Last Word | May 31st, 2020
by Marie Hoff
We greet each other very carefully,
Like porcupines getting ready to make love.
Arms in big virtual, barrel hugs,
Lots of embarrassed joking and choking
Hoping we don’t look as foolish as we feel.
Hope rises and falls, and rises again
Like the panting of a small injured bird,
testing Ms. Dickinson’s thesis, that it
Never stops singing, no matter what.
Funny things happen: suddenly millions of people
Need millions of rolls of toilet paper: is this an
epidemic of diarrhea or what. . .?
Ugly things happen: an old angry man
Coughs in the faces of store clerks
And declares it a joke.
Over-liberty-drunk Americans proclaim
Their god-given right not to care
About their neighbors, punctuating their rhetoric
With their only working adjective::
Bullshit.
Then some go mad on religion and defiantly need to
congregate in large crowds as never before:
Boom, Boom, Boom-m-de-Boom, Boom– the savages are
dancing, let’s purge the devils out. Some for sure are
holier- than –thou.
Like J. Alfred Prufrock we cry “ashes, ashes”, as we
watch body-bags carried out from NYC hospitals, too
many even to burn or bury: the horror the horror of it
all. Let us indeed weep for our sins.
The jar of orange marmalade spews lies from its
mouth, while toadies fear to speak. CNN sizzles with
frantic sputtering to refute, and the band plays on
while the iceburg rises inexorably. The truth will set
you free says Jesus, but Pilate says “what is truth”.
In the land of the blind, there are no one-eyed men!
Finally, movie stars, sports heroes, and fat politicians
fall silent and inept; while real heroes (–-love that Dr.
Fauchi)--rise to confront the tiny enemy -- the only
weapons that work: science and love, real love that is
willing to die so that others may live. Amen, Amen,
Amen . Yes, Truth and Love will set us free.
[MDH, 4-14-2020]
December 18th 2025
November 18th 2025
September 23rd 2025
June 19th 2025
June 19th 2025
__293px-wide.jpg)
_(1)__293px-wide.png)
__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
By Bryce Vincent Haugenbrycevincenthaugen@gmail.com Audra Maurer never used marijuana until Minnesota businesses started to sell low-dose hemp-derived THC products. “The first time I was pain free was using legalized hemp…
By Michael MillerAs the holiday season approaches, I extend Yuletide Best Wishes and a special “Weihnachten” greeting to you and your family. I would like to share with you Christmas memories from our Germans from Russia…
Saturday, January 31, mingling at 6:15 p.m. and program at 7 p.m.Fine Arts Club, 601 4th St. S., FargoThe FM Symphony is getting intimate by launching a “Small Stages” chamber music series and it's bringing folks together via…
By Darrell Dorganddorgan695@aol.com I’ve been digging around for information on a company called High Plains Acres. High Plains, which has a presence in Jamestown, Bismarck and five North Dakota counties, owned thousands of acres…
By Ed RaymondWe have millions of candidates from 108 Billion people on EarthWith population experts estimating that at least 100 billion Homo sapiens have lived and died on earth, that means we have had millions of blessed and…
By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…
By Mandy Dolneymandy@ksbsyndicate.com This cake will be on the menu at Nova Eatery through Thanksgiving served with maple crème anglaise Ice cream. It uses pumpkin pie pumpkins grown locally at Ladybug Acres and local apples grown…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Available on Netflix, Marshall Curry’s “The New Yorker at 100” takes the measure of the venerable publication as a compact primer aiming to please longtime readers and potential new…
The holidays are fast approaching. If you’re on the lookout for finding your loved ones something truly special and unique, we sought out some of the area’s independent and creative hotspots.VINTAGE AND ANTIQUESMoorhead Antique…
Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…
By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…
By Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com At the beginning of the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Grinch is introduced as having a smaller than average heart, but as the movie progresses, his heart increases three…
By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…
By Chandler Esslinger Across North Dakota right now, a familiar conversation is resurfacing. We hear the argument that harm reduction “enables” people, that syringe access encourages drug use, that naloxone keeps people…