Best Slavering Poems
A grove of magnolias perfumes the air
as they sit absorbed in one another's gaze,
she with her crochet and he with his collectibles
uneasy in their pleasure in the evening of their years.
Lawyers control their affairs like vultures slavering
their prey, waiting to swoop when the timing is right,
for what use is their wealth to them now? No kids,
no convenient callers making spurious claims,
the power of attorney running everything,
in their own best interests, of course.
Summer Haven was the name of their new residence,
with their final resting place conveniently pre-selected.
But they still could make suggestions, could they not?
not really incompetent, simply eccentric and odd;
eating their meals out of red plastic bowls
and taking their medicines eight times a day,
convenient, and all for their own good no doubt,
but day after day of this treatment can deflate the soul.
One blissful moonlit night they'd had enough.
They packaged their drugs into secure containers
and shredded their records so as to break free.
They stole cartons of candy and five jugs of Ensure
and headed straight out the unguarded back door,
jump-started the motor-bike out by the tool shed
and roared off on a quest for their own
sweet convenience!
Don’t Look Behind You
From swamp I lifted from an arm
But collapsed to pitiful puddles
And ground my fist in slush
As I heard their voices
Drag at thus
And make of evil a cunning mist
Has me bewitched
Lost for all my will to do righteousness
Has led me astray in my ego wish
And left me bleating and bawling
Cowering and quivering
By the ancient grave
That made in secret
Chill, black as the imagination can make it
Seeps through every pore
And begins my desire to do its bidding
And what comfort there be
But
Murder
Most foul
Of stained and terrified blood
For mad men to feast upon
And still I cannot find my way from
This spine chilling howl
And was it me in moonlight
Drenched in red
My reflection does not seem similar now
But my heart races
And lips drool
And my throat
Growls
Am I cursed
The hairs on my arm on down my neck
Stand
But is it bristle they feel
For there is a scent of death and raw meat
In the air
I savour
Murder
In a bath of drooling slavering
Vein pumping
Slavering
Madness
It was long gone midnight, and nervously I walked
There was something in the bushes, I was being stalked.
I could smell it's fetid breath, It was lurking in the dark
It scared me half to death as I hurried through the park.
My step quickened, my nerves could barely cope
For above my head the moon was full, the night of the lycanthrope.
Now my heart was racing, I began to flee
I could hear the slavering beast, and it was coming after me.
I was nearly at the gate much to my relief,
Thinking I was safe, that's when I felt its teeth.
It was ripping at my skin, tearing me to shreds
There I lay bleeding, amongst the flower beds.
It fixed me a stare, through furious blood red eyes
It left, I lay savaged, as daylight filled the sky.
I staggered home wounded to the safety of my room,
I couldn't know how things would change, come the next full moon.
Weeks later it was dark, the moon was full and bright
I was going nowhere, I'd stay in tonight.
Then I heard a noise, so guttural, so foul,
Horrified, I couldn't stop myself, I began to howl!
Entry for
Scary or Spooky poem Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Tania Kitchin
19/9/18. Placed 1st.
A grove of magnolias perfumed the air
as they sat absorbed in one another's gaze,
she with her crochet and he with his collectibles
uneasy in their pleasure in the evening of their years.
Lawyers controlled their affairs like vultures slavering
their prey, waiting to swoop when the timing is right,
for what use is their wealth to them now? No kids,
no convenient callers making spurious claims,
the power of attorney running everything,
in their own best interests, of course.
Sunset Grove was the name of their new residence,
with their final resting place conveniently pre-selected.
But they still could make suggestions, could they not?
not really incompetent, simply eccentric and odd;
eating their meals out of red plastic bowls
and taking their medicines eight times a day,
convenient, and all for their own good no doubt,
but day after day of this treatment can deflate the soul.
One blissful moonlit night they'd had enough.
They packaged their drugs into secure containers
and shredded their records so as to break free.
They stole cartons of candy and five jugs of Ensure
and headed straight out the unguarded back door,
jump-started the motor-bike out by the tool shed
and roared off on a quest for their own sweet convenience!
So once again, with grim countenance, the ship sailed on with all bemoaning their woes
Till calm seas prevailed, with balmy sun, sweet zephyr song, they came to Helios' shores.
Helios, calm god of the day, smiled upon the lads, gave of his land free rein, but with a caveat-
Helios pride was his golden herd, indolent and fat,"Do what you will, but don't touch that"
Well, as was their wont, like a terrible refrain, full-weathered from woes and want, but yet unwise,
The crew, overcome by gluttonous greed, slaughtered a heifer, for raucous feast, not sacrifice.
Wild was Helios at this blatant deceit, with terrible curse, banished them all, to wander once again.
So with Helios' curse (and Neptune's help), the ship was tossed and soon lost, all crew were slain.
It was Odysseus alone who was alive, afloat on flotsam, floating about, with fervent wish of death
But sweet surcease was not his lot, more plight was his fate - his tryst was due with Charybdis yet.
Perhaps Scylla was a better bet, in it's slavering jaws a definite death, I think he'd rather have it
But caught he was in Charybdis' thrall, a vortex which ate him whole, and threw him out as spit.
Past the maelstrom's outer whirl was our hero tossed clinging to life's last hope, verily a straw
Floated, the wasted carricature of a man, denied of food and water, no sustenance he could draw.
But perchance the Gods smiled on him, wearied of their devious, puerile games going too long
Odysseus fell on land once more, where restored were life and limb, bewitched by Calypso's song.
Now Odysseus, all said and done, was a man vulnerable to worldly women's wanton wiles
And Calypso was full besot with our hero's lusty frame, his wit, his deeds and charming smiles.
For seven years did he taste bliss, ensconced in Calypso's arms with thought of home amiss
But one day, after seven years, did Caypso, with heavy heart, let him go on pleas of our Hermes.
From Calypso's isle did Odysseus sail on raft, through storm, as was now his habit, and came to Sceria
Where Nausicca, on Athena's urge, gave succor, till he sailed with Phaecians who had trade with Sumeria
The Phaecian ships soon landed Odysseus on fair Ithacan shores where Penelope had travail,
But my dear laddies, I must hie hence, for the Dawn is nigh, of Penelope and Suitors, is another tale.
Concluded
Inhumanities buzzard picks at the scraps
squabbling over trash
vultures of the pavement
denying everything has life
A confetti of money
the wedding funeral of it’s own immoral concept
squawking the incantations
of debt
the milking breast
for these divisions of hate
Automaton march
blindfolded into prisons
wifi choir to gobble in slavering mouth
the dance of freedom
Piled to height shop window front
a catalog of so many possessions
scrape nail biting destitution
of anything of all
but nothing at all
without them
Merry-go-around and round and around
the cul-de-sac of evolution
entrenched, entranced the myriad of human
jack-hammered incessant
into the point of believing
and by deaths alter
sacrifice life
Every dream a skirmish
squandered to the three percent
take a selfie
maybe it’s the only way to ease the pain
be just a ghost in life
who’s monument was the tombstones of prophets
and the next generations list of regrets
Round and around the merry-we-go around
bruised in the dirt by same old, old same trip wires
todays tomorrow repeated again
as if we all have nothing to learn
Evolution
is just a conciliatory conceptual term
~ for Sami ~
oh ...
a pity, that …
such sweet sadness, yours
my lovely lass, lost ...
do not let your lip tremble so ...
it was not made for such iniquity
it was not shaped to
sublime bow-like grace to
be such a dark
dynamism of emotion
or to be the quivering spout of
some slavering
goddess ...
oh, it can push a word or
phrase to hypnotize
it can bring a breathy seduction to
any sonorous expression -
turn my very name
into molten madness
or salacious sigh ...
but even that fails witness to
the verity of its
purpose ...
(a primal and poisonous perpetude)
for it is The Keep -
the bane of my constitution
the very fate of every
such fool whose meat is but
manna for his passions ...
pray, do not bring such sad motion to
that which gilds the gods and
whittles hearts to
compliance -
least, that which thrums, hot,
this very chest -
my capture and my undoing
Avalon and Abaddon
my life, my death
my salvation and doom
my food and my starvation
the ripe, dewy plum that
dangles a-branch
waiting to be
savored ...
perfection's bloom
and the divine portal of sin ...
a most tender press
velvety ... warm
your angelic wings
your throne of judgement
your vessel
your venom ...
your kiss.
Vicious thirsty hunting winds,
Chasing always down,
Emotion's infinite unchained vortex,
Thought claws raking bloody trails,
The wild silent scream disappears,
Upon leaving your speechless mouth.
Walls of cyclical caged fire,
Slippery mouth of Venus,
Slavering fangs hungry,
Ready to swallow the fly,
All else lost in moment's loss,
Sense confusion,
arrogance of intellect, curiosity;
The silent killers.
Falling deeper,
Hollow chasms of despair,
Black walls,
Ceiling and floor;
All greased with missed perception.
To late within forgotten prisons,
Bitter thought of the key;
You left outside the hole,
By the open doors of sanity,
Teasing jealous memory.
Material brooding led you here,
With grim abstraction of purpose,
To show you opaque headstones;
Of what was once visceral thought,
In the graveyard of your mind.
©David Nickle Read 2014
I thought I knew a shortcut, a quick way through the wood
But I fear I missed a turning, for I knew not where I stood.
Unfamiliar and oppressive, which way should I go
Trees I'd never seen before, tracks I didn't know.
It was late in the afternoon, the light was getting dim
I was lost and frightened, panic was setting in.
Then I heard a barking dog, I thought maybe a farm
If I head in it's direction then I should be safe from harm.
I found myself before a wall, It had a mighty gate.
I loudly rapped upon it, it was dark and getting late.
The gate it slowly opened, and there a figure stood.
I cried "thank God I found you,I was lost deep in the wood."
"Then I heard your dog, as he barked and barked again"
He bade me in to meet his hound, saying "Cerberus was it's name."
Oh the relief I felt, my anxiety it now eased
Glad to have his company, I was feeling rather pleased.
He beckoned so I followed, down a darkened track
I could hear the creaking gate as it closed behind my back.
I was feeling nervous now, for the figure hardly spoke
I felt it getting warmer, there was the acrid smell of smoke.
We headed to an entrance, from whence came an orange glow.
I thought, ah that's why it's so warm, there's a fire on the go.
I said, "Sir I'd like to thank you, it was kind to take me in"
He said, "what is this you speak of, you're here to answer for your sins"
"Do you not see the flames, can you not smell the smoke,
You're about to enter Hades," laughing as he spoke.
"No I cried I was lost, this was not my fate"
He said, "your soul belonged to me, once you knocked upon my gate"
He said, "But let us wager, let us have a bet
You set off running, then I'll release my pet.
'If you outrun Cerberus, my three headed hound
He will not cross the gate, for he guards the underground.
Off I set running, my feet were but a blur
I had to beat this hellhound, this slavering demonic cur.
I reached the gate, I staggered through, then fell upon the ground
I turned, the gate was closing, there stood the baying hound.
Then I saw the signpost showing me the way,
I heard the devil laughing, he'd had his fun today..
Sluggish suppurating symbol of disgust,
Dragged wailing into a reproachful life
Child of wrath and sloth and lust
All she will ever know is
Strife
Curdled flesh clings to a brittle scaffold
Pebbled orbs recline in sunken hollows
Starving slavering mouth unfolds
Engulfs the world and then it
Swallows
Gawky appendages waver against a cruel ill wind
A map of veins slides beneath brittle wrists
Starfish fingers strain to hold at bay
An onslaught of constant demoralizing
Dismay
Ugliness lies etched in every curve and line
Defiling the beauty that might have been
Ashamed and fearful of her own reflection
She skulks in soothing shadow hoping to remain
Unseen
Brutus, my slavering Rottweiler, growls
He knows he's tougher than pooches with tails
The long pointed studs on his black leather collar
Are matched by his canines which make poodles holler
The drooling saliva that trails from his jaws
As he lumbers about on his four massive paws
Is soaking the ground and his talon like claws
Encouraging folk to keep children indoors
Devil Dog, Satan’s mutt, hellhound and more
All labels my beast has been nick-named before
I feed him on red meat and shin bones of cattle
It’s said he eats tigers but that’s tittle tattle
The park is all ours because other folk run
But wait, there’s a kitten, now this could be fun
Brutus will rip him apart for a lark
And splatter its blood and guts over the park
Hey, kitty kitty, come over to me
Play with my dog, what good friends you could be
But kitten was clever, too clever for me
He hissed and now Brutus is stuck up a tree
A grove of magnolias perfumes the air
as they sit absorbed in one another's avocations,
she with her crochet and he with his collectibles
uneasy in their pleasure in the evening of their years.
Lawyers control their affairs like vultures slavering
over their prey, waiting to swoop when the timing is right,
for what use is their wealth to them now?
No kids, yet unwanted cousins with spurious claims,
their power of attorney running everything,
in their own best interests, of course.
Sunset Grove is the name of their new residence,
with their final resting place conveniently pre-selected.
But they still could make suggestions, could they not?
they're not incompetent, simply eccentric and odd;
eating their meals out of red plastic bowls
and taking their medicines eight times a day,
convenient, and all for their own good no doubt,
but day after day of this treatment can deflate the soul.
One blissful moonlit night they'd had enough.
They packaged their drugs into secure containers
and shredded their records so as to break free.
They stole cartons of candy and five jugs of Ensure
and headed straight out the unguarded back door,
jump-started the motor-bike out by the tool shed
and roared off on a quest for their OWN sweet convenience!
A menacing moon, a cold draft in my room,
small wonder why I feel impending doom;
scufflings at midnight from inside my door,
shadows of somethings are crossing the floor.
I'm rigid with fear as to what they might be,
these evil demons are coming for me;
I tighten my grip on a poker I found,
trembling in terror I don't make a sound.
They're edging closer as I back away,
they're looking for dinner and I'm the entree!
I bundle the covers up over my head
and just like a possum, stay small, and play dead.
I peek, and I'm horrified... talons, green eyes!
and slavering jaws to effect my demise,
but I'll go down fighting, I'll give of my best
when Mom tousles my hair, "Hey! it's time to get dressed!"
Brian The Veggie Lion
The trackers all dressed in their safari suits
Trekked over plains in their safari boots
In search of an animal that was called Brian
A statuesque beast in the shape of a lion
Skin prickling chills as they sensed he was near
But the park ranger said there was nothing to fear
For Brian the lion had delicate guts
He's now on a diet of pulses and nuts
No need to be scared, no need to be quiet
For Brian is now on a strict vegan diet
As they too were vegan and never ate meat
They made it their mission this lion to greet
For many a day they sought this strange lion
They knew he was close but they couldn't find Brian
At first they were wary that no-one was armed
But Brian was vegan, they wouldn't be harmed
Suddenly, stood there before them was Brian
A truly enormous, formidable lion
He padded around them on monstrous paws
Saliva was dribbling from slavering jaws
Brian then snarled, ‘We get few vegans here,
In fact you're the first I've encountered this year’
He grinned as he muttered, ‘I'm so pleased to meet you,
It's time for my lunch, I'll just have to eat you.’
The trackers all laughed and said, ‘Go on then, try it,
We know all about your strict vegan diet.’
Brian just growled and then got rather vicious
And later he slept...
Vegans... delicious!
The Sitter
There it is
Sitting in the old wicker chair
Grinning its foul slavering grin
It moves nothing than its face.
Every night it appears
Until waking and shaking
I reach for the pull light string
It then evaporates at pace.
I will take the chair back
With its eviction will go the glob
Never more to appear
With its evil sneer
Its cynical jeer
I will not fail in the execution of the job
I will not ever again fall into the snare
Of buying an antique second hand chair!