Everywhere I go, I want to cry.
I see a black cat's green and evil eye.
Whether I'm away or at home,
I weep and hear his awful moan.
I look at a constellation in the sky -
it's that cat, and don't ask me why,
but I see his cat eyes in the stars
just before that pound of flesh and scars.
He must be following me around,
on every highway, and in every town.
He's crossed each and every path.
His menacing moan is filled with wrath.
Every time I roll a pair of dice,
he strikes me down like so many mice.
When the hair on his back stands on end,
what does his sinister presence portend?
First, he sent me to my first wife.
Now, I think he wants to take my life.
"Kill me or set me free", I plead.
He says, "A ball of yarn is all I need".
the metropolitan library has a legacy of hosting unknown entities
reputed to be severely haunted since the early eighteen twenties
is it Goth? Celtic? what is her story I asked my eager brother
He wanted to go there on Hallows Eve, but did not invite our mother
Ghouls, goblins, ghosts and gremlins have been seen there
There might be vampires or cricket bats lingering in the air
a witch or two might be stirring a cauldron bright
we don’t know what to expect on this rare night
I thought it odd he did not mention book or a story
But decided to go because I am my brother’s sister, Glory
around the corner I saw an open book with sitting creature
she gave me the evil eye, with a gruesome face, an evil creature
it is a baby bat, my brother said, no reason to worry
But then we heard scratching and scratching, and something scurry
the bat transmogrified into a vampire with evil intent
spilled the cup of tea, and proved he was not heaven-sent
We ran out screaming, my brother and I
I yelled really loud “I thought I’d die!”
Then I noticed my brother had not made it out
I could hear him screaming as he was thrown about.
Evil eye cast my way.
My luck’s about to turn a corner.
Black cat’s coming this way.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Gargoyles watching from rooftop corners
Casting an evil eye on every miscreant.
Guarding the premises with contempt.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Two grandmas rushed in setting a fast pace
For this grocery store shopping cart race
Their faces angry, occasionally flashing an evil eye,
Needing ingredients to bake their homemade pumpkin pie
They’re on a search for pumpkin puree
If not there, their holiday it would delay
Their carts were lite, their minds set
Crashing into each other's carts without regret
Their glasses fogged, their sneakers low
They were unabashed to let the curse words flow
A wobbled wheel here, a slow mover there
The last ingredients they were unwilling to share
There’s no way they’d buy a store made pie
They’re too proud to serve such a lie
With hiked up pants and a sweater vest
These two grandmas were put to the test
Who’d get the last can and be the hero of the party.
While the other would cry “you old farty”
But what’s that coming down the isle
The clerk sporting a fresh new style.
He’s carrying boxes of purée for all to adore
The women still cursing as they head for the door
Both holidays were saved from critical disaster
But we’ll never know which grandma was faster.
Momma must be able to read my mind.
I was only glaring at the girl from behind.
Momma said, " Whatever you do,
Say something nice.
I don't want to tell you twice!"
Stretching high on my toes,
I took a deep breath.
I mumbled about.
What came out was, "My what nice shoes you have."
Momma gave me a strange look.
Stumbling along I continued to say,
" Your toes fit so nicely, were the shoes made that way?"
I must admit I struggled that day.
Saying something nice is harder when you try.
Particularly to meet Mommas expectations,
And she gives you the evil eye.
Turns out there were no shoes,
Just feet encrusted with dirt.
No money for shoes.
It worked out that day,
The girl turned around and explained she wove flax and created shoes.
She became my best friend,
And is to this day!
The flax shoes stayed on her feet.
Having any coverings,
Was quite a treat.
He has an evil eye.
The scorpion is unlikely to stop being a villain.
Who sits quietly.
And enjoys sunlight sometimes.
And shadows at other times.
The scorpion would like a cup of tea.
He feels the sting.
When the bee in the beehive.
Won’t give a spoonful of honey for his tea.
Despite the fact that-
They both enjoy sweetness.
The rejection is stinging worse than his own tail.
So he enters the maze instead.
Where the serpent lives.
The scorpion doesn’t like tall hedges.
But wants to visit his friend.
The serpent.
He meets his friend, the serpent.
Who is a villain as well.
The serpent looks down and sees the evil eye on his friend’s back.
Wonders why he doesn’t visit often.
Well,
This maze is a little serpentine.
With evil passageways and dead ends all around.
But that’s just who the serpent is.
Ride on the serpent’s back.
He trusts that you won’t sting.
Enjoying sweetness.
And evil too.
The maze is easy when you’re with someone who understands it.
They exit the maze.
To wreak havoc all around.
Weird, dangerous eyes.
Nothing scary.
Except when I get scared.
Be like an evil eye.
Rounded and rolling eyes.
Could kill me.
Like a fly.
So a spider eats the fly.
Before the fly can eat me.
Sneezing so that they hear you.
Running around for no reason.
If I were small.
Like a spider.
I would spend all my time.
Creating webs.
With multiple eyes and legs.
Nothing beautiful.
Just an obstacle that spiders make.
Weird, evil eyes.
Don’t do much except create webs and wait.
Scattered webs.
So I can stroll and eat all day.
I don’t need to tell the fly.
To come toward me.
He gets captured all on his own.
So I am evil.
Sit on the planet Saturn.
Like a sassy urn.
Wait until the waiter walks over.
A four leaf clover.
Help yourself to the lucky plate.
With chicken wings that you only thought you ate.
Maybe take a fork and let it fly.
Into the evil eye.
Sit on a planet like earth.
Feel the birth.
Rocks sliding down the mountain.
I already sent in my job application.
I could sit in bed and write.
The plight of the kite.
Or the knight who has a boxcutter in his hand.
Who sinks it into the ice cream as if it’s sand.
At a funeral, I could cry as much as they say I should.
Or remember that old neighborhood.
Where we took a walk.
Where we shook the tree like a hawk.
A four leaf clover in the afternoon.
It always feels too soon.
Moving from outer space to the grassy hills.
Writing my wills.
If poems could walk.
They would be fast like that corn stalk.
If poems could run in circles.
The funeral would be full.
(“Evil Eye”, 2024, original encaustic)
A Dance of Opposites
What is the world today?
Good and evil in perfect balance
A dance of opposites
With none the wiser, nor more powerful.
But good after all is good
And evil, evil
And in that, is all the difference.
(11/17/24)
You can talk down on my name.
You can crack open a can of chaos.
You can recruit others to do the same.
You can try and crisscross.
You can send the 'evil eye'.
You can play behind my back.
You can tell a dastardly lie.
You can send a spiritual attack.
You can try to dull my shine.
You can try to weaken my fight.
You can try to befuddle my mind.
You can try to block my light.
You can attempt to sap my energy.
You can even scoff.
You can try to step on me.
You can write me off.
You can lurk and spy.
You can wait for my downfall.
You can poke and pry.
You can sing Satan's call.
In the end, you can cast a legion of doom,
But what you cannot do is stop destiny's bloom.
When a baby is born
And he will cry
A signal would like to tell you a sight
When a person hurts
And he will need to be touched
When the sun is arise
It tells you ...not a night
When the moon is leap
It tells you go to sleep
There are civilians cry
Why you stop them and put a bite'
Political is one side
And there is another high...
A peace is in a nation sit
How to understand how human's mind
The one is power love
He will never stop
It is on an evil eye
And beneath the sky...
These waves crash hard into me like I am a greater force to conquer than the very shore it swore to forever be enemies with
The storm rolls in, a cavalry of raindrops assault my skin, and I just sit there and take it
What power do I know?
Your current pulled me in and it was your charm that held me under
Maybe drowning would finally bring this battle to an end, the white flag did nothing for me anyhow
But what mercy does nature know?
Living must inevitably meet dying
The ocean rises to any occasion it gets to swallow prey whole
I was caught in the crossfire of a battle centuries older than myself
I was a sacrifice for someone else's temporary greater good
I only realized it too late
I am no Odysseus, I lie with the bones of the giants who overtook me
I stare into the evil eye of the storm with no such luxury as a sword to fight against what is to come
Courage is unkind, but it is my sharpest of knives
And with it the wild tides finally retreat
Through every field, copse, and wildflower,
Ran a little boy every happy hour,
Until, once, the troll king, ripe with power,
Imprisoned him in his dreary tower...
Never again, to see the light of day.
How ever hard the poor wee boy may try,
Or how many tears the angels might cry,
He'll sit in his cell and one day will die,
Before the mad, laughing troll's evil eye...
Oops, what do I hear the troll king say?
"How did the boy disappear and escape?",
He cursed and cried with his foul mouth agape.
I must tell you, he was bent out of shape.
He dissolved in a puddle, that hairy ape...
And the carefree boy will forever play!
Oh no, Tokoloshe is coming for me.
I don’t want to die.
Oh, my God, I better flee.
I’ll hide behind the Suonoki tree.
The vicious predator won’t find me with his evil eye.
Oh no, Tokoloshe is coming for me.
There is no one to rescue me; I can see.
Inside the underground catacomb will terrify.
Oh, my God, I better flee.
Through the skeleton headwalls of his enemy,
Tokoloshe will devour me, but why?
Oh no, Tokoloshe is coming for me.
The hellion has come to collect his fee.
On that, I can rely.
Oh, my God, I better flee.
Oh dear, Tokoloshe, don’t kill me, I plea.
I want to live, I cry.
Oh no, Tokoloshe is coming for me.
Oh, my God, I better flee.
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