Go in the side entrance
Walk across the concourse
Out the front entrance
Round to the left
Round into the side street
Back into the concourse.
This is the pathway to finding out
Nothing.
As it is at the train station
So it is in life's world
Nobody can be relied upon
Blind ones sharing an eye
But not a brain
Wheaties in beer to start the day
Off to work I stumble and sway
Cocktail at noon to set the stage
For the nap I need ‘due to age’
Double martini at 5:05
Reflexes take a nosedive
Night cap at 11:10 p.m.
Wake up tomorrow
~ do it all over again
Reliability is hard to come by, I hear a sigh
Product insurance is offered when you buy
Manufacturers do build obsolescence in
Sellers know you’ll be coming back again.
Product insurance is offered when you buy
The appliance is not meant to last forever,
Sellers know you’ll be coming back again
A dependency dealers are reluctant to sever.
The appliance is not meant to last forever
Malfunctioning when you need it most,
A dependency dealers are reluctant to sever
Their product is the very best, they boast.
Malfunctioning when you need it most
You are forced to buy a replacement,
Their product is the very best, they boast,
But, now it’s in a box in your basement!
You are forced to buy a replacement
With the same promises and guarantees
But, now it’s in a box in your basement,
Life is a vicious cycle of these certainties.
With the same promises and guarantees
Product insurance is offered when you buy,
Life is a vicious cycle of these certainties,
Reliability is hard to come by, I hear a sigh.
Written December 11, 2022
[Pantoum form, adapted]
Habitual liars, story spinners
Elasticizing their version of the truth,
Taking it and whomever they can
On a seemingly endless journey
Into oblivion.
They can feed you the same lie
8 ways past Sunday.
Expect you to believe it
And further expect to get away with it.
Gettin' you caught up in their whirlwind
Just to see how fast and long
They can make your head spin.
Fool me once, shame on you,
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Ha ha ha ha what a fool believes!
Always runnin' lies
Like game on a playa.
Walkin' and jive talkin'
With the naysayers.
Now see, a vigilant and open mind
Knows and sees the warning signs
Gracefully steps aside
Tellin' the liar and his bull to ride on by.
Knowledge and wisdom are the reliability
Of the vigilant one's path as much as
The liar's re-lie-ability continually
Fuels their wrath on a
Seemingly endless journey
Into oblivion.
R-eliability
O-f
S-cience
E-njoys
A-mazing
N-obility
N-icely
E-mploying
S-ublime
C-onclusion
A-s
L-ife
A-nd
N-ature
T-aste
E-xperiment
Topic: Birthday of Rose Ann G. Escalante (March 25)
Form: Vertical Monocrostic
curious heed
in times of need
Powerful, solid, ready to work,
My reliant embodied in steel,
With her tray reinforced to carry a load,
My battle hard automobile,
She doggedly moved tonnes of gravel,
Repeatedly throughout the work day,
Out to the farm to fill all the gullies,
Running along the driveway,
And groans and moans? Not from this girl,
Not in the wet, freezing cold,
She’s the machine that does every bit of the job,
Obeying whatever she’s told,
She’s my ute, my truck, my trusty and true,
Ready to give me a hand,
Ready to start and do the hard work,
With me, when I work on the land.
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