Syrian, Lebanese, Haitian, Afghani, Iranian, Iraqi, Sudanese, Somalian, Canadian, Burundian, Mexican, Peruvian, Cuban, Brazilian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan … you get the picture.
In this time we are in, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I am Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Shinto …
In this time we are in, I am female. I am male. I am straight. I am lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, she, he, they …
In this time we are in, I am a citizen of the United States of America. I am a refugee, a parolee, an asylee. I am legal, illegal, undocumented …
In this time we are in, I am innocent. I am guilty, convicted, chained, and imprisoned.
Why do I say I am all these, when clearly I am not?
When Jesus’s feet were on this earth, He showed love and compassion for all. Yes, He stood for righteousness. He didn’t waiver from purity and holiness, and He encourages us to do the same (though it is impossible for us). He was sinless in His thought life. He was sinless in His behavior. He was all-loving, all-just, wholly compassionate, wholly empathetic, and (please hear this), He was sinless in His compassion and empathy. It is in large part why He came.
As a follower of Jesus, it is my duty and my privilege to honor with dignity and compassion every person ever created. We are all created in the image of God. It is His way. It is what He flawlessly demonstrated, and will do so eternally.
May He help me … help my country … be more like Him.
With all sincerity,
Marie Elena
No Party for Me
I cannot vote for
killing babies in the womb
or outside the womb
killing grown babies
we send off to fight a war
to never come home
or come home missing —
pieces of themselves murdered —
never to come back.
I cannot vote for
babies who grew up to think
it is okay to
endanger those of
different cultures – cultures
they were taught don’t love
and that they are not
welcome to safety, if their
safety is near you
if their safety costs
dollars from a rich nation,
or even if not.
If their safety might
make you even just a bit
uncomfortable
then it isn’t worth
your time or your energy,
even if you find
it costs none of that.
I cannot vote for
babies who never grew up
never grew out of
thinking more highly
of themselves than others, and
showing it daily.
I cannot vote for
those unwilling to see that
some people need help
not because they are
unwilling to work, and not
because they’re lazy.
I cannot vote for
those who want to take away
American rights —
even those rights that
perhaps I disagree with,
or don’t understand.
I have no party.
I have no candidate, but
I love my country
and I will fight to
hold fast the America
that’s slipping away.
© Marie Elena Good, 2025
Twenty Twenty Five
My year’s focus word
is listen. I chose it, not
knowing what’s to come.
The last twenty days,
I see myself shouting on
social media.
The need to be heard
in daunting times is real, but
shouting gets tuned out,
so is left unheard.
And yet, the need is still there.
I can’t help but shout.
The last twenty days,
my listening turned to an
Intense need to scream.
I don’t scream outdoors
out of respect and care for
all of my neighbors.
I don’t scream indoors
for fear of terrifying
my loving husband.
I scream inside me,
silently, lest I drown out
my God’s still, small voice.
© Marie Elena Good, 2025
Bring Something to Share (Sing along!)
Disclaimer: Just for fun. Not my family.😉 )
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
All our hearts filled with thanks to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Two party lines
Most with hearts filled with thanks to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Three basted birds
Two party lines
Many hearts filled with thanks to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
Many hearts filled with thanks to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Five
Biased
Spats
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
Some with hearts filled with thanks to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Six guys on sofas
Five
Biased
Spats
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
Some with hearts filled with thanks to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Seven women cleaning
Six guys on sofas
Five
Biased
Spats
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
And still hearts filled with thanks to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Eight tipsy members
Seven women cleaning
Six guys on sofas
Five
Biased
Spats
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
Fewer hearts filled with thanks to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Nine knock-down-drag-outs
Eight tipsy members
Seven women cleaning
Six guys on sofas
Five
Biased
Spats
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
And some hearts wondering, why are we here?
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Ten football rivals
Nine knock-down-drag-outs
Eight tipsy members
Seven women cleaning
Six guys on sofas
Five
Biased
Spats
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
And more hearts wondering, why are we here?
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Eleven players playing
Ten football rivals
Nine knock-down-drag-outs
Eight tipsy members
Seven women cleaning
Six guys on sofas
Five
Biased
Spats
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
And the kids’ hearts all glad to be here.
On this day of Thanksgiving, our fam’ly brought with us:
Twelve-midnight snacking
Eleven players playing
Ten football rivals
Nine knock-down-drag-outs
Eight tipsy members
Seven women cleaning
Six guys on sofas
Five
Biased
Spats
Four kinds of carbs
Three basted birds
Two party lines
By next year, we’ll be glad to be here.
© Marie Elena Good, 2024
Entertaining thoughts
of lynching trial jurors?
More insurrection?
Trump and his trial
likened to my sweet Jesus?
Never! By no means!
© Marie Elena Good 2024
The nation I call home seems to be in an uphill battle to
love all
who disagree, politically. An underlying prattle rumbling
fiercely,
rattling as intensely as a slithering serpent that can’t help
but speak
its small mind, as it seeks to find petty points that straddle
your truth
and strangle your certainty: callously, maliciously, never-so-
gently.
© Marie Elena Good, 2021
*Title phrase from My Country ‘Tis of Thee
Poem within reads:
Love all
fiercely,
but speak
your truth
gently.
__________________________________________
This was my first stab at a brand new poem form, created by Candace Kubinec (Rhymes with Bug). She titled the form Waltmarie, named for Buffalo poet Walter Wojtanik, and me. The honor of this is more thrilling than I can express!
The Waltmarie is a 10-line form of any subject. The even-numbered lines are 2 syllables, and must form their own poem when read separately. The odd-numbered lines are longer, with no syllable count restrictions. That’s it! This new form is loads of fun, but is also quite challenging.
Here is Candace’s new form, with her excellent examples: Waltmarie Poetic Form – rhymeswithbug. Check out other poems in her blog while you are there. She is a talented poet!
Also, Robert Lee Brewer, poetry editor of the Writer’s Digest, highlighted Candace’s new form for his Poetic Form Friday feature on February 12: Waltmarie: Poetic Forms – Writer’s Digest .
Such a thrill … so humbling … so thankful …
Never Have I Ever
is a party game, where one says,
“Never have I ever ___.”
(fill in the blank)
Those who have actually done that thing
lose a point.
Out of points? Out of game.
I’ll go first.
Never have I ever
seen early-voting lines,
let alone those that extend for blocks,
for days.
Now, how many of you are still in the game?
Truth is,
it’s not a game.
The stakes are high.
The views, dissimilar.
What do you see in the distance?
Hope?
Fear?
A kinder country?
Loss of freedoms?
Peace?
Chaos?
Don’t answer that. Because,
you know,
never have I ever
witnessed a greater loss
of kindness and respect
in discussions.
But, there is a vanishing point
where the look-back perspectives align.
Then we will see, and smile
at the vanity of it all.
In the greater distance, I see
celestial shores.
No lines needed.
We will know for the first time
what it actually feels like to be united.
To have no doubts in our King’s
kindness, love, and justice.
We will know for the first time
what it actually feels like
to be equal children
of the Living God.
To be home.
Never have I ever
longed more deeply
for a non-foreign Shore.
© Marie Elena Good, 2020
pictured words 