Untimely was Hamilton Hicks
In making his basketball picks.
He knew it all well,
How each bracket fell,
But always too late with his clicks.
A cold mist drifts across the ground,
bringing a musty smell
from damp mulch where decay is found
and most plants cannot dwell.
Now through bold boughs autumn winds blow,
stripping last leaves of green
which then put on a colour show
to bring a change of scene.
To brittle foil those leaves soon turn.
Metallic colours grow.
Gold, copper, bronze, rusty iron
carpet the ground below.
And now there comes a gusty spell.
Horse chestnuts hit the ground
and burst out of their spiky shell,
spreading conkers around.
Green acorns put on splendid show
to seed future oak trees.
But grey squirrels now come and go
and bury most of these.
But let us not forget fungi.
Bracket fungus spreads wide.
Ink caps shoot up to spray their dye
and lethal redcaps hide.
She walked
Through the forest
Alone but never lonely.
The moonlight shards
Reaching between the trees,
Needling through to the ground.
Silent but for her bare feet
On the forest floor,
Leaves crisp and dry.
The slight warmth
Radiating from the ground
Penetrating her soles, her soul.
The scent, must emanating.
The bracket fungus clinging
Tight to the fallen giants.
Trees taken by mighty light,
When rain covered the floor
And the sky rang with thunder.
As she walked slowly on
Approaching a clearing
The moon shone bright.
Turning her face to absorb
the energy needed for the month
And once more she was fulfilled.
You said that I look young
But the fibre of the soul can get old quick
Negativity can make you sick!
Brick upon brick we need to help our future
You were going to be the perfect wife
And I was hoping to have a life with you
But when I met you
All you did was talk about your ex-husband
And how he treated you!
There I realized this was not for me!
The danger of comparing males living inside you
You would have been the perfect bride
But I was not ready to ride with a woman
That was still living in the past!
I mentioned nothing of my past relationships
I know what pain is and I would never
Put you in the same bracket as any other woman!
Now am I the monster
Let me know
All the time I took to plan that meal
And you put the seal of the past in the air
Life isn’t fair because you were the woman to have a life with!
Mark Frank
Copyright 2022
I can't find it
I lost it
The keys don't FIT
things don't mean S$!&
I lost it
sparks gone, couldn't keep it lit
just needed an outlet
instead became a target
Can't get it
not in the right bracket
anytime Im one way they're the opposite
while I make the case, turn it into a basket
not sure if I should submit
or turn into a bandit
oh, the sky is the limit
must be why keeping me down is your favorite
even when I was the one with the credit
well, at least enough to fake it
not fake, just run it debit
nothing was ever low budget
then it blew up like a rocket
trade one for another bad habit
maybe I should just forfeit
cause ill never be in another's pocket
All of it
Can't find it
I think I'm losing it
I lost it
Don't think this is legit,
Darkness fills where there used to be a spirit.
Bit by bit
they made sure to keep me grounded
I think I see it
(let's get you into bed)
I think I see it
(take your pills, and rest)
I think I seen it...
(He lost it)
You lost it
I think I'm losing it...
I lost it.
Slotted abruptly into a concept
Bold intimation begs he correspond
Gypsy psyche brown moth becomes windswept
Attempt to bracket him or wander on
Waiting with pattern disrupted, fear tinged
On crops offering fluffy promises
Closing chapter rips lustre from bronze wings
Field generosity astonishes
Cotton airborne released from spindly twigs
Soul exfoliated floats borderless
White flight blank wanting absorbs all of his
Virgin shirks burden of choice, subordinate
Soft vessel travels to land's bitter edge
In salt soak Pacific, brief life extends
9th May 2021
Written for Contest: Summer Love Sonnet
Sponsor: John Hamilton
{1859}
there's more slaves now
than in 1859
slaves of the mind
slaves to entitlement
slaves to self inflicted failure and blame
slaves to ogres of division
who
only want to bracket the blamers vote
chained to every breath of toxic media.
those empty headed erections
vampires for ratings
wanting us believe there's white cone heads
and burning crosses-hovering over every black rose
the controllers don't want societal blossoming
only promising freebies
feed you for a day
emaciate for a lifetime
sure they'll take a knee with you
not for principal but for profit
to harvest your vote
because your self reliance
means death to their power
death of their control
they care nothing for growth
of the individual
they don't want free thinkers
they want herd mentality
because true freedom
is the balm of a steady mind
the mind of empathetic leaders
those rare birds of altruistic flight..
not the violence
and impulse of followers
bleeding out from the venom of blame
and
entitlement..
{1859}
I know a man with six legs,
With a foot on all six,
But with only one mouth for all six,
He must be worried sick.
I know a man with six hands
And on those six hands,
He has six fingers to put in six pies,
No wonder he keeps getting sick.
I know a man with six eyes,
He needs all six,
With six children,
Or he would be in a real fix,
Even without one of them getting sick.
I know a man with six legs,
Six feet, six hands,
Six fingers and six eyes,
And before you hit this story for six,
I can prove it is real and I don't feel sick.
He has six pair of shoes in his closet,
Six pair of trousers his wife has cut in two,
Six pair of glasses,
Each with one broken lens,
Courtesy of six mistresses.
I couldn't find six pair of gloves,
But with six pies on his table he is wise not to wear them,
As fluff on any of the six,
Could make him sick.
I was glad to note he did not order thirty-six more pies,
For his six children,
Or they would all be sick.
I just found out that this man with six of most things,
Has an income in the six-figure bracket?
And now I feel sick.
The landmark was given the name
"Exclamation Point," and indeed it became
the most exciting place I'd ever known!
The "parentheses" between us shone
of sun "dashes" splashing
on the "comma" aquamarine.
My fashion "square bracket" charms swayed
like my body stayed in Mark's trustworthy arms.
Our eyes simultaneously met
the first "asterisk" set in the sky, shining brightly.
"Make a wish," he whispered softly,
"and close your eyes tightly."
When I opened my eyes, he was down on one knee!
The "question Mark" asked next
was actually my silent request!
He pulled the "asterisk" from the sky,
and lovestruck eye to eye,
he gently slid it on my consenting finger.
Then suddenly swans graced the stage
like a princess rescue in a storybook page.
We agreed to continue our courtship that day
the "semicolon"ial biblical way.
How difficult it was that magical night,
amidst the "ellipsis" Little Dipper kite,
but we wanted to honor our great Creator.
A longing "period" of three months later,
down a driftwood isle along the same sand
our "carets" met "ampersand" hand-in-hand.
4/19/19
Temper tantrum
Wah! Wah! Wah!
Kicking shelves.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
Out of control child
has snapped.
Tired of trying to figure
out where the limit line is.
Is this fair?
Not really.
Customers watch him get
handed a reward.
Shocked that it is happening.
Wanting to say something.
Not daring to.
The community is not in control anymore
And people get angry much more easily now.
Wah! Wah! Wah! Bam! Bam! Bam!
It is not the expensive toy that he wanted.
He wants the one not in his age bracket.
The two hundred dollar Air Force 1 plane.
He insists.
And Mommy hands it to him.
What is happening here?
Who is in charge?
Who is in control?
He is three.
Is it fair?
Maybe.
If you want him to grow up
To be a giant baby
Who always bullies people
And gets his own way.
Maybe presidential material?
Police approached his bathroom door
Guns drawn in dramatic fashion
In answer to his 911
Noting that his face was ashen
He told them that He locked the door
After waking to the racket
They said, "That was fast thinking sir,"
"To fight crime's, more in our bracket"
It turned out to be a Roomba
There was no thief to charge the crime
Although they had to write it down,
It got a nickel and a dime!
Time of the hour is less then the seal on a bracket
Time forces you to think about more than satisfaction
But, because we are like human ones it's no bean to weigh
the difference between the unhappiness.
It is two AM and I sit here,
my computer screen staring at me,
waiting for a decision one way
or the other, knowing other will win
Will it be Bingo or pseudo-gambling?
Not the right fit for that social media site,
with its vulgarity and constant stream
of pictures of abused animals and kids
Have a ton of writing to do, but can't
Ennui has ahold of my cold toes
and won't let go this day, just like
any other...except, no inspiration coming
Cats bracket me on the bed, commas,
sound asleep and unaware of my dilemma
Lucky them - no unfulfilled dreams to eat
at their peaceful beings, no talons grabbing
They are so at peace that I put away my pens
and find a comfy place between them
Each mindset from an income bracket
a blinding point of view.
Where others thoughts are never known
beyond what's paid to you.
Your neighbourhood for thinking thoughts
where commmon ceivlan's due.
Where currency gets stacked for deft
for others vestless view.
When someone's grown for passion
when no other feeling's true.
That their crime deceiving others
is a travesty all through.
And the price for paying others
takes you back to being loo
That your time upon the Earth
washes back to your own view.
And you think you're like the others
thinking each must be like you.
Till you offer up to others
what no one would put on you.
For so long He was a null set
A bracket containing nothing,
Last elements made him upset
Left alone, anticipating
Till the inevitable came
Beautiful element emerge,
Destiny knew they had the same
Same connection made to be merge
Now the element is contained
Alone in the heart of the set
Sense of completeness is attained
The lad is finally a set!
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