I saw a sight
Of holiness
Draped in crimson and saffron
Between the roller hot dogs
And the slushie machine
Smell of ashes
the taste of burnt toast,
complexion’s dark
as crows yet
a familiar scent
that lingers
in every empty
mug.
Cold weather
is my body’s ditzy
enemy.
Coats, scarves,
and others embrace never
suffices, yet I still cover
up just to concede
a frivolous
anxiety buried
in my skin.
Frosty compassion
leads a search for dire
need of temptation
within unkempt warmth
of liquid lush brewing
anew into a cup of
addiction.
Bitter is sweet,
sweet is bitter.
Its nature
so capricious meddling
from hate to love,
from love to heart-
ache, from heart-
ache to anger,
from anger to
loss.
Coffee’s taste
attached to every
memory, not once
absent,
a friend, my desire,
$2.49 a cup of cheap
watery indulgence
draws me back
more and more.
My loyal comfort,
as I take a sip,
I indulge
endlessly
Wallet is drained
Then, the husband
Is left alone.
Alibi for all times I got high;
Place to buy snacks, never a lie.
The lack of effort
required to do
the daily tasks
expected of you
Has withered both
your mind and strength
Your life cut short
from greater length
Your struggles are
emotional
To ease, you are
devotional
Your body wastes
in atrophy
Your mind is a
catastrophe
Your time is passed
pushing buttons
On packaged foods
you are a glutton
You exercise
your tongue to speak
while your heart and limbs
are getting weak
Entertainment,
fast and loose,
around your neck
has placed a noose
Put it in
the microwave
Ensure yourself
an early grave
Healing methods
are ignored
as too much work,
while fat is stored
Your sedentary
life goes by
and now you sit
and wonder why
you are so sick
with doctor bills?
Too late you see
convenience kills
© Mike Wise
7/15/14
Poets of convenience
reality to sway
A stain that lasts forever
excuses not parlayed
“Thou Shalt Not Kill” long spoken
ancient law upon the land
Religious, secular, or more’ bound
the truth has one command
A billion screaming babies
by curettes scraped away
As smug self-righteous killers
demand to have their way
The pathway to eternity
lined with voices put to death
“Thou Shalt Not Kill” their epitaph
—damning your last breath
(St. Josephs University: September, 1972)
A tad jealous
A tad hurt
A tad feeling of slight
A comment offered, and considered
A response maybe tinged with a little spite
Conversation ends
Confidence takes a hit
Mood takes a plunge
My heart strings tugged a bit
How can you just pull the curtain when you welcome her familiar face?
Someone to share a couple days and nights
Lie beside you in that empty space
But, this is not your first performance
Nor is this, my first magic show
I really should know all the tricks by now
Doorbell! Quick! Put on that smiley 'Hello'
Pull that rabbit out of your hat
Shoo those true feelings back in their places
Safeguard them tightly, behind that mask
Lest they be revealed, or worse, displaced
The emotional carpet ride begins
When your weekend companion appears
One wave of your magic wand
And that's my cue to disappear
3, 2, 1...Poof
February 27, 2021
Buy now, don't pay
Until May, when
Bills weigh double
11/28/20
Do you have a copy machine?
Well certainly, Wal-mart said.
And she proved it.
I don’t suppose you have a notary, I said hesitantly.
I AM a notary, Wal-mart said.
She grabbed up her rubber stamp, ready to stamp.
I don’t suppose you take blood tests here, I asked.
“DNA tests?” She asked, perking up, getting out a DNA kit.
“Marriage blood tests,” I said.
Bring him over here, Wal-mart said.
“I am a reverend as of yesterday, and a justice of the peace
as of an hour ago. Blood tests are out. You can marry your brother now.”
Wow, Wal-mart! Wow!
I grabbed my brother.
the fact that i
am only yours
for convenience
has burned itself
behind my eyes
i am only yours
when i make you laugh
or hold you close when
you need it most
i am not yours when i
collapse in on myself
or walk a deadly tightrope
does this mean i was never truly yours?
Public Convenience
A war ‘nowhere near me’ is a concept that does not exist
an oxymoron so to speak and weep and cry or believe
propaganda for the convenience of denying responsibility
Wars allegedly ‘afar’ is a notion too far removed from the
distortion that you and I do not benefit from the slaughter
as the wealth of some is built on the shoulders of many
who suffer for global greed oil exploitation geopolitical
domination for booming stock markets and neoliberal evil
Call me touchy feely or a pacifist to discredit my knowledge
but my paradigm is one of hard core sober fact that in my
name and without my direct consent rape pillage and plunder
deface the human condition and legalize collateral damage
What a euphemism to ask me to close my eyes in view of
pulverised people atomised ashes and call them not near
Rapacious avarice or conscientious objection to misleading
terms and diminutive are a choice very close to my heart
20th May 2017
" Cut from here" are the words printed on the chips packet
with image of the scissors but irony is that
one is carry the scissors if thinks of having the stuff
We are never alone
if we have a cell phone.
When we ride or walk,
just pick up the phone and talk.
In the twenty-first century,
it's a convenience for you and me.
inspired by another member's poem.
Once I tossed a smile when I didn’t think
I felt happy.
She caught it and
wrapped it in a song
and sent it back.
I found out I felt happy
after all.
Nothing is coincidence
and reasons might hide
sometimes for seconds
sometimes for eons.
No one has yet discovered how to measure
the half-life of hiddenness.
Knowing usually isn’t knowing
Usually it’s thinking
or believing
Same difference.
Used to be more bothersome
‘til I learned to
Smile.
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