Coral builds from bones
beneath blue light,
a quiet ledger
of vanished breath.
Polyps inherit
the calcified past,
layer on layer
of patient death.
Bright fish drift
through borrowed halls,
unaware of the cost below.
a living reef,
radiant, fragile,
the reef sings
in calcified breath,
an architecture of endings.
Last Bone Last Breath
Three vultures circle fighting beasts for prey
All village dead and gone where dry winds sway
Drought cracked the mud walls and ate the light of day
No footstep no voice just dust in cold display
One skinny child left last hope where none stay
His bones show through skin in a thin display
Skin cracked and black no drop of water to stay
Hands lie in desert soil tied limp no play
His mother rests near well with no spray
He calls her name again praying she’ll stay
Fear and grief whisper like cold wind sway
But his eyes still hold fire a small dim ray
She turns she lives hunger fades away
Rain follows his whisper clouds obey
Hope holds on hard even when death comes to slay
Rumple Stein returns with a
chilling watching about the
true price of a mission tooth.
Rumple Stein steps from the
dark corner of the room,
His crooked hands weaving a
tale of deep doom.
"Listen close, little child, as
you drift off to sleep,
There is a terrible price for
the secrets you keep."
He points a long finger at the
gap in your smile,
"The Tooth Fairy watches
your bed all the while."
"If you hide a lost tooth
underneath the white sheet,
You must leave a shiny silver
coin for her treat."
For she is no angel with soft
glowing halo wings,
But a pale, bony phantom
that silently clings.
If the coin isn't there when
she slips through the air,
She will twist all your thoughts
into frozen despair.
With sharp rusted pliers and a
cold, breathless hiss,
She will take every tooth for
the coin that you miss.
She will yank out the top and
rip out the bottom,
Leaving empty red guns
where you completely forgot
them.
Without any teeth, your soft
voice will just fade,
Trapped in the silence of the
bargain you made.
You will never speak words,
you will nevermore shout,
Once the cruel bone collector
had cleared your mouth out.
Mmmm! Yum yum
My beloved
Your heart and love
means that someone or something is you be entirely charming,
Wooh, oh such delightful,
Sweet and wonderful
Beloved down to their core
You be, you be sweet to the bone Sweetness sure
is not just superficial, but a deep part of nature
The taste of your love shows, shown
Beloved your love, love is sweet to the bone
6/2/26
Mmmm! Yum yum
My beloved
Your heart and love
means that someone or something is you be entirely charming,
Wooh, oh such delightful,
Sweet and wonderful
Beloved down to their core
You be, you be sweet to the bone Sweetness sure
is not just superficial, but a deep part of nature
The taste of your love shows, shown
Beloved your love, love is sweet to the bone
6/2/26
Mmmm! yum yum
Hey. Hey. Hey heey
mai beloved
ya heart and love
way dat pesin or sontin na you be entirely charming,
wooh, oh such delightful,
sweet and wonderful
beloved down to dia core
you be, you be sweet go di bone sweetness na no bi juss superficial, but a deep part for nature
di taste for ya love show, shown
beloved ya love, love na sweet go di bone
mai Mmmm! Yum yum
My beloved
Your heart and love
means that someone or something is you be entirely charming,
Wooh, oh such delightful,
Sweet and wonderful
Beloved down to their core
You be, you be sweet to the bone Sweetness is not just superficial, but a deep part of nature
The taste of your love shows, shown
Beloved your love, love is sweet to the boneMmmm! Yum yum
My beloved
Your heart and love
means that someone or something is you be entirely charming,
Wooh, oh such delightful,
Sweet and wonderful
Beloved down to their core
So sweet down to tha bone
6/2/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr 2026
Polarity showed up tonight in the small white pill resting in my palm—assurance and biological impedance within the same small shape. My endocrinologist believes taking it will rebuild my bone's density, coaxing my body to better use protein, collagen, and various minerals in places where time and age have thinned my bone's structure. But the pill brings its own polarity: it promises stronger bones even as a wave of morning-sickness nausea steals my comfort. Still, I take it, gratitude and resentment settling side by side in my heart. I’ve come to realize that sometimes polarity isn’t abstract. It’s real as real can be with me coping with two opposing truths coexisting.
white stone of healing~
a tide pulls both ways inside,
moor and undertow
They put her in a hospital bed
Just for observation
She stayed much longer than they said
an estimate inflation.
Her muscles shrank, her bones got thin
Joints got bent, delirium.
We tried to stand her up, she fell
Is this what they call getting well?
The weaker she was, the harder to move
The less she moved, the sicker she proved
She got bed sores, more spinal pain
No rehab in house, Medicare's shame.
Lack of walking caused constipation
Then urinary blockage, more complication
Dehydration followed, so saline was applied
But the catheter had germs, so she got a UTI.
Her legs so still, she got a clot
A cluster of disasters, who lost the plot?
Not all countries do it this way
incentives in the U.S. contribute to decay.
Then we pay for months of rehab care
cheaper per day, once you are there
But in the big picture it makes more sense
To prevent deterioration, before its immense.
The above patient is a composite of many poor souls
Usually there are confounds, the argument has holes
However, it's true that this happens and can't always be reversed
Let's address the incentives first.
A wee bit of humor based on this Mark Parisi cartoon.
Chasing me was a cop flashing red and blue lights
I refused the breathalyzer, so he read me my rights
He didn't buy my excuse of having had the zoomies
He said, "In jail, you'll have lots of zoomie roomies."
I told him I'd cooperate and would walk the line
He agreed to that and said I'd just have to pay a fine
for doing seventy-five while driving in a school zone
and if I past the inebriated test he'd throw me a bone
I took his comment to mean he was being sarcastic
but I just smiled at him and said, "Gee. That's fantastic."
I grabbed my beer and took a one last long guzzle.
He called me beligerent and reached for a muzzle.
He said he had no pity for such a disrespectful mutt
I kept laughing and saying, "I'm not being a smart butt."
He called me a low life, punk dog and drove me to jail
Quipped, "Your attitude sucks! You won't get out on bail!"
I never met a cat
That I didn't like
Until I met the terror
Who goes by the name of Mike
He's a walking tornado
Storms follow him everywhere
He thinks it's funny
Tearing up my favorite chair
I had to replace the cushions
And repair the wood
It's not a scratching post
I don't think he understood
He runs around the living room
Like it's a race track
Knocking over flower pots
Oh my aching back
He's not an ordinary cat
He has a furry mane
Please somebody help me
Before I go insane
I tried to be his friend
But all he does is hiss
How much longer
Am I going to put up with this
He used to be such a sweet kitten
When he was first born
Now look at his claws
And how much he has torn
I would call the nearest zoo
But I can't reach the phone
My sweet little kitten
Thinks I'm a giant bone
I just saw you bike on by
Wondering why
I just felt your ghost
turn me
into nothing
but bones.
Taste tested by the best eater
Happy food, happy family
Enriched with loving touch
The tastiest rice and gravy
Broccoli laced with cheese
Onions, not a few
Never better food or family
Eating hearty and happily
Succulent and well seasoned
Tender, grass-fed beef
Every cut, delightful
After T-Bone, Cheese cake
Kitchen chores always follow
"don't get old!,"
some old-timer
once joked,
but was it, though?
he gave examples...
silver hair,
bad knees
cloudy eyes
bones crack,
mind hunting...
for a name
says he's "rust and bone"
youth, a ghost in mirrors
damn,
he's got me worried!
Everyone wants a piece of me
They think it’s free
Bite after bite
They do it with spite
Biting to the bone
Never leaving me alone
Hour by hour they devour
I taste sour
They want to eat me whole
Swallow my soul
Bite after bite
They do it every night
Eating me alive
I try to survive
I'm no quitter
I taste bitter
As the sky darkens
Bringing curfew to the Earth,
Moonlight kisses the sea soaked, shell filled dirt
Revealing artifacts of moments passed
Stories buried in waiting,
awakened at last.
Deep deep deep beneath
rests a power no chain can defeat.
The first rebellion, a final home
Granted in memory of their gallant bones.
Laying here, guarding weary souls
embarking into worlds unknown.
Give me freedom or give me death.
For slavery is what these bones detest.
Heroic actions of normal men,
inspiring fights for liberty again and again.
To be property and owned by your fellow men,
is the death of the soul, the ultimate end.
Let their actions be passed down like the wind is blown
Forever forging the unity of saltwater and bone.
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