the Fall
The air was cleared. It was the fall
When someone had informed us all.
We ran to see, hearts on our sleeves,
Effused were we with sense of pall.
The planes came down from all around,
The air was cleared. It was the fall.
This wasn’t mere coincidence.
These acts were sure intentional.
Ay, wat’ry graves were adequate
To lay these ruffians to rest.
The air was cleared. It was the fall.
No eye had seen such sight before.
Each year, we turn our thoughts to this
And honor what ensued after.
Pearl Harbor harbored more than pearls.
The air was cleared. It was the fall.
Icy Abnormality
Whistling sounded like a wail,
down the dale, a devout hymn.
When the wind was in the trees …
but the freeze has taken them.
Can a longing be undone?
Such a one as you would know.
Unrequited love is hard.
You imparted naught but woe.
So, my Dream, shall I construe,
dare unloose my full intent?
Nay, my passion hast full flown.
Thus, I moan. My clothing, rent.
You, forever loathe to share,
you ensnare the smallest look.
Exclude me, just like the cold,
when it froze over our brook.
the deceitful Masked Bandit
Out on the land in a time now long gone
animals spoke not with talons, but tongues;
civil in nature and patient to boot,
reached their apogee, having taken root.
Trickier mammals would baffle them all.
They weren't immune to answering the call:
pranking and stealing, malevolent stuff.
Yowling and prowling and giving a cuff.
The raccoon sported a mask on her face,
Shielding identity, a saving grace.
Ever self-righteous as she claimed no part
of recking sheer havoc. She played it smart.
She just didn't see how clear her deeds were.
No one was fooled by her mood lackluster.
The fish that she took and the food she stole:
blood on her hands, not metaphorical.
Fie! From that time, the old habits die hard.
You see her slink still, all about the yard,
with hands, so dainty, so blood-stained and streaked.
That's WHY she washes her food in the creek!
We bright parrots.
“Look, young cousin,
at my special dozen!
All sweet dollies …
Hey, GIVE me red ball! … Please?!”
“(Don’t tell Big Ma’am
I say she a Hot Damn.
Old Man say first.
He the very worsterst.)”
“We bright parrots.”
“Where my orange carrots?”
“We fine misses
give you sloppy kisses.”
“Bye, young lady.
You stayed TOO latey.”
Perversion spreads its Tentacles
Vague but haunting Vision plagues me.
Rises fore me, as It deems,
Dominates, monopolizing
All of me, hellbent, It seems.
To cede vulnerability,
Low accord I now partake.
For none can know the consequence
Were an error I to make.
Something horror-struck is out there
Just beyond the ken of sight.
I fear It will overtake me,
Wrapped in tentacles too tight.
Kaleidoscopic Garden
Here are plants I like to find.
as I search rooms in my mind.
Snapdragon, Rooster Comb, Daylily,
Pansy, Nasturtium, Peony,
Blackeyed Susie and Sunflower,
Morning Glory will embower.
Violet and Chrysanthemum,
Mayapple and Trillium.
Begonia and Hollyhock;
Bluebells line my garden walk.
Daffodil, dank Marigold,
Zinnia and shrubby Rose.
Iris, funny Touch-Me-Nots,
Spider Lily, Herbs in pots.
Tulip, Phlox, and Clover red
round out beds within my head.
All these sights were planted there
by ‘my gardeners’, kept with care.
I was wee e’er I espied
blooming, colored plants’ high tide.
The Dugout Grille
Fresh catch? Diamond back.
Check out our new lineup of spring flavors when you score your share.
_______________________________________________________
As I struggle to stride determinedly, my older, wiser friend keeps up this patter. “I hear the snakes were so rife last week, they’d pitch them into a mound of dead meat. Ball up the bills in your sweaty, little palm. Strike while the iron’s hot!
“And don’t dare make the error Willie’s cousin did last year. As he turned tail upon approaching The Dugout Grille, looking all green around the gills. He’s still in a slump to this very day, you know? Don’t you balk!” The smell of mesquite smoke is by now unmistakable in our nostrils.
As the cooks windup the day, up I walk to their window. “I’ll take a plate of fresh habanera-batter snake.
Perennials
Underneath the crust
a quintessential presence
lies in wait, unseen.
Daffodil, jonquil.
A bulb by any other …
would smell as sweet. Yes?
Iris, your thin skin
sags gently and anon to
too-sweet vestiges.
Lily, for how long
have protein sources, tubers,
sustained our races?
Sepal, petal, style,
stamens, and yes, ovaries.
Bulbs bloom, flourishing.
Sensory Overload
The taste was slightly salty when I kissed the dampened neck.
I smiled at tangy sweatiness and murmured, “What the heck?”
The smell was dimly murky as I smelt the pheromone.
Our exercise had woken just a hint of musky tone.
The rhythmic sound of rustling as our clothing moved around.
I heard a heavy thump as something heavy hit the ground.
Despite the chill I felt, my hands were ruby red, aglow.
We’d come so far, my tight held grip relaxed as I let go.
Relieved, I saw the bed with tailgate open. We’d laid down
our heavy, brown old cabinet to cart it into town.
I close the door
I came and saw but looked away,
so present were the ghosts today.
Though eloquent the words they spoke,
their fetid breath near made me choke.
Deep echoes from the years bygone
have not left off, drone on and on.
So vivid, delicate the lace,
beneath your almost living face.
Our shivaree has never muted,
love intact has scarce transmuted.
Lunched we on this lawn that day
before you left, to my dismay.
Why must contagion make its call
like clockwork sounding in the hall?
Unnerving tolling; oh, the knell
announces death, that grisly bell.
My love was torn, then laid to rest.
My cries in vain paled. Yet I jest
and mock the mockingbird that sings
though never pleasure to me brings.
The Spanish moss, so smoky there
seems choking, sucking without care.
But no, it’s grace-full, a bland scene,
devoid of diabolic scheme.
As heedless, wholly unintended,
virus fully had amended
plans we laid and since repealed;
bastard microbe now revealed.
Excuse me, to the side I list,
quite apathetic to all this.
It’s just, I’ve seen this play before.
Forgive me, ere I close the door
again.