If I were not so fat
I could squirm under the wire fence,
and resting for a moment
while leaning on the parked silver Mercedes
which is always there and never seems to move
I proceed.
Further down the utility road
(I think it is actually called that),
the fire station dozes
in-between periods of alarm.
Just yesterday
the bright red engines
screamed away
to put out a smoldering tabby cat,
poor thing- no one knows how or why.
Eventually my feet end up
on the curbed edge of the usual industrial
and barely ornamental pond with its
rudimentary fountain.
Today a white goose
wanders around a plastic swan
that bobs and wobbles just a bit
providing the illusion of
a real plastic swan.
The goose is very pretty.
Too pretty really.
Left at the fire station shortly after birth,
as a young child, I didn't know self-worth.
Shipped on from foster home to the next,
my life was so difficult and very complex.
In the midst of it all, I fell in love with me,
I rose from the ashes of hurt and obscurity.
A strong warrior emerged, ready to fly high,
above a prison of hurt, where I was left to die.
I am Phoenix with strong and resilient wings,
ready to take on life no matter what it brings.
*Fictional write
Submitted To:Phoenix Rising Contest
Sponsor: Unseeking Seeker
03/23/2021
Reasons for millions of orphans: war, sickness, poverty, natural disasters, and abandonment are among some of the leading causes.
So you want to know what its like to be a gay man longing to be a gay father
We are the damaged goods left behind
The last pick from the collection
Yet fine picking comes at a cost
Give me the masses
the girl displaced from a natural disaster
ill take her
the boy abandoned at the fire station
ill take him
the children homeless foodless loveless
ill take them
To the 140 million orphan children in our world
Ill take the masses
just let me care for one of them
just let me be a dad
i just want to be a dad
why Can't I be a dad?
I know i'll make a great dad.
Reasons for millions of orphans: war, sickness, poverty, natural disasters, and abandonment are among some of the leading causes.
So you want to know what its like to be a gay man longing to be a gay father
We are the damaged goods left behind
The last pick from the collection
Yet fine picking comes at a cost
Give me the masses
the girl displaced from a natural disaster
ill take her
the boy abandoned at the fire station
ill take him
the children homeless foodless loveless
ill take them
To the 140 million orphan children in our world
Ill take the masses
just let me care for one of them
just let me be a dad
I just want to be a dad
I just want to know ill get to be a dad
I know i'll make a great dad.
[In Loving Memory of Jack Nowack]
Smoke billows up into the midnight air,
As flames now engulf a house down the street,
And neighbors wake up to fearfully stare.
A loud alarm calls strong men to their feet,
And they all dress up in protective clothes;
Which help to shield their bodies from the heat.
Safety comes first, as each one of them knows–
For the danger they face is very real,
And this is when their true bravery shows.
They run to slide down the railing of steel
That connects the upper and lower floors;
Then decide who will be taking the wheel.
They quickly board the truck, and close the doors,
As the sirens blare, and the engine roars.
© 2018
Drive forward.
Before I leave, I must plant a tree,
Because a rainforest is what you need.
A missing piece of our destiny,
Can be found beneath the leaves.
Write a note on a cut down oak.
Make a promise to them all.
Change your ways before you go
And never hide behind an opinion that will fall.
I have a key to what I keep, feeling on the inside.
I will let you clone me, if you like.
The mind is never free from the noise;
A sound so loud it will make you cry.
Tranquility is just a dream,
We wish for as the days go rushing on by.
So soon to be gone; on a one way track.
The time has come for us to try.
Break apart every wish you have
And spread the luck around.
Give their cheek a kiss and lend a hand,
When the lost need to be found.
Gasoline on a one way street;
No fire station on the way.
Use sun screen to protect you from disease.
No cell can ever save you from the pain.
(C)2017 Aa Harvey. All Rights Reserved.
A simple piece of cloth
Square, rectangular, oblong
Soft blue, pink, green
Woven, nubby or smooth
It matters not
Cloth
Swaddling my infant babe
Cloth
In tatters
Bearing injuries honorably
Chewed, dragged, hugged
Kitty, bear or tiger
Cloth comes alive
In my toddler’s arms
Cloth
Stretched over table or chair
Tent, house or fire station
My busy lad
Creates an island of safety
So proud am I and is he
Cloth
At preschool
Comforting
Cuddled briefly
Stuffed quickly
Into a backpack
Forgotten in busy play
Cloth
Lying inert
Discarded
In an attic chest
Squatting
On the ground
My teen barely notices
Its displacement
His mind alive
New ideas
New destinations
New loves
Cloth over his marriage bed
Immaculately placed
Or rumpled, tossed, lost
Covering two
Sometimes three
Or more
Bills litter the surface by day
Crumbs hide within by night
A polka-dotted pattern
Tears of joy and sorrow
Aged now
Letting go
Of all
But this one piece of cloth
Grateful for its presence
Wrapping, wrapping
Boundaries fading
Cloth as a shroud
Returning his body
To its source
A blanket is never just a blanket....
In France, on Friday the fourteenth of February a famous French family flamed fires in a faulty fireplace causing a frightening fire. Fresco street friends fretfully watched as fifty fabulous firemen fought furiously the ferocious flashing flames. Finally, at four o'clock in the afternoon the fatigued firemen finished fighting the frightening flames and the filthy firetrucks fled off to the fire station.
Now the feline and the masked loony coon.
They steal the deal when they enter the room.
The raccoon and the cat, rat-a-tat-tat.
Fire station seems to be where they are at.
A pair of cuties you see, plain they be,
of all things to be, they’re fireman, you see.
Cat has pulmonary resuscitation…
coon has CPR certification.
Raccoon many days saved the cat’s nine lives,
working pair like spouses never they strive.
Cat to raccoon, “We need to marry soon,
there is talk around town you Loony coon!”
Raccoon to cat, “I’ve carried you today,
guess mixed relation is given away,
oh say can you see our children to be,
rat-coon-cats or loony-tune-cat-coons, see..
We’re unlikely pair, guess people will stare,
know not how our mixed relation will fare,
we’ll chatter and purr showing them our fur,
then chatter the matter up fire ladder!”
For Francine Roberts
Contest: Tell Me About It!