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Can you believe it?
Twenty-one years did swirl by~
steam of stanzas rising high,
bowl warmed by old rhymes,
new voices dip spoons hungrily~
soup still simmering, still sweet.
The beautiful Amazonian forest
surrounds me,
It's crispy, clean air envelopes me, and hungrily I inhale,
This New Year, the echoes of fear still in my soul, one by one, eagerly I exhale,
To the gentle, cool breeze,
I softly whisper, "Drown them all in the depths of the sea."
Among the lushness of its canopy,
there is a riot of colours dotted everywhere,
Lost in its serenity and silence,
Abruptly, prattling sounds suddenly brought me back down to reality,
A pandemonium of Amazons appeared.
In this New Year with a soul now free
from fear,
I shall enjoy each step of the way, for
time draws near,
No fuss or worry, just going with the
flow,
Appreciating the beauty in each day,
as they come and go.
by Zyrool
2/2026
O who will sing that rudderless ship
that has lost her destiny?
With her sails in rags
and her lines in snags,
-- the Ship of the Dead is free!
The captain lies in a coma,
his hands clutch helplessly,
and the shantyman chokes
and wheezes and croaks:
-- the Ship of the Dead is free!
The crew are extict and jolly,
they gnaw themselves hungrily,
and their black lips grin
as the rigor sets in:
-- the Ship of the Dead is free!
The pilot has smashed the compass,
and tramples the sextant with glee:
he erases the log
and steers by the fog;
-- the Ship of the Dead is free!
O the skeleton climbs the rigging;
his sockets scan the sea,
and he cries to the crew:
No land in view!
-- the Ship of the Dead is free!
I awoke from a dream --
well, let me start again:
My thought was that I had
awakened. Yet, I rose quite
mistily -- with ghastly figures
hanging in the air, moving
to and fro, in possessed manner.
Swat at them, I could not. My
arms would not lift, my hands
seeming porcelain objects. Residue
stillness, long after the model
had expired, and the artist had eaten
his last moistened bread meal.
The volume of Poe, lie open
on the bedstead, where it had been
wearily placed, just before my
dozing. Strange, the last page read had
been altered...and the name highlighted
for death, was now my own. Could
this deranged volume and I have
mysteriously, mystically changed
realities? My name began
to burn, uplift from the page, the savage
apparitions swarming to tear hungrily at the
fleeing image. My soul drowning in drool.
With my computer in hand, out the door I dash....
To other people's doors for cash
Picking up to drop off,
Then swiftly to the next stop
Dashing, Grubhubbing, and Ubering galore,
In a sputtering economy, lent-filled pockets I really abhor
Rapacious eyes peruse desktops, tablets, and smartphones for eye-catching menus
Man's incessant search for comfort and convenience hungrily continues
Picking up to drop off,
Then swiftly to the next stop
Dashing, dashing past drive-thrus and beyond dining rooms
Now a fresh and different energy looms
A mad dash for cash
Dough dashing...
Dashing for MO'
So, out my door
I GO
To contactless drop-offs and no eye contact, all spawned from a digital transaction
Distant, yet so close, is this human interaction
A mad dash for cash
Dough dashing...
Dashing for MO'
So, out my door
I GO
In the shallows of junkyard avenue
Where fiery-red stallions are mounted by devils
And desolation is your last cigarette
I staggered from the weight of her kiss
As distant cannons sounded
And angels sought shelter
Fear is often the lonesome traveler
And I drank from her cup, hungrily, thirsty
She was my sustenance, my manna from heaven
And I courted her with both wine and sweet song
I lived in her dead embrace
And never tired of her hot breath on my flesh
A man can bookmark his soul with a thousand
wounds
Yet never own a dream
I left her a rose and words that I can no longer
remember
In the hidden places; on the darkest of nights
She whispers still
some level of falling from grace happens in slab city
its twisted humanity
when kindness stops being nornal
when green crusaders are dismissed, unseen
like burying waste in landfill
city of slab-stick
where we live normal lives within shuttered malls
affluence superimposed on poverty
can anything mellow us
with nature clotted under sprawl
here
within plated walls
breeding, feeding, receding
unable to bend the city to one's own wishing
to carry on with things just as they are
slabs pinned to the ceiling of mind
sometimes shutters open
to sun-dappled streaks on slab walkways
what are we to make of the dandelion in the crack?
a dark energy blooming between comfort and chaos
maybe we can piggyback on the hope of others
when small acts radiate
like children who empty their piggy-banks to charity
or laugh in summers of safe places
towers girdle the city
midst what we crave for but can't always name
in our stash of consumer baubles
urges like a swollen river
our weak stock options that never find a ladder
in the meantime we tread on - hungrily
cool long green carpet
walking bare foot through the grass
ticks hungrily wait
Unsettling it was
came from where
I did not know,
the jagged claw upon
my chamber floor
so near the cot
where I nightly lay,
have dreamed so snug
feeling quite secure,
sharpest at the edges
capable of tearing flesh
and bone, my innards
deep
how could this hideous
thing unbeknownst stealthily
creep --
perhaps always near
I shuddered to think
somewhere attached to
my spirit long ago -- a
thought too repugnant
I did not want to hear it
from my troubled mind
hastened I to clear it
hungrily latched-on to my
soul, I prayed desperately
to be free of it
confronting my
original abomination --
The gift of recovery,
Full of discovery,
Healthy and hungrily,
Hunts by the heart.
Restoring our senses,
By jumping our fences,
And breaking the boundaries,
That keep us apart.
The joy of creation,
Defies explanation,
But offers true meaning,
In life as in love.
The light from within us,
May serve to begin us,
When coupled with caring,
And doubled by love.
The rain and the thunder,
Are frightening down under,
But why should we sunder,
The strength of a pair,
The story of winning,
Is made for beginning,
The start of each inning,
With talent to spare.
Love bites took me to a new place
tiny teeth marks I can't erase;
Laid back you looked for my entrance,
passing third base, passing third base;
Hungrily you nipped at my soul,
ripped the lace of my camisole;
Whispered on my skin 'Keep control..
stay in your role, stay in your role.
In our school, there's a bustling classroom
with eager minds that shine and zoom
through lessons, one by
one, reaching high.
From a teacher's
nurturing care,
knowledge
sprouts
and
grows.
In this learning tree, young ideas
cover notebooks and whiteboards
with bright, fresh concepts.
They are powerful;
even the shy and
hesitant start
to share
their
thoughts.
The classroom hums with curiosity,
questions bloom like spring flowers,
minds opening to new worlds.
Students feed on wisdom,
hungrily plucking
insights from
the tree of
learning.
"over the waters blue the night winds sigh,
The breakers roar... " Lord Byron
"Over the waters blue the night winds sigh
The breakers roar..." Waves collapse before my eyes.
I catch my breath, looking up at the sky,
I express deep awe; The glory replies -
The breeze whispers softly in my ears.
Tenderly, it dries away my tears.
The glittering moon distracts from fears.
It guides the night til each new day nears.
Out on the ocean sailing alone
The ship, though sturdy, is not like home.
The silver-black sea, I venture, I roam.
A storm now approaches! I'm tossed and thrown.
Great monstrous clouds gather ominously!
Wavey tongues taste this ship hungrily!
The appetite swells in the restless sea.
Will shipwreck result? What catastrophe!
The storm dies down with a slow, long hiss.
A new day begins in golden bliss.
"Over the waters blue the night winds sigh
The breakers roar..." Chant the seagulls near by.
It was pruned in Autumn
now we can see new growth,
New buds replacing old ones
Its too early for it to flower yet.
For the time being it will grow
and form new spurs to bear apples.
Leaves will appear in brilliant green
hiding from sight the robins nest.
There will be baby robins once more
with their blue breasts at first.
Gobbling up grubs hungrily
also fat balls and seeds.
Now the apple blossom spring's into life
delicate sprays of high perfume.
Vibrant colours decorate branches
once more life has come back.
The old tree will bear abundant fruits
in September fat large apples
will be ready to harvest and
the old brambly tree has fulfilled expectations
She rises amidst the morning fire
Longing for the dreadful desire
Longing and lonely as a star mourning
Again and again she desires
She desires as much as fire
Fire upon fire hungrily stands
Outstretched in columns
It descends, swooping overhead
Outstretched beyond it’s limits
She apprehends and condemns
The utmost decision;
She befriends.
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