________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Lobsterized Dog
w/ an Anteater Complex
 |
| © Oliverio |
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Monday, October 31, 2022
Prize-Winning Adjusted Skyscape
________________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| © Photoverio #737.5 © |
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Saturday, October 29, 2022
Biblical Disjunction And The Birth Of Math Anxiety
________________________________________________________________________________________________
***
"Go ye and multiply"
said the voice
in the desert
And so the people multiplied
Some of them even
experienced pleasure
while doing so
BUT
they heard nothing more
that was said in the desert
Therein lies the problem
because what else was said
in the desert was not heard
when everyone raced home
to multiply
as if that desert phrase
was accompanied
by a dismissal bell
The complete statement
made in the desert was this:
"Go ye and multiply,
then divide by the same number
and you will get Unity"
Therefore,
the people were divided
as punishment
and could never,
ever be
Unified
as tribes and nations.
***
© PAUL OLIVERIO ©
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
THE TRUTH STORE In South Coast Plaza
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
At
you can purchase
a leg of
solid Truth
or an arm
of solid Truth
but
between the
arm and the leg
is not
solid Truth
Between the
arm and the leg
of solid Truth,
the torso is stained
with the Lie
Maybe the stain
is not too obvious
but without the Lie,
the Truth has
no place to hide
Truth is worthless
without the Lie
nearby
to give it meaning
Costing less than
an arm or a leg,
an elbow
of solid Truth
is available
and is a fun thing
to have when you
nudge someone
with it
Fingernails of Truth
are available
in various sizes
and colors
except blue
which is
the preferred color
of the Lie
***
© PAUL OLIVERIO ©
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Friday, October 28, 2022
I Am One Of The Sixty Percenters (Comic Relief #4723)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| JORGE PENNE |
When Masks Were Worn To Compromise Curiosity ...
________________________________________________________________________________________________
...
for answering
the question
Left to Right:
Arlene Francis, Jerry Lewis,
Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday, October 27, 2022
A Long-Winded Poem About A Pic
________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have known Sandy Beach
since before the age of two
and with down-bottom reluctance
I present this pic to you
I still dream about a lifeguard
named Bikini Jones
and about the picture below:
I make no bones
It's a crappy photo
but it must be posted
[the septuagenarian boasted]
I had my only swimming lesson
at the age of one
when dear old dad
wanted to have fun
In his arms
with soft shoulders
I could not feel
more secure
when all I wanted was
"more and more"
I was wet-tushed
on the shoreline
and it felt divine
But he dropped the tot
all of two inch
he re-secured me
and I smiled louder
than Lousiana
All of this is fact
—not a dream—
but during that "drop"
I did scream
...
It was 1950
and this poem is
soon to end.
My first Sandy Beach
was the north shore
of Long Island
Bikini Jones' birth name
was Beth
and that scream could be heard
from Montauk to Maspeth
But that Louisiana smile
did guarantee
a million beach hours
being totally
fear-free
About this pic
and memory of Bikini Jones:
I danced on everyone
of these stepping stones
***
 |
| © PAUL OLIVERIO © |
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
A Simple Statement
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
There are times when a simple Thank You
should black out every other word
in your head.
***
PAUL OLIVERIO
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnote
This copyrighted page
is awkwardly but legally
sub-titled
Bullet #175.5
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
The 175th Bullet: Cousin Of FREEDOM OF SPEECH
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Freedom Of Speech
—without a mute button—
is
freedom of chaos
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnote
is the copyrighted property
of LCSoL
________________________________________________________________________________________________Tuesday, October 25, 2022
ROBERTSON DAVIES And Democracy
________________________________________________________________________________________________
which is supposed to set
all men free,
has in many respects
put all men [and women]
into chains of bourgeois uniformity.
We are free to be
exactly like everybody else.
***
(1960)
________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Scribblations And The Race Track" ... And HOODA HELAMI
________________________________________________________________________________________________
When I have nothing to say,
I say nothing
When I have something to say,
I say nothing
but I run home and
scribble something
in my notebook
Never, however,
is it what I meant to say
For example,
I wanted to tell someone
how I felt about
Covid-19 in the year 2022
I said nothing
but
—my head aflame with ideas—
I ran home
and wrote
this note:
NOTHING HOWEVER
is a great name
for a racehorse
***
© Hooda Helami ©
Alter Ego #142857
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Monday, October 24, 2022
A Quatrain About Hot Lips Dedicated To Lee Miller
________________________________________________________________________________________________
When a kiss transcends guile
and plays a trick,
the hottest lips
can stop traffic
***
© PAUL OLIVERIO ©
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sunday, October 23, 2022
Photoverio #737: The Dove, The Font + The Waterfall
________________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| © Oliverio |
________________________________________________________________________________________________
LONG BEACH LOGIC Does Not Prevail
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The City of Long Beach
shut down public access
to the Main Branch
of the city library
due to
the profusion of homeless people.
The city was exercising
LONG BEACH LOGIC.
That is,
Rather than solve a problem,
remove the need
for a solution
HOWEVER
intelligence prevailed
and the Main Branch
of the City Library
was reopened to the public
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Friday, October 21, 2022
Two Degrees Of Separation = (Rock+Roll Hall Of Fame) + Me
________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.
Mike Stoller
is in the
2.
wrote this letter
to me
 |
| But the letter desperately needs a good dusting |
The JFK Of Another Species (Comic Relief #4712)
________________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| GARY LARSON |
MLB 2022 Championship Rosters ... In Other Words
________________________________________________________________________________________________
There's a Bader,
a Hader,
Framber and the Judge
A pair of Nolas,
a Stanton and a Soto
Elvis is not in the house
but Pressly is
No Frank, Sammy or Dino
but there's Severino
Hot Cole, big Bell,
slick and speedy Kim
and a very Realmuto
No Shakespeare
no Much Ado About Nothing
but there's
Machado about everything
No chicken, no rice
but there's
Bryce and Rhys
Forget the goose
forget the gander
remember the Verlander
Remember the Altuve,
the Rizzo and the Diaz
No M&M's
no Pez
but there is
Alvarez
Neither heaven nor hell
but there is
Gurriel
It's a long shot
it's off the wall
***
© Paul Oliverio ©
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday, October 20, 2022
A Cautionary Tale For Book-Aholics Requiring Enlarged Images
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The caution is so urgent,
it is worth the extra effort
of enlarging each image
 |
| *** JULIO CORTAZAR *** |
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
A Non-Submission For The One Sentence Poem Magazine
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Bawling for dollars
with pennies from heaven
with nickels and dimes
in my back pocket.
© PAUL OLIVERIO ©
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
That's A Wrap ... Let's Call It A "Respite"
________________________________________________________________________________________________
If ever there existed a page
in the GodFather of Math Trilogy
–presently with 6000 entries–
that could viably have served
as
THE VERY LAST PAGE
it was this one:
The rare page with
no text. no caption,
no comments permitted
and not a molecule
of wit
Only a vintage portrait
of a woman
in "miniature"
while the exact same photo
also appears
[four times as large]
on the rock bottom
of the web version
of the GoFather of Math
The woman,
of course,
is my Mother
but
This is not the end
of the GodFather Trilogy
I just needed
a blog-free rest:
yesterday, the day before
and
—possibly—
all of today
***
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Don't Ask Why But I Need To Post This Cameo TODAY
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
There Are Times When JUSTICE ACTUALLY PREVAILS
________________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| If only Justice were Contagious |
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Variation On One Of His Classic Tunes ... Minus The "Little"
________________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| With Deleteable Advert |
Saturday, October 15, 2022
The Relocation + Resurrection Of GILMORE MUSIC
________________________________________________________________________________________________
This page is
Under Construction
but the new store at
is a MUST visit
for anyone
interested in
Musical Instruments
 |
| 562-434-6469 |
Friday, October 14, 2022
The 174th Bullet: Moan For The Misbegotten
________________________________________________________________________________________________
For the misbegotten,
there is no triumph after death.
But
there can be a floating grave
made of pure air
...
The purist and cleanest air
breathed by one and all
for their respiratory pleasure
...
Only
after a lifetime
of skull and bones
tattooed
on the forehead.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnote
is the copyrighted property
of LCSoL
________________________________________________________________________________________________Thursday, October 13, 2022
Did Charlie Brown Or Linus Say This?
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Did either Peanuts character say
"I do not dwell on the past"
???
I believe the answer is
neither of them
said it
And
I personally will say
"I do not dwell on the past"
But like
I will declare:
THE PAST
IS MY
SECURITY BLANKET
***
© Paul Oliverio ©
________________________________________________________________________________________________
In December Of 2008 ... I Spent Seventeen Days In Italy
________________________________________________________________________________________________
That is the only time
I ever spent
outside of North America
Never have I been to
South America, Asia, Africa
or Australia
I have seen countless images
of the other-worldly
magnificent places
and things
that I never saw
upfront and personal
So be it
The truth is
I feel Zero Percent
cultural deprivation
when I can feast my eyes
on this image
and let my mind
wander around
the world
they created
This picture was taken
two years before
I was born
It is a man
and
his 1-year-old daughter
Also known as
my father
and my sister
A line from Jimi Hendrix
comes to mind:
 |
| Sam and Linda Oliverio |
Once ... When They Were Young
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The future
Mr. and Mrs. CarPeo
________________________________________________________________________________________________
A Poem NOT WRITTEN BY Hooda Helami
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The sign read
CHILDREN AT PLAY
but I must say
to you
no children
were within view
All I could see
was somebody's Grandfather
on a porch
snoring in his rocking chair
But beware
I must say
he might have been dreaming
about
Children At Play
***
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Photoverio #736: Midnight At The Border
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The wet border between
Los Angeles and Orange County
 |
| © Oliverio |
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photoverio #735: Jetty Ballet
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| © Oliverio |
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Time-Sharing Poem By HOODA HELAMI
________________________________________________________________________________________________
If Time were butter
we could melt it
or freeze it
Saute our memories
to taste
Freeze-frame moments
to touch
BUT
Time is not butter
but
That will not stop us
from saute-ing
memories
to taste
***
© HOODA HELAMI ©
Alter Ego #142857
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Happy Birthday #76
________________________________________________________________________________________________
To my eyes...
 |
| Linda has not aged one day |
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Monday, October 10, 2022
Franz Kafka's Cousin And The NFL New York Giants
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Offensive Co-ordinator
(and play-caller)
of the New York Giants
is
All I can say is
LET'S GO GIANTS
and I promise to re-read
one more time
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gender-Divided Poem By HOODA HELAMI
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Man without woman
is man without stress
but
with a drop-dead memory
of a silk red dress
***
© HOODA HELAMI ©
Alter Ego #142857
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Saturday, October 8, 2022
We're Ready For Halloween
________________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| © Photoverio #734.5 © |
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Friday, October 7, 2022
Photoverio #734: Off-Duty
______________________________________________________________________________________________
 |
| © Oliverio |
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Did You Hear The One About A Rabbi, A Priest And A Swami?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Well,
they were all there
(along with a Witch)
to bless the animals
A wonderful time
was presumably
had by all
This event was
—in no way—
unique to Long Beach:
However,
animals
—unlike humans—
could care less
about who is blessed
and who isn't
Humans
—unlike animals—
are the only species
concerned with
who is blessed
and who is not blessed
Animals
are naturally blessed
for the simple reason
of not being
human
The event
I would like to see
—if only they were vain enough—
is
The Blessing of the Humans
conducted in a dog park:
When the dogs bark,
the Humans can then
consider themselves
Blessed
_______________________________________________________________________________________________