Long Mandrake Poems

"Two Worlds Split"



One world 
fell into unlit hues 
black swallows 
black dogs their consort
murderous their crows
black wings of darkest blue

dark knight,
their oceans
locked in 
another's,
lost eternally,
dark nighted

corralling 
the purple heart bruised,
deadly nightshades pierce
the shadows hiding
under the...

Read More

Earth         was a perfumed garden
residing in a single                   ...

Read More

The House on Lake Maggiore

The house on Lake Maggiore was reality, a physical truth, 
my imagination became the artist.

The day has become  a deckchair, gently folding itself up
as my walk leads me into a...

Read More

...Jack couldn’t believe such nonsense,
said, “You’re not a shrink, you’re insane.
I’ve been a farmer all my life,
And no one has cut on my brain.”

Johns handed him a new picture,
it was Jack stretched on a table,
a...

Read More

...she was ensnared within her prized gardens
There among a tempest of roses.
Entangled in the mournful whispers 
of… 
Weeping willows
From noon till night.

Within her bustling haven, 
the envy of neighbors.
A source of joy and delight.
But her...

Read More

Five gray, silver, and white haired crones
Navigated slimy green stones
Like tight rope walkers
Having been summoned by the wind talkers
They crossed a shallow creek
Each feeble and weak
They entered consecrated woods
Wearing cloaks and hoods
Upon awareness of being...

Read More

Nine lives removed from royal dignity

Five days after 
getting acquainted with darling cats
pampered like queens courtesy 
thee eldest daughter 
and her partner acquired as kittens
reminiscence occurred regarding
one particular four footed feline
my late mother doted over.

Lion...

Read More

Urges ushered Est’bel out of her abode –
a cottage cobbled together from cobwebs and clapboard – 
and she scuttled forth,
her nesty hair tousled
by a leaf-laced breeze

In her bony hands she clutched
dregs of a nightmeg broth
in...

Read More

Feel the falling nightshade,
The decent of inferno's raid.
Coins in a dead mans eyes,
he needs to be paid...
Let lose the minions of Hel.
Locked in this deep dark well
Valhalla is in rage
Taste this malignant sage
In this twisted...

Read More

            
Meanwhile at the Temple of Doom, 
the hearts of the "resistance", 
are burning everence 
in "Human Resonance Frequency", 
somewhat
resonating resonance residence,
but not enough-...

Read More

As a regular unleaded gaseous,
(i.e. papa's seminal afterthought)
begat male genetically wrought,
I valued myself as naught
with abilities pegged
at being average,

yours truly sought
to camouflage himself
ducked as if a scared mandrake,
and/or, who oft times
didst cower, and shrink wrought
mine...

Read More

A heart of stone left to drown
Floats as light in dark
Waves deliver to screaming winds
Upon the sandy shore
Babes of dark, line the edge
Changed beyond belief
North winds sweep the sand away
My soul within a nimbus flies
Chasing...

Read More

Yes, it’s you God's favorite daughter
Just my luck, you're out of luck, I see 
Prowling the human backwater
You sure don’t need no luck with me
Luck with me
Luck with me

Love’s fertile water purifies
Your paper thin charade,...

Read More

I sat where the ferns stood guard—
solemn sentries on wood pedestals—
my back pressed against her bookcase,
cradled in the soft hush 
of the window seat
as snow rehearsed its silence
just beyond the glass.

Like a priestess reading spells
I...

Read More

Nine Lives Removed From Royal Dig Nitty ©?ß
(alternately titled: lion eyes hide sharp claws)

Aye attest tubby reincarnated
     from one male Russian Blue
species Felis silvestris catus
     named Morris...

Read More

(alternately titled: lion eyes hide sharp claws
unless made irate, then yours truly 
bares his sharp talons 
on all of mine faux pas).

Aye attest tubby reincarnated
from one male Russian Blue
species Felis silvestris catus
named Morris if that...

Read More

Give me one last night of silence in the cosmic temple of ancient memory,
Where shadows dance with light in circles of fire and hidden divine grace,
To touch with trembling fingers the stars from the cup...

Read More

O vapor of the ether;
Of noctilucent clouds:
Drain, rain, in a fever?
Thy contents void on crowds?

Dark fire, burn through dragon teeth!
Swarms of men destroy!
Belladonna, wrap in wreath!
Mandrake to employ!

At harvest-time, bloodlet like spring?
Festive gathering?
O for fairies...

Read More

Lyrics Contest
Sponsor: Rob Carmack

Lyrics to "God Hates A Coward"

I sow my seed where the mandrake grows
No footsteps go beyond it
I eat the dirt
Where the rooster crows
Fresh rodeos, behold it

Check your pulse in your teardrops
Make you...

Read More

Come To Me As A Poem

The days of thunder in the cane fields 
gone...
lightning strikes on the flat, brown flesh of 
earth  rushing through the green breaks 
and out,
leaving the earth chattering.

Come to me...

Read More

Once in a dream an apostle fed you mandrake,
but it was poison after all, 
not the panacea where you emerge into sunlight, 
clouds accumulating,
as one imagines speaking Latin in ancient libraries.
You reach for your cashmere...

Read More

     Shadow Mandrake loon, 
  mine-mire in your touch of airy witches broom.
         Silhouette your herbal remedy,
dramatic flair for the dramatic melody...

Read More

It is whispered in the delta blues, a fierce burning sound
That moves up from the waters edge and drifts and swirls around;
And snakes lithely through the grass and weaves through the trees,
For driving down the...

Read More

Villanelle:  Everything takes time: take not time by the forelock

Everything takes time: take not time by the forelock
Whether in deference to the past’s foiled efforts
The tingling ergot fires our desires do unlock

Rye clavicus purpurea...

Read More

 
He exists in the shade of the mandrake plant,
It is his only passion in this twisted world;
Face down in the dirt- drugged and delirious,
Does not care if he wakes up or who walks by;
Hey...

Read More