The sweet voice of the announcer
Echoed through the airport.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Gate 4 Malta Paris is now open.
Take your hand luggage
And have your tickets ready.
*
He picked up his briefcase,
Looked at his lady friend,
Her eyes were swollen with tears.
He dared not kiss her goodbye.
Will you be back, she stammered.
No, it is better this way. For I
Have loved you on and off.
You don’t deserve a man like me.
You need a steadfast person,
Someone who will care for you
In a very proper way.
You will be loved and have a family,
A kind person who deserves you.
I am not that kind of person.
Don’t think I shall not miss you.
I’ll wander around the periphery
Of Rue de Jardin, always alone
No woman will take your place.
Silence will be my companion.
I deserve no better. So my sweet,
I bid you farewell. And wipe away
The small tear in my eye.
*
Then he gave her a thin envelope.
It was her one-way ticket for Paris.
Would she go?
A faceless man is standing in produce.
He’s crying. No one stops.
No one asks him why.
He says the sky is falling
He says it again and again.
He grabs a passerby’s arm
and tell them it’s falling.
The passerby drops
a head of lettuce onto the floor.
A woman in tattered jeans
says the cost of meat has gone up.
A young mother
with a baby in the basket
wheels a cart of formula
and wonders how anyone
can afford to live
while outside a boy in high school
races an empty shopping cart
through the parking lot.
A woman with stringy, long hair
standing near the entrance
plays guitar
and the case is open
for dollar bills and quarters.
A weary clerk brings
in a line of carts
and says the task never ends.
The woman says life’s a show—
Bring in the clowns, she sings.
Displays of Doritos lined
up by the entrance
say buy more—
one bag is never enough.
The clerk stands near the front
and keeps his hands in his pockets
as he watches a wave of humanity
walks in and out the entrance.
The manager looks at him.
Smile, she says.
One month after his lady friend
transferred to another store
he is standing alone
in a crowd.
Sweet lady friend to all
Let’s be ready should she fall
He said Let he who cast the first stone
He did not leave her alone
Showed her the errors of her ways
Stayed to help and love her Always
Its true we are not to blame
We should treat her as He did just the same
Grandpa Elephant had a new lady friend on line.
He invited her to meet him at Scarsdales to dine.
Dressed up in his Sunday best along with his Derby hat.
Don’t you look spiffy! His grandchildren said, so phat!
Grandpa was given six or eight pieces of advice.
From youngsters he was older than six times twice.
I am ninety-six he told his grandson Roy.
I know what to do, so leave me alone little boy.
Yeah you
Play me a melody that’s smooth
My heart needs music that will soothe
My mind in the senses
Sounds embraces
Racing to new heights
Moving on from a plight
It’s a lady friend I remember
We danced being loss in the music
That was once upon time
We dined and drank wine
The environment with the dazzle ball
The scene that was our song
That dance floor was where we belonged
The Piano man hit all the right notes
Those ivories had tempo of their own
There was no need to take a vote
Every dancing step was our jolt
It didn’t matter whether it was uptown or downtown
We were a couple in whatever town
Every note a sound to hear
It made our love so sincere
We kissed being our own sound track
Piano man, take me back to a time that was
I am visualizing in my mind now
A time I will never forget
A loss being my only regret
The music is only a reminder
I was the open lock and she had the key and entered
Heart to heart
My moment in time
Forever yours
All time
Thanks for the memories piano man
The trail is lovely here around the bend
The rains of spring have formed a clear, deep pool
God's handiwork, so delicately penned
The red buds, almost hard to comprehend
Adorned in pink and ruby colored jewels
The trail is lovely here around the bend
The crocuses, in purple, to what end?
The foliage, now greening, keeps them cool
God's handiwork, so delicately penned
The robin showing off to lady friend
The salamander naps beneath toadstools
The trail is lovely here around the bend
Mere form eclipsed, here, beauty far transcends
Design revealed to all but blinded fool
God's handiwork, so delicately penned
So much to take in as I slowly wend
My way through classwork not revealed in school
The trail is lovely here around the bend
God's handiwork, so delicately penned
—————
FIFTH PLACE WINNER
For the ‘An Original Villanelle Contest’ Poetry Contest
Sponsored by L Milton Hankins
Written 02/25/2022
We all have that one sibling who has to have the attention, right?
I am a laid-back Tom, and happy without attention, day and night.
My sister Tallahassee is one who needs to delight a room.
Full of strangers or whoever, but she has never found a groom.
Tallahassee is always hounding me to put myself on social media.
I cannot imagine why I would have to, I have six litters to already feed-ee-ah.
It is easier to let her take my photograph than argue, so I do.
Let’s have your best side, she tells me, and bat your eyes of blue.
Handsome Tom. Seeks Casual Lady friend with warm beds.
Likes to walk in the park, chase mice down alleys and bite off heads.
Don’t put that! I tell her; they’ll know I like to eat the best part!
That would not be the way to any feline’s meowing heart!
So she rewrites it and takes the photo several ways and positions.
She also rewrites my ad, I think we’re on the sixteenth composition.
The funniest part of all to me is that on the photo she uploaded.
She is peering into the camera like a voyeur who exploded!
Juke joints bopping
The bands rocking
Couples dancing
Bouncers bouncing
Just another Saturday night in Harlem
Brothers dressed to thrill
Ladies looks would kill
Sweats flying
Partners screaming
Another Saturday night in Harlem
Bottles popping
Booze flowing
Food on the plate
Better hurry don't be late
It's Saturday night in Harlem
Well the nights at an end
Shake hands and kiss your lady friend
One more song, it will be my treat.
Come on baby, we'll come next week
Another Saturday night in Harlem
(c)kingpen2021
Lovable Henry was a dapper, pompous hedgehog
His flaming style was ritzy, he put on the dog.
We thought it amusing he wore a silky top hat.
He was afraid of nothing but a prissy stuck up cat.
Henry had a lady friend, she was so loud, obscene.
The two of them together had much fun being seen.
She wore a bustle, a bonnet, and prissy pantaloons.
He wore the most outrageous suits, with bright yellow moons.
They went on their dates in the vegetable garden out back.
He would pack a picnic, taken in a crinkled paper sack.
Henry the Hedgehog and His lady friend we called Honey.
We thought she was in it for his body, not his money.
The cat would watch them both, rolling his yellow evil eyes.
Watch them laughing idiotically under the blue skies.
Then he would chase poor Henry, our little tiny pet
Back into the house. Luckily, he has not caught him yet!
Pleasurable
We ask to speak to you
But you're not there
Instead your delightful lady friend is
She sounds oh so damn nice
She says you're both friends
Do you do more than friends do?
Or do you live in regret?
Always wanting to friction her
Just like I want to do?
BREAD 2020
JIMMY BOOM SEMTEX
It hasn’t been so long, you know.
Since I saw, your eyes aglow.
. . . They smiled a little smile for me.
You had your joy, you had your fun.
You had fifteen seasons in the sun.
. . . I didn’t know that you would leave me.
The backyard swing still sways lonely.
Since the day you rode it boldly.
. . . Save a swing sway there for me.
The more and more I think about you.
There was magical love all around you.
. . . The room is now empty, except for me.
Your love is in the trees, wind and snow.
Yes in the streams when I watch them flow.
. . . Heartache and regret, still follow me.
I’m sorry, I never spoke of the little details.
You were so busy with songs and puppy dog tails.
. . . I wish it were, six carryin’ me.
Written for a girl of nearly four. My son was born at the same time my lady friend had twin girls born, and I babysat all 3 quite often. One girl had neuroblastoma [cancer of the blood] and so I also helped them for her last 2 years, Kristen always had a smile, even as she lay with her body of orange, slowly passing.
A broad, Las Vegas swimming pool,
still open the late in the night,
my buddy stands across from me,
and on his broad shoulders alights
a tall and olive-skinned beauty,
not two hours ago they met,
on my shoulders a small red-head,
who goes by the name of Yvette.
We met them drinking in a bar,
but it was such a quiet scene,
then my buddy had an idea,
I usually know what that means.
But tonight caught me by surprise,
a chicken fight…what are the odds?
To my shock the girls both agreed,
in that moment my friend was a God.
So now this bikini-clad girl
is clamping toned thighs ’round my head,
we charge with a drunken bellow,
but I see we’re already dead.
My friend stands tall at six-foot-five,
and his lady-friend is tall too,
they have leverage, Yvette falls off,
takes me down to the water blue.
We all pop up and start laughing,
and to me this vixen does cling,
I know I’ll feel thighs on my head
later, when we’re all done ‘fighting.’
Viva Las Vegas.
A lady friend of mine inadvertently substituted
the letter 'v' occasionally for the correct spelling,
suddenly the word 'nape' became 'vape' which at least
I found less predictable and stopped people getting 'neck.'
'Vow are you today?' she might ask, I would say, 'Vine!'
I remember the gendarme from 'Allo, Allo,
who would say: 'Gude moaning,' along with others,
together, it would probably have been, 'a bravo new vorld.'
Pop songs were a riot - 'Bridge Over Vubbled Waters,'
'It Must Have Been Vove' and 'Vinner Takes It All;'
some almost sounded right - Simon's, The Sounds Of Vilence,'
have you heard the latest - Whitney, The Vatest Love Of All.'
Bonnie Tyler was the classic, case of double-take,
in fact, she would say it was: 'A Total Eclipse Of The Vart.'
LOVE LETTER
Hello, darling I'd like to say
I want to slither toward you some day
I crawl around blindly seeking to find
A cute little snake girl I can call mine
I crawled to the creek banks just to see
If that little old water moccasin may just be
The one I was seeking as a lady friend
But she hissed at me constantly never to end
I'm crawling around seeking someone to love
And when I saw you it was like heaven above
You wiggled so sweetly across a big rotten log
And sneaked up on an unsuspecting frog
When you caught him I knew right then
It was your little heart I had to win
So although this letter may make you giggle
I want you to know that I like your wiggle
So I think I'll just slither over some day
And find out what you might have to say
About you and me finding a hollow tree
And start raising our own little snake family
Written to be funny for a contest I entered. It took a 4th place win.
My name’s The Bad Boy of the town,
Bad Boy to the bone.
And I walk the streets without a care,
I walk the streets alone.
You see, I’m always in the game,
Searching for the mark,
Always playing by rules of “Pick ‘em up”,
Always hunting like a shark.
A shark that lets them vent,
Moan and groan about their affair,
About their emotional issues,
And I sympathyze: “It’s so unfair.”
All the while my goal is to
Unwrap the gift that’s my lady friend,
Then leave the mess and continue
With my life that’s all pretend.
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