The price of pliability?
We sink into penury
All for a speaking slot
At UNGASS in NYC
They’re at it again
Another talk shop
Deals on the side
We are sold out
They wax eloquent
Mouthing platitudes
Promising data and gold
Doling mining rights
They return, all smiles
Frequent fliers, all
Praising themselves
Lining up for the buffet
Candy witch did not sell her sweet treats, she gave them away
Children of all ages ran over to consume, happy to play
She got them hooked on her confections, in an addicted way
They could not get off them, they followed her to I.O. Way
They gave up their parents, siblings, pets, hobbies, jobs and such
The only thing they wanted were her wares which now cost very much
Candy witch was getting richer, her consumers were getting angry and sad.
She was doling out her wares to new plebes, who at first were very glad.
‘When you are not fed love on a silver spoon, you learn to lick it off knives.’ - Lauren Eden
lilies and ravens
dance together making mud puddles
thick as salve caked on deep wounds
stemming not the ooze
tinctures from droppers
bitter herbs labeled for survival
use only as directed
replenish nothing
rancid birthday cakes
gleeful candles form dancing shadows
glassy story-telling eyes
yearn desperately
gleaming steel knives slice
neat little rows across the table
the sacrificial altar
where naked I lay
ignorant children
don't see the bullies in their own homes
doling birthrights like feed for
ravens and lilies
Written 8 April 2025
For the contest Light or Shadows hosted by Suzette Richards
She is sweet as a jujube that one
doling out Christmas cards by the ton
Her colorful clothes are like banners
and she reminds me of a sparkly elf
Wearing cute bows in her hair
she tells ding dong stories of old
A jolly girl that is as bright as can be
I love it when she sits by the Xmas tree
I call her my doppelganger my mini-me
her hair was once gold and now its gray
of those lovely cards, she owns a stack!
when she smiles she doesn't hold back.
The wizened crone understands bee medicine
Her friends are honey bees and bumblebees.
They have given her a special formula
Unshared with any other humans
She gives it to an adventurer
He discovers a new country.
She sells it to a rapist.
He falls down dead.
It helps good people get stronger
It gives seekers what they need
But those who hurt others do not do well with it
The old crone continues doling out the medicine.
Loving the results.
Each day from my apartment window
I watch you walk down the street
into the warm coral sunset
with your tangerine-sized love
that you carry in a woven basket down
the street, doling them out to strangers
and watching the juices drip down their
familiar chins.
List form also in rhyming couplets:
Love is patience one has with a difficult child.
Love is a man supporting his wife in her trials.
Love is a wife who remains “for better or worse.”
Love’s not just doling dollars out from your purse.
Love is giving aid and time for someone that’s in need.
Love is not words alone; it’s doing a good deed.
Love is a hug for someone crabby or sad.
Love is holding your tongue when someone treats you bad.
Love is not for just your own sister and brother.
Love is for all. God says, “Love one another.”
Love is showing kindness everywhere you can.
Love is forgiveness – even of a really bad man!
Love is not easy when others do you wrong.
Love is showing compassion all day long.
Love is not saying, “I’d do it if I could.”
Love is in saying, “I’ll do it, and I’ll do it good.”
Love is not just for the one whom you adore.
Love is for everyone and so much more.
Love is what would change wrong things to right.
Love is what would change our darkness into light.
August 21, 2022 for the Meaning of Love Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Anoucheka Gangabissoon
Pleasantly radiant, tranquil weather
blue skies & gently benevolent wind
a shimmering gift from Mother Nature
(a smoldering summer lurking in the distance)
Compulsively tracking an unquantifiable self:
steps, exercise minutes, calories, symptoms, etc.
stoical statistics dutifully logged into tired devices
(a futile endeavor to control life)
Cacophonous news oozing from the Malverse
menacing memes ricochet around the planet
updates of a horrid war threatening to devour the world
(a looming nuclear apocalypse)
Occupying space in old unedifying edifices gathering dark energy
running out the accelerating clock as civilization nears its breaking point
desperately seeking diversion while doling out doggerel
(a quest to imbue a desolate existence with meaning)
How long before it all falls apart?
THEY CAN’t TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME
The way they claim the power
To choose for thee and me
The way they would devour
Freedom: they can’t take that away from me
They want to make me woke
To bend and take a knee
I’m just a freeborn bloke
Oh! No they can’t take that away from me
While they live their lives as princes
Doling handouts all for free
All I ask: leave what is mine and let me be
The way I make my choice
The way my mind’s still free
While I still have a voice
Oh! No they can’t take that away from me
No! They can’t take that away from me
Pallbearers filled the bus
Off to funerals in an angry rush
It’s the wicked; they say who have no peace
That’s why the Pallbearers get their release
They chose to capture all these kind
Stifling fear often & following blind
Praising their maker for the coffee they get
For it keeps them alive and physically fit
Gravestones etched and set aside
For those of them who fought and died
I suggest we find away
To corral the ones who have been led astray
Our focal point has been defaced
By all the ones who claimed disgrace
Let’s satisfy their wants and greed
By doling out just what they need
When tyrannical freedom tries earning its place
It’s the Pallbearers who will be leading the chase
So, lock them again in their pristine sleeping cells
Then pray they don’t remember their path out of hell
The Corona Virus is in town
Our schools have promptly shut down.
We are sending packets to each child.
They are rather daunting, nothing mild.
Two hundred pages are going out for each.
You know these kids are going to screech!
Children who sit in school for seven hours a day
And do not fill out more than a half a page, just play.
We are over confident down in the golden tower
Where the bigwigs sit and think up this stuff by the hour.
The A students will be excited; it will keep them busy a week.
The hundred and ninety-six others will not open them even a peek.
The Corona Virus is in town.
Our schools have promptly shut down.
We are sending these packets in an optimistic silly way.
Most will not be returned at all no matter what the day.
Faerie children were all a titter
It was spring time no longer bitter
Grandpa Faerie’s dandelion distribution day
They were giddy and happy from far away
They arrived in doubles and triples and quads.
They giggled and wiggled in all kinds of squads
Grandpa Faerie was out with great speed
Recognizing their happiness for this pretty weed.
My comings and goings disturbed her a great deal. So we sat on the sofa
and shared freshly popped corn. Let's make a deal lit up the TV screen.
Door number three I said. She laughed: Curtain number one she teased.
(Had she seen this re-run?). Reluctantly I agreed. You had to admire Monti Hall
doling out all that dough causing contestants wide-eyed hope of expectation. Oh, and that thick sure voice of his. Closing my eyes; leaning back on the couch,
I imagined myself masked in absurd attire.Curtain number three, if you please,
No! wait!Door number one. Who could of guessed I'd wind up winning an
uninspired mule and a mirror for a fool to reflect in.
He has a captured audience.
People stunned are too polite to engage.
He keeps doling out his asinine platitudes.
Oblivious, he keeps them coming.
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
this distant friendship that we’re sharing
in the cyber skies
that brings us close with spirits caring
far beyond surmise
the daily emails sent sincerely
filled with cyber hugs
this distant closeness showing clearly
at the heart string tugs
exchanging thoughts on life and doling
news of families
in hard times caring souls consoling
life’s analogies
thus loving hearts are filled with bliss
as cyber stars align
and so tonight I’m sending you this
Midnight Valentine
>>>>>>>>>
January 26, 2019
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