(“Shadow Puppet”, 2023, original encaustic)
Dreamtime
Is there anybody out there
Sings the Muffin Man
From Drury Lane
The San Francisco skyline now
Tilted past recognition
A Jumble of order and chaos
Alas, once a beauty
Now a beast
Changed so much
In just a day
As Father Time sighs
And wears away
Surfaces that used to shine
Declaring now his desire
To become a her
And transition to another time.
(7/8/25)
Categories:
drury, allusion, dream, time,
Form: Free verse
Wear love like a caftan,
Less room for grief, she says.
Names entered into his notepad,
Without explanation.
The unlimited expanse in which
All objects are contained.
A flash of light,
As if a bit of electricity has escaped.
You must find out how
To empty the molten pool.
In that Basin of Prophesy the Muses sing.
In the Chalice of Fantasy the Fates weave.
How do you kill a man?
Hit him three times!
Note: "Contemporary ghazals generally dispense with thyme and emphasize the shifts between couplets." John Drury, The Poetry Dictionary, Story Press, 1995, page 120.
Categories:
drury, humanity,
Form: Ghazal
White upon fog upon snow upon dreams,
dreams upon snow upon fog upon white.
Dreams come, as if the minutiae of day
are merely a prelude to night vision.
It is kin to the sun but it is not the sun,
its light is not golden and it does not warm.
His left hand is under my head,
his right hand does embrace me.
Deb'rah slew the heart of her enemy
as the prophecy foretold.
NOTE: Contemporary ghazals generally dispense
with rhyme and emphasize the shifts between couplets.
The Poetry Dictionary, John Drury, 1995, page 120.
Categories:
drury, dream,
Form: Ghazal
Wee Willie Winkie met up with Tom Sprat
To try to find the crooked cat
They employed the help of three blind mice
But then decided that wasn’t nice
So they left the mice with Ol’ King Cole
Who ate curds and whey out of a bowl
That he took from Miss Muffet when she ran away
From the little spider that ruined her day
They went down Drury Lane where they saw the Red Hen
Being questioned by all the Kings Men
About bells and cockles in neat little rows
And who might have taken the emperors clothes
She quickly blamed the Duke of York
Who supposedly took the knife and fork
Just before the cow jumped over the moon
Which is why the dish ran away with the spoon.
Categories:
drury, funny,
Form: Rhyme
The dark eerie fog and glowing gaslights. She sits woefully. He is gone again tonight. Rumors whispers of the terror, as she holds on once again. Murder by night and a stirring muffin man. The dark old Victorian house creaks with fear. A young lover grasps her pillow, shedding her tear. Not far from Drury Lane and not far from the insane. He has returned unnoticed and is the worker of the house. He needs his rest, so She softly walks like a timid mouse. She tries to share but he doesn’t care.Your going mad woman. There is nothing there! Do you really know the muffin man or any man? Gone again, hehe, you can’t catch me.The nightly affair of terror returns, as her mind wonders. Some imagination are easily dismissed but the flickering gas light, just doesn’t not quit, like a beaconing omen of their love. She thinks to rekindle but there is a knock at the door The police have her battered husband. We caught him red-handed for sure. Fears within fears, fears without, and fear without a doubt. Fears come in and fears go out. Dawn screams in the rain, as she finally goes insane. - Based upon the abuse of gaslighting and actual murders in London.
Categories:
drury, abuse, anxiety, culture, emotions,
Form: Free verse
Lights flickered
Footsteps followed
Curtains moved
Suddenly an old man appeared
And spoke in measured tones,
I am Duncan.
Those who have a need
To know who I am
Know where I am.
I can take you through a journey
And guide you through
A thousand empty nights
Where you will understand the mysteries of life
And reject the illusions of the world.
I bolted from the shop
On Drury Lane
My hands shook and
My head spun round and round
Like a dizzy top.
Did I hear his words
And what they meant
Or was I dreaming?
Struggling back
To my room
I fell asleep
My imagination
Whirling and whirling
Until I found a place
Where mountains turned to ice
Deep ravines touched the horizon
And thunderous rivers
Ran faster and faster
I felt fingers caressing my face
And in my dream
A woman's eyes
Met mine
And she wondered
If I ever loved someone
At morning
I awoke
And asked myself
Will I always dream?
Knife at my heart
To be apart
Yet in a crowd
Will I leave this place?
And go away
Change my name
And not look back
To be and not to be
To lose life's grip
And realize
That life has always been a dream.
Categories:
drury, introspection
Form: Narrative