Well, as this site’s administrator, it looks like I didn’t do my job very well. A Zumwalt poem was published back in January of this year and I missed it entirely. Below is the URL embedded in the title. Please visit the site.
Travel Advisory: Sector 4, May 15, 2058
by Zumwalt (Nov. 24, 2025)
Decked out
Your regalia creaks and groans
A panoply of rust and whining joints
Moira’s chess game begins
And already you’ve been rooked
Charge full-tilt at windmills
Or
Settle for an electric fan
Just keep moving
Or God’s heating element
Will fry your soul
And scorch rationality
Maintain that effervescent personality
And disco on the Teflon of life
As the sun browns out
And your Zippo’s flint disintegrates
Grope along the nitred steps
And nestle in your excelsior storage crate
Relax and let the Sony vomit
Search for a bebop sax
(The opiate of the cool)
Kicked back, you realize
You might just slit your
Jugular while shaving tomorrow
Fate won’t have you to kick around anymore.
— Zumwalt (Oct. 1978)
I am pleased to announce that Zumwalt has had two poems published today in two fine journals.
It is an honor to be featured in these two journals. Please follow the links below to view the online presentations of these poems.
Deepwater Portfolio at New Verse News: https://newversenews.blogspot.com/2026/04/deepwater-portfolio.html
Ogun’s Toolboth at Bewildering Stories: https://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue1133/oguns_tollbooth.html
Here is the original text for Deepwater Portfolio before Zumwalt edited it for publication in New Verse News. Zumwalt indicated that he prefers this original version.
Benthic Portfolio
The bathymetric map is neatly partitioned
into optimized lease zones;
seismic airguns fracture the water column
with monetized concussions.
Audit sediment for trapped hydrocarbons;
seamlessly filter out the pathetic,
low-frequency protests of a dwindling pod:
fifty surviving Rice’s whales, biological oddities,
drowning in our modern energy paradigm.
Stupidly stubborn, incredibly spoiled,
they insist on quiet currents
and fatty silver-rag driftfish delicacies,
never exerting effort to adapt
to the tides of quarterly dividends.
Let the regulatory committees squawk about their grievances:
the diamond-tipped drill bit demands results.
Flood pelagic corridors with commercial logistics:
it’s an obvious course of action.
Trade the flawed architecture of God’s creations
for the unquestionable superiority of the combustion engine,
the freedom to wage war against any nation,
and the right to consume without restraint.
jet
rose colored optimist in your bright and breezy spirits
playing ardent admirations in the joyful penny chorus
holding on endearingly to the steering wheel of our honda
with the wings of love,
with the science of comfort:
skyrocket dreamer who has made this life mean more.
the sincerity sinner is rushed to his dinner and we overlook
a life long since abandoned,
left to the birds of
pretext,
pretentiousness,
and petty prevarication plunder.
we are safe,
thanks to you,
and your large
inheritance from Aunt Ruthie.
— zumwalt (circa 1975-1983?)
News Article: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trumps-claim-that-iran-has-tomahawk-missiles (March 10, 2026)
Reporter: “Why are you the only person saying this?”
Trump: “Because I just don’t know enough about it.”
Executive Privilege
While some say the president ain’t quite fit,
And others are worried or don’t care one bit,
We all must take note when he dares to admit:
“Because, I just don’t know enough about it.”
Proving he’s knee-deep in his own brand of s**t.
News Article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/10/iran-war-trump-russia-intelligence-witkoff.html (March 10, 2026)
Russian leaders in a call with President Donald Trump on Monday denied allegations that they are sharing intelligence with Iran during the war, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said.
“So, you know, we can take them at their word,” Witkoff told CNBC’s “Money Movers” during an interview on Tuesday. “Let’s hope that they’re not sharing.”
Honestly, Believe Me
There is nothing quite as stupidly absurd
As any leader taking despots at their word.
Very pleased to announce the publishing of the recently written Zumwalt poem, “Cycle of Song,” by the highly respected THE SOCIETY OF CLASSICAL POETS.
Please visit their site: https://www.classicalpoets.org/a-poem-in-praise-of-schubert-by-zumwalt/
It’s always great to see one of Zumwalt’s poems published at New Verse News.
They were sent a pair of limericks, one of which they published today:
https://newversenews.blogspot.com/2026/03/limerick-to-help-forget-war-for-moment.html
They chose the best one to publish, I think. Here is the original submission:
Two Limericks to Help Forget the War
There once was a gal called Noem
Who booted folks out of their home—
With her dumb ads misplay,
Swore Trump gave the okay—
Now she’s the butt of my limerick poem.
* * *
With a face like a serial killer,
He belongs in a cheap horror thriller;
Some call him a bum
Or the worst of the scum,
But to me he’s just Stephen Miller.
— zumwalt (03/2026)
This brings Zumwalt’s streak at New Verse News to five consecutive months. Per Gemini AI (which is even less trustworthy than your average politician) this is a record.
Oh, yes, we have a third limerick in the photo above! (Not by Zumwalt.)
SHOW OF FORCE
Black Rain
Night is Morning.
Morning is Night.
Oil showering down.
Smoke invading lungs.
Back Home
Truths are lies.
Lies are truths.
Kurds should attack.
Kurds should step aside.
We must pick the leader
to lead Iran into the future.
Who the hell is he?
I couldn’t care less.
We had to attack before Israel attacked:
this forced Israel’s hand.
We have to dismantle Iran’s nuclear capabilities
that we have already totally obliterated.
A sitcom streams
at uncertain times:
plot twists reveal
a psychopathic killer.
The war is short:
ending in a few days;
this war can last forever:
we have the will and the resources.
We are liberating the people
until there is no one left.
— zumwalt (03/2026)
The car radio, TV, Alexa
all scream
strident waves and bits
of dust-shattered ruins
with every killed
who had blood on their hands
there are many more bloodied
that never killed
innocents
the old lady hanging her clothes
from a splintered rope
little girls at an elementary school
their books and bodies
too near an IRGC base
how can I assimilate signals
of streamed devastation
thousands of miles away
I stare at the cold microwaved popcorn
the lukewarm beer at my recliner’s side
if they kill everyone
perhaps we will now have peace
and if not a moment of peace,
a moment of silence?
— zumwalt (March 1, 2026)
