I'm frozen here
And shall remain
While anaesthetic
Eases pain
My lips are fat
My tongue just lies
No words untrue
While spittle flies
A mouth aghast
While tools engage
And rubber fingers
Squeak outrage
Construction
Of the oral kind
So mastication
Is refined
My little fella
I held you softly against me
For only a few minutes
Staring into the horrified eyes of a nurse
Who saw death
Where I saw love in an ocean of bitter sadness
My little fella
I gave birth to you
Alone and terrified
Under the blinding darkness of a silver neon sign
Following a failed anaesthetic
Under the hurried footsteps of a panicked nurse
My little fella
I was able to give you a name
I was able to give you an official place
In this silent, frightened world
Where every time there's a blunder
Preventing a well-deserved place
My little fella
Free yourself from me
Fly away
To other joys
With a light heart
For a beautiful illuminated life
Fly away, my little fella
I'll always be there for you
And for all those who left too soon
Without hope of a happy tomorrow
Leaving waves of unfulfilled love
That return with each generation in the hope of happy days.
[A true story]
Back in March this very year
A back that hurt right here and here
After many weeks of groans
Google told me, “Kidney stones.”
On the phone for half a day
Got a doctor’s date in May
“Hmmm,” she said, “go fill this pot,”
And soon said, “Kidney Stones it’s not.”
Felt fine except this back of mine
But then my world stepped out of line
Rubber gloves, and tests and scans
Prodded by so many hands
Ultrasound and MRI
A date with a biopsy guy
Not a sweet talking romancer
Said, “We must confirm your cancer.”
Scans had shown a likely sign
Needles where the sun don’t shine
Anaesthetic? Felt like none
Forty needles, felt each one
Three weeks on, one more consult
Re my biopsy result
Kinda knew the words I’d hear
Until he said, “Completely clear!”
That was this September past
And though I’m going nowhere fast
I still flinch when my love of loves
Washes up in rubber gloves
( A COLLABORATION BY NATASHA L SCRAGG AND ROBERT JAMES LIGUORI )
Aether is the fabric of our universe -
Tiny granules that transfer energy
In the form of waves ~~~
This goes on unseen constantly!
It propagates light and other waves,
Longitudinal and transverse
( Or electromagnetic )
Right across the universe!
Aether stretches far beyond
The laws of physiology!
Did you know that Aether
Is also a god in Greek Mythology?
In chemistry, it is flammable.
It is used as an anaesthetic.
It's a solvent used in industrial processes -
Google it ~ this knowledge is authentic!
But at the same time,
It's a word that is seldom heard.
Most people have better luck
Deciphering the songs of a bird!
But today, ' Aether ' was on my list,
To master and triumph,
As if it was a fifth wish!
Oh, the gravity of this situation,
Like cosmic forces similar to Shakti,
I feel that I have learned so much!
Should I be yelling out, ' Yahtzee! ' ?
The king of the classical elements,
Earth, Air, Water and Fire ~~~
Aether bends and amends our universe,
To be the most desired!
Aether is the fabric of our universe -
Tiny granules that transfer energy
In the form of waves ~~~
This goes on unseen constantly!
It propagates light and other waves,
Longitudinal and transverse
( Or electromagnetic )
Right across the universe!
Aether stretches far beyond
The laws of physiology!
Did you know that Aether
Is also a god in Greek Mythology?
In chemistry, it is flammable.
It is used as an anaesthetic.
It's a solvent used in industrial processes -
Google it ~ this knowledge is authentic!
But at the same time,
It's a word that is seldom heard,
Most people have better luck,
Deciphering the songs of a bird!
But today, 'Aether' was on my list,
To master and triumph,
As if it was a fifth wish!
Oh, the gravity of this situation,
Like cosmic forces similar to Shakti,
I feel that I have learned so much,
Should I be yelling out 'Yahtzee'?!?
The king of the classical elements;
Earth, Air, Water and Fire...
Aether bends and amends our universe,
To be the most desired!
Sunday, October 3, 2021
CHOOSING A BOOK
Every book in the profusion on our shelves
Tells a story that invites us to engage
Draws us with wonderment to turn the page
But yet more, recounts some truths about ourselves
Seeking new diversion for the darkening hour
I surveyed the library for my selection
Saw named categories - large and small confections
And discerned the genres readers most devour
Not of endless peace and love to lull the mind
Nor of sweetness and of light the favoured theme
Though we claim to yearn for heaven as our dream
For the longest row of books was labelled: CRIME
While we may deplore environments precarious
They provide us with an endless fascination
(In observing this I make no deprecation)
We embrace them if not first hand then vicarious
Thus let’s not choose total safety as our vice
With an anaesthetic cloud the chosen medium
That could be a state of unrelenting tedium
Since the food of souls requires a dash of spice
For the human spirit has a deep desire
For adventure and a life that is replete
With challenges and perils to defeat
And become the hero that we would admire
3 May 2021
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes brushed the intricate parquet
Carmel was swept off her feet to the clanging tunes of Flamencos
A pink flamingo swapping kisses and castanets high above the floor
Gypsy tattoos on her ankles swirled like Derwish’s ecstatic devotion
Cocaine eyes wide open on her man but tonight femme was fatal
Titanic brazier squeezed her bosom into fake contours ready for the kill
Thanks to her doctor her uplifting bottom implants softened the crush
Champagne flute shards mixed with botox as she lost her superior stand
Wiped seductive smiles off her face and mingled lip stick with blood
When she woke up from her dream it was not her gigolo lover who
Spoke softly through the daze of morphine and anaesthetic delirium
‘Ma'am I am sorry that I could not save the ink adorning your tootsie
And I will have to refer you to the guy from the plastic department
For you boobies’ reconstructive surgery to recover their natural shape
But your stilettos are out of this world ‘though they scraped a few bones
Do not worry unduly though because the footloose jewels cover my bill’
19th May 2019
we walk away from setting light
and stride into the somber night
ending in an endless dusk
the vibrant mornings dying husk
and as we sleep, and as we die
our fading soul can never cry
and as we die, and as we weep
our fading bodies fall asleep
and as we weep, and as we wake
our anaesthetic minds awake
and as we wake, and as we fade
we dream of heaven, fiction made
and as we fade, so do we die
and dream of darkness as we lie
F aceless is the connivance of our deadly foe
A llegiance to our Saviour is the way to go
I mmutable services of great magnitude
T rust in holy teachings shall not be misconstrued
H abitual desire brings us to our knees
I mmeasureable lifetime soul courses for trainees
S purious thoughts and emotions deter progress
A tonement for misdemeanours, less we regress
P atrick, an alcoholic, forgot how to pray
O bedience to his true faith dissolved away
W alking through Central Park to his own detriment
E mbodiment entity of evil descent
R ose up before Patrick with purposeful intent
F ascinated he approached his deadly demise
U plifting his face to see his assailant's eyes
L andscape of verdant grasses, bright bluest of skies
T emperate climate, with many birds to enthrall
H ow, why, where could he be? Perhaps, dreaming it all
I mage of Jesus formed, as he heard his name call
N umbed by anaesthetic, he vowed to live again
G lorifying his Saviour for a life regained
OLD MAN FALLING ASLEEP READING
Soundless words and mute silence,
Slowly losing my place, no rush,
Where time stops and speech ends -
Quiet noiseless hush.
Long pale sunbeam has crept
Into roomy gloom, edging sideways -
A yellow cat on stealthy steps,
Dust motes held in its gaze.
Anaesthetic of table-polish and paper gloss,
Buzz, flicker, and plink-plonk from faulty tube light,
Books by the dusty dozen, measure the loss -
Loosen my grip, once tight.
Doze, lose consciousness,
And so to sleep, perchance to wake
In a place where speech ends: time stops.
.................................................................
Victorian Era
~Victorian Era~
I think that the Victorian age would have suited me
The ingenuity fashion the great exhibition
Would all have been fascinating for me to see.
Not a child up chimneys, that’s not my mission
Not a Debtors Prison or Blacking factory.
None of these I’d do, that’s not my ambition.
I want to invent and better things for all,
The Victorian era was when inventors had a ball.
From Steam ships to sewers, lighting, and heating.
Bazalgette cleaned the streets Pettit and Smith made us warm
Lister invented antiseptic which we now use after eating.
Anaesthetic was invented, which is now the norm.
Science and technology all the greats were meeting
But prostitution and destitution were in need of reform.
A great Victorian lady I would have liked to be
But I am quite happy, with the twenty-first century me.
For: A Moment In Another Time by: Mandy Tams~GG~
Beneath the arc of crumbling dusk,
Lisps down the petals of the rose
To crimson-kiss the fountain bowls
Where the champagne faucet flows.
The guests in boarding houses
Felt the smoulder of their bones
Balding walls restricting transit
Behind the mortar work and stones.
And we cried and smiled and cheered
When the anaesthetic rushed,
As the opiate of media
Camouflaged the broke and crushed.
Oh, tomorrow they are married,
And the next day we will wake,
To our debts and thoughts of dying
In a world we didn’t make.
Yet today in celebration
We salute the future King,
Feed us pomp and circumstance,
We’ll bow and kiss your ring.
Of love there is no antidote nor cure,
A brazen heart knows nothing of the hand,
That guides this Cupid arrow fair and pure,
And pierces through with art that soul can stand.
Of choice the soul knows nothing to begin,
As seeds that scatter aimlessly on clay,
Some grow and flourish unbeknown to him,
That stalks the Earth oblivious and grey.
Confounded he, who is awakened so,
From anaesthetic binding dark as night,
When true love strikes and soul begins to glow,
He see’s a Universe that’s blazing bright.
And brazen heart is smelted down to flesh,
And nourished through with all of loves relish.
No pain, as such, just aching,
spreading down arms, radiating
to neck and jaw and mouth.
The zap of clot busting drugs infused,
driven through the cannulated vein;
morpheus then followed, fast. pale, aesthetic,
anaesthetic with anti-emetic trailing after.
Frenetic rushing and bustling to the unit,
sticky pads dragging chest hair,
monitors glowing green, blue and red,
bleeping, bleeding colour in the
darkness, the neon entrails of technology
gutted, exposed and flickering on my face.
I don’t believe this…
Note: Today is the 11/04/06. One week ago on the 04/04/06 I suffered a heart-
attack - quite out of the blue. I was hospitalised until yesterday when I was
discharged home. I still find it hard to believe.
T.
When the monoliths burst into shock-horror flame,
People gaping through windows at chaos again,
The box in the corner shows all that was done
From multiple angles, repeat and re-run.
If someone could stop it, pray God that they would,
This cold anaesthetic is serving no good,
But the eyes are hypnotic and glued to the spread
Of destruction and slaughter sucked into the head.
Feeling sick to the stomach, being driven half mad,
By the fifty-sixth screening it’s not half as bad,
And questions resound as if going insane,
Repetitiously hammered deep into the brain.
As the impact grows lesser each time it is seen,
Panoramic and sweeping the letterbox screen,
No need to record it to watch it again,
For they run it and run it forever, Amen.
All feelings in ice cubes, they’re now getting numb,
Giving up speaking, struck voiceless and dumb,
The nerves have quit jumping and die compromised,
Deader than doornails, they’ve been cauterised.
Visual whirlwinds are spinning around,
Despicable carnage played out on the ground,
What once had a power to move and appal,
Exploited ‘till it has no meaning at all.
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