medication makes me sleepy
I have been congested for three weeks
Mucinex, Vicks and Benadryl have put me down for many naps.
Some days I have taken up to three of them.
This morning, I agreed to go to the bank at ten.
I woke up at 7:13 and decided to nap at 8:08.
At 9:47 my husband yelled “I AM GOING TO THE BANK!’
in one of those anger-aggressive ways.
He woke the dog and me both up.
I got dressed in three minutes.
I do not have to look prissy or even good to go to a bank.
At the bank the lady asked if I had my cell phone.
I told her there was not time.
My husband hustled me out of the house so fast.
Weird that she asked me about a phone anyway.
No one at the bank has ever asked me if I had my cell phone.
They were lucky I grabbed my identification at the last second.
My husband will probably tell me why when he gets to the car.
I am sitting here, writing up my tale of woe.
Categories:
hustled, anger,
Form: Free verse
a photo moment for the pretty blonde singer
she is hustled into a tent with soldiers who pretend to be happy
this is Viet Nam 1969
They have seen many young men killed and maimed
But at this moment they paste on smiles
pretending all is well
incase their loved ones see this photo
knowing it might be the last time they might see them in any photo
the pretty blonde singer stands sassily in her white gogo boots
knowing nothing of the horrors these men have seen
she is hustled out as fast as she was hustled in
a five-minute photo op
propaganda to try to pretend it was not as bad as it was
Categories:
hustled, nostalgia,
Form: Free verse
wear pajamas to breakfast if you can
this was said by my cute guy garbage man
he is a witty guy, this man named Stan
He said it to my dementia-teetering grandma Nan
She showed up in the cafeteria in her pajamas too
They have cartoon ponies on them in pink and blue
No one noticed, for the rest of them were casual at this meal.
No one hustled her back to her room, it was no big deal.
Categories:
hustled, 1st grade, 2nd grade,
Form: Rhyme
“This is a familiar route and one of the most common ones (at least to my seasoned eyes; you may find it beautiful)” — overheard.
______
A day like any other,
but also
a day like no other—
She’s losing the threads again.
No—she’s finally starting to see.
—A day like any other.
The bus hustled over
cracked cement in damp air—
a sight scorched
to the back of my skull.
I sat in my window seat
like it’s a
reflex—
a voice nudges me in the ribs
break something— it said
—anything,
just stopping sitting here.
I switched sides
before my brain can question
if it makes sense.
I let my eyes drink out
the other window—
A smidge of red—a balloon.
Something navy—a child’s backpack.
A birdless branch wobbles—
My gaze drifts up,
the sun reply with dazzles—
For a second,
everything rhymed.
Categories:
hustled, car, feelings, freedom, imagery,
Form: Free verse
They doubted her, once again
Interrogating whether eyes are the most loyal creation alive?
Or it's just the exaggeration to bring the dead to life
A bit puzzled & hustled she became this time,
Asserting the question isn't from the wise!
"Considering the fact, it's easy to die than to survive
It's easy to wait than to arrive
It's easy to dive than to strive
Easy is the comfort from which deprived are those eyes
Easy is the lie, which can never give truth, a rise
Easy is the question being asked twice
What isn't easy is being loyal without any lies
Discomforting is to be like those eyes
Still, in a hope of debate winning prize?
Deceptive could be the whole world, but not those eyes!
Dare not to ask this question again, dear Unwise!
Categories:
hustled, art, deep,
Form: Free verse
the house was on fire
luckily no one is inside said the wife
her neighbors gathered around
offering condolences
hustled her children to their homes
fed them and gave them clothing
lots of empathy and sympathy
this is a small town
people help
then they discovered the wife had lied
her husband’s body was found
burned up in a back bedroom
he had been shot before the fire
there was lots of hugging and crying
suspicion and rumors flew through the town
the coroner’s report was supposed to be secret
but it wasn’t, someone had shot the man first
everyone turned on the wife
the couple had been bickering
their children suspected their mother
they both testified against her
she was convicted by a jury
not of her peers, they had to move it to another town
for everyone in this town knew her
she is a convict now, a woman who has lost all support
no one visits her, not even her children
she says she is innocent, but no one believes her
not even her mother
Categories:
hustled, murder,
Form: Narrative
My daughter who was then, just about seven.
The sun had just settled softlty in the Pacific.
We were in Ghiradelli Square, a joyful place,as is heaven.
Into an elevator we went so sparkling clean and spiffy terrific!
It was an elevator with walls of shiniest metal.
I pressed the command button, to take us merrily down!
Alas, the brightly lit buttons, did not work as itheu should.
Its tall, chrome doors shut, but the elevatotr refused to move?
How I frowned!!
Aha! But not to fret, I was intelligent enough to recall….
And reassure sweet Elena, that I would find a way out.
With lightning speed, I recalled the phone on the wall.
And so I could call and smoothly we’d be safe and let out!
My heart filled with joy, to that phone, I hustled posthaste.
I prayed, oh, please, let some Angels be very near.
But finding out the panel was dead, my heart sunk to my waist!
Suddenly, a knock on the door, help had arrined, Elena and I
gave three cheers!!
1/30/2024
Categories:
hustled, adventure, imagery, joy, mother
Form: Imagism
He hustled his way to the top
But in an instance, he was stop
Street cops took him down
He lost his street crown
And turn into a beat-up flop
Categories:
hustled, humor,
Form: Limerick
From the creation to the end
From a speck in the gloomy and taciturn void of space
First came sand then ready reigned rain
Creatures roam the Earth with no name or race
Every creature lived and roamed, no efface
Titanic and verdant mountains rose over the desolate plain,
They hustled through the rubble and trouble just to gnaw
They struggled with the muscle and knuckle to live raw,
Brothers! The end is nigh near
You won’t wake up one day
The clutches of the machine I fear
Your phone took your world, oh so dear
Technology bites us just like a tiger biting its prey,
The phones shall kill us and gawk with transfix
The moans shall chill us and knock with hiss.
Categories:
hustled, 7th grade, 8th grade,
Form: Couplet
Outside the four cafes, four dogs awaited their caffeine crazed owners. Sniffing different street signs, taking inventory of who’d already been there. Four dog “owners” exited the cafés. A tall blonde, possibly bleached, retrieved the dog and haughtily gazed at the “other” cafes and dogs. A slightly rumpled donut muncher hurriedly hustled away with a slightly rumpled mutt. A lithe and limber, skin tight yoga panted Latte carrier, glided away. The dog, nose high, sniffed nothing. A rather large flannel shirt exited café number four, the dog nuzzled its owner. It’s reward, a hearty greeting and vigorous petting.
Shortly thereafter they all met at the dog park, the dogs that is. The owners took their places. One sat silently engrossed in a book. One talked loudly into a cell phone. One primped and posed while taking “selfies”. One watched and laughed at the antics of the dogs.
As they left the dog park the cups told a story. One was left on a bench, one tossed on the ground, one rinsed and filled with water so the dog might have a drink, and one placed in the recycle barrel.
John G. Lawless
©3/3/2023
Categories:
hustled, people, pets,
Form: Prose
While on The Guy battled
Concerned watchers rattled:
Thrice out of race hustled
And around he’d bustled…
Now, financial muscle
He’s got for the tussle:
One that bulges parcel
And could build him castle…
Quest for lands are still hot
Like new mothers eye cot
And chefs or cooks a pot;
“It’s Ten Million or not:
You don’t have it just rot”
A less amount, no slot
And he’s saved quite a lot
To ably buy a plot
People see and they trot…
Prove he shall what he’s got
To with Greats discuss “What:
7:00 am on the dot.
Categories:
hustled, confidence, conflict, courage, money,
Form: Rhyme
He went after ten to the corner cafe
Lit brazenly against the backdrop
Of the wife and the kids
Arriving at five on the shuttle
that hustled him into
this port
Spending the night
Looking for a lifeline
To recall when he's anchored
In Cleveland
Hey,a sirens beginning to sing
Strolling away to
A rain soaked night
His conscience safely stowed
Navigating the front desk
Lingering at
Coast is clear
as though
Shanghied to Ohio
Breaking apart on the rocks
Offering cab
fare
And coffee
Walking into
the wake
Alone
Categories:
hustled, absence, adventure,
Form: Free verse
~ November's Sun ~
The sun sweeps through the sky now
a speeding star on a journey
On earth, eyes peeled upward, yearning ~
daylight hustled away on a gurney
Categories:
hustled, journey, light, sun,
Form: Rhyme
Her face
Her haunting eyes
The luscious red lips...
Shuffling midst leaves between his feet
Meandering emotions of desire
A fog in his head, swimming upstream
Then lifting, replaced by the pure heat of fire
Her soft auburn hair
The slope of her shoulders
The sway of her hips and her waist...
He plots his next move midst mounting fear
Would he ever whisper his passion in her ear
The rain poured down now, soaking his clothes
He'd ring her doorbell, give her that rose
Aloft in a mist
Lighter than air
A vision, enticing and fair...
He'd purchased the flower, shaved and showered
Hustled cross town, though late was the hour
Finger poised on her doorbell, his decision unmade ~
At the sight of two silhouettes intertwined on her shade
Categories:
hustled, desire, longing, lost love,
Form: Verse
Hermit’s wife was hustled off to the Hebrides Islands, very far.
Hermit felt horrible as he saw her being loaded in a cattle car.
This was on the other side of Scotland, would he ever see her again?
He was being winked at by her randy sister, her identical twin.
He was sad, and there is nothing sadder than a Hamitic Longhorn.
He did not want this loosey goosey, he wanted the eldest born.
Grandma made him a scarf; she put it on him by standing on a ladder.
It did not have glittery rhinestones like hers, which made him even sadder.
Categories:
hustled, nostalgia,
Form: Cinqku
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