We're mannequins peering from a storage
bin. We slouch across from
the "No-Food" paper sign.
Its message sags to a pulp taped to the shoulders
of a glass door. Shoppers,
incoming, their shared orange
squirts juice. Our mannequin-custodial
grins bar us from the lips' sweet 'oh'.
Crowdsourcing emboldens shame, our French kisses hung
on tangy wind chimes breezes tongue.
Categories:
custodial, food, kiss, pride, society,
Form: Free verse
Ecstatic eye of night
thoughts tangled tangent
tint of orange moon
slivers were just hazy
incipient learned launch
as the querulous quirk
indented ingress idly
still desperate to capture
though less likely
lavishness connoting mood
human forest focal point
I dream in dribbles soppy
though never flagged yet
as futile aspiration amid
hues strictly night bound
might benefit wistfully
when strident slumber
indigenous to townscape
has its muted rippled
riddle not tactfully
resolved due to blind
daylight tinctured template
aroused by the clangour
of mint medley lure of
Arcadia circus dangle
of inchoate promise known
as crystal carrot jewellery
box whose flecks fly a riot
before the milling cluster
who wantonly wonder
at collapsing fortress inside
whilst rugged resilience
that tower block of prime
revitalised endeavour bent
on a fantasy forage with
disposition a pointless block
though underbody wobbles
if left without the widest
custodial watch of the self
one might be elated finally
Categories:
custodial, beautiful, beauty, celebration, color,
Form: Imagism
With their high viz jackets
And size 12 boots
Custodial hats
And Neatly pressed suits
From high ranking officers
To the men on the beat
Who all took an oath to protect the streets
With honour and without malice they swore to serve
but some abused these vows by being perverse.
Blue flashing lights illuminate the sky
as women walk home alone at night
weary of the officers that pass them by,
frightened and nervous,
haunted by Memories of their horrific crimes.
Crimes inflicted by the hands of evil
men who are narcissistic, twisted and deceitful
the likes of
Adam provan,David carrick and Wayne couzens there’s many more like them in fact there’s still dozens
Who signed up to the force to use these laws
For their own personal gain
and to take advantage
Wreak havoc on society
and cause untold damage
with no remorse shown for their victims or family’s.
A force people are now worried to trust.
With a public opinion close to eruption.
Because of the sinister acts of officers,
Who used their warrant cards
to assert their corruption.
Categories:
custodial, anger, confidence, corruption, evil,
Form: Free verse
Plastic black tires roll over brown and yellow
sand. A little boy pushes his toy dump truck
across the beach. He’s collecting seashells.
as he passes, I chance a look into the back
of his trunk, trying to catch a glimpse of
the beautiful haul. In its back were all the
ugliest black and white shells you’ve ever
seen. I couldn’t admire the beauty of those
shells but I am still in awe of the purity
of that kid’s soul–cleaning the beach
of all the ugly shells and leaving pink
and yellow beauties for the rest of us
lazy collectors.
Categories:
custodial, beach, beauty,
Form: Free verse
It's the coldest day of the year, weather-wise
Snow last night, temperatures near zero.
No sign of life from our biggest, best star,
the sun is hanging out, out-of-sight.
Our breaths speak volumes with fancy designs
as we stand in line blowing hot air on our hands
The door opens and we head straight away
for the coffee lounge, speech now free-style.
Will the pipes freeze? Electric lines go dead?
Blizzard predicted; Mother Nature cursed.
Outside, but sensing all the talk and gossip
one gentleman labors, our comforts his goal.
Complaints well-versed, tell him, thank you, today,
Parking lot's clear, who salted the sidewalk?
February 2, 2022
Regina McIntosh
Encouragement Contest
Categories:
custodial, 11th grade, appreciation, encouraging,
Form: Free verse
She would be ninety-two today
if I had my way
Back to where we were
Fast approaching her ninetieth annual Day.
But now I feel too anonymously alone.
She took my best self memories with her.
I wanted to go a bit further to life's bone
with her empathic comfort skills
expanding our mutual listening ZeroZone.
She often cautioned
against going too far alone
too fast
to speak denser wisdom
preferred traveling together
far past
today's too volatile weather.
I miss her custodial care
And listen for her fast and far accessed awareness
together born of ancient DNA solidity
returning her most resilient revisiting integrity
Within this slow-paced dare,
our timelessly untraveled changing day
and night right time
to renew her listening care
more internally unspoken rhymes
compared to her
more accomplished communal way.
She must be ninety-two today
when I've had my best way
Far back to where we are
Fast approaching each ReBirth Day.
Categories:
custodial, appreciation, birthday, leaving, love,
Form: Free verse
india divide
divide between what is sensed and what is not
rural india,urban india divide
south india,north india divide
india divide
divide between what is sensed and what is not
mob lynchings
custodial deaths
india divide
divide between what is sensed and what is not
seperatist movements
malnutrition deaths
india divide
divide between what is sensed and what is not
Categories:
custodial, anger, depression, future, horror,
Form: Sonnet
The feelings I have in my stomach are of anger
And fear from long, long ago. The child in me
Still suffers the brutal emotional violence which
My parents besieged, so young I could only
Take their verbal, emotional, and mental abuse
Without reply. A helpless victim. A custodial
Sentence still accompanies me for they both
Died long ago. Daily I try to kill them off once
And for all. So difficult, so very difficult when
I was once tied to my mother's womb. No one
Understands my sorrow, my aloneness, my
Desert of solitude where demons play out those
Days of darkness and despair. Here I am still
Alive, at least on the outside to the world yet
Inside I was murdered long ago. Everyday a
Day of resurrection, new life, new breath, new
Hope. My executioners perished into the bottom-
Less pit. It's hard; bloody hard living a decent
Life but I try. I try to be good, to do the right
Thing. Oh! the swell sea of emotions. Courage,
Courage and more courage to live for today
And to try to love; whatever love means, hid
Behind the veiled scenes of days gone by.
My question has to be; WHY WHY WHY WHY.
Categories:
custodial, betrayal,
Form: Free verse
Prisoner
BY HEROLD OSMOND OWOSEB
I dare not say that I am innocent for I am not
I have committed a crime
But my delinquency is contrary to felony
I have committed a crime of goodwill
My transgression may not require the compensation of a custodial sentence
But I deem it necessary to be jailed
Furthermore, I implore thee to let me hang by the tree
For I find no a reason to walk any longer
For too long I have carried the burden
Too long I have held on to this love
I have loved uncontrollably
My whole heart I have given unto thee
Though I am dubious of thy thoughts
I ponder on what to do
Locking the door is painful
But no longer can I wait, for a shooting star on a cloud-covered sky
29 November 2011
Categories:
custodial, depression, for her, heart,
Form: I do not know?
They come out
on weekends
Dad, it's almost
always Dad
with a daughter
or son.
He stands just a
little too close,
smiles just a
little too long
uncomfortably
comfortable
wondering
how it ever
got this way.
He cannot answer
all the questions
they both know
things sometimes
change but
he will always
be there
helping as best
he can.
Categories:
custodial, children, parents,
Form: Free verse
Symbolic of the hypocrites custodial conceit.
All pretense of perfection
Can provide but brief protection
From the madness at the margins of the mind.
And to the soldier's on the field
The liars soon will be revealed
As weapons turn to lock and load in kind.
The promise was perverted
By the pompous and the proud.
While men of honored greatness
With their genius speaking loud,
Are pushed aside by brokers
Who collect the lesser crowd.
They break and batter dreams
And turn the hopes of men to dust.
With all the wrecking balls beleaguered
They have raped the promised trust
And torn our sacred temples down
For minor profits in the ground.
The genius of these immigrants
In death how proud they stand,
Their contributions prominent
On this, their chosen land.
The people once paraded with a passion and a pride,
To serenade with songs they love the sacredness of soul;
The past should be protected by the present to provide
A living link to history that unifies the whole.
I hear their vital voices still
Reverberate as one
As out of sacred shelters spill
Their sacred songs once sung.
Categories:
custodial, historymen,
Form: Verse
My buddy Hambone,
What a pip,
Sometimes I think,
He had one too many a "trip"
I've spoken of how I am his ATM
But now I've got more
About this custodial "gem"
2:30 A.M. on my door,
a knock,
At this hour?
It was a shock!
What could it be?
Imminent doom?
Fire warning?
Tornado coming?
Get out right now?
Can't wait till morning!!??
Luckily, I'm hard to scare,
But can be quick to anger,
Let me see...
Who is this banger?
Sure enough,
Hambone was there,
On his face,
A vacant stare...
At 2:30 A.M.
Ask, he did dare...
"Hey, Tom,
Can I have a
couple of beers?"
I felt like boxing him
Between the ears...
Now I was,
His Mini-Mart,
And I saw,
That this was
but the start...
I slammed the door,
With a curse,
Saw him move,
In reverse...
Tomorrow
I will post,
A sign that says,
"No Hambones
Do We Serve"
Because that idiot
Has got some nerve.
(A true tom bell tale.)
Categories:
custodial, life, mystery, people,
Form: Bio