Sitting by the river
There are lovely urban views,
But it’s more fun to people watch
And check out the tattoos.
A dragon snaking up an arm,
Some flowers on a calf,
An eagle near an elbow
And a wizard with a staff.
A Yankee logo on a neck,
Some words etched on a chest,
A tiger and a postcard with a stamp,
Neatly addressed.
A bird, an anchor and a leaf
And much more, I suppose,
Well-hidden from the public,
Meant to privately expose.
Welcome to the Inferno,
Your room is almost ready.
I'm the hotel manager,
My name is Mister Eddy.
You're in the hotel lobby,
This is the bellboy Jerry.
If you sign the register,
Your luggage he will carry.
You might wonder why you're here,
I know it seems informal.
I'm sure you have some questions,
Believe me this is normal.
I'm here to give you answers,
But before much more is said.
I'll say that it's my duty,
To inform you that you're dead.
I can see it on your face,
It may come as quite a shock.
Your wife did the final deed,
Bashed your head in with a rock.
But while you're here don't worry,
There's everything that's needed.
The rooms are always clean,
The swimming pool is heated.
The maids are very friendly,
And as pretty as you please.
Then tonight you'll meet your host,
Mister Mephistopheles.
Though he can be short tempered,
You'll find he's oh so clever.
But the one thing that's for sure,
Your stay will last forever.
Checking out our Halloween faces
We are simply happy to be in good graces
The ghosts are out, and they are laughing like loons.
I see the beauty of both of our harvest moons.
Yes, this is an alternate universe with extra stuff.
We have scarecrows that roar, and lions that are never rough.
We have witches and goblins, but they go trick-or-treat.
We see it all happen on this planet with a beat.
There is music flowing and words are prancing.
Halloween parties with candy, and horses are dancing.
Check out our Halloween faces. We are excited to be.
Part of this alternative October Halloween reality.
It is a bit of an inconvenience to have
A werewolf living in our refrigerator,
A troll residing in your underwear drawer
And a vampire who reads our mail.
My husband looks up. “That’s right,” he says.
Assuring me that he is indeed listening to my every word.
What else is there to say
I’m stuck in a nightmare
On repeat
And it keeps going
Yet time is slower -
You took it with you
Time doesn’t make sense
Left us in the dark
Unable to feel you
A knifes stabbed in my chest
And I feel my heart throbbing
This life became a goddam mess
"Checking In"
(Verse 1)
Hey , how are you?
Please tell the truth.
It's ok. To not be fine
It shows your human
You have emotions
Time for daily devotion
Devote your time
To only yourself
Scratch that we all need God's help
(Chorus)
Hey , hey you
It's your friend
Just checking in
Hey , hey you
It's your friend
Just checking in
(Verse2)
We all need to pick up a phone and call
Your friend can be experiencing it all
And you'd never know
I was trying to grow
Within myself
Then decided to share my story
With someone else
Send a text , go and visit
It wont hurt , to not always put yourself first
Check on others
We all need each other
(Chorus)
Hey , hey you
It's your friend
Just checking in
Hey , hey you
It's your friend
Just checking in
Bridge:
Check in , on your friends
It could change
The way they see alot if things
Check in , on your friends
It could.change
Alot of things
(Chorus)
Hey , hey you
It's your friend
Just checking in
Hey , hey you
It's your friend
Just checking in
(Repeat until chorus fades)
Written by: Concetta Hardnett
09/30/2020
The Magic Trick of Checking Out
By David J Walker
Now you see ‘em
Now you don’t
The magic trick of
Checking out
Leaving familiar traces of
A Lived life
Lived like
Only they could live
Now you want to
But you won’t
Say the things you
Meant to say
What was the final count of
The heartbeats,
The breaths you breathed,
The steps taken in your
Whole life
Leaving faint footprints
With all the others
Turned to dust
Did you leave food
In the fridge
Expecting another meal?
What happened to the
Weight of your body
Consumed in
The funeral pyre
What may we learn
From the ashes in the urn
Where you hide
Until we release you
Into the wind over the
Mountain
Once we saw you
Now we won’t
In the full view
Of a church pew
Where you prayed for
Reconciliation
Would you mind if
I took this seat
At least for
Another few years?
I wear my ugly sky glue paper because of the work mandate
It reminds no one of a pretty summer or spring day believe me
Warm sweat droplets under my nose slide into my mouth
I have been capsulated into a self-imposed mini sauna
Hot vibrant blue wrinkled latex-free gloves suppress my hands
Making no easy task of the things I have to do to get checked out
This is May eighteenth of twenty twenty, in full swing of pandemic panic.
This school check out for the summer is surreal; a nightmare
Fog steams up my glasses as I take a deep warm foggy breath.
Not seeing this mess is almost as terrific as seeing.
I put my head down and begin to work, packing up an office
I have not been to for over nine weeks; coronavirus be damned!
How can things go wrong all at once
Dreadful must keep checking for a pulse
Brighter days ahead
Negativity we should shed
Not easy with the news we're engulfed
I
veer
my car
over to
write down the opus
that just now formed inside my head
or I will lose it, thanks to my ADHD muse
Checking Out
by Edmund Siejka
In the dimming of twilight
My wife holds the phone close to her ear
Lines of worry crisscross her face
She is talking to her sister
Whose husband is in the hospital
And has taken a turn for the worse.
“Charlie is not doing well
He’s in a lot of pain and
The drugs they gave him
Aren’t working.”
Feeling guilty
I eavesdrop
Catching bits and pieces of words and half sentences.
Soon I stop listening
When the drift of their conversation
Turns to all things funeral.
When it’s my turn in the hospital
I’ll be sitting upright
Propped by two pillows
Sipping Bourbon
Listening to classical music
Until the refined host
Introduces Chopin’s Nocturne No. 2
Played by the Vienna Philharmonic
The volume will not be too loud
But loud enough for me
To feel the orchestra’s strength.
I know the hold of mortal flesh
Is strong
So I will lift my cup
To the patient nurses
Knowing when it’s time
For myself to leave
I will let intuition guide me
And help my spirit
Cross the night.
Rhapsodic impulses of skin suffused
Exulted passions rendering, disused
Intensely emotional of flushed amor
A mere filament lisp of a lustful gore
Susurration; within my own sad soul
Mellifluous lullabies 'till I, rest whole
Me sweetheart gave me a shirt
with lettering
“how to pick up chics”
I dressed to kill and put on a wig
wore a stylish hat ,I looked like Fabrio
this was better than the dating page
no calling and no waiting
I wore me shirt uptown
surely I would get me a pretty one
I stood by the deli
where the young ones mingle
I dropped me hanky as instructed
oh boy, let’s see who picks it up
one came over and handed it back
“ you may need this if you sneeze’
well that was only just one subtle try
another one came along and who scooped it up
‘oh sir, you dropped your bib’
‘you may need this if you burp’
two down, I hope there’ll be more!
an older lady came up to me
and said “if you want to get one
you have to be young”
“look at me” she said “I’m not young”
but I would certainly like to know you”
“I too am looking for someone”
“one that will be kind to his honey”
“when you are done at this deli
I will follow you out”
but may I have a tissue before I sneeze’?
she did sneeze and her hat and wig fell off
she was me sweetheart looking for a rooster!
Many times still, when a pretty girl walks by
I pretend I've got something stuck in my eye
But all the while
I'm checking her style
At my age, most of 'em score two hundred and five
been sad to long
this can't go on
its tme
leave hate behind
and met new friends
let new life begin stop this sin
am
CHECKING IN
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