I would often wander through the Tate
walking round the galleries and halls
admiring all the portraits
pictures and artwork on the walls
it was almost quite the hobby
then a painting I espied
of a proper Peeler a British Bobby
arresting is not denied
corporal punishment is implied
I admit would you believe and have to say
the stripes on his sleeve were a giveaway
but I was unfamiliar
with the artist responsible
as the vignette was neither a Sargent
and yet no more a Constable
The day’s flattery flattens into disturbance,
glowering as arms weaken,
my ears seek solace,
a soundproofed room,
lit by candle flickers in the dark,
I miss a peek all I can, trying
with might not to notice
its shadow who's espied me
ignoring audiovisuals
of melted clocks
and tick tocks echoing
In a Dalí pixel I dwell,
in his obscurity I fall
The Sandman
won’t get me,
asleep, not this time
Through a curtain espied
Of moon, star, star-like
Angelic legions
A heart's secret exposed
To gentler, softer
Of love's dimensions.
Through whose longing, pleading
Is with tears awash
Sleepless bed up on
More lone, a dream left with !
Even more so, come morn.
Melted in the sun!
Years ago I did so choose, to go on a Caribbean clipper ship cruise,
and, in addition to several other islands,
anchored off Nevis, northwest of Saint Kitts,
where, in the late 1780's, Nelson had lived,
and still bears traces of his presence today,
in various parts, pieces and bits.
When our windjammer Skipper informed us,
'Shopping here's good, snorkeling is bad,'
I avoided the former, sought out the latter,
and, as a matter of fact, a good time was had,
for no sooner had I ducked under,
two feet from the waterline,
in about one foot deep (shallow) water,
tho' visibility was, in inches, no more than nine,
I espied a white clay churchwarden pipe,
which I retrieved, broken, not whole,
with one third of the stem, and most of the tobacco-burned bowl.
1787, Nelson married the widow Fanny Nisbet on Nevis,
and, as the island he was about to depart,
'Desist smoking or else!'
Horatio may have heard her insist or impart,
and that which I found, I've a mind to say,
was his very last pipe, he'd reluctantly tossed overboard,
on that sunny day, when, as Captain of Boreas, he sailed away.
Froggy went a courtin',
"Ribbit," he did sing,
altho' singing weren't his thing,
more like the punchline to a joke,
'Please don't smoke or I might croak.'
In the deep end of the pond
true love was his goal,
and by the dawn help to spawn
a few more tadpole souls.
Hopped on to a water lily
where he espied
a fine-looking froggy filly,
and in her mouth a red, red rose,
but wait, something's amiss,
one quick kiss and he froze...
just when he had it in the bag,
oh what a shame, ain't it silly,
our frogly friend hit a snag —
for the she was a he dressed in drag.
I do admire the peaceful, mighty river, deep.
My seething soul does not disturb its steady flow.
On days where my lax conscience seems to be asleep,
quietly and surely, it shows the way to go.
In desperate times, I want to give up and weep,
but following its banks, time passes, and I grow.
And I'm so glad that by my side I'll always keep
you, since I first espied your beauty long ago.
Like a waterway flowing fin'lly to the sea,
your unending patience has seen a change in me.
Come for me my sweetheart true
Let me go away with you
To someplace warm with climate fair
Pink coral sand, fresh ocean air
Where music plays all day and night
Where sunset's rays are colored bright
And last for hours while you and me
On a yellow blanket by the sea
Drink a toast of Veuve Clicquot
While somewhere far away there's snow
Should I care? Would you? Not I
I'll be looking at the sky
And getting lost inside the thought
We're here! My dream's no longer sought
This wanting heart received its cure
I'll pinch myself just to be sure
For every teardrop that I cried
For every glimpse of you espied
For every love song that I heard
For every time unspoken word
Recordings for you I had done
Telling you that you're the one
I love, and have for many years
I'll cry again, but happy tears
Mysogynous Mouse
espied a cat in the house
~ exterminated the louse
What a brutal sun that assaults the cliffs
Where cacti and mescals dare to abide!
Here and there, dozens of petroglyphs
Decorating the canyon may be espied.
In large nesting circles neatly drawn
In evaporating wisps and bold squares
In a sun to give thanks for every dawn
In little starbursts and stick figures
In a deer, in an eagle looking strong
In a war scene kept by the ancients -
It remains unsaid - time is not long
But to a murky end, everything drifts.
A shaggy dog espied a graceful cat
She arched her back, he fell flat
on his jowls, she pivoted - nose up
His paws akimbo, Shaggy arfed
Wait, dear cat, I can explain that
But Graceful didn't miss a stride
After all, she had her pride
Who needs a mangy mutt who falls
she thought, a dame like me must be bought
Now Shaggy may be clumsy, but he's not deaf
He heard Graceful mewing under her breath
She loves me sure, Shaggy felt
His tender heart, her icy exterior would melt
So Shaggy scrambled after her, closing in fast
When he drew close, she turned around at last
It was then that he saw Graceful's face up close
"Adios," he cried
~ Her whiskers were caespitose
Who adjourns me
in this backlight story
Who will call the wolf
to dance in her captivity ?
Willow wisp dispensing hollowness
espied on fields of grey
The World's a stage
disembark at your own peril
Pontificate
your ardour
anoints us well
She dances she glances pirouettes in the rain
beyond her shoulder a turtle dove sits posed
She peers inside the water, a reflection of the self
looking back into time, for it is then that she espied
her beautiful smile intact upon a baby bird who couldn't fly
She poses in the mirrored lake, its a looking glass of sort.
The fate of a losing country
One first observes in her gentry.
Parents lock kitchens, mount sentry;
The food-craving child bared entry.
Yep, the fate of such a country
I have espied in her pantry:
A family in quandary,
From soap men withholding laundry,
The neatly washed not primary
The well-ironed secondary...
On the roads of losing country
Often, unauthorized sentry:
Rich cars stopped soon after entry:
You won't want jobs sedentary...
In every damned losing country
Economic weather: wintry;
Foreign investors slow entry.
With his long narrow beak he drank
drawing out nectar from a flower
it was an Eastern Red Columbine,
an Aquilegia wild desire ...
Nature was singing a sweet refrain
sending sunshine to my visitor
with wings spread he extracted,
using a tubular beak and tongue;
He was a welcome guest
inside this beautiful garden
From a latticed gazebo I espied
as he took delight, in every sip
This risen churlish cold
all cove like
lost in the rigging
crying out the humour
to dance the green lithe of light
as a figment of your mind
The inconsolables retain
lost memories flight
Winters club bastioned to the driving winds
Daffodils espied amongst the houseflies
once prudent pierce their aching hearts
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