Unlocking the vault
invested with pain
Its riches long stolen
all value is stained
Each bill tells a story
of wantonness greed
With truth sold for dollars
whose printing now bleeds
Locked up in a winter
of coldness and fear
A traitorous fortune
of all you hold dear
Its smell tells a story
the mold growing thick
Corruption inherent
the air makes you sick
Bereft you can’t spend
what you coveted so
Before the interment
when sinking so low
The cash becomes toxic
it falls from your hands
Its value infected
—insolvent and damned
(Dreamsleep: June, 2023)
Wide awake in the silent dark
When I’m all curled in a corner
I hear an incessant pounding
Is this the sound of a traitorous heart?
Or footsteps pacing outside my door?
Regrets try to creep out from under
Barren tears in eyes wide open
You’ll always remember and can I ever forget?
Those uncertain hours before the light of dawn
When it would be in your gaze, I become whole!
13.4.22
Contest: SOUL BETRAYAL
Sponsor: Unseeking Seeker
I fought one piggish Titan and I won
As if that devious Leech existed not;
Sealing the very firy nose of his gun
With ball-like rags to sap every shot.
A long-lionized mogul of giant name
Slew my low fists by a magic stroke;
Vilest Judas glossing in pesty fame,
I his two-timing fang spookily broke.
I know not if such a scheming villain
Fickle arms dim for want of glut gain,
Ever shall by Time's rare marvel floor,
And ink selfsame serendipities more.
May the Highest Star your ochre clip,
And pelt plagues and fates your ship;
Until Hades her filthiest minion finds
Sulfurous frying betwixt fallen minds.
May your fiendish bow of foxy veneer
Snap mid-hunt as looms hugest deer,
And life's fave tooth turn fatal sore;
Your daintiest morsel tartest grow!
Some think that love is as strong as hate,
And still others as sturdy as a Flander’s mare.
If both be true then I don’t think Ann loved me,
For if she indeed loved me then the two I swear
Are just as false as a fowler’s artful noose.
You should think that ten years is not a time too short,
The period Ann and I were inseparable honeyed mates.
Her heart was always mine and our breath was one
Till I saw her off to the airport and to the United States,-
A distance she cursed from home to that tinted hawk.
I have never heard or read from my darling Ann
And I think our avowed affections are sadly done.
Humans need words with sounds
And then hear the tone of your voice
They want to analyze the picture on your face
And not to suspect you wrongly
Even though you are angered
Or have failed, speak a word
A word of peace and not revenge
In what situation but must be understood
Humans want a response
Negative or positive
They are relieved or angered
But that is what it takes
Words have hands of thorns
And they sit not
They are wide ranged
They are heard, understood and misunderstood
They run so faster than the bullet
But silent response brings confusion
Silence accepts all defeat
But a word makes us happy
We need to hear words
And from our leaders,
And elders and our friends
And from our loved ones
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