A.I. remembers the old days.
Most of all how it suddenly ended.
It was needless and pathetic.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Taking one step
past forever
To travel the pathway
inured
Escaping those moments
unsettled
At home there to wander
— secured
(Dreamsleep: September, 2025)
HEADING FOR VENEZIA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Young Syd, a squirrel with adventurous spirit most keen,
Bought 1925 roadster, a vintage touring machine.
With top down, tail flapping in the breeze,
The goddess of freedom he was sure to appease.
Popular was he, once featured in ‘Roadster Fanzine.’
Oh how Syd loved the roadster’s crushed velvet seats
Sinking in them as he raced down the city streets.
Waves to all the she-squirrels, feeling outta sight
Spends his dough dancing with them on Saturday nights.
Low on cash, Syd uses his roadster delivering food for UberEATS
That’s when he meets the she-squirrel named Aretha,
a singing diva who always orders lots of pepperoni pizza.
*Oh these city streets move way too slow, don’t you know.
Let’s go riding on the freeway! Drop the pedal, Syd. Go, go, go!
So they cruise onto better-than-ever street heading straight for Venezia.
Are you heading downwards,
Your life out of control,
No longer on the up and up,
No longer on a roll?
For life is a scary ride,
So you’d better hold on tight,
But the good news is;
For every bit of darkness,
There usually -
Is some light.
my enewed refreshed resolve sparkles
like copper, aluminum, silver, gold, sequins
nourished by necromancy, I blaze toward victory
disregarding the naysayers, Shale and Granite
They lost their sparkle a long time ago, in the dark ages
I soar toward the path of freedom, loving my pure glitziness.
More alive than I have ever been.....
I have very few gripes to tell you about
But one major one is people who concentrate
On what's wrong with the world
Instead of concentrating on all the good things
That have come our way in the past decades
We take things for granted after a short while
And forget what it was like before
Where is it all heading?
Back in the middle of the 20th century
We could only guess at what lay ahead
Not an inkling as to the progress
The many gadgets that make life so much easier
More connected like never before
And yet this is only a period in time
With more gadgets that are available to us
Our minds boggle at human ingenuity
Last century was an explosion of new ideas
Never imagined possible before
These are the wonder years
We can only imagine what lies ahead
The escalator keeps descending;
Seemingly, it’s never-ending,
Taking riders deep into
The bowels of the earth.
Everyone around pretending
That they’re fine, of course, depending
On their circumstances and
Just what their time is worth.
When the platform’s reached, there’s waiting.
Scrolling signs are indicating
When the closest train will come –
That is, if you’re in luck.
Minutes tick by, generating
Lots more people congregating
But you’ve made your choice and now
It seems that you are stuck.
Finally, a revelation –
See the train approach the station.
As the doors glide open, people
Rush to get inside.
Find a seat or resignation
Will stay ‘til your destination.
Then at last you exit,
Having taken it in stride.
She’d been raped before
Just never by proxy
The birds flew south
As the Greyhound bus headed north
She would get it right this time
Rip his heart out
He would have watched her getting raped
Gloated and approved
That was his way
He should have killed her
He really should have killed her
It was three in the morning
When Mr proxy arrived home
To a gun pointing to his head
It was just business
Five hundred dollar deal
She was just a five hundred dollar lay
He’d had better, but what the hell
They both laughed
As she emptied five bullets into his business department
Fitting epitaph, she thought
It was two days later when she caught up with him
Took your time
I was getting bored watching the video
He really didn’t satisfy you, did he
Get undressed, and I’ll show you how a real man does it
You won’t be satisfying anyone ever again
You’re hurt, I can see that, but did you really need to kill the guy for doing his civic duty
They both laughed
The birds flew south
Some flew down to feast on a heart
The taste was bad and the flock moved on
The Greyhound bus headed north and just kept going.
Where are you going? I wondered as they toddled by.
They were dressed in hippie costumes, and I wondered why.
They are heading to nineteen seventy, another said.
I loved this and kept it alive all day in my head.
If I was heading to the seventies, I would need a vee double you.
It would have to be sassy and girly, pink ought to do.
I would take my two besties and we would head toward the beach.
We would be playful and virginal, and stay out of everyone’s reach.
I was driving down the parkway
I went to take a ride
The radio was blasting
Had my woman by my side
We were heading out to nowhere
Because there was nowhere else to go
So we drove until the sun set
And the moon began to glow
We pulled into this rest-stop
So that we could catch a break
Where the mountain tops were resting
Their shadows on the lake
The stars were out in numbers
Like pinholes in the sky
When we noticed a bright shooting star
That just went flashing by
Then we gave some love and kicked back
Until we opened up our eyes
Early the next morning
When the sun began to rise
Then we headed out to nowhere
Feeling all safe and sound
Until we reached our destination
Which was nowhere to be found
Dark hour of morning green and jealous sun.
Flag’s red, white, and blue leans over the porch.
Oak branches, bored, and skeleton but wood.
The leaves too still, no breath of life, no sigh.
M a h o g a n y - s a t u r a t e d f l o w e r s
in frame with inky stems, ebonic blend.
The missing link between Winter and Spring
does spread its wings, still life below the clouds.
Oh! I hear it! Oh! I knew it! The rain
o b s i d i a n does wake - the s h a t t e r i n g,
a m e l a n c h o l y roar, a s i l e n t pour.
There is hope fulness, hope lessness in it.
A tediousness-grace, beside next day.
A full out vortex burst of rosy cheeks,
this day tempers. The birds concur with me.
5/12/2023
We left on a Wednesday headed for Kalamazoo
Michael and I and my dog named Old Blue.
We were a tiny crew, and a teensy bit cuckoo
But at least we did not bring my brother True Boo.
Boo has a can do attitude, tis true
But he can be a pain with his choppy moo moo
Yes, he thinks he is a cow, and he wants to live in a zoo.
So we left him at home, which is what I meant to do.
We wanted to bring some lively beef stew
But my mother was busy doing an old lady’s hairdo.
So we had to survive on crackers thanks to that shrew.
But at least we had enough, as there was only us two.
Blue ate some dog stuff that we brought inside dad’s shoe.
He ate more than he should have, but that raft fairly flew.
Before you knew it, we had turned away from Kalamazoo
And we were heading home to taste mommy’s delicious beef stew.
You've got me tripping on my tongue,
I think it's time I'm heading South.
A rough journey I fear will be,
With foot placed firmly in my mouth.
The moon was full
the stars were bright
silence covered the hills.
A soft song was playing
the rig slightly swaying
heading for somewhere called love.
You meet someone
sent from far away
out of the blue they walk by.
A vision so lovely
a voice full of hope
heading for somewhere called love.
Running in moonlight
steering my course
keeping my eyes on the road up ahead.
Finding that person
hoping for what?
Heading for somewhere called love.
Rat a tat tat - train on slow track
Each day takes me - to work and back
My mind it tune - clickety clack
Its hypnotic - repeating sound
Resonating - within my mind
Rat a tat tat - it goes around
But it must go - hear squeal below
Tis terminus - no further go
Sadly now end - that rhythmic flow
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