Essays Fiction and Poetry by Andrea LeDew
For Random Learning Comes
Essays Fiction and Poetry by Andrea LeDew
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 …
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 …
This poem came from reading the financial pages, where I first heard the phrases, “panic and euphoria” and “fiscal corsets.” A panic, of course, is when the stock market drops dramatically because everyone is selling and trying to get out of their overpriced investments. Euphoria is the giddiness we feel when we get a …
This poem came in a moment of discouragement, when I was imagining ,how much more I might have done with my many years, had I only set my mind to it. And wondering, whether I might have worked harder or faster, had I been more acutely aware of my own mortality. Such topics lend themselves …
This poem is full of figures. We have become consumed with watching the numbers, especially since the Delta variant came into our lives. I came up with the idea for this poem, while watching an hour-long question and answer session on the Delta Variant on MSNBC. Many of the figures are lifted …
This poem criticizes those that go around with blinders on, ignoring reality, at the price of endangering those they love. Thanks for coming by to read. Let’s pretend that it’s normal, That things are okay, And that masks and vaccines Are not needed, today. Let’s say, that we’re safe, And pretend that we’re …
A little tongue-in-cheek humor, based on a comment by sports commentator, Mike Lupica. He wrote an article in the New York Daily News called Kirk Cousins’ comment on COVID-19 protocol is exactly why every athlete should get vaccinated. Worth a read, if you want a strong refutation of the popular “personal choice” argument …
Watching Morning Joe on MSNBC on August 6, 2021 (this morning) I saw an interview with an evangelical, about the outsized number of anti-vaxers, or vaccine hesitants, who are also evangelical. He said that being against vaccines and masking is a cultural thing among some evangelical groups, a sign of ones identity, of ones …
I came up with this idea while thinking about the news of the week. –Capitol police, testifying about a mob, who voted the same way some of them did. A mob, who attacked the Capitol Police, even as they carried Blue Lives Matter flags. And while the Capitol Police testified about their harrowing, near-death …
There has been space travel my whole life. Yet, still, it makes me cry. I wrote this poem after having watched both flights, within a week of each other–those of Virgin Atlantic’s Richard Branson and of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. This was an attempt to compare the two, and contemplate the future of paid space …
I first saw the connection to fraternities in a tweet by Robert Morro (@bmorro44) on July 27, 2021, calling Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida “CEO of The Delta House.” This is my extrapolation on the theme. As many of you know, I live in Florida. I have found little more infuriating, than the positions …
I was appalled, yet somehow inspired–“shocked, but not surprised” as I so often hear people say, without any sense of self-contradiction– by a news item this morning. The news said, that Rudy Giuliani, the former President’s attorney, came up with the idea of losing the election, but then saying, that they won. This idea …
This poem is full of discouragement. This season, in many of our lives, has been very discouraging. Our lives have been full of COVID worries for over a year. And only now do we have the chance to survey the wreckage. So much time on High Alert has burnt everyone out, I suspect. Not …
Fair warning: This poem takes a turn for the worse, toward the end. It’s not often, that I can use the two keywords “morning” and “mourning” in the same piece. I’m sure many of you are as fond of early morning, as I am. At least, on those rare occasions, that I get a good …
This poem imagines the hive mind, or what Star Trek lovers will recognize as “the Borg“. I first heard the expression “hive mind,” when I listened to the Ezra Klein podcast, The Ezra Klein Show, when he was interviewing Cal Newport, author of A World Without Email. Transcript of podcast. Cal Newport seemed to …
This is a nostalgic look back at the many sides of motherhood. A toast to all the mothers out there and all they do! Thanks for coming by to read. Waking at a whimper. Nursing in the night. Like my mother’s mother’s mother Did, by candlelight. Picking up the messes. Dressing …
I remember long ago reading about a case, where a man burnt an American flag in protest. It took place outside Dallas City Hall, during Reagan’s Republican National Convention in Dallas in 1984. The man was arrested for desecrating the American flag, and appealed his case up to the Supreme Court. The case was …
And now, for a poem about our constant battle, to try to find the time to do things. And a suggestion, as to why it is so hard. Hope you are more successful at it, than I! Thanks you coming by to read! Who’s got time for poetry? And who’s got time for …
This poem is a lament about the amount of plastic we consume in our modern lives as Westerners, and where it all goes. My particular beef is with unnecessary and annoying packaging on children’s toys. But plastic is everywhere. May we all learn to be more mindful of our impact on the planet, before …
This is another poem on writing. I recently read a comment on a Facebook group by Patrick Gallagher. He essentially said to “get less precious about your writing, because the magic comes, when you don’t have any choice in the matter.” Using routines and other tortures to ensure regular writing is something most of …
