Gone (NAPOWRIMO April 6, 2018)

NAPOWRIMO April 6, 2018

Gone

Thirty years for two

sixty three years for one

multiple lifetimes passed,

and still no understanding

of what it all meant

or where it all went

only one certainty,

more years have passed

than are left.

©2018 Noreen Braman

A Cosmic Question (NAPOWRIMO April 4, 2018)

NAPOWRIMO April 4, 2018

A Cosmic Question

A black hole is like the Bermuda triangle,

things go in but never come out

except of course one is a triangle

in the ocean, not in space

and we can’t see it from above

can’t test it for mass

or measure its gravitational pull.

Light doesn’t bend around it

there isn’t more than one,

no groups of Bermuda Triangles

orbiting around each other

that we know of.

I wanted to ask Stephen Hawking

at least to generate his smile,

but our worlds never transited

anywhere near each other

and now the only way would be

through a bend

in the space time continuum.

 ©2018 Noreen Braman

 

Mission & Vision as found poetry (NAPOWRIMO April 3, 2018)

Mission and Vision
as found poetry

Living on
the smile side of life
by
enhancing well being 
through sharing laughter 
for the health of it,
in a world in which 
the universal language of laughter
is a daily part
of improved health, 
happiness,
and well being,
because
I shall not go gently,
but go laughing.

©2018 Noreen Braman

The Year of Nine (NAPOWRIMO April 2, 2018)

April 2, 2018

The Year of Nine

The times table secret

Turns me nine again

to pursue the symbolism

inherent in a number

that hides in its own product,

denotes judgment in

biblical numerology,

or maybe patience

or spiritual gifts.

A numeral with multiplied meanings,

complicated with being mistaken for six,

which is another research rabbit hole

leading to evil incarnate when aligned in triplet. 
                                                             

Dream of it and expect spiritual awakening

or a new path,

visiting nine swords, wands, cups or pentacles

all cheerful in their various hints

of isolation,

like Love Potion #9,

which turns on you in the end.

Truth in Hebrew,

Lucky in China,

Unlucky in Japan,

The number of Brahma,

The lives of a cat,

All numeric contemplations

For this, my year of nine.

©2018 Noreen Braman

More about Nine

The Cruelest Month Approaches (NAPOWRIMO 2018)

I've kept my years of Poetry Month writing together in a folder called "The Cruelest Month," which is how T.S. Eliot describes April in his poem, The Wasteland. What he meant by that has been the subject of many English class writing assignments. To me, perhaps, because I live in New Jersey, it is April who is charged with wrenching herself out of winter's grip, a reminder of Persephone coming up from Hades. April must repave the way of growth to may the work of her sisters May and June easier. As a daughter of April, I understand her responsibilty, not only to reinvent herself every year, but to sometimes drag along an unwilling Earth. So, in that respect, she may be cruel — moving forward can sometimes be a painful process.

As I prepare for another April of poetry writing, I have submitted this site to www.napowrimo.net for sharing, and have written an early poem. For April, on her journey.

Older Sister

April arrives, hair damp and disheveled,

shoes muddied and worn,

buttons missing from her coat.

She drags overstuffed parcels across my yard

unaware they have ripped open

leaving a trail behind her.

Something soft and easily windblown,

swirling up in March's fading eddys,

catching sunlight as they drift.

April walks on, her parcels grow lighter,

coat discarded and shoes kicked off,

around her a settling mist

through which the sepia world gains color

preparing for her younger sisters,

the bearers of flowers and fruit.

©2018 Noreen Braman

Please help support fundraiser NJ Laughter raise money for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum 5K Run/Walk

The LOML and I will be doing the 9-11 Memorial Run Walk on 4-22-18. We have set a modest goa1 for fundraising. Every dollar goes to support the memorial!

Yet Another Ridiculous Problem Involving a Hyundai – Thanks for Nothing, DCN Hyundai

The Hyundai Horror Show Strikes Again

It is Déjà vu all over again. Last year, I had the Getting My Title for a Paid Off Car from Hyundai Motor Finance horror show. I swore I would never buy another Hyundai. This year, the Love of My Life’s Hyundai lease expired, and still needing that car, but offered a new one that would be cheaper if purchased instead of leased, we took the bait. And at first, it did seem like a great deal. Until the calls from Hyundai Motor Finance started. 

“Your payment is late,” they said. “We are going to report this to the credit agencies.” How could a payment be late on a car that was traded in, with a title signed over to DCN Hyundai in South Brunswick, New Jersey, we replied.  But, apparently, Hyundai Motor Finance, despite “Hyundai” being in their name, has nothing to do with dealerships, and they were holding us responsible for the payoff amount of the car.

First phone call, someone will get back to you.  In person visit; oh, we sent the money to the wrong place. (???) Phone call after phone call, passed from one person to another,  “the check is in the mail.” Oh no it isn’t. We are living inside some sort of dark sitcom and not laughing about it yet.

I really can’t believe this craziness with Hyundai is happening all over again. Hyundai USA doesn’t care. The dealers are independent franchises. Hyundai Motor Finance is its own company. Silly us, thinking that just because ALL THESE COMPANIES HAVE GIANT HYUNDAI LOGOS EVERYWHERE, that they can, in any way, correct this situation.

I wish we had checked the Better Business Bureau on DCN Hyundai. We would have seen a trail of complaints, some for this very non-payment of a traded in car trick. I know we are very small fish in the big pond of NJ, but so far, reaching out to my Congressperson, the local newspaper, and a TV consumer advocate has gotten no response. We are currently filling out a form to let NJMVC know that we signed the title over to DCN Hyundai, but they have not yet paid for the car. I don’t know if that will make them unable to sell it, if they haven’t already.

It will be very interesting if Hyundai Motor Finance decides to repossess the car. Where will they go? If they show up at my house, I will personally drive them to DCN Hyundai and help them put the car on the hook. Because that’s how you give good customer service.