Born a runt,
milk-chocolate and bright-eyed,
Fritz von Etgen arrived
with a broken tail
he wagged proudly
before offering his doxie advice.
Outside,
he channeled Dox Quixote,
chasing invisible squirrels
with full-tilt conviction—
a blur of stubby legs
and unstoppable joy.
Inside,
he tap-danced across
Mother’s linoleum floor,
tiny toenails clicking
like a Fred Astaire routine
he never quite mastered.
Half-a-dog high,
a dog-and-a-half long,
he’d race the hallway
and slide out of control—
back end leading the charge
as if it had somewhere urgent to be.
From this small,
big-hearted comet of a dog,
I learned exuberance,
optimism in ache,
and the quiet truth
of love offered without condition.
Fritz taught me
what loyalty looks like
when it has tiny feet
and a tail that never forgot
how to celebrate the world.
It starts small~
a sigh sharp enough to slice drywall,
a muttered well I never,
then a dramatic shuffle of papers
that did absolutely nothing wrong.
Then the arms cross.
The eyebrows rise.
The soul leaves the body
for a brief smoke break.
Suddenly this fully grown human~
tax-paying, grocery-shopping,
responsible-for-a-mortgage human~
is having a full-tilt hissy fit
because the Wi-Fi blinked
or someone said calm down.
There’s foot tapping.
There’s theatrical breathing.
There’s a moment where they stare
into the middle distance
like a pioneer widow
who just broke the last jar of peaches.
And you stand there thinking,
Lord help us,
the toddler has escaped
and taken over the adult body.
But eventually~
after the sighs,
the flutters,
the tragic monologue
about how no one understands
the gravity of the situation~
they return to themselves,
smooth their shirt,
clear their throat,
and say with great dignity,
“I’m fine now.”
Granddaughter reindeer fell apart that fine April Day
This cannot happen said her grams, it is not yet May!
She has to be at full capacity by December twenty-five
I have to push her together, she has to survive!
Grandma was a seamstress, so she made a quilt
She began to patch, and she went full tilt
She added some tinkling bells and some ribbons too
Her granddaughter was complete by December twenty-two
SUNRISE
SUNSET
somewhere in between we met ~
now I shine
each day I become more yours ~
you more mine
TRAVEL STREETS
WALK PATHS
maps ciphered by couple math ~
sum achieve
gently we strongly hold dreams ~
we believe
AWAKE
SLEEPING
love knows, alert or dreaming ~
conscious hearts ~
doubts never cloud or shadow~
snuggled smarts
JOY
PAIN
our merged smiles ever sustain ~
closeness grows
all that threatens grows our bond -
full tilt shows
DAYS
YEARS
time gifted more than it flew ~
days fulfilled ~
when earth fades to phase us home ~
we’ll love still
The forest had wanted a Christmas tree forever and a day
The farmhouse had a little girl named Susie Krissy Kay
She was decorated full tilt in style of every holiday
She truly is our Christmas tree, the oak tree said one day.
Allow me to introduce myself to you.
I knew your dad and grandfather too.
I am an oak tree, one hundred years old.
I've lived through hot weather. I've lived through the cold.
I won't be happy til you climb on my limbs.
I'm your home away from home til twilight dims.
Hop up on the swing your grandpappy built.
Go as high as you can - I'd say, "full tilt".
Enjoy my acorns, my squirrels and my shade,
and I hope your children will play where you played.
Lately my mantennae are twitching more than usual, folks.
The prophecies are surely uncloaking.
Time to batten down the hatches.
A potent darkness is approaching the front doorstep.
Clutch your loved ones to your sunken chest.
It's nearly midnight; the world is on full tilt.
Nuclear pinballs ricocheting off bent flippers.
Madmen will never lead anything into battle.
They'll just push a button to begin the cleanse,
The darkness wants to speed up the blender of Armageddon.
In the meantime, enjoy the day.
Have a lick of your favorite ice cream.
Kick back and watch the ultimate fireworks display.
The bitter taste of unascertained guilt
A snapshot stopped the motion of a wave
It stiffened in a moment at full tilt
And vaguely I remember to press save
Splash of the wave remains in time and space
A year after it comes back at the same day
With the same sun that shines upon your face
You smiled at me, and I smile back today.
Windswept, the rows of leaves descent.
Bereft the bare of toppling dreamt.
The lamb of fluffiness gives clue.
A pram does shake with laughter coo.
The revenue of shapes and hues,
For heaven sweeps, creates such views.
Plush yards of harvest dreams full tilt.
Postcards of dawn or dusk and gilt.
October gallops in as stolid as a gray mare,
a blunt wind snorts furiously through autumnal trees.
Foliage rattles, but does not fall, it clings still
to green stems.
Appalachian backwoods have tough roots,
shod as they are into an earth salted
with a dark gritty ore.
Bears are foraging and reaping,
their black silky pelts clamber over gusting winds
to reach the furthest fruits
before first snows overburden stoic pines.
Today the sky is unharnessed
and racing at full tilt
It whips my raw lips like a wet mane,
it rears up to stamp down upon its own
animated onslaught.
I adjust my rucksack and reshoulder a shotgun
grin, eyes watering
caught under the stampeding gale,
buffeted now by its muscular flanks.
I need to bridle this striding wind,
to halter its headlong charge,
or better yet just surrender -
turn my back on it,
let it ride me
as we leap down from the hilltops
whooping it up like cowboys.
Dry mouth,
shallow breathing;
In your dessert mirage
I thought I saw a waterfall;
Dizzy,
I’m completely decimated;
It is too hot to care;
Please wet my lips,
full tilt.
Floral fragrance
Fizzes
Nasal nostalgia
Nuzzles
Pristine passion
Persuades
Testing
Tempting
Lips-lust
Lingers
Hypnotized heart
Heaves
Cosmos
Countermands
First time?
Full-tilt fast-time?
Kissing
Kindling
Cardiovessels
Convulse
Hedonism
Haunts
Hearts
Harmonize
Mud
Downpour
Sludge-smeared Boots
Winds at full tilt
Dirt
West Berlin, British Sector
Hotbed of rumour and lies
I’m there illegally, not wearing
A Jimmy in scaleyback disguise.
I was a Secret Squirrel or
Sneaky Beak was another name
They called us both but
They both meant the same.
There to report
As things moved along
Trying to ensure none
Of the info was wrong
That infamous wall had
Not long been built
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Was running at full tilt.
They said there was a minefield
Under the duckboard to our site
I never knew whether it was
Just bull, or whether it was right.
You paused at the door to allow
The VOPO at the border fence
Get a good clear focus
On his telephoto lens.
If you were a newbie
And it was your first time
Tradition said you stopped
To give him a Churchill sign.
There was panic and despair
That we were pulling out
All from propaganda the Reds
Were spreading all about.
And then suddenly it was over
One Mr K decided to back down
And it was time for me to leave
That turbulent divided town.
A Twin Pioneer took me out
Quietly and Illegally by air
It’s not shown on my record as
Officially I was never ever there.
A little old lady named Judy,
Works hard to accomplish her duties.
She cooks and she cleans,
Runs errands, makes things,
For friends and for family outings.
Sometimes her arthritis flares up.
She can barely pick up a cup;
But she's no cry baby,
She's one tough old lady,
A hot bath and a pill and she's up.
She'll finish the job 'fore she'll stop.
She loves life and she lives it a lot.
She'll keep goin' full tilt,
Until she gets kilt,
Or she runs out of gas and just drops.
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