Arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder and it's been so long since the night I told her.
Please come closer and look at me harder.
You had me crying tears of liquid lying.
Burning at the stake I'm sorry but I wont make it.
I used to be in love with dying, but you got me to start trying.
I love you a lot a lot but let me confess that I'm not
The same person I was because
The flames have been suffocated and become more hated.
To you I devote myself for that I've withheld.
I'm yours, I'm mine, I'm yours, you're mine.
That wind so wild can cause those wooden limbs
to shake from side to side as though to slap a face.
It is worth watching through your window
feeling the weird warmth within, while witnessing
another's violence, as viewing a movie.
How vain do you feel inside
seeing the outside wind and rain?
Have you watched a ring fight,
heard the punches with leathern fists
on a face that takes chastisement
that you and your fellows cannot feel
on your own flesh, without or within?
Have you seen or known of the past
of rockets, guns, arrows, swords, spears, pain, death,
been sheltered by your country, your land, your home,
felt warmed, protected, on your flesh, in your core?
And how did your ancestors watch and hear
an agonising burning at the stake or crucifixion?
How unworldly is that hideous view
that can of course, from such a small distance,
generate a weird warmth within.
(April 2022)
I had a rival whose name was 'Susie'
The streetwalker I'd nicknamed 'the floozie'
Through the night she would strut
Wiggling her pudgy butt
If only I'd been holding an Uzi!
One night Susie and I had quite a spat
She called me a brat. I chided, "You're fat!"
But when she pulled my hair
I felt my temper flare
Bellowed at her, "Susie, you're not all that!"'
She said I was such an annoying prig
I tore off her cheesy Barbie Doll wig
Her horse teeth were gnashing
as she lay there, thrashing
Squealing much louder than a suckling pig.
Told her I knew her buxom boobs were fake
She shrieked like a witch, burning at the stake
I turned to walk away
That's when I heard her say
"You'd better be afraid of me, Cupcake!"
I stopped and glared into her startled face
Susie cringed as I stepped into her space
I smiled with hands on hips
Laughed at her trembling lips
Then calmly whispered, "Name the time and place."
March 6, 2022
Tall Tales 1 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Jeff Kyser
“which memories to us are near
moments of joy or those of fear”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some like romance
Others horror films
Joys of innocence
Or adrenaline grim
Life is but a play
Which we direct
As actors we sway
Since we forget
When we do awake
We laugh at last
Burning at the stake
Was just a role cast
There is yet a catch
In the game enacted
Ego onto us does latch
Impersonation undetected
Upon so believing
That we are a somebody
The act of self deceiving
Attracts vibrations shoddy
Karma comes into force
Erased by inner cleansing
Shedding elements coarse
By love and light healing
Faster option is to recognise
In the here and now
Ceasing to weigh and size
No fears for tomorrow
Thus the so called awakening
Is merely the re-cognition
Whilst while meditating
Vibrant in blissful elation
08-December-2020
I sit at my bench again,
this whole scene is getting old.
Same old sinners skulking in,
same defense a trillion-fold.
Next the room fills up with steam,
then flames shoot up through the grate.
I'm so bored I want to scream.
Now the part I really hate...
Blah, blah, blah, "I beg you, sir,"
"Tell Him there's been a mistake..."
Ugh - stop drooling on my fur!
YOU'LL be burning at the stake.
I've been doing this so long,
I forgot when it began.
Sentencing the endless throng
of the very worst of man.
NEXT...!
Come on, don't hold the line,
I've got legions more to see.
Quicksand. Sharks. Nice white strychnine.
Punishment is up to me.
Used to be I really dug
civic aspects of this job,
now I just want to unplug
from this whole unholy mob.
What if men just acted right?
What if more went UP, than down?
Maybe I'd take off a night,
or perhaps go out of town...
Wait - did I just HAVE that thought??
Oh my goodness, I'm not well...
Feel my head - am I still hot?
Guess there ARE cold days in hell!
==================
07/29/2015
============================
I sit at my bench again,
this whole scene is getting old.
Same old sinners skulking in,
same defense a trillion-fold.
Now the room fills up with steam.
Next, flames shoot up through the grate.
I'm so bored I want to scream!
Here's the part I really hate...
Blah, blah, blah, "I beg you, sir,"
"Tell Him there's been a mistake..."
Ugh! Stop drooling on my fur!
YOU'LL be burning at the stake.
I've been doing this so long,
I forgot when it began.
Sentencing the endless throng
of the very worst of man.
NEXT...! Let's go - don't hold the line,
I've got legions more to see.
Quicksand. Sharks. Irate canine...
Punishment is up to me.
Used to be I really dug
civic aspects of this job,
now I just want to unplug
from this whole unholy mob.
What if men just acted right?
What if more went UP, than down?
Maybe I'd take off a night...
or perhaps go out of town...
Wait - did I just have that thought?
Oh my badness, I'm not well...
Feel my head - am I still hot?!
...Guess there ARE cold days in hell!
============================
I've got to stay involved.
I overheard terrible things one
day.
You'll slain, scorch and stake
me.
The problem's never solved.
I can feel it catching up to me.
It'll maim, torch and slaughter
me.
Burning at the stake.
A suspect of magic.
You're making a mistake.
Kill me because I'm not like
you.
Passing by a river.
Walk over hot coals.
Drown me while I quiver.
Another life that you stole.
As unstable as you are.
As frightful as can be.
Shaking on my death bed.
I can no longer hide and flee.
You hate me because I'm
different.
Not diluted in the head.
Grab your torch and pitchfork.
Chase me till I'm dead.
The persecution that we face.
For not living a lie.
Death, rape and torture.
Say your last goodbye.
Imposing your beliefs on,
People, places, laws.
Is wrong in every way.
We should learn to remove our
flaws.
call on the lords that are destroyed
by lies, lies of Gods that sacrifice
by killing, by melting away and by
burning at the stake
these are what happens
when wrongness is seen
the oceans of lost tributes
waves around the tides pull
Villanelle:
aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa
Heart-Ache
Why does my heart ache?
I am an alright guy
There is only so much I can take!
Often, I sit in seclusion by this lake
Think of my let downs and cry
Why does my heart ache?
I'm always honest, never fake
Occasionally, I'll tell a white lie
There is only so much I can take!
Bad decisions, I am plagued to make
No matter how had I try
Why does my heart ache?
My heart is burning at the stake.
Well done, completely fried.
There is only so much I can take!
Under a weeping willow tree, beside this lake.
Tears weigh heavy, I cry
Why does my heart ache?
There is only so much I can take!
Jared Pickett
12/23/06
Asavvy1
I keep telling myself
That you will come along
But I’m starting to call myself a liar
And I’m burning at the stake
At the thought of my own fallacies
My flesh is turning black
And the rotting smell litters my brain
And there you are
Two minutes too late
Well, I wasn’t lying
But what do I have to show for it now?
Some ashes and two dried out eyeballs