The idle rich
— a plague unto themselves
(Revisiting A.H.: June, 2024)
cavefish seeks solace
debilitating darkness ~
phylogenesis
blind ...
you must be
completely ...
one person, THE person
who loves you more
than any other has or could ...
right in front of you
making a fool of himself
no care for the laughter of those
who find his adoration of you
and all you are
the height of absurdity
their echoes rattle his maudlin marrow
and crimp his hollow heart ...
just a jester
cajoled by the callous
a horrid harlequin ...
dancing a jig of jaded jocularity
stomping on your careless concern
with lost, fallow feet
your soul's barren soil, unseeded
his blood and bone and bile
the cold casualty
of two lips pressed tender in pity ...
the wretched ruin of
a kiss.
~ 1st Place ~ in the "Strand Completely New (4) Any Theme, Any Form" Poetry Contest, Brian Strand, Judge & Sponsor.
Mechanically inquisitive
Draped on neon tape
Absent mentality shadowing
Of ill-mannered wonder
Faceless stammering fallacies
Covering all in suffusion
Supposition oppressing
The veracity of facts
Bogus conclusions drawn
Upon a cracking rudimentary
Deriding night crawlers
Mocking the anguish
In hollering vestige
A feint of exuberance
Compels a nauseated anger
Griping my throat from the pit
A retaliating strike
Against this disease spreading
Mockery of life destroyed
Zipped and departing
In a blue flashing anticlimax
Mute eyes falling to asphalt
A revelation of mortality
The astonishment fading
In shoulder shrugged releasing
Disbanded heavy frustration
A barbaric yearning to behold
The dark car fades into the night
Liberating unnamed martyred
Silently dignified
Faceless retreating to window barred safety
The street again quiet and empty
Lulling the city back to sleep…
In self fabricated security
Why can't you just be the you that
doesn't own a star?
the one who has no comet
to hang on to
out so far?
Everybody loves you
but you cannot know your place
flashing off and on again
with neon on your face.
I raised you in the morning,
then I tossed you to the sky
I want you back
the night so black
has fallen in my eye.
I can't come out to find you
the map has turned to flame
I 'm waiting here behind you
where the angels
know my name.
Fragile floors of amber
frighten me with secret stores
beneath my feet
I see the ones
who tried to go before.
Their frozen eyes rebuke me
for sending you to try,
to shatter time
within your rhyme....
you've compromised
the core.
The countdown
chills and thrills me
I shiver and I pray,
will I be there to breathe
the air,
that's left of what
you say?
Blue eyes opened,Mother said,
get your big feet off my bed!
Go sit in that rocking chair
Get a brush and comb my hair.
Mother may I stay with you?
Don't ask like you always do!
You know Santa Claus can hear
he won't come for you this year
Santa sat beside the bed
smiled at her and shook his head
The King of Sweden lives here too,
there's just some other place for you.
The nurse dressed up like
Peter Pan,
came along and took her hand
Come on Alice,the party's done
Halloween was so much fun
but the Hatter's Mad at me enough
without you getting into stuff
take this pill that makes you small
I'll let you sit out in the hall
then Mother Goose can have the time
to make you up another rhyme.
You say you love the nightingale ,but not the way it sings
you say you like the evening bell,but not the way it rings
you love to pick the roses ,but their smell just turns you off
your pillow's stuffed with eiderdown,but you find it much too soft
you came to watch the sunset but the colors hurt your eyes
you seek the owl at midnight,but you find him much too wise
you got yourself a cuckoo clock but hate the way it chimes
you love me for my poetry but hate the way it rhymes
I love you for your wondros eyes , that always look at me
I love you for your wondros eyes, but not the way they see.