RIP, XJK

Our farewell to X.J. Kennedy, plus 7 Poems of the Week

X.J. Kennedy, 1929-2026. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Purpose of Time is to Prevent Everything from Happening at Once

Suppose your life a folded telescope
Durationless, collapsed in just a flash
As from your mother’s womb you, bawling, drop
Into a nursing home. Suppose you crash
Your car, your marriage -- toddler laying waste
A field of daisies, schoolkid, zit-faced teen
With lover zipping up your pants in haste
Hearing your parents’ tread downstairs—all one.

Einstein was right. That would be too intense.
You need a chance to preen, to give a dull
Recital before an indifferent audience
Equally slow in jeering you and clapping.
Time takes its time unraveling. But, still,
You’ll wonder when your life ends: Huh? What happened?

~ X.J. Kennedy

Dear Friends of Light,

We lost one of the greats last week. Joe “X.J.” Kennedy, a deeply funny poet and champion of light verse and Light, died Friday at 96.

Joseph Charles Kennedy (he styled his byline to avoid confusion with that other, less funny Joe Kennedy) wrote and edited dozens of books for adults and for children. (Among his most frequent coeditors was his wife, Dorothy.) He served as The Paris Review’s poetry editor and, with Dorothy, edited Counter/Measures. He published in magazines ranging from The New Yorker and Poetry to, often, Light, and mentored many younger poets. He won major awards. And, perhaps most important to readers of this newsletter, he fought for the notion that light verse—which he preferred to call comic verse—can be as worthwhile as the non-light kind.

As Kennedy said in an interview with Ernest Hilbert, “It’s tough to draw a line between light verse and so-called serious poetry. Indeed, I’ve never quite been able to draw it myself. I like poems that are a mixture of laughter and sorrow. As Auden said: ‘Poetry is a clear expression of mixed feelings.’”

Kennedy’s best-known poems beautifully illustrate that mix. Fans lucky enough to hear him read in person ( sing; his “In a Prominent Bar in Secaucus,” for instance, fits the tune of “Sweet Betsy from Pike”) knew how it felt to laugh with a lump in the throat.

Joe, we at Light will miss you dearly. And we’ll keep striving, as you once wrote of your own work, to bring readers “a smidgen of joy.”

~~~~~

You’ll find our seven Poems of the Week—on national parks, national disgraces, and more—below. (For versions with links to relevant news stories, click over to https://lightpoetrymagazine.com/#potw.)

Big thanks to everyone who submitted work this time, and congrats to featured poets Marshall Begel, Steven Urquhart Bell, Bruce Bennett, Dan Campion, Steven Kent, Philip Kitcher, and newcomer Anne S. Reiner (welcome!).

Here are their poems:

What Happened

by Bruce Bennett

“National park signs related to Native Americans, climate change to be removed”
—The Washington Post

What happened, didn’t. Read the sign.
Our climate was, and is, divine.
We’ve always occupied this land.
Our treatment of it has been grand,

Respectful. Nothing happened here
that we can’t boast about and cheer.
We are “restoring truth and sanity.”

You doubt that? Just tune in to Hannity!

Hymn for a Congressional Republican

by Philip Kitcher

(To be sung to the tune of Cwm Rhondda (Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer))

I shall always do your bidding
Whatsoever you may ask,
Figure out when you’re just kidding,
Then perform the intended task.
     It’s no hassle,
     I’m your vassal,
Every wish of yours is mine.
I no longer have a spine.

You foresee our nation’s beauty,
I must make your dream come true;
Full obedience is my duty—
You will tell me what to do.
     I won’t skimp it,
     I’m a limpet,
My adhesion won’t abate.
I’ll be your invertebrate.

Rough Analogy

by Dan Campion

“You Wouldn’t Want to Butt Heads With This Small Dinosaur: A newly discovered raptor had a knobby bump on its head, suggesting that, like some larger dinosaurs, it engaged in competitive head bashing.”
—The New York Times

I wouldn’t want to butt heads with
A dinosaur of any size,
Nor with a human, nor a Sith,
Not for a payoff nor a prize,
As butting heads is not my forte.
Besides, I’d like to keep my wits,
And banging heads cuts reason short.
We see this each time Congress sits.

Amended Amendment

by Anne S. Reiner

“Trump: You can’t have guns.”
—The Wall Street Journal

A protest is no place for pistols—
if you aren’t ICE officials.

A Double Standard (And Then Some)

by Steven Kent

“Military Police Troops Put on Alert for Possible Deployment to Minnesota”
—The New York Times

“Trump Says U.S. ‘Armada’ Is Heading to Iran, Raising Pressure on Regime”
—The New York Times

Our troop diversions
     Make it clear
Embattled Persians
     Need not fear:
We’ll storm the beach
     Both far and near
To guard free speech
     (But fight it here).

Getting the Can

by Steven Urquhart Bell

“Primary school teacher banned after drinking can of beer in classroom…”
—The Independent

A man should not be teaching kids
Who doesn’t have the nous
To pour his brewski in a glass
And pass it off as juice.

Live Like a Rock Star

by Marshall Begel

“Ex-KISS member Vinnie Vincent… is refusing to release what he calls the ‘greatest album of all time’ unless fans pay… $200 per song.”
—Syracuse.com

It seems the way to get ahead in
culture is the way
the landmark piece, “Guitarmaggedon”
makes its fans prepay.

Inspired, I wrote a work of art:
a parody, in rhyme,
too good for any rating chart—
the greatest of all time.

Before I let you celebrate
my artful expertise,
you must provide the standard rate
(in US dollars, please).

Light‘s next Poems of the Week deadline is Friday at noon Pacific Time (see https://lightpoetrymagazine.submittable.com/submit/83267/poems-of-the-week-submissions).

Got non-news-based verse for our regular, twice-yearly issues? Submit it anytime at https://lightpoetrymagazine.submittable.com/submit/18417/poems-for-regular-issues-of-light.

Happy reading,

The Light Brigade

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