Death, the dutiful dismal doorman waits,
Depressed, opening each eternal gate,
Kneeling right, glowering at Heaven’s Gate;
Bowing left, grinning wide at Devil’s Gate.
With all souls passed through their eternal gate
Death drags Hades, gate left and immolates.
A man brought
a Mockingbird
home from the park
It perched on
his mantle
from morning till dark
It chirped
the same song
again and again
To wake the
house up
at seven a.m.
A cat was
brought home
one day as a pet
To keep down
the mice
it hunted as pests
The Mockingbird sang
as the cat
plied its trade
Till one fateful
morning
knocking over its cage
And out flew
the songbird
away from its pen
To never
be seen
— or heard from again
(Rhymes From The Nursery: May, 2026)
Fading away as the days
dwindle down to a dismal few
I'm still grinning
what more can I do
my head's spinning
eyes dimming hair thinning
but if the devil's in the details
he drives a hard bargain
and if heaven's like a five-star hotel
with 'Welcome' on the mat
remember when beginning
your final innings
there'll be no winning
when you're up at bat
We went around in circles,
yet the truth lingered right between us,
smirking as if it had already triumphed.
You labeled it complicated.
I called it chaos.
There’s nothing beautiful about pretending—
about trying to bridge a gap so vast
that you can taste the deception in your mouth.
But we went ahead anyway.
Sat there.
Grinning, as if we didn’t already realize
this was the beginning of the end.
I had never seen a goat that grinned wider than Genghis Gone
His grin was something you could hang a small firefighter on
We watched him smile at the birds, the sheep and the sky.
Why is he so happy? We asked ourselves, truly wondering why.
I had seen crazy gargoyles before
Anyway, I thought I had
I thought I had
But this guy was something else
With his wolf-like chin
And his oversized smile
He was grinning like he had just had a lobotomy
Perhaps he had
Perhaps he had….
Must explain my reason for grinning
It's not what you might think
Got a cramp down in my nether regions
Maybe too many beans methinks
It's easy for people to think I'm just happy
Coz I am the majority of the time
The look on my face can be very similar
This time it emanates from behind
Think I just need to let a big boomer go
One that could shatter tall buildings
I hesitate to let the damn thing fly
For fear it would loosen people's filling
Guess I'll just have to suffer in silence
Till I reach a McDonald's restroom
If I make it, I hope they build 'em strong
Down with my drawers then kaboom!
The shattered remains can still be seen
They decided to make the site a memorial
Seventeen people have lost their eyesight
Six swore off Big Macs overall
Now I've divulged my reason for grinning
It's not that I'm happy, you see
The real reason is internal combustion
Not allowing my wind to blow free!
There was a priceless moment
When he smiled openly, innocent
To the careful way I’d held him to my heart
As he laced a path across my soul
Notching out breaths of hope and joy
Serrating hollows of serenity and faith
Feelings flowing through my crimson veins
In whispers of laughing pleasure
Songs of winds shifted through my hair
Beckoning my thoughts with grace
Painting vibrant flames of wisdom across
My life, where he giggled and grinned
Caressing my spirit with the love
Only a babe in arms could have given
size 6
"Footprints" Old or New for a Prize Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Carolyn Devonshire
April 30, 2021
Enthusiasm makes each day delightful and insightful.
If we have something new, exciting, or pleasurable to do,
we not only have fun looking forward to its arrival, but on
the big day,
we jump out of our beds and run to the bathroom
barely recognizing the goofy grinning face glancing at us
in the mirror as we run toward the kitchen.
I am going to have an enthusiastic day tomorrow.
I have not seen my grandchildren in almost two months.
The goofy grinning face has been winking at me from the mirror all day.
She strumpets all into the nights until
around her head the build-up's like fetid, gross cheese;
her lewdness makes the earth and sun stand still:
Lord! What miracle it'd be were she just a tease!
Her grinning face I loathe and never miss;
to greet her with a large and phallic pecker
delights her—but I swear to God on this:
that I felt then the extreme need to deck her
at the knowledge of her one-hundred lovers!?
Deceived by her (that wily Lolita!),
I curse then forswear her and flee for cover
vowing henceforth to shun that Medusa.
So with luck and some serendipity,
I abscond her wiles with no STD!
One night at my house a strange man had got in
When I asked him to leave he gave me a grin
I called the authorities who were of no use
He slipped out the back door, a man on the loose
But then he returned as soon as they'd gone
This insolent squatter, I wished he'd move on
It wasn't the first time he'd done this to me
He seemed to have picked my house quite randomly
The cops had been called there numerous times
but they treated me like the one guilty of crimes
Again and again this man just slipped away
To the local police an elusive prey
One night I decided that I'd had enough
I finally realized I had to get rough
I shot a few rounds as I aimed for his head
but somehow I missed, he just grinned and he fled
How quickly the cops had arrived at my door
They grabbed me and wrestled me down to the floor
Yet I took satisfaction in knowing I'd won
For that man in my house was now on the run
It has been quite a while, that was all in the past
My mind was at peace but it just didn't last
I'm no longer alone, for right now I can see
that strange man in my cell, and he's grinning at me
3/3/19
The sun doth shine, the world's still spinning
Nothing's so bad no need to go back to the beginning
We'll make it through
What else can we do
But there is a magic pill to help us a-grinning
Capitol Hill lawmakers
busy be sound byte spinning
Graft siphon those sawbuck bills,
so succubus sly
Cheshire cat revenue takers,
queeny crooked smile grinning
Wink the incubus eye,
and nod about
how much cheddar they gon steal
Fat cats sitting on a lounge relax
in their dark backrooms,
blowing cigar smoke rings
Marking the Treasury tax map
with grifter circles
Them Cheshire cat one tracks
love
puffing out the zeros
C2 O mirror and smoke
Disappearing cash,
tip-toeing up
the pocket chimney it goes
C2 O ash-tinted windows
Cheshire cats
ogling claws
greedily scratching fo’ mo’
C2 O taxpayer choke hold
Got a crooked, grinning clasp ...
Grifter greedy green paw grasp,
ain’t never gon smiley let go
C2 O mirror and smoke
Cheshire cat one tracks
love puffing out the zeros
C2 O ash-tinted windows
Every tax loophole ... open cash register,
they don’t ever shut close
?????????????????????????
a grinning white dog
buries treasure in the yard...
I mourn my lost keys
?????????????????????????
06/20/2018
The sun doth shine, the world's still spinning
Nothing's so bad to go back to the beginning
We'll make it through
What else can we do
Ain't no magic pill to help us to grinning
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