I read my obituary
Accolades run afoul to lighten the souls of the living
Trite clichés, forgotten kin, melodic tributes
Boring and meaningless
Upon a granite stone etched for an eternity
I was but a ‘A faithful husband,’
‘A good father,’
And ‘Never Forgotten’
They have it all wrong
If they had read my sonnets
Mystical offspring scribbled on napkins
Consuming stale coffee in late night diners lit by neon lights
They would have known
Had they paid heed to my limericks
Nonsensical rhymes of fairytale fantasies
And polka-dotted panties created to amuse only me
They would have known
Had they inhaled my free verse
Painstaking hours spent
Creating worlds of exquisite harmony
Carrying the reader on endless voyages
Guided by the inspired lyricist through emerald forests
Royal seas, white-capped mountains
And never-ending dreams
They would have known
Had they met my only mistress
One called Haiku
A quiet damsel
Her beauty lies in brevity and endless seasons
They would have known
More than a husband
More than a father
More than forgotten
I am a poet
I read my obituary
I should have known
~ By your Side ~
Keep me close by your side when the north winds howl
I'll snuggle tight in your lap through the night hours' chill
Those who call me a 'creature' will soon run afoul
Of a cry deep inside me relentlessly shrill
You're exhausted, you're drained, from work's mud and mire
Fall asleep now, my love, it's almost midnight --
Once fair morning will dawn, good cheer will retire
Yon wild witches on broomsticks, who shriek out affright...
In the day we will play, you and I by your side
Safe and sound in sun's rays, we'll stroll o'er the land
Roam the fields, feel the breeze, see the ocean, her tides
Have a picnic for two on a blanket of sand
Yes, I'm your kitten, your baby, who loves you so much
~ Ever thrills to your delicate fingers' fond touch
Heed the owl's omen!
Peril peers all men.
As norms run afoul
now release the owl.
With its silent wing
let it soar and sing.
Wind shrieks in our ear
talons pierce the fear.
Foolish minds do reach
for the hunter's screech!
Fools wander amuck
final decree is struck.
Sounds that clutch 'n cry
always one must die.
In this raptus way
the owl stalks its prey.
Swoop in fatal flight
embrace this bloody night.
Play life's classic duel
wisdom kills the fool.
At a spot of roadside, shaded
A predator on the prowl
Concealed itself and waited
for prey to run afoul…
Then, madly, with a dash,
It shot out from the thicket;
Nabbed one prey, in a *flash*
And slapped it with a ticket.
She left the meeting in a fit of rage
So near to completing they rattled her cage
She decided to quit throwing in the towel
In refusing to admit she had run afoul
A few days before in a weak moment
She walked to the store the money was spent
But she wouldn't concede and just come clean
She denied the need and that was the last seen
Until a month had past when in through the door
Almost the last but back on the floor
Saying nothing that night and the week after too
Such a burdensome plight she wanted something new
But on the third week and at the very start
She stood up to speak and apologize in part
Saying I'm not perfect and sometimes I do fall
But it was my own self neglect that caused it all
Believe in Ghosts? No Way!
By Elton Camp
To refute belief in ghosts is why I’ve come
To do it without beating the religion drum
There are entirely practical reason as to why
I know folks don’t become ghosts if they die
Murder me and invisible but active I become?
Then I’d take vengeance and even add some
I would whack your head right off your shoulders
So that in your own grave your corpse molders.
No murderer would ever punishment escape
And the need for police and laws it’d reshape
Any vicious serial killer who is on the prowl
Of his very first victim would sure run afoul
A father who dies and leaves children behind
Could walk into just any bank and money find
His invisible ghost could walk through a wall
Go right inside the bank vault and take it all
Yet you never hear of any of this type stuff
To disprove the ghost idea it seems enough
So if you are ever tempted to believe a lie
A bit of common sense and logic please try
To Sleep
Perchance to dream
That doesn’t seem
Like too much to ask
So deep
And so extreme
One won’t waken
But I’m taken to task
Summoned in the middle of the night
By tormentors in my head
I should ignore - them but instead
I rise
Like a ghost on the prowl
I rise
Like a hunting owl
I rise
And run afoul of the law of
Sleep
To Sleep
How late the hour
What is this power
That shakes me from rest?
I keep
Answering the call
I’m bound to fall
And fail the test
I long to drink from the river Lethe
Forgetting all that’s been said
I should ignore it - but instead
I rise
Like a thirsty vampire
I rise
Like the flames of a fire
I rise
Even though I tire from lack of
Sleep
My one desire to sleep