Click HERE for some history: The Isthmus has been reporting on the issues at Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, WI, west of Madison, WI since 2015.

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I was watching in my car

You would say, get off your phone

The tears just filled my eyes

As the smoke burned all of theirs

I gasped as I saw them fall

Feeling helpless, my heart aflame

But who’s helpless really

While this tragedy goes on, my day continues

Eating breakfast, working, writing

Caring for my furry friends

Dogs, cats, horses, chickens

Who have never known violence

Like that outside that rural farm

With tear gas and anger

Inside with metal cages and ominous characters

Who never come with love

Only needles, masks and pain

You say

They don’t know anything else

Perhaps you’d take their place

Should the tables turn and your birth was not so

Entitled

So lucky

So safe

You say

But I’m human, they are not

But might fight for life at any stage

I say

What’s the difference

Life

Sentient beings

Should live with love

Should be cared for in peace

Not used

Not experimented on

Not forced to live, only to die

This battle is repeated

Close to home and beyond

So much travesty

So much suffering

That you must look away just to live

While they

Blink their eyes

Trusting

Hoping

Wishing

Setting a gentle paw

Upon your bare arm

Asking to be set free

Into the loving arms

Of the families

Who fight for them

Dreaming of a house

With an open front door

The yellow ribbon

Wrapped around the front yard tree

An empty collar

With their name

Proudly displayed

Just waiting

#SAVETHEDOGS

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It’s a little cloudy today
my reflection
will remain tightly bound
until the heavy burden
of my thoughts
untether from my psyche
float away from my self worth
leaving just the brilliance of my heart

If I have my way
I’d be beautiful and tall
with a trail of wavy flaxen and gray hair
flowing madly between
my shoulder blades
the affect of a flower
the mystique of spring

Or maybe I’d be eccentric
wearing colorful clothes
with contrasting patterns
a devil-may-care attitude
a mischievous smile from ear to ear
those around me wondering
always side-eyed
just what
I’m up to now

I don’t want to be in the middle
wearing muddled gray and black
dumbed-down colors
and downtrodden eyes
like a lightbulb that’s almost
broken
its whatsit
buzzing and burping
with occasional light
unsure whether to brighten the room
or fall out of its own frame

How do we know
when to stop,
to let the chips
fall where they may
stop looking for more
of your favorite onion dip
accept
the party’s over

But what
of the eternal optimist
that ethereal blooming orchid
they are so hard
to keep alive
aren’t they?

Maybe
just a few days
of heavy flatness,
that’s what he said
heavy flatness
yes
that’s it
heavy flatness

a few days
of heavy flatness
to process
thoughtful relevance
to return
to joyful sustenance
until
my spring
has sprung

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Meeting you was good for my complexion
A little hard on my psyche

Still a moment of unfettered pleasure
Sustains my passionate vice

      A little hope goes a long way
      But at the end
      of the day

     Funny to begin far away
     Closing space between two who may

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To view the world as contiguous, intertwined
Vertebrae stacked and working together
creating an electrical whole

Energy that unites our countries and states
mountains and rivers, oceans and valleys

We are one with the birds and bees, giraffes and hippopatomi,
zebra to arachnid

The ones we exploit
and those who cozy up with us on our beds at night
Each person, ev…

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They trickle down my cheekbone

The soft tips of fingers

Rolling gently to knuckles

A caress

So soft

Full with feeling

One gesture

Flutters in my belly

Heart melts a little

Smile cracks a little

Breath catches a little

Expression dips

Into energy

Eyes stutter

Giggle eclodes

A simple kiss

On the cheek

What?

It could happen still

Ma…

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words sometimes

fail me

thoughts alone

wandering

back and forth

no where to go

my creativity awash

and there it is

a picture’s worth

the words alone

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They’re blowing whistles
at those who are meant to protect and serve
serve what
and protect who
the maxim of 2025

Some days we turn away
to breathe and sigh relief
to noti…

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They say they thieved

Jewels from

Under the nose

Of masses amassing

The Louvre

Without knowledge

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She was born teal
With purple sprinkled in
A rainbow
She’s full color
A little blue some days
When she’s green on the ends

She’s a musical
And a star
She doesn’t believe yet
How she shines

When her tears fall
Shoulders slumped
Angels embrace her
Fairies maybe
Hard to say

When she smiles
Eyes alight
A nymph
A mischievous glint

Her intellect is keen
She cloaks it to be cool
…

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I likely read about the villanelle form of poetry while reading the New York Times or perhaps it was on a poetry submission contest form. I don’t recall. Either way, things come our way for a reason, much like a phone call I just received while fervently scrolling old e-mails to find an important financial matter and receiving, at that very moment, a ph…

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Only the night is invited
As I listen to jazz

The notes of my soul
Seep down    
      through my bones
Soaking in      
     to my skin

I feel the clean cotton
Softly roll off my thighs

The scent of fresh air
Through the dark     
     adjacent window

The purr of the black cat
…

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So cliche
This moment in time
Thoughtful melodic vocals play
Background water falling in time
Raindrops dripping down windows
My coffee pooling at the bottom of my cup
As it runneth over
With love

A clouded sky
Trees wave goodbye
Cars race past

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La Luna is fretted in smoke
Our news under fire with facts
The White House bl…

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Share Marisa Keller | Passion and Prose

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Kalimera (good day)

Crystal is the color of the Aegean Sea

A jewel of turquoise

An opal of light

Translucent hues and

Jellyfish thoughts

Waves that sparkle with time

The small black plane

The “malaka” on the pier

Green marmairo beaches

Sand coated curls

Your shadow beneath

I see you

All the way

To the sea

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Far beyond the in-between where the wise ones say, “wait, it will get so much better.” Meanwhile, you wonder where time went, where the the gregarious blue-eyed girl in the Italianate photo has gone. You still catch a glimpse of her when you blink. She’s clandestine at the edge of the world as it is. The parties, the sushi, the shopping, the whir of lov…

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away from the comfort

of a predictable row of daffodils

bright yellow

and off-white

nestled in

the gentle arc of the drive

amidst tomorrow’s tiger lilies

so comfortable

a bit crowded 

I wanted to be seen

beneath old trees 

and new seeds

a graying old vine

wagged a craggy finger 

accusingly

why are you late?

it seemed to say 

I

am a volunteer

sans supervision

brave though 

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My soul is where god walks

         where ancients visit and moments rock

My heart is where love plays

          a quiet end to a dramatic day

My limbs are where my soul moves

          to dance and sing, fly and groove

My voice is where the wind blows

          the sound of thousands the silence of woe

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Who would I be

If I could sleep at night

Without worry

     Clarity

What would I do

If there was someone by my side

I couldn’t resist

      Trust

What if the moon

Bowed down to share its secrets

As I teetered on the edge

      Love

What if my heart melted

Every time I saw your face

And the stars welcomed

      Peace

What if my mind

Embraced my hearts longing

Touching the…

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without words

I am found

though not lost

and profound

feelings that

uncover my heart

soars

to see you I

breathe you

and discover my

words return

to greet you

my hands

unfold to touch

you

are here

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