Essays Fiction and Poetry by Andrea LeDew
For Random Learning Comes
Essays Fiction and Poetry by Andrea LeDew
This poem was inspired by a post on a FaceBook group I belong to, composed of those who caretake for those with disabilities, usually children. The post talked about shielding our charges from evil, and I had never really heard it put that way. It sounded almost biblical in its import. The poem is voiced …
I came up with this poem while reading the stock market news. There, I found an article about the different levels of dips and dives the market takes, from corrections, to bear markets, to crashes. The article contained a colorful phrase, describing the stock market of March 2020, as “swooning.” From the market, we expect …
In my recent readings, I came across an image showing Vainglory and Pride as two separate depictions, two separate entities. (Image before the last chapter, depicting a mural in a 13th century tower in Siena, Italy, in The Square and the Tower, by Niall Ferguson.) I always thought of the two as being the same …
I wrote this poem with the typical complaint of smalltime bloggers or website owners in mind. This is a complaint, not a cry for help. I mean to say that there is something wrong, when the system’s complexity obfuscates the very purpose it was meant for. Also, to see what a very long way the …
This poem reminds me of the Lewis Carroll classic, The Walrus and the Carpenter. Especially the stanza that begins, “The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things…” Like that poem, this one is filled with absurdity and euphemisms and wishful thinking. And crocodile tears, about leading the gullible astray. Thanks for …
Many of us have experienced buyer’s remorse, the feeling of sorrow after having bought something rashly. But I think there also exists a type of remorse over missed opportunities, over roads not taken. I recently made a responsible, reasoned decision. And almost immediately, I found myself full of regrets, for downplaying the romantic, impulsive side …
I hope you can overlook the mixed metaphors in this poem about the year nearly behind us. I’m sure I’m not alone in being ready to see it in the rear view mirror. Thanks for coming by to read, and my sincerest Happy New Year! I say goodbye To a well-worn year, A year, a …
This poem reviews the deadly sin of Jealousy, and asks whether we can help being the envious beings we are. I notice this failing in myself, particularly with respect to writing and body-type, and I find it very hard to rise above. I believe my own jealousy is a side effect of, on the one …
This poem is my response to the recent school shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit, Michigan, and the string of school shootings that came before it, each without meaningful redress. Often you hear that the shooter was acting in response to being victimized by bullies. But surely they end up walking in the …
This poem is set at my father’s cabin and reminds us, that places are not the same, without the people we expect to see there. A toast to all those we miss this winter! Thanks for coming by to read. In dreams, I slowly seek to climb The staircase of my father’s house, The knotted …
This poem came to me while driving into a very reddish sunset. At first, I thought it was a short story, some kind of science fiction about the end of the world. But the repetition and rhyme were too insistent. Hope you enjoy this story-poem, and take from it a lesson or two. Thanks for …
Warning: rant enclosed. This poem is about the despair a modern writer may feel, in this age of electronic communication and very accurate search engines. At the same time that a writer desires to share his or her work with the world, he or she is stymied by this notion: most publishers demand that a …
This poem is perfectly suited for the full moon skies we are experiencing at present. Not exactly a Halloween poem, this was inspired by a story on JSTOR called Feminism’s Hidden Spiritual Side. It outlined how early feminists, disgruntled by the male slant of existing religions, often dabbled in non-patriarchal spiritual practices, including Theosophy, Spiritualism …
A hundred words are not enough To say what I would say. A hundred words are not enough To wipe your tears away. The milk is sour. The bread is stale. The mirror’s surface, blotched. Your energy has left you, And your slightest move is watched. Your bright success is going dim, Your proud attempts, …
This poem describes a garden I just visited in November in Florida. Fall is one of two extremely prolific growing seasons in Florida, the other being Spring. Each holds its own delights. Hope you enjoy this tapestry. Thanks for coming by to read! Globular yellow fruit, Pendant and raw, Puddles of passionfruit Drip down my …
This poem is a political one, fair warning. It just seems to me, that things are becoming more and more unhinged as time goes on, with unthinkable things happening daily. A crowd of immigrants on the Belarus border getting frostbite because Poland won’t let them in, because, according to Poland, Belarus staged this humanitarian crisis …
This poem is in the form of a benediction or blessing. I imagine it recited in an Irish accent, for some reason. Something like the Serenity Prayer, I suppose. Anyway, hope you enjoy this overdue salute, to the sacrifices of all the moms out there, trying to raise kids of whatever age. Thanks for coming …
This poem came, as I was preparing to go to the funeral of a dear relative’s parent. I could not help but recall previous funerals and memorial gatherings, with the same set of people. One of these, of course, was my mother’s. My mother had many virtues, but she was one of those people, to …
Don’t know where this dark poem came from. Perhaps it comes from having to take my college-aged son to get a COVID test this week, and the fear associated with potentially having that presence in the house. Despite our having been vaccinated and having done everything humanly possible, to keep it out. I was also …
In this tongue-in-cheek, yet macabre poem, I complain about how COVID-19 seems to target those who, like myself, have a weakness for overeating. This is me, stamping my feet, in protest. It seems particularly harsh, that we should, in our own best interest, cut back on eating, now. At a time when there is …
I wrote this poem after listening to a recent interview on MSNBC Morning Joe with two veterans, about their reactions to the recent pull-out from Afghanistan, completed on August 31, 2021. One veteran was the head of Team Rubicon and the other was teaching a class on 9/11 to college students. Some of the …
I wrote this poem after watching images of the appalling aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Please be generous to those in need. Thanks for coming by to read. The ocean came to visit For our anniversary, And it will be a long, long time Before she’ll go away. The stilted houses by the …
This poem is a love song to my sister. She and my brother and I recently went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, along Lake Superior, for a scattering of my parent’s ashes. When people live far away, it’s easy to slide into a habit of benign neglect. To fail to call. To fail …
A simple early morning poem, for those of you who like to wake up early. And, for those of you who wake up early, despite your best intentions. Thanks for stopping by to read. Nice and hot, And mostly white, You chase away The shades of night, And bitterly, Replace my fear With …
