A child of six
seeing the mother bird take to wing,
unobserved, took the egg out of its nest.
I did not expect it of this frail thing,
she crushed the egg against her Sunday best.
Family polemics:
Her mother, seeing this abominable act,
beat the child and made it clear
that the reason she was smacked
was because of the egg smear.
Scrambled ethics:
How can this child learn compassion
if discipline is based on material things?
Had her mother placed life above fashion
this tiny egg may have developed wings.
When the clock strikes 12,
it will have been 1,361 days ago
that I blew out 12 candles on my cake.
The cake was carrot.
I had eaten it freely.
I had licked the frosting off of the porcelain until it was white,
and smacked my lips,
enjoying every last bite.
Today I am 100 days away
from blowing out 16 candles on my cake.
The cake will be carrot.
I will eat it freely,
I will lick the frosting off of the porcelain until it is white,
and smack my lips,
enjoying every last bite.
Sisters swinging,
running,
catching.
We mean business,
as adults,
don’t erupt
like a jealous teen.
But,
she did;
I called her out.
She picked up
dirt, at home base,
and slung the particles
into contact-covered eyes.
To my surprise!
You know,
as a fully evolved adult,
you suck it up,
just like when the ball bounced -
smacked me on the chin.
Sisters swinging,
running,
catching;
they mean business
when they exact revenge
on the she-devil.
I didn’t see,
but I was told,
“We got her back!”
They had my back.
Be careful slinging dirt;
my sisters will call you
“O U T!”
Bad Luck for the Vampire Teeth
It was such a gloomy Halloween day
The Vampire Teeth tinted with blood,
and delicate pinot noir (bottled not yesterday),
went flying over a field of western redbud.
From his side,
a drunk goose
struck him. The Vampire Teeth cried,
‘Watch where you fly, you goose!’
Then ten more geese smacked into him (frown, frown)
So so winded he couldn’t stay in the air,
and he fell quite fast down down down
into a big crack the length of a bear
in the road that boarded the field square.
No one heard his cries for help.
Then his voice box broke.
Then a limping construction worker Mr Kelp
who was too broke
filled in the crack (with some egg yolk)
with cement angrily demanded by the folk.
No more ancient Gaelic Festival of
Samhain for The Vampire Teeth.
All because of
those stupid geese, and that worker Heath.
Hegemony of shrubbery and trees
Bows out chain link fences along country roads.
County diesel trucks cut down
Greenery an inch level to the ground.
Fences being overgrown
Owners cut inside.
Only disembodied knuckles left
Of wood to shake against the wind.
Beer drinking high school boys
Stand in speeding cars
Play mailbox base ball: home runs
For all unlikely correspondence lost.
Red flags rusted at their sides
Nothing coming in or going out.
They stood and now lie agape
At the emptiness they might have held.
Like my father slack-jawed
Dead below his antiseptic sheet,
Gob-smacked at his
Instant recompense.
My body braced my brain
as Nature
replaced that rain.
Ping! Pang! THWACK!
I trembled from each teasing
of those deep pops
that smacked the supermarket’s roof
and pounded the parking lot.
I gazed out the glass door
and eyeballed the glitter
of cold and bald hail.
The opaque ice
littered the concrete lot,
disturbing me with
oddball beauty.
CRASH!
Thunder threatened
my inner calm,
ringing my ears with rage.
CRASH! WOOSH!
Wind joined the thunder,
sweeping past the entrance
and slamming filthy rain
into the ground.
From across the room
you were feeling me.
A doe eyed stranger
with sticky lip gloss.
That smirk? I meant it.
I know it smacked
blowing that kiss.
Are you enough?
Let’s find that out.
Can we touch,
stay discrete?
Read my mind.
Turned up
to broil
yet?
The man in the elevator pushed button number eight.
The car lurched; then it wouldn’t budge. He griped, “Oh, I’ll be late!”
One babbling freak, two clueless girls who smacked gum and played rap,
two men with body odor, and two hoodlums shared the trap.
He wished he had air freshener, nerve pills, earplugs, handcuffs.
He had to quell the urge to knock all seven on their duffs.
At last, the captives were set free. He raced to the eighth floor.
He’d missed the interview, and he was bummed out to the core.
He thought the day could get no worse; then back at home he saw
a beast relaxing in his chair, AKA mother-in-law.
His wife said, “Mama’s moving in, Dear. Isn’t that good news?”
He forced a tiny smile but wisely didn’t share his views.
Farmer Sue drove up on her tractor
Told Stan I’ll be your extractor
Hooked up to the Chevy
Dragged it atop the levy
For payment Stan quickly smacked her!
the desert was begging for a bit of green
underneath the earth was a verdant queen
she represented oaks, elms, maples and willows
she appeared on a Saturday, her hair in billows
The rest of the desert recognized her as royalty
They were gob-smacked by her beauty and pleasantry
She brought to the desert an oasis of greenery.
This livened up this dry spot, it seemed to me.
Hear the true story of my great-great-great Grandpa,
the forgettingest man I ever saw.
When he tried to pass first grade again
he forgot to bring to school his brain.
When it was time to race in the big track meet,
wouldn't you know it - he forgot his feet.
When he married Mary, his sugar tart,
believe it or not, he forgot his heart.
So, she smacked him with a frying pan,
and down the road he ran.
You'd think he might die with a lump on his head,
but in a fortnight, it was Mary who was dead.
He forgot to bring his alibi,
so, they strung him up so high,
and he forgot to die.
Constance's contest, "Dream Within A Dream". Poem written: 09/14/2025
Falling, falling, gliding, boom~ land
My dream overtook me
Wonder enveloped through night's arms
Taking me home to see
A gentle breeze becomes the muse
Through the endless dark night
Having a dream within a dream
Moonbeams lead to the light
A wand was weaving stars
Their radiant glow kissed like dew
Inspiring my soul's flow
Reach, climb, touch, grasp hold, a breakthrough
Then the silent dawn cracked
I embraced my dreams in quick flight
Results being gob smacked
Now that dew adorns earth's soft face
Dreams revealed my unfinished trip
A journey needs to be taken
A trip within places
That sometimes disgraces
Those silver threads stitched hopes and dreams
Are tattered with broken spaces
Gentle whispers weave light
Inspiring a poet's destined place
From dreams, sunbeams lead to new light
~ A Story You'll Surely Adore ~
('Suicide's a Pain')
As I was about to enter the store
I was smacked by a malfunctioning door
Without so much as the slightest warning
or a perfunctory good morning
Astonished more than stunned
I took off at a brisk run
to inform the manager-on-duty
of the door that had greeted me so rudely…
When I’d finished my story, to my utter surprise
the manager muttered: “Lies, lies, nothing but lies”
My jaw dropped and I exclaimed, “Why? Why? Why?”
the manager replied, “We’ve an epidemic of spies”
“Spies from our competitors,” he continued
“that’s why we smacked you upside your head”
In disbelief and rage, I said, “Well, I never” –
pivoted right back into that door ~
and keeled over dead
Pining for long, O longing heart,
If smacked art thou by a beauty,
If rocked by her assets thou art,
Should any charming face sway thee,
Earn first good deeds her to deserve,
Desires on their own seldom serve.
__________________________
Translation (sestet*) | 24.08.2025 | beauty, heart, women
*Wonder, if it can be called a Sestetto Rima-- iambic meter with a rhyme scheme of ABABCC.
Note: Here is a verse from Bhartrihari’s Shringaara Shatakam (hundred verses on love and romance). This verse is in Vasanta-tilakaa meter. It says: if ye cherish a beauty, she must be deserved first. Here is the transliteration of the verse in Sanskrit:
Tasyaah stanau yadi ghanau jaghanam cha haari,
Vaktram cha chaaru tava chittam kim aakulatvam |
Punyam kurushva yadi teshu tava asti vaañchaa,
Punyaih vinaa na hi bhavanti sam ihita-arthaah || 20 ||
Ford smacked into the Cadillac
but why didn’t you hold her back?
Ford has her own ways Buick said
She’s out of control and two are dead.
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