who remembers trees
when air was free from fares
guiltless
tankless
unassailable
cliches of rustling leaves
enchanted forests
infanticidal practices like nestling newborns atop boughs
cordate declarations etched beneath oak bark and canary sashes
as dead as concrete blocks
and the nearest approximation is a toy broccoli flower
wire wools welded for steel topiaries
laud the arboreal knights
growing figments stalking the future
with whom was shared breath and hearth
in Slab City
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my enemy gave to me
Twelve upset tummies gurgling
Eleven spoiled milk cartons curdling
Ten missed opportunities to achieve
Nine judges who refused my reprieve
Eight frustrations and barriers
Seven Covid-19 carriers
Six casseroles with a bad smell
Five empty packs of Pall Mall
Four creepy sashes
Three worn out lashes
Two cobras who attacked me,
And a grizzly bear in a honey tree.
Picture on the Parlor Wall 9-27-24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sampler on the Parlor Wall
Shadows born from dawdling light
Stretch across a firelit room set with porcelain cups,
From tea parties long ago and faraway,
With an invitation to sample sweets and savories
Like the sampler on the parlor wall.
Beneath neat rows of alphabets stories gather,
Verses stitched with silk and dreams
And numbers that taught a woman’s craft –
A child’s wishes fly with birds and lady bugs –
Wishes to convince a suitor at the door of her wifely worth
In tidy stitches foreshadowing an orderly life.
A young lady-girl in pantaloons and blue sashes
Weaves circles of symphonic dots in French wheels
While lazy daisy chains meander on her linen fields -
Magic flares in her zigzag lines, her wishes on wooly stars.
No signature remains from her little hand -
Her hearth, her home, her heart –
Only a legacy of butterflies and roses sampled on a parlor wall
And a tiny scarlet dot of imperfection like a signature remains
Embroidered into a sampler embracing each dawn and dusk.
When dawn drifts into charmed meadows
enchantment fades with the shadows,
drinking perfume from the night's air,
stirring fragrance that lingers there.
Faintest mist sprinkles wild grasses,
when dawn drifts into charmed meadows.
Sewn jewels on satin sashes
of Sylphs dancing with Tylwyth Teg.
Fae play elaborate charades
before meadow enchantment fades.
When dawn drifts into charmed meadows,
Brownies comfort mourning Banshees.
Asrai frolic with the Selkies
as darkness fades into bleached sun.
Magic leaves as it had begun
when dawn drifts into charmed meadows.
5
after taking classes
to make pancakes with molasses
we must move our asses
(while making advances)
(we were all aghast)
(were burned to ashes)
(against head bashes)
(have been on branches)
(cooked in clay by Cassius)
(we made mad dashes)
(elegant and enhances)
(eaten by Erasmus)
(received from a Fascist)
(found by Pope Francis)
(get to see the gashes)
(stuck with long lances)
(on them all passes)
(head against smashes)
(seen flying through sashes)
(they left you in long trances)
(found in famous people's trashes)
(when talking trashes)
(terrible thrown in trashes)
Thunder rumbles lightning flashes.
Druids chant rhythmic runes.
Electrifying tonights mood.
Tis Draculas Halloween bash.
Wolfman arrived in a mask
And his houndstooth zoot suit.
Six witches with red sashes
Flew loops on hickory brooms.
If Frankensteins' bride laughs
It sounds like raspy kazoos.
Ten fashionable tom cats
Wore bat festooned top hats.
As The Ghouls band played bassoons.
At Count Draculas bashes
Each dance is monster's Madness.
But the punch was new hemlock brew.
Ouzo, oh ouzo,can make your head verily spin
But it made me feel like I was morphing into Aphrodite's twin!
And, more potent were your eyes stare and long eyelashes.
Dancing the Greek soldiers dance, OPA and in proud sashes.
Decades down life’s river, in the boat of life, we are one .
I close my eyes, still humming ‘Thessaloniki” loud and strong.
In a blue and white colored dream, I still caress your hand,
As we did long ago to a taunting, lively Bozouki band.
I shall blow out the gardenia candle and say good-night,
Loving you was, and is, forever~my soul’s precious delight..
Agape mou!
Panagiota
Notes on Ouzo!
Miracle Anise-flavored drink that can only be made in Greece
As of 2006, it received the EU-approved………………………..
PCO-Protected Country of Origin!
I still have my own teeth,
My hearing's mostly unaided,
I still dream about girls
In white dresses with sashes,
But sometimes I feel
Out of sync and frustrated
When I wake up alone
And the fantasy crashes.
I didn't mind growing up,
But growing old's overrated.
Dice and pieces, blown on trusses
Numbers and feathers, trots and roaming
Spice with dashes, thrown in sashes
Dots and wreaths, clots and breaths reeming
Glasses of different shapes
Showing out various shapes
Glasses of distinct hues
Blowing out vague and clear-cut views
Mirrors of you in glasses
Like crystals molded in mashes
Furor, dolors, splendor in glasses
Like petals defoliating in sashes
Mirrors of you on hand
Reflections of you unveiled
With all mirrors of the world at hand
Imperfections of you unsealed
Tales of the pasts, stories unmasked
Events of time lapsed, memories basked
Mirrors of you from the past
Blowin' winds in cast
Mirrors of you everlasting
Tokens of you not flabbergasting
Mirrors of you on the rocks
Dusts of you sprinkled in blocks
You are what you are in mirrors
Fictional or not in errors
Mirrors of life are in you
Mirrors of you are all but one in you
Angels in furs so white
Brave voices as cool as sprite
Cheeks so red or pink
Delights your day without a wink
Endless care reserved for you
Flocking in troupe over you
Giggling over rainbows of you
Halos in head that cover you
In miles and miles they travel far
Junipers like trees watching your jar
Kept in jar, your fallen stars
Love in heart without scars
Moments in life they praise so loud
Novels of time you read aloud
Out of the blue angels come to life
Paints of you in real life
Quetzalcoatl may scare you
Remember angels are there for you
Serenading the depths of you
Telling stories of me and you
Under your pillow is a dream come true
Velvets and sashes that wrap in you
White you wear is your skin deep
Xisti of true colors you keep
Your white angels of time on grip
Zooming with God you trip
Woman of rationality
not known to all men.
Countess of Mercia,
scent of a woman.
Lover of masses,
dream of sashes.
In anticipation
no other man tried,
Wooing the coveted one
fear of life taunts
nobody ever haunts.
A modest woman she was,
a clean woman that was.
Up in the hills
travels without fear,
down the hills she fills
with her voice people hear.
In many trails
she hops and drills.
In open seas
she crave for krills.
Strong woman thinks all,
grown woman walks tall.
In each flight she makes
no man's plight is at stake.
Never wondered how hard life is
In an instant, life heals.
For the strong woman without fierce
no hurting arrows can pierce.
Savagery is not bravery
for any lass of Coventry.
Thinking of good deeds that last
no heroism will rust.
Aigrettes pose as nobility,
not for lass of simplicity.
Half of Leofric,
Piece of heroic.
Levy for serfs,
burden of turfs.
Then one day casted
a lean woman's body...
body of beauty,
honor of beauty.
How the heroine perished
nobody cherished.
A living legend she was,
a myth that never was!
Red sa@@shes
S + Way from your cheeeks
b.l.u.r.r.i.n.g your
f+Hair skin
shineee In the DARKNEST
FLAshhhH of
s*e*q*u*i*n*e*d Light
ur eyes
I cant seem to find
UUUUUU
Shimmmmmmying in the BRunette
C Peeking
oVer=== SUBSTITUTE windows
T h e s e con jurors """sing"""
UTT er vo-ice
of DIS&&&&TRACTION
B cuz ....... I whirlllll!
In;;;;;;;;;to
O-u-t of con-trol
trOUBLE
Ant Sy JiTt ers
Milk^^^shake m e l t s
in>>>>to your ChASsis
po..........king
my stom ache j # uices
I CANT FIND^^^^^ my legggggs
How can
EYEcandy d+ance
With((((((Red Sashes
June 21, 2022
Brian Strand Premier Contest
Currently
Escalating escapism
The lionfoot bathtub is
My heavenly grace
Head under water
Under the ocean water
The turquoise jeweled water particles
All over me
A beautiful dream
I don’t want to wake up
Don’t pinch me
Just leave me be
With the soft, white gold sand
The endless blue horizon
With twilight approaching
And dusk coming close on its tails
A gorgeous game of tag
A slow, silent crackle of thunder
Soft satin sashes of white
Be kind, I say
Running away
From the uncertainties
From the harsh gray lines
Just let me be
Just let me be
Don’t drag me down
Down into the undertow
I can’t breathe
Heavy minds
Weighing me down
I’m going to drown
The tense pressure of the
Shaken champagne bottle of
Feelings
Tick tok tik tock
Close the door
Don’t let the steam of dream
Leak through the creaks
Wet fingers
Sliding across the screen
Skip skip skip
Repeat
Rewind
Stop
Play
Keep playing
Just keep playing
Thoreau Through and Through
Breathe and observe, duet sitting on a beach,
Or a Walden Pond, attend details' breach,
Ripples, waves, light glinting off splashes,
Warm sun crust, rays streaking striped sashes,
Surge after surge wash over and under,
Awareness catches subtle and quiet thunder,
Surface Cat's Paws emerge by breeze breath,
Wash lapping waves upon lack of depth,
Closed eyes hear resounds of cardio throbs,
Thoreau math minuses the bleating mobs,
Don't Go with the Flow but Put Your Ducks,
In a Row, fulfill your life: "I am!", not "Aw Shucks!"
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