Leathery Poems

Lay Your Leathery Heat On Me

Oh Summer, let me count thy ways as I bask 
inside the sunlight of your sunny spice 
Oh Summer, may I drink from your flaxen flask
before winter turns my skin as cold as ice

Oh Summer, dance me to the end of August 
then dance me to the end of love.  
Oh Summer, before my memory turns to dust 
come and fit me like a glove...

Oh Summer, favored amongst all seasons 
with your golden rays of Yupik Mesquite   
Oh summer, give me all your fiery beacons 
lay your leathery heat on me, replete 

Oh Summer, Oh Summer, Oh Summer,  
you'll be gone soon, now that is a bummer !

The Calico Box Crab Man

We found the calico box crab man
with leathery skin and a deep, dark tan.  
He gave us soup that was filled with nails,
squirrel bones and catfish entrails. 
As he told his tale and we heard him speak, 
the sky would cry, and the ceiling, leak.

Turtle

slow moving reptile
lives inside leathery shell
     good pet for a child

Southee serenade

Foppish fringe flutters..pianist tendrils tinkling..

Flitter finessing leathery fruits..

Caressing..stitched dreams tickled & tailored..

Swing..swerve in clandestine cahoots…

Curve…voluptuous velvety verve..

Wobble seam serendipity tempts..teases..

Sliding across creases..angle architect gliding..

Heaven sent tyro riding blazing trails..

Hellbent brio…Waggers & Trent..Timmy trio..

Touted trinity…selector trifecta..febrile fan affinity.. 

Tim’s timber hoicks topple Toblerones..

Schadenfreude stats sips.. Oiks suggest Timmy..

Ersatz Test imitator of Jimmy…

Naysayers…tut tutters spew from trolling gutters…

As Yoda may say…"Devil may care..unfair..flair in the air..this bowling pair share..'

Muffled murmurs of the goat..Hadlee float…gracing grassy notes..

Timmy..go on gimme one final shimmy…

Dare to dream…it will end.. as it did begin..

With that boyish grin..just beam..old friend

the valley of the forbidden

The Valley of the Forbidden

Sat under an oak in the valley of the naked woman
admiring her rounded breasts, a malevolent oak
took offence, not that I minded, after all, it had been
at the same spot for a hundred years, long before the valley had a name.
Suddenly, the tree slapped me
 a leathery branch
Oh, pain makes me strong
 I forgave the oak and
thought of the pope who, every Thursday evening 
flagellated himself, in remembrance 
 of the day
When he was training for the priesthood, he nearly lost 
His manhood to the cleaning lady
The Valley of the Naked Woman has a hidden fountain
is guarded by thorny thistles and impotent apple trees 
Those who have drunk her loveliness will never be
sane again, loll in the sunlight of lost ambition
The wicked eye of the oak kept glaring when I hugged 
An olive tree, the oak knew I was a lover of the ethical.

Circus Days

I ran away to the circus at the age of two
on a sad day when it was raining.
At first, I didn't know what I should do, 
not having the proper training.

I started with an elephant and began to scrub.
His skin was leathery and rough, 
but found I could continue with a gentler rub,
when his skin became smooth enough.

Blue cheese and old pickles

I shudder while peering at sepia photographs,
showing visits to my maiden Aunt Hilda’s house.
Even though I was very young
it was clear she didn’t tolerate children.
I was to be ‘Seen and not heard.’
Pa said I wasn’t to utter a word.
I loathed being pushed and forced to kiss her.
Aunt's wrinkled leathery skin looked like
she’d been pickled in vinegar.  
 
As she waddled around with a damp duster,
wiping at my finger marks that only she could see,
the wooden floorboards creaked like old bones
for she was grossly overweight.
Her buxom breasts smelled awful
and emitted a musty, moldy, cheesy smell.
Stretchy tan tights were never able to camouflage
the vivid blue bulging varicose veins
which snaked from her calves to her fat ankles.

The old sour puss passed away when I was six
Now, as I reminisce, I will no longer remain silent!

The Lizard

A lizard eyes me, 
and I, too, eye him 
with mutual respect. 

The sun warms
the leathery skin 
we wear to great effect.

how it began

How it began 

Men in green uniforms 
ice blue eyes and leathery lips
saw me in the crib 
and declared this child 
is an Aryan
I clicked my heels and
sucked my thumb
Mother took to singing
sentimental lieders  
and received the fab
iron cross
I became the kindergarten's
Fuhrer   
To my regret, peace broke 
into my dream 
I circumcised 
we moved to Tel Aviv 
the rest is history

Cold Comforts

Beyond the wave-sacked pebbles
lie the pockmarked dunes,
sea-wind swept heaps,
burrowed by the claws of scaly thrashers.

Here they huddle, the working class,
flogging grim pleasures,
wolfing eggy sandwiches,
dipping tea-stained teeth into beakers
as a chill summer drizzles on.

I am a brine-spattered small fry,
a boyhood caught in a swirl
and flounder, bare feet
skimming the slimy kelp, stalking
an ankle tugging surf.

Mother, her demeanor
soggy and sagging at last,
pleads to be led back
to the creaking camper.

Father smokes a plug of leathery shag,
grunts upright, walks toward the sea,
looks to see God knows what,
then turns to drag me away,
from our holiday day.

I'm Home! minichu poem

When I get home and open the doors,
our little dog comes trotting to me
on his tippety tappety leathery paws.

He jumps so madly up and down.
I meet a greeting supremely happy
from our welcoming black and white clown.

All the time I was out he was sleepily waiting
Now, he expresses his doggiest glee.
Our little doggie is celebrating.

When I get home and open the doors,
I meet a greeting supremely happy.
Our little doggie is celebrating.

Random Snapshots of Nature

The soft clip-clop of the horse 
echoed amongst the dark fir trees.
The tall man rode bareback
along the winding path of the forest.

Resting on his leathery gauntlet
sat an alert hawk, listening and watching.
Soon it flew off towards some poor rodent,
His prey for the day.  The man looked up,
Towards the range of high mountains,
Snowcapped but with a creek sliding down 
the side of the verdant valley, and under a bridge.

Soon they arrived at the edge 
of the vast green plateau.  There, birds flew
up and down and whirled beneath the fleecy clouds,
chirping their enchanting, lyrical melodies.
Oh what a sight to behold as the hawk
Returned to his resting place on his arm.

The man slapped his horse’s neck and both flew
towards the far-off calm sea for a rest,
there to meet his love waiting for him.
Such pleasure as they played in the waters
whilst the hawk took a short nap 
on the horse’s back.

plums

plums
scrumptious
deep purple
leathery bite
prunes

The Red Train

From an aerial view, the sight of a beautiful red train 
chugging along down the railway track 
takes my breath away; 

One moment I am watching a funnel shaped smoke stack sending puffs,   
up towards the white cottony clouds then disappearing,   
and the next I am hearing the sound of a whistle blowing.
A melodious voice is heard as a conductor enounces,  
"tickets please," 
Out of my pocket I produce an admission ticket 
that was long overdue ...
With one cotton white glove he presses the ticket 
between his fingers then holds it up to his gold monocle and smiles , 
"welcome aboard then !" 
He traipses over to supposedly important passengers that I cannot see  
and leaves me sitting there, wondering about our destination. 
How I got so lucky as to enter this magical snow train I have no idea,  
but the scent of this leathery Kirlian man, still clings to my thoughts 
like a revenant moment from a long forgotten past. 

To Be Continued...

The Fish Head

Once, this hollow
in a washed up fish head held
an eye. Now it's just a skull,
an escapee from a crab pot
where it hung as bait to attract
a wandering claw. 

I cradle it in my hands,
its flesh picked back to bone.
I see through its ghostly eye
into a submarine world of weed 
and waving fronds tipped
with leathery fruit, spiked urchins,
dancing sea worms
and teeth readied 
to seize unwary life.

All seems horror, hidden menace 
beneath sand or tucked away
in crevices. There, poison barbs, 
razor teeth, gullets big enough
to swallow whole lay in wait
and dream beneath 
moving shadows.

And then, cast down from above,
a barbed hook baited 
with subterfuge, sharpened
to anchor hard in flesh 
and be hauled up to drown
a victim in air.

Fish….forgive me for having
commandeered your eye,
but I have done so to honor
your short life
before I lay your head down
on the soft sand and let 
the tide take you away,
forever.

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