When the cold-blooded world looks down on you
with its big cold black-glass eye.
Don't cry- simply offer it your best Cheshire smile.
With your pastel hand, grab that second-hand hammer
Give that cold black glass eye an awakening.
A first-rate smack.
Pick up the pieces of its cross-eyed calamity
Fashion it into a midnight mosaic in a Max Ernst dream.
Written: October 08, 2026, for a contest sponsored by Tania Kitchin
Quote: Autumn described by Albert Camus as "a second spring when every leaf is a flower"
*********
The maples slowly kindle into flame—
While amber spills beneath the wandering sun
The beeches burn where summer used to run,
And russet leaves flow, whispering their name.
A copper hush descends upon the hill—
Where scarlet vines embroider stone and tree;
The afternoon turns honeyed, wild, and free,
As fading things become more beautiful.
The sapphire shades appear by the trees,
A clothing designed to reduce cold.
All the foliage turns to glorious gold—
Then glides out of shadow, sinks on breeze.
Trouble and Truth
So many words begin with ‘tr’.
So many ‘trs’ describe trouble.
‘Transgression’ and ‘Trauma’
‘Treachery’ and ‘Trap’.
The list’s almost endless.
‘Treason’ and ‘Trash’.
Endless maybe. Never hopeless!
Another ‘Tr’ appears!
Standing way above all others,
It’s Truth, precious Truth.
Truth shining in brilliance
In Jesus, my Lord.
He alone is the Truth
He can free us from troubles.
He alone is the Truth
Only He can redeem us from sin.
DAWNED AND PERPENDICULAR
Another day dawned;
We’re here perpendicular.
Let’s give God the praise:
“It’s the day the Lord has made;
Enjoy and be glad in it”.
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Wee-boys rode hard and steady,
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
as far as the eye could see!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Our guns were at the ready,
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
the Sarge, our unit, and me!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Follow me boys!...Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!...to the sea!!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
But Sarge!...Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!...we're the "cavalry"!!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Don't you think I know that boy?
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
My steed is still...Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!...hot to trot!!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
I just thought he might enjoy,
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
chillin' out...Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!..in a cool spot!!!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
Galloping! Galloping! Galloping!
the doll was purchased in October
Probably Halloween, but maybe not
brought to the home of an old lady
a creepy woman with broken teeth
maybe this is why she never smiled
the doll was given the name Dorothea Maye
she always wondered if she had been named for a dead niece
or a deceased sister or a murdered cousin
The old lady would sing the weirdest songs to her
“Dorthea Maye, now dead you be
You will never have the chance to grow old like me
I hid you away, deep where no one can see
far from this home, toward the Aegean Sea.”
the more quiet the doll was, the louder the old hag sang.
"Dorthea Maye, you annoyed me so much
The clothes you once wore are hidden in my hutch
Dorthea Maye, you will never annoy another
No one knows about you, not my man or my brother.”
I bet this is Halloween, and this is hell, the doll thought.
Multiple God-sparks, each one with the whole,
are as He, with the life essence inside,
one without a second, thus free from pride
but when polarised, arises a goal,
to know the truth and what is its life’s role,
for which relying on God as the guide,
light realises it has been to lied
by dogmas and scriptures the blind extol.
Recognising we are spirit not form,
body-mind is then like a car we drive,
an interface, provided by God’s grace,
where all we need to do is to conform,
to strobes of silence, inner light revive,
that in this urn we may behold God’s face.
Frankenstein held this kitten close to his chest
his heart and the kitten’s heart had the same beat
He began stroking the creature’s fur
It was soft, like his mother’s hair
The townspeople returned with pitchforks, rakes and knives
This was the olden days before people had bullets or guns
Frankenstein and the kitten were nowhere to be found
The townspeople grieved, expecting the worst
Not understanding that the outside is not always
a reflection of the inside
Frankenstein had a heart that loved animals
This kitten was given the name “Halloween”
She lived with Frankie and his wife until her death
at the age of twenty-two
be daring, be bold, be yourself always
be fearless in everything you do
throw yourself into your own truth
brazenly blaze a new way
listen to your voices
imagination
party hearty
reinvent
create
play
Both preacher and scientist
Persuades whose name to pray
Dwells in each air molecule
Blown through our breathed in day.
They want you stoned, emotionally stiff and complacent,
They heavily promote distraction and division
to manipulate the drones into a low-frequency madness.
They desire mules pulling overloaded barges
up and down a dead-end canal
christened a sixty-hour work week.
Within the illusion of hope and free will
they want goldfish people popping placebo pills,
Swimming round and round in a plutonium fishbowl.
Pooping out unicorns and rainbows and cheap thrills.
Unfeeling to the tuna nets closing fast
deaf to the locking of the chains.
They pray for drones with mash meal brains, thinking it honorable
to be sucking bunions off their kings and queens.
If the "Hare" really cared
To give the "Timid Tortoise"
A fair scare, and tapped
The "Tortoise's," tight-lipped shell...
Brother, I'm here to tell ya...there'd be Hell!
And, If the "Timid Tortoise" dared,
Peak a glimpse of the coming dawn,
On the lawn, who would find his head,
On the "Chilly-Willy" chopping block?...
"Hear Ye," "Hear Ye!"..."Hare" today!..."Mock Turtle" soup tomorrow!
when a heated argument finally ends
has anybody won
when the fight’s to the finish
seems both sides are done
when the smoke of battle clears
few and hollow are the cheers
when the war goes on and on and on
~ so does the con
cartooning and painting take all my time
my days are full of pure fun
I love imagining
agreeable anteaters always allow ample Afghans, arresting
arsonists, angering awful aardvarks, as they arrive in Antarctica
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