A skeletal smirk at the school door -
the greeter-teacher; 50 years later,
I feel his gimlet eyes at my back,
that leer is now plugged with dirt,
yet it can still be traced in the brown water stains
of mottled toilet walls.
A female slave-unit named ‘Miss,’
She never did speak directly to a kid,
only through the thin lips of her personal intimidator,
a third level teacher who lubricated nerve endings.
I am ‘put right’ by a serial wrongdoer
with a goose steeping gait,
his guppy mouth is a blubbery hellhole.
Next,
a second-tier maniac with a penchant for angry rhetoric,
his large hands flay like windsails as they
slap books and heads.
A last Piscean reflection,
a teach sporting a fish-head grin
as he opens a school exit door for me
while I gladly leave forever.
They would all hate to be in a poem like this
so tightly packed together
like oily sardines choking on the phlegm
of what they could have aspired to,
could have been.
Fluorescent lights hummed
a monotone drone,
In the background,
the resonant chimes and dings
of the cash register sing.
A lone moth fluttered
past my empty dome
Light, purposeless,
similar to myself.
Glassy eyes wandered back,
staring deep into the infinite
assembly line I could not help
but lose myself in.
Neon nectars beckoned me
like a sugary siren,
I was a drunken sailor
to their decadent call.
I lost and found myself,
aisle after aisle
Until a warmth, a glow,
near divine, graced me.
A fresh soft pretzel
beckoned me to my very soul,
Golden yeast skin
cheddar cheese veins,
The savior I needed
to feel at ease again.
A beautiful girl killed in LA!
Today an eleven month old, shot in the face?
We can’t stand by electing men who are more than a total disgrace!
A lovely Asian woman pushed to her
death in the New York subway?
Is violence the only way ?
Things can change here, but we must fight.
It begins with electing men who openly
are for what is right!
Further, as a good American , please register to vote.
This nonsense that it matters not, is sold by leftist goats!
I/20/2022
Those L O N G Register Receipts
I move up as next on the line.
She checks out my rations just fine.
Some milk, eggs, and bread
are pushed up ahead
when packer, to bag, does assign.
But then, my receipt, oh my lord,
keeps coming and coming, I'm floored!
For sure, half-yard long...
I'm thinking what's wrong?
Three items grants me this reward?
A chance to win thousands someday
if I take an hour-long survey.
Some coupons to use
that somehow, I'll lose;
a waste of good paper, I say!
A web address I can go to,
to comment if checker came thru,
with service that's good...
did all that she should;
for that, print more coupons in view.
So glad to get this off my chest,
for here in my household at rest,
long twirls of receipts...
for me are no treats.
Such stupid waste still unaddressed!
Sandra M. Haight
~4th Place~
For "What Gobsmacks, Bamboozles and Confuses Me"
Contest sponsored by Caren Krutsinger
Judged: 11/11/2018
I don't know maybe it didn't register in my head yet
but times are changing and my life is rearranging
I feel like almost everything is in place
except someone warm next to me
The person who makes all the blessing worth while
the person who will surprise you
the one to make you smile
I guess through all the stress
it really didn't register in my head
that sometimes I get lonley
and maybe I need someone to hold me
feel the ledger.seal the bedder.give me header.said her.was turned by the
learned attempt of me.tricia alverez a temp.simply awesome.baulsy of me to
choose that.loose that,fat ass.