Saturday, December 13, 2014

My "Colorful" NY Times Poetry Contest Entry

Monochrome Life
by Rachel Hoyt

Red and yellow,
Black and white -
They look different at first sight.

Dame or fellow,
Queer or straight -
Choices or a stroke of fate?

Shout or bellow,
Stick or stone  -
Words penetrate skin and bone.

Harsh or mellow,
Type or tool -
The monochrome life creates a wise fool.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


Nicolas Kristof of the New York Times
asked for poems about color and I sent this rhyme.


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Saturday, November 29, 2014

What Are You Thankful For?

Thankful for Thanks
by Rachel Hoyt

image by Stuart Miles via freedigitalphotos.net

I'm thankful for the faces that
I see as often as my cat
And the ones farther away
Who share my blessed DNA.

I'm thankful for anyone who
Can cheer me when I'm feeling blue
And push my laugh to a new key
When I start with an ounce of glee.

I'm thankful for all things in life
Which ensure that I feel less strife -
Everything from my pillow
To caffeine, sweets and OK Go!
But, most of all, I'm thankful for
The fact that thanking helps me more - 
It reminds me that life's not so bad
And, in the end, makes me more glad.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

This rhyme was inspired by two pieces of interesting "news" - 

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Saturday, November 15, 2014

Why Can't I Conceive of What I Don't Know?

Known Nescience
by Rachel Hoyt

image by samuiblue via freedigitalphotos.net


If only I'd known
to ask me tomorrow,
I wouldn't have sewn
that seed that caused sorrow;
but then how would I
have known what to tell me?
I suppose that blind eye
was what helped me see.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


BoingBoing explained why we are totally unaware
of the many things we can't know (and we don't even care).

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Saturday, November 8, 2014

Could We Learn to Coexist with Wildfires?

Behind Old Smokey
by Rachel Hoyt

image by Keerati via freedigitalphotos.net


When they named me Smokey,
Do you think they knew?
Did they set that spark free
To shift blame to you?
What if mitigation
Is just a nice myth?
What if propagation
Is every thing's pith?
Word around the forest
Is that you don't know -
Flames don't die, they just rest
While smoke steals the show.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.



(Some researchers at UCSB inspired me
to wonder what Smokey would say if he could see
the results of their wildfire study.)

Saturday, October 18, 2014

How We Learn So Many Things That Aren't True

Myth-conceptions
by Rachel Hoyt




Sometimes the plain facts
Don't seem enough;
Sometimes one reacts
By adding fluff;
Sometimes the teachers
Teach what they want;
Sometimes the preachers
Want words that daunt;
Sometimes what we know
Just became true
Because the "facts" flowed
From them to you.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


This poem was inspired


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Saturday, October 4, 2014

When Loving Your Job is Like Joining a Cult

The Corporate Personality
by Rachel Hoyt

image by stockimages via freedigitalphotos.net

It's all for one - a single goal:
endear our product to your soul.
We found it was love at first sight.
We know that you'll see we were right.
We sometimes work from dusk to dawn
(if you count camp outs on the lawn).
We love rare beats and ethnic foods
and how emoji boost our moods.
We hate to wear our shoes indoors
(and thus also hate cold tile floors).
We banned memos, don't use voicemail,
and have greeters who wag their tails.
A family, we grow as one -
each bullets in a loaded gun.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


Some say the "best" way to build a small business
is to act like a cult leader and embrace prejudice.


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Saturday, September 27, 2014

Religion Is About Faith, Not Knowledge

The Be in Believe
by Rachel Hoyt

image by nuchylee via freedigitalphotos.net

There's no need to study -
Just pray and repeat.
The wavelengths are steady,
Listen to the beat.

You'll feel in your bones that
You now know it all,
Once ritual's rat-a-tat
Breaks down your heart's wall.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

about religions other than the one whose wisdom we choose to drink.


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Saturday, September 20, 2014

Some Can't Afford to Sleep

Nap for Hope
by Rachel Hoyt

image by BimXD via freedigitalphotos.net


It comes at you while you're awake -
The American Dream.
Inside your lids, the world looks fake,
Just roses and sunbeams.

With just one nudge, it vanishes,
Engulfed by dollar signs.
The time clock's ticking banishes
The dream for which hope pines.

8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest,
8 hours for your free will?
That's just a goal. (It's not a jest.)
Still, one must pay the bills.

Cherish the moments in between,
When you can nap for hope.
A moment in that serene scene
Will boost your will to cope.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


The lowest paid workers need three to four jobs just to survive.
They can't afford to sleep and live lives busier than a beehive.


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Saturday, September 6, 2014

Water is On the Black Market

Water Rustlers
by Rachel Hoyt

image by vectorolie via freedigitalphotos.net


The city's their range.
The drops are their gold.
The funnel of change
Is their stout stronghold.

They fight to hydrate
Their people, their land.
They know the flood gates
Are in white gloved hands.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


Water is now such a rare commodity
that the black market wants to bottle a sea.


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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Is Your Food Drought Tolerant?

Edible Advice
by Rachel Hoyt


Lettuce chop
our water use
eating crops
that don't abuse.

Orange you
a drop concerned?
Corn it be true
all chops are earned?

Olive Earth
is drenched with greed,
suckling since birth
where instinct leads.

Cheese, Louise,
we've chugged and chewed
all we could seize,
all sprouts and spews.


Beef or all
our fruits are dried,
sip a tall
glass of, "I tried."

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


California's almonds have been getting some bad press.
Some make it sound like they're the cause of my state's water mess.
Yet, if most looked at all that they ate and gauged it's water use,


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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Lucid Dreamers Think Outside The Box

Think Rebound
by Rachel Hoyt

image by 2nix via freedigitalphotos.net


Lucidity uncorks my mind,
right when I want to unwind,
just as stresses cease to be,
and, for a moment, I float free.

Then my tormentors appear,
as blank faces or ones held dear,
surrounded by strange scenery,
things I feel but can't quite see.

Once awake, I know the gist,
my gears feel oiled, begin to twist,
form answers where light seemed expired,
to all except why I'm still tired.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


shows it's truly not as deep
and that it means that that brain can
 solve problems outside its span.


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Saturday, August 16, 2014

From Wanderers to Drivers to Freight

Road Work
by Rachel Hoyt


image by sippakorn via freedigitalphotos.net


We walked the path less traveled
and found we liked the way.
We carved the earth with trowels
and oxen carts and sleighs.
We made wheels so we would roll
faster down dusty trails.
We smoothed the bumps, filled the holes,
to make our paths less frail.
We now use the less traveled
to make the journey great.
We set aside our trowels
and turned into the freight.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


This poem was inspired by A Brief History of the Road,
things in nature and inventions that help us move loads.



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Saturday, August 9, 2014

The Inconvenient Timing of Eureka Moments

Lost Poem
by Rachel Hoyt

image by MR LIGHTMAN via freedigitalphotos.net


Missing: one poem in rhyme,
Last seen Wednesday around nine.
Two lines in the shower came,
Then dribbled right down the drain;
Three feelings blew through at noon,
Then skipped off to hop the moon;
Four signs on my commute shone,
Then went dark as sunset moaned;
Five rhymes chimed in a bird's song,
Then were hushed by a ding-dong;
Six words sparkled in my eyes,
Then went mute like stealthy spies.
The lines vanished before my pen,
Somewhere between now and when.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


Wired recently examined why creativity sprouts
when you're in the shower or out and about.


Saturday, August 2, 2014

A Reward Seems Greater if it Comes From Your Choice

Pro-Choice
by Rachel Hoyt

image by Stuart Miles via freedigitalphotos.net

My choice is better than your choice
because the thought was mine;
My choice is truer to my voice,
yours imitates it fine;
My choice is cause to rejoice,
yours (sometimes) tickles my spine.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


Scientists say we like our choices more
than any plan another might have in store.


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Saturday, July 26, 2014

Poor Diet Can Dull Your Sense of Smell

Sniff Life
by Rachel Hoyt


Wake up and smell the roses,
One of life's loving scents,
A blossom which proposes,
Our senses can be bent.

Go on and squeeze a lemon,
That fruit which smells so clean,
A nutrient filled weapon,
That scrubs systems and scenes.

Get out and walk a garden,
An orchard or a field,
Ask fat to beg your pardon,
Sniff life where health is sealed.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


This study concluded that eating too much fat
kills your sense of smell. What do you think of that?


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Saturday, July 19, 2014

The Proposal To Split California Into Six Separate States

Hexa-fornians
by Rachel Hoyt


They say that we should cut up
My state, the land of gold - 
They yearn for a pick-me-up,
A rule to be extolled -
They want safe towns and wise schools,
Smooth roads and sunny skies - 
They're flush, funded by moguls,
And fueled by selfish cries -
They want to save a great state
By splitting it in six -
They're half trying a bit late
To create a quick fix.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

possibly wishing such a split would make some lands seem even more great.  



Saturday, July 12, 2014

Everything's Fishy In The Fish Business

Fishy Business
by Rachel Hoyt

image by olovedogs via freedigitalphotos.net


Wild fish,
Farm fish,
White fish,
Hued fish -

Mislabeled,
Finagled -
Slick impostors
Fill the rosters.

Mild fish,
Charm fish,
Fright fish,
Lewd fish -

Exposing,
Proposing -
It's all fishy,
Smelly, squishy...

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


Are you sure the fish you eat is the type you think it is?


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Saturday, July 5, 2014

What Does Our Flag Mean To You?

The Flag
by Rachel Hoyt




The pattern - how it flies,
With every gust it tries,
To appeal to the skies
To billow its glory.

A symbol - red, white, blue -
That flutters inside you
To unify minds who
Write liberty's story.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved


Are you familiar with all the flags in US history?


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Saturday, June 28, 2014

We Loathe "O" and Like "I" Sounds?

Loathe or Like
by Rachel Hoyt

image by Stuart Miles via freedigitalphotos.net



Sometimes I moan,
Bold as green mold,
Play the joke who's broke,
A flake the cold doled,
A groan with no tone - 

Sometimes I fly,
Ride the wind's tide,
From a sip of fine wine,
A nice smooth wide stride,
A sigh for by and by.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


This study says "I" sounds are easy to like
and "O" sounds probe your ears like a spike.


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Saturday, June 21, 2014

Dr. Oz and Vogue Are Saboutaging Your Hopes and Dreams

Work For Dreams
by Rachel Hoyt

image by Master isolated images via freedigitalphotos.net

Hopes and dreams can lift you up
and help you reach the sky,
or leave you parched, an empty cup,
consumed by pretty lies.

You're beautiful the way you are
when you nourish yourself,
when hopes and dreams aren't kept on stars,
or bottled on your shelf.

They act like you can buy the life
you want through pills and frills,
making earnings a noble strife
and shackling your free will.

The life you're told to wish you had
won't make you the best you -

Hopes and dreams are not a fad
and with work can come true.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


for planting unattainable hopes in you and me,


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Saturday, June 14, 2014

Miss Indiana Is Not Miss Average America

True Beauty
by Rachel Hoyt

image by Serge Bertasius via freedigitalphotos.net


Miss Normal would never
be granted the crown,
She can't reach the top shelf
at most shops 'round town,
Her thighs rub whenever
she's walking around,
She says she'll like herself
when she is less round.

If only she knew that
no crown need be worn
when you are the best you
that ever was born -
Then, even if you're fat,
they wish secretly,
they had the glow you do -
beauty all can see.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

despite the fact many complimented her beautiful yet average form.


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Saturday, June 7, 2014

We Are Now One Step Closer To Proving We Should Fake It 'Til We Make It

Dressing Up As "Me"
by Rachel Hoyt

image by Ambro via freedigitalphotos.net


At birth I knew no shame or fear,
I roamed naked and free,
But as life added days and years,
Clothes helped me feel like "me".

To church I wore my Mary Janes -
Their black patent leather
Balanced the frills of lace dresses
And kept stray thoughts demure.

In high school I was a Tomboy,
Wearing jeans and flannel -
Few colors were ones I enjoyed
During that dark, square spell.
For a time I wore casual suits
To bolster my power -
Sometimes I paired them with heeled boots
To look more like a tower.

Now I sit typing, hardly dressed,
Free to do as I please,
Wondering which outfit is next,
Which image to appease.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


A new study shows clothes we wear influence how well we do
at least as much as each of us believes they hold the power to.

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Saturday, May 31, 2014

Being Cynical Can Lead To Dementia

Cynical Jim
by Rachel Hoyt

image by Salvatore Vuono via freedigitalphotos.net


At birth he hated all things square
And cried when points approached,
Once old he forgot that he cared
And many points encroached.

While young he grew to mistrust suits
And uniforms, (They're shackles!)
Once old his one friend was named Boots -
The mail man known to cackle.

In high school he fell in love fast
With prom queen, Jessi May,
Once old he smiled when she walked past,
Forgetting past dismay.

He spent his life trusting no one,
A cynic to the core,
Once old he forgot he'd missed fun
And couldn't define "bore".

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


A new study says that cynics might be hurting their brain -
They're more inclined to develop dementia, a sanity sprain.


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Saturday, May 24, 2014

Why Do We Believe What We Believe?

Believe Me
by Rachel Hoyt

image by samuiblue via freedigitalphotos.net


We believe the thoughts that fit
and discard the thoughts that break,
See the world as we see it -
Facts exist just for facts' sake.

Change must come from deep within,
Where we're often short of wealth -
Love yourself and you'll begin
to lay the track to true self-health.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


even when all of the "facts" were admittedly spread just to deceive.
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Saturday, May 17, 2014

Is Net Neutrality Just A Failing Fairytale?

A Failing Fairytale
by Rachel Hoyt

Image by cuteimage via freedigitalphotos.net

Once upon a time
Nothing changed on a dime
Because we couldn't hear
Or see the things not near.

We hardly knew the way
Others lived day to day
And rarely saw a view
Our shoes could not walk to.

Then one day, like a dream,
There came a way to beam
Data through outer space
To a digital place.

We knew not how it flew
Or burrowed its way to
Our screens, but we embraced
Sharing this neutral space.

Now he who plugged us in
Wants bribes or he will thin
Our vision, slow the speed,
Infuse neutral with greed.

We know that he will hide
The voices that abide
In cracks quite hard to find
And control poor great minds.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.


Click here to learn how you can help the fight to save the net
from becoming the pay to play place small businesses fret.


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