Short Piteously Poems

The dog slinks past me
   a plea in its eye
bowed head upraised
   barely 

Turning toward me 
   piteously --

Snap! 
its collar is yanked back
   by its imperious master
Plea denied...

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Center stage left, and exit. 
	Enter the Demon stage right-
	And there he comes to play; weaving
	His way, piteously, throughout the act.
	Lurking on haunches in plain sight.
	We smile with mirth; delight.
	Oh what a scene! What a show! 
	Then the lights go out.	
	Woefully, crowds recognize that which was not fiction....

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Looming, inescapably all around,

Enough to make one's heart sink,

Once and for all,

Enough to douse the surest, brightest light.


A mangy stray cat suddenly emerges from the

Gloom, walks up to one, meows piteously:

Company!

On such a night as this:  Company as

Welcome as any wise teacher's, any noble leader's,

Any loving familiar face's....

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I am, I guess, a tattered soul. 
A vagabond of sort. 
A derelict adrift at sea. 
No captain and no port. 

Nowhere to go, no one to guide.
This frail and haggard bark,
Aimlessly drifts out to sea, 
Piteously and stark. 

No pilot here the helm to take.
No first mate to assist.
Into oblivion adrift,
Into a dark abyss.

Will there one day a solace be?
Will nepenthe be won?
Can a sweet respite be found
Before my setting sun?...

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