This thirsting land, parched by the sun
An autumn drought, that summer spun
Without the rain, no colors found
Fall foliage fizzled, green to brown
A cheated heart, now feels shortchanged
That natures brush, has been restrained
The trees are bare, north winds have blown
Like fleeting thoughts, how time has flown
Whilst winter waits, at fall's deathbed
To lift my heart, I look ahead
I see bright colors, of early spring
The awakening, of everything
Today the skies are clouded gray
The sun will soon be back to stay
Springs rains will come, Nature will bloom
Reviving hope, replacing gloom
Daniel Turner
A fable of worth weaves a fair tale,
that wealth possesses and not possessed.
A quest to feign means forges a trail
long jaded by the marks they unveil.
Though blind seeker's minds a treasured chest.
The hope for glory gloats jealousy,
the more the merrier, too cliche,
counting amounts to a specialty
until idle growth reels entropy.
Insignificant be, sensed doomsday.
While the moment ill-timed takes pleasure
as imbalance shortchanged one's fortune.
Debt collectors knock at their leisure
of court rulings, list your worth's measure.
It is beyond the call of margin.
Though street level, not truly gutter,
err midst a fool lacks austerity.
Low-life address as a deal cutter
a debt paid in full hangs aflutter.
A world minus dreamt prosperity.
He awoke one day stoic and changed
his legs somehow were rearranged
yes, he felt he had been shortchanged
legs of steel that ran fast
so when they kidnapped his girlfriend
his legs were a means to an end
the Aliens then, were godsend
although, he felt like an outcast
part human part Alien young gun
came from area fifty one
he did escape but could not shun
signals from Alien mast
Why do I feel cranky in summer?
Everyone’s living, I'm not.
Burdened by cares, I can't set free
It's so darn hot!
It stifles the joys.
It forces me indoors.
The air is thick, it weighs me down.
My cheer is shortchanged, curtailed.
As summer days drag on and on,
The sun beats down, relentless, so strong,
The air is thick syrupy and heavy,
Unlike my patience, which is worn down to thread-bare thin.
Tiny things annoy me, it's like I can't ever win.
The bees buzz around inside my head endlessly.
Mosquitoes buzz around my ears relentlessly,
I swing, I swat, I slap, I stomp my feet, cry.
I'm spoiling for an impossible fight with an insect!
Which I know I can never win; why do I try?
In sweat-soaked clothes my temper flares!
When will this nightmare end?
It did, I had an ice-cream sundae with nuts!
The money given to you, please, count,
Even if the giver were a fount
And his trusted Nice Nickname "Money,"
For if you got shortchanged 'Not funny!'
He'd waited for you to cash count
And you hadn't thought a cheat A fount...
To lost money raised challenges mount,
Not unlike climbing a once climbed mount.
Always count money released to you
Or cascading tears would be soon due,
The missing sum from it not a clue:
What is left the rest of what you blew!
Scriptures speak to us in riddles
Relying upon esoteric symbols
They may be well intentioned
But it’s time this truth is mentioned
That addressing mind, invoking fear
Guilt of imagined sin begins to sear
Plunging our mind in deep confusion
Spontaneity lost, fearing retribution
Something’s rotten in the religious setup
For unless soma nectar flows into our cup
We feel incomplete and shortchanged
Separated from source, from love estranged
Ceasing thinking, abandoning all knowing
In stillness feeling, gentle breeze flowing
We embrace and release each life impulse
Consciousness expands, everywhere at once
Divine entwined, one with the universe
Having vaporised, there’s nothing to rehearse
Bliss throbs within, ignites our central vein
In fullness of rapture, we are free from stain
Undoubtedly senses five and mind have their use
Yet is not overindulgence in illusion akin to abuse
The inner polarities of our sentience are dormant
Yet it’s from within that sparks, the bliss current
It matters not ancient words etched on stones
If it’s real, we must feel it deep within our bones
31-March-2022
At cock crow
Lady and Mr. Y, turned seventy
They googled themselves;
The wind whistled past
And exposed the gooses back
They felt the wrinkles
On their temple,
The rings around their eyes
And the tires around their waistline;
They threw caution to the wind,
Damned God's wisdom;
Rejected and refused the notion
That every product
Has a manufacture and expiration date
Like Adam and Eve,
They rebelled and went
On a rehabilitation and refurbishing spree:
First, was a tummy tuck, Liposuction,
Rhinoplasty and facelift,
Then,
Necklift, browlift, chinlift, breastlift
And facial rejuvenation.....
For a while,
They shortchanged nature
As a snake shells it's outer layer
But,
Could not cheat death
When it came knocking.
I twice shortchanged Warren one of the two “t”s in Buffett. I found Ogden Nash did a fine job with double letters in "The Lama".
That inspired me to write, in apology for slighting Mr. Buffett:
The Buffet
The one-t buffet,
That's a punch,
Or a place to
Have your lunch.
The two-t Buffett?
He never knew
A fiscal crunch.
And I will bet
A silken tuffet
There isn't any
Three-t buffettt. *
--- Oliver Klosov
* The author regrets that he cannot duplicate
Ogden Nash's final “groaner” re a “three-t buffettt” . Pooh.
If that's not enough it will have to do. (heh heh)
Oh My God
You can do it alone Sissy don’t be a ‘sour puss’
All that rolling a stone uphill is best done in utter
~ Reclusion ~
Oh Godot all that waiting and never to come
Almost there and short of a cookie nevertheless
~ Shortchanged ~
Professor Emeritus in your intellectual tower
Knowledge is power but without action remains
~ Vain ~
Hermit have you found Plato’s miraculous cave
Smack in the middle yet the golden mean in
~ Peripheral Longing ~
Buddha Almighty where is that solemn fig tree
If not inside you growing weeds searching for
~ Love ~
When granite stays put at the base of the task
Absurdity is taken for what meaning it offers
Teaching the truth reflects sharing as caring
Ariadne shows the path to colour outside the box
Dharma and Sanga envelop Ego and Self and
~ Then Lonely Pursuit ~
~ Yields Offering and ~
~ Beauty in Solitude ~
03rd May 2018
Ariel had beautiful amber eyes and raven hair,
With a figure that would make most men stare.
Those deep, dark eyes had a story to tell.
You could look into them and swear they cast a spell.
Those eyes had seen happiness and unbelievable grief.
A drunk driver had taken her husband like a wicked thief.
That dark night their lives were irrevocably changed.
Death paid them a visit and they were shortchanged.
A year later Ariel met someone new,
A friend introduced her to a professor, and a friendship grew.
They went to dinner, picnics, and to plays.
The twinkle returned to her sad, pained eyes in a haze.
Slowly her heart began to heal…
This new man made her senses again start to feel.
Love replaced the numbness and her pain.
Now her smile reached her exquisite amber eyes again.
Where do the homeless go
when the streets are covered in snow
and they fear the safety of the shelters
as they edge away to hide beyond the so called helpers?
Where do the homeless go
when loneliness and poverty are buried by the snow
and all the pleasures of life and living are gone
with no hope or dreams seem song of a dying swan?
Empty buildings, vacant schools, disassembled hospitals stand
as homeless live in subways, alleys, streets, parks, cars, places unplanned
forced to pick up few belongings and move on out of sight
fade away and disappear into the darkness of the night.
Politicians, millionaires, wall street guru genius live assuage
and argue fifteen dollars is too much an hourly wage
while they live and spend unconditionally their monetary exchange
without thought or concern for the homeless poor and shortchanged.
Who are the homeless on the street
with their few possessions that they keep?
Once your neighbors, now house foreclosed,
once the soldier who fought your wars,
once the youth who lost their way
once your parent who could not say,
but for the grace of God
there go you and I.
Why do you write?
To give birth to beauty
To decorate a drab wall
To splash color on a canvass
To entertain and enthrall
Why do you write?
To become immortal
To capture fame
To heal a wound
To become sane
Why do you write?
To produce magic
To invade a heart
To be someone’s passion
To create a work of art
Why do you write?
To take a word picture
To weave a poetic tapestry
To build imagination’s castle
To write your own history
Why do you write?
You write because
You're confused
You’re overwhelmed
You’ve been abused
You write because
You’ve been shortchanged
You’ve been neglected
You’ve been enraged
You write because
You have a need
You crave passion
You want a creed
You write because
You are in pain
You carry baggage
You have tasted rain
You write because
Like every poet
That has come and gone
Of will ever be
You write because
You are searching for
The rhythm and rhyme
Of your life.
Eileen Manassian Ghali
Fear, trembling heart afraid of despair
Whirlwind thoughts assailing the distance
Frailly brave;strength woven in weakness
Irascible with no apology
Soft, tempted to touch
Like foam the body, an angel to my soul
Spirit relentlessly searching
Sagittarius to the marrow
Butts like implants
Tommy making babies
I don't care yet I do
As I walk, heart flutters excitedly wanting to
I long for you
Longing to say my first halo
Broad, big and strong
Fragile, weak and soft
Complimentary contradictory
Yet I remain defiantly unrepentant
I won't do it
Never would I
Even if the world wants me to
The walk, the talk, the disposition, and more
What a cheer deceit
Buried in the soul of her sweet dreams
The warrior must stand
I must
Cuz of the beautifully, wonderfully special person I'm
Sassy with black unrefined
Like it would never finish
Longing for lost words to fill in the gap
What a bridge left to be filled
But of a truth I know I can't be shortchanged in life
Cuz I'm destined for the top
Last born of three
With loving and caring parents
Although through life
I could not see
As I grew up
To belong was my need
Rejected by some
Concentrating only on me
Seeing what is not
Was my deal
Fearing the unknown
Was all so real
Each head is a world
And mine was in turmoil
The power I had
Was shortchanged and soiled
I did not fit in
So I made it a point
To fit in with all
Even if it meant hurting me
When at the time
I didn’t realize
That what I felt
Was a normal life
They could not adjust
To my caring and empathy
They all thought me weak
And saw me with sympathy
My family is all to me
And being there is all I need
To finally see that all the problems
Don’t lie within me
Yes I kept to my self
And I hoped that no one saw
All the sadness
That came through me
Yet life is short
So I make the best of it
Now knowing that
This life is what I make of it
Life goes by day by day
And I now enjoy
Waking up every day
Full of love and joy
I now know how to love
Who to love and why
I can truly say
I LOVE and ACCEPT me!!
A Diamond in the Rough.
By: Nena Enriquez
The devil takes his taxes
before you pay your fare
on your way to the due of you
completely unaware
Shortchanged may seem your billfold
your dreams a distant past
your search continues for the gold
your mould has been recast
Far reaching are the teasing
outstretched are fingers touch
mystery of the meaning
how Midas had so much
Olympic gold medallions
awarded to the best
disciplined sweat in training
surpassing ultimate test
The gold within' the warrior soul
refined the metal first
striving for the medal is the goal
effort from hunger and thirst.....
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