October shenanigans announced in every way
It looks like a mysterious autumn day
what is that rumble from the west?
it’s a foggy night, and there is no rest.
Witches fly with shiny satin capes askew
Kittens grasp onto their broomsticks too
Jack-o-lanterns smiles are widely seen
because it’s a week before Halloween
sometimes you get visited by a ghoul
in this county, it is an unwritten rule
Halloween comes but once a year
don’t look now but one is quite near
Sunbeams, sassafras, seagulls, and sassiness
lightbulbs, lightning bolts, lethargy, and laziness,
life yields wonder and wounds and sometimes
fascinating vocabulary can transform pain into pondering
The plate is full and overflows,
Why continue filling what’s full?
It’s clean but claim to wash it still:
Exhibiting tints of a clueless fool.
It’s shining its best but you polish still
What resplendently shines so bright,
Claiming to add glow to fieriest stars
That adorn hallowed heavenly height.
But you don’t want to fill;
In truth you want to deplete
While cunningly feigning still
That you put more on enough.
It’s that unmatched heavenly shine
That you’re out to extinguish slowly
While pretending in its glow to dine;
A foe with a calculated aim to darken.
Charming feline with airs of graceful nobility
Agile this slender olympian contender
Tomfoolery being its main specialty
AP: 3rd place 2025, Honorable Mention 2025, Honorable Mention 2025
Submitted on April 29, 2025 for contest ACROSTIC AGILITY sponsored by OLIVER MCKEITHAN - RANKED 3RD
Political Elite
Protected Class
Ivory Towers
Deceitful Cast
Foolish Games
Wasting Time
Dirty Swamp
Committing Crime
Above the law
the fodder be
of course it's you
of course it' me.
A clatter in the backyard
loudly drew my attention.
Curious to witness the commotion,
I rushed to look out my patio door
and saw a scurry of impish squirrels.
I'd hung a new bird feeder,
tauntingly just out of reach,
and they were determined to conquer it.
Intrigued by their lively shenanigans,
I sat in a chair and started to watch.
Failing to gain a foothold,
they began using their wits.
I laughed at their nimble, clever antics,
as they improvised alternative ways
to ultimately claim their just reward.
One kept leaping off the roof,
yet it would always fall short.
But failure could never halt their mission,
and sure enough, one tried it from a tree,
landing smack on the feeder with a thump.
And they both came crashing down;
backyard squirrels are tenacious.
SHENANIGANS
Shenanigans and hullabaloos of the Westerners worsens our sins in this societal ruins,
washing-in it's wastes and wildness with unrest
just like Amazon delivering parcels with its crest.
The thief with the aim to survive hunger got an arrest
but corrupt wealthy well paid politicians goes for free,
Others hoard or pilfer treasure troves from every tree.
Neither envy unknown affluence of any type
nor thrive in the glory of other people's hype.
Don't live in the prison of other people's opinion.
Or meddle in their false esteemed & established union.
In all fairness, let the world handle it's business;
And despite life's shenanigans, show finesse.
You're one man army just as the people to the world.
The unpredictability of life got the world enamored.
Let the world face and stifle it's own thorn,
Don't be the bunch, but in your own sphere be the one.
Vick Manuel Poetry {VMP}
Copyright © December2022.
Shenanigans and poppycock -
the wild wood with unrest.
Will amazon deliver the chest
of acorns and walnuts before Winter sets?
On their “I” phones, those with bushy tails
don’t want to work for nibbles. Kips,
after a long, long, long day of texting,
waiting, shopping. Others hoard or steal
those treasure troves from every tree.
Collectibles, particularly nasty -
why would a little squirrel want a Barbie,
when a grownup can buy out and store
each box, in perfect shape, for a decade?
“Play with your phone, little kitten.”
Shenanigans and poppycock,
finger-licking goodness of ‘rents,
loving the kits with abominable gifts.
11/15/2022
Contest: THE CRAP SHOOT #2
Sponsor: John Lawless
Customary or misquoted, What hand shall be dealt in this game of shenanigans people playing games are often questionable of one’s ulterior motives. Is it because of one’s anger, disappointments ascending, descending contemplating should the unknown accept the facts and move on or continuously deceive inner-self and remain on and off tasks contemplating who is playing the games if shenanigans.
There was a lad known for his shenanigans,
Who completed each act with such naughty grins.
He leaned backward all alone,
To kiss the old Blarney Stone!
That limestone-lipped lad known for shenanigans.
here becomes there if one adds a T
and where when one adds a W
and zher, which is ‘here’ in Mandarin
if one removes an E and adds a Z
which rhymes with V
though some pronounce it Zed
which rhymes with Ted
which brings us back to T
almost nothing rhymes with W
but I really want to do U
and make S rhyme with X
and you know Y.
12/18/2020 - updated 1/1/2021
redundant stories
way out from left field
old yarns and tales rehashed
selective memories
of a past we won’t let go
wasted time and opportunities
killing time that should be precious
ongoing whining about getting old
aches and pains the topics of choice
you want to roll your eyes
stupid things come out of our mouth
getting upset over trite slights
the clash of personalities
feuding just for fun
old dirty tricks used and abused
life all too short
to not let slide petty nonsense
this getting old
by no means
sees us getting wiser
we’re growing senile by the day
AP: 3rd place 2025, Honorable Mention 2025, Honorable Mention 2025, Honorable Mention 2020
1 2 3 we go,
they said I've got some ego
so we went to Shiloh
to in porous prayer wallow
priest then took me to an hollow
he said I must purge my sorrow
and then forgiveness to borrow
that again I can be made whole
After all the shenanigans, he sat me down
he said what we were about to do would make me seem like clown
he said, "Son, say whatever that comes to your mouth."
So, I star......ted
(Spirituals)
Wrap
I learnt how to speak in tongues that day
but the ego? Twas fleshened.
'20:06:16:14:59
Note: A Rap Song.
https://youtu.be/tIu4QMa6cF4
Woe betide lower men who fickle facades embrace
And wit’s hard-won gold for shifting dross exchange;
Dubbing avarice-sired glosses exquisite gems pure,
With obscuring eyes decimating solid worth's range.
With their own ears they cannot first-hand hear,
And gauge if wild grapevines solid realities say;
There's always standard hearsay in each sphere,
That defines world’s weightier subjects of the day.
It's the stark lack of depth in these artless geeks
That hatches and pupates corporate hydras’ fads:
Gimmicks-iced shenanigans to sate whims of cads;
Lie-tipped rackets hymned by classist parrot beaks.
They're the distant acquaintance who moans louder
Than the actual first-bereaved's grief-laden shoulder.
You behold the fairy eye riled by wetting garlic wafts,
That gives its tear to one unhurt by the vexing shafts.
Methinks all existence and its rigged veneers would have ceased,
If the few manipulating hucksters on its skewed stage so pleased!
Summer Shenanigans
Pickpocket poor boy
summer days working the crowds
not that poor right now
05/21/16
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