Tetractys
of the decad:
kosmos when you add,

not subtract;
air, fire, water,
and earth—all matter.

O
holy
Tetractys,
the divine key—
layers: holy four stacked to unity.

Son of a shoemaker
seeking a carpenter:
more lucrative carver ?;
to ground a weird sculpter.
Get thee to an abbey:
cooking on Dresden fire.
Digression failed to drench
the fires flinting within,
ember remembered in
sandstone relief motifs
of fox fable, snake, and
massive mugs of massif.

Clamber after Covid cancels concrete event;
the Begley’s host 24 hours of content
on-line: conversation and calls to action backed
by millions; polluters instead of stewards scold
Francis of the holy ground where everyone
prances; the horn of gore fanfares fossil burning
into the atmosewer; Global Halt the heat
in graffiti from moral muralists; atheletes
press switching4good to greenery groceries;
art streams drive environmental activism;
Earle and Nicklen instagram, opine for ocean
biodiversity: a 24-hour
call from youth et al. to action—to save us all.

A cadre of international scientists plans
an updated transmission to extraterrestrials:
binary code beamed by waves of radio
[universal across all intelligence levels];
mathematica simplex: zero/one, black/white, yes/no—
and this is how the message ran:
– Bases, binary and decimal; prime numbers + the largest prime
– Mathematical operations |add, subtract, multiply, divide|
– Most common elements |carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur|.
– Deoxyribonucleic structures
– Solar system’s position using globular clusters
– Physics of particles
– Algebraic articles
– Earth composition and characteristics
– Different trademarks humanistic
– Position of Earth in solar depiction
– Geographical survey
– Exponential operations
– An invitation to reciprocate

Not the first intentional heavenly missives;
a century of casting out unintentionals—
just reaching the shallows: not even a nibble.

Lady gorilla of the lowland, Fatou
residing in the Berlin Zoo enjoys fruit-
decorated birthday rice cake, the primate
noted by Guinness as the oldest to date.
Captive old hand from African forest nabbed;
sold by a sailor to cover his beer tab.

A ghost flower in a cloud forest;
orange Gasteranthus
is not extinctus.

Wilfred Randall paints a seven-panel mural;
slavery central, Tubman with a rifle.
An American journey rooted Afric,
the eminent celebrated in his graphic.

The composed pose before battle; sinews set. Poise in contrapposto. A rock, locked in a rock block cast aside in Carrera, before casting a rock: the top uncarved braggadocio, shock of intricate waves cascading away—rock beats sword. Noble nudity: armorless. Gazing toward Rome. Intent: brow furrowed. The sling resting, the rock ready, in a righteous right hand–manu fortis. Left foot flexed: deft. The Giant succumbs to the artist.

*[ WSB ]_.