“Come one, come all!”
The hawker summons
Try your luck
On the unmoored Ferris wheel
Hurl a dart
At the Kewpie dolls
Win one for the lady
To consummate the deal
(Chorus)
Intruders in the festival
Outsiders at the gates
Nothing like a carnival
To bring up dormant hates
Where the pavement meets the grass
Behind the stand of funnel cakes,
Someone's getting hornery
Their pants down at their feet
This balloon-tank life
Is more than I can take
This Friday night special
Affords me no relief
(chorus)
Prizes, prizes, and more prizes
Mustachioed lady dons disguises
The smell of ether and saw dust
A dead roller coaster under rust
They say life is a funhouse
That explains why everyone is so ugly
A grotesque face in a curvy mirror –
A cotton-candy bed for an endless nightmare –
It’s carnival time, again.
The cordiality of punctuality
bespeaks hidden venality
spooks watchful eyes
over dour mustachioed disguise
Suitors lined up, hoping to court me
Promising plethoras of pleasure
Tantalizing, teasing hints of treasure
To move my reticent, reluctant lips to say ‘Oui’
To obsequious bow to my innumerable charms,
While in a mirror of pomp, I primp and pose
When spot a man – mustachioed, mysterious – undisposed
To flatter my golden hair, narrow waist or delicate arms
An unlikely king or composer of Psalms
Ill-at-ease with strongmen and heroes
Counselor to hobos, weirdos and zeroes
And I, drawn to his visage with increasing alarm
Entry in "When You are Old" contest
Sponsor: Sara Kendrick
Date: Jan. 14, 2025
A hearty bowl of broth
overflows its rim
Proudly served by a mustachioed chef
whose heart swells up in him
to see his patrons savor its taste
lean back with dreamy smiles
For he pours himself into his soups
panache his trademark style
Colonel Volkov would surely impress the lovely Anastasia
His limousine driver pulled up at the Palace of the Czar
Taking lovely Anastasia by her dainty hand
Volkov would introduce her to champagne and caviar
Bowing gracefully before his highness
From his scabbard Volkov pulled his gleaming sword
Unexpectedly, the Czar did the same, frightening the dame
Blushing, she implored the mustachioed figure in haughty red
"I thought to have a pleasant evening, dine to fine music
Home to a bubble bath, and perhaps spread out in bed ..."
"I see," the Czar sneered, and said, fondling his sword
"You've both come this far, let's see your earn your board"
With a lunge at Volkov, the Czar pierced his skin
Blood spurting everywhere ~ foretaste of 'the ugly Russian'
He walks the loneliest road
Where he's from is buried in snow
Where he's going, it's long ago
Just walking that lonely road
Life didn't start out that way
Married his best girl on a sunny day
Never knew how love could betray
Walking the loneliest road
Slammed the screen door, up and left town
On a plastered face, his mustachioed frown
He'd been high up -- he'd come all the way down
Just walking that lonely road
The years went by, lines creased his face
His back bent from hard labor's disgrace
No longer could he keep up the pace
Walking the loneliest road
One day they found him, not far from the road
His body stiff from alcohol's load
A stubborn man's death, not hard to decode
Just walking that lonely road
~ 'Don't Dream it, Drive it!' ~
A slogan's a salesmans' smile
twirling mustachioed ends
Lures your reason into a black hole
as the devil takes hold of your soul
Friction
Dereliction
Tattoo addiction
Drones
Bunk loans
"You're fired" immune deficiency syndrome
Boatloads
Troll roads
Hipster mustachioed
Deadlock
Rhetoric squawk
Locker room talk
Medication
Gene mutation
Social syndication
Accuse
Right to choose
Hashtag abuse
Getting fatter
Online chatter
whose lives matter?
Political turbidity
Global humidity
Pokemon stupidity
Going viral
Vinyl revival
Fallen idyll
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