Neck-craning grey goose,
Alerted head half-turned;
An eye fixes me.
--------------------------------------
Madly racing Swifts,
Screaming loudly cloud to cloud,
Scythe through the hot air.
--------------------------------------
Autumn, why approve
The harvesting for your yet
Unfinished produce?
The walk was pleasant, wrapped in memories of your fondness,
I alerted my mind when it chased after sadness.
You lived your life spreading joy far and wide,
And left this world before age could take its sly stride.
My heart is content with the time you spent here,
And I thank the universe for this precious treasure.
Howdy kids,just checking in.Contrary to every ornery ,,fear mongering,
Youtube posting ,profiting from our angst, jackasses ,oh yeah and the nightly news, so far we have made it through the much prophecied eclipse.My daughter and I took it in together outside the gym we go to.You had a parking lot of people on one side and me and my daughter alone on the opposite side alongside our cars for quick take off should the zombie apocolypse commence.When totality was reached applause took place ,a little premptively I thought .Would it not be better to save it for the suns return ? I had been telling her that supposedly to the upper !eft of the sun during totality you should be able to see Jupitor,and at the three and four oclock area mercury venus,and mars.When it happened I looked up to see if I could see Jupitor and saw two fuzzy but good sized orbs in that general area.I alerted my cosmic viewing companion who pointed out they were the parking lot lights that had come on.Anyway,we had fun,nothing untoward occurred to my knowledge,and trust me ,I was looking Still am. Your friend,one spooked kook .
The first day of my preconceived life
A ding alerted me my class was cancelled
"Read the syllabus and skip today
Don't forget to show up an hour late
If you miss the class you're kicked."
The first day of your preconceived life
The wind strips air from your lungs
Time settles into a whirlwind of fast and slow
And you are reminded that you will never be apart
Of your preconceived life
But that's just the anxiety talking
Don't worry darling the day will be fine
Grab a coffee to shake yourself out of your skin
Sit down and pretend like you aren't desperate to
Disappear
The first day of your preconceived life
You will not be present
A fire in the kitchen?
I smell of smoke in the hall.
Somebody is very guiltily
Washing down the wall.
What’s left of the toaster’s
Just a burnt plastic shell.
Some time last night
We almost had a mini hell.
Thank the Lord for CCTV.
A bit of a disturbing sight
He’d come in a bit tipsy
Just after midnight.
Put the toaster on the hob
Switched the wrong device on
Seemed blithely unaware that
The smoke alarm had gone.
He’d sat drinking tea
Supremely unaware
Of the flames and smoke
Swirling around his chair.
A pajamaed figure appears
Smoke alarm must have alerted
Situation quickly sorted
Potential emergency averted.
White faced and anxious
Sitting with his dad and me
As we all sit and watch
The Closed Circuit Tv.
He’d been doing so well
Getting back on track
But, three steps forward
And two steps back.
Give credit where it’s due,
Criticise where it’s earned,
Put it down to experience,
Just another lesson learned.
Mending broken soldiers
We all voluntarily chose
Win or lose its a gamble
Last night it was close.
On the last seat of a school bus
A boy and girl were making a fuss
Driver was alerted
Attention diverted
Hit a pole causing one last thrust
The Sacred Meow Society
On next night of demise of my spouse
a mild knock at entrance
alarmed me to open the door.
Unfamiliar cat with feline look lifted a paw.
Uttering ' meow' sat cool.
I welcomed him showing hand
but he lay down closing eyes.
Next morn, I saw no trace.
On next night as I was prepared to retire in bed
mild knock alerted me.
Same cat lifted a paw , sat and lay down quiet calm.
Next morning I could not find him.
But this schedule has been set regular till date.
I grant and honour this feline compassion
to guard a lone lady at gate.
Holy cat must be sent from
The Sacred Meow Society
to act as my sentinel.
03/05/23
NO MOON NIGHT
Starry tapestry
on ebon turquoise sky
is lamenting for No Moon.
Misty silhouette
framing dusky lattice
on fluorescent Milky Way.
Quietude of midnight
being alarmed, alerted
by shrill whistle
of nocturnal raptor.
Yet luminous stars
to unravel marvel
of No Moon Night.
12/21/22
A Brian Strand Premiere Choice No. 55
Ninth place
Contest by Brian Strand
STARRY NIGHT
Fading twilight greets grave dusty dusk
wearing misty mask .
Cerulean dream blending in beauty of darkness.
Slowly starry sky spreading turquoise tapestry
of polka dots in shiny spangles .
Night merging with sublime song
on mysterious melody.
Luminous stars
to unravel marvel of night.
Misty silhouettes framing lattice
on fluorescent Milky way:
Quietude at dead of night
alerted by shrill whistle of nocturnal bird.
Night Sky listens to murmur of zephyr.
Leaves rustle resonate with
serene solitude of dark night.
Concave curvy crescent Moon feels shy
on starry dome, looking pale placid.
Beauty of night ripples in the eyes of beholder.
Me enchanted on charm of calmness of nonchalant night.
11/15/22
Beauty of Night
Second Place
Contest by Sotto Poet.
A Brian Strand Premier Choice
Contest by Brian Strand
sorry, the world lost the content.
that's what the sad face of these years says
following the vertiginous decline of sunflowers
and the lack of regularity in each smile.
only this routine exercise remained,
a veiled hope of change,
that ignores the inflexible advance
of this imperative setback.
do you hear the cyclic engine of reality?
he hammers a hard thump of sour truth.
you hear the insidious echo of an ancient voice
that alerted us to this delicate moment,
which signaled this disturbing decay?
something that now disappears
like a sun that drowns,
still boiling in an ocean that devours him.
A spray that glistened brightly in the sun
alerted us to what lay just below.
So close was he, we thought we’d surely run
headlong, colliding with a forceful blow.
And then, as if to say I’m not yet done,
his tail appeared: a curtain call for show.
We braced, assuming we were impact-bound;
instead, leviathan commenced to sound.
I'm alerted to an odour.
The stench is in the air.
My baby lies there smiling
and it's in his underwear.
Mysticism brought the white calf into our tribal village
She had a pre-plotted destiny, which we were aware of
Thanks to the wise women and wise men of council fires
She chose a young squaw as her own protector
The girl’s name was changed by the tribal elders
She is now White Buffalo Calf Woman.
We recognized immediately that she was the chosen one.
The calf knew what he was doing.
He had been alerted about her healing powers prior to arrival.
Ethereal goodness surrounds them both.
Grown now, they are inseparable.
I will always recall the look on Ed’s face
As we lunched underneath an oak beside the river
We stopped at an ideal spot on our canoe trip
Ed said, “This sure does remind me of Nam!”
A chill ran down my spine.
I knew Ed suffered from debilitating flashbacks,
And I had seen him in the worst of PTSD throes.
I thought, “Suppose he decides I am the Cong”
He always dressed in fatigues, carried his knife.
He was in church with his family every Sunday,
But I had alerted the town policeman,
Also a church member, to be aware my concerns.
“I think it’s time we move on down the river,”
I suggested, and we began to pack up,
We had a marvelous day on the New River
Although my heart raced at some things Ed said.
His tours in Vietnam had destroyed his life.
A few months later, Ed shot himself to death.
He left behind a beautiful wife and two children.
written March 6, 2022
A tireless showcasing of deranged energy,
Nearby grasses his sworn enemy:
A stern warning to the green vegetation
About kindling it, no hesitation:
Enough excuse for mother to drown in a pond
Or begin to deny a maternal bond…
A continual patronage of disjointed vision,
Often summarized as Dead Confusion,
As others keep challenging Modern Computer
And enduring lines conceiving like Luther.
A psychiatric could kill for justice
And down turn every offered armistice,
Some of his co debaters Alerted Ghosts,
Precariously perching on close-by posts…
A punctured mind enviable makes sanity,
Forever enjoying the approbation of Humanity.
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