I sing the woes of schoolyard crows.
You are no more bird than balladeer,
Crooning sonnets you compose
From gossip of the vanished year.
The gate I crossed, and now am lost
A guest where once I bore a name;
Iron bars are now with lacquer glossed,
But I am still the same.
It grows late to be without a nest
Do we return then? Do we dare?
My guilt hammers at my breast;
You and I, we are unwelcome there.
So sing with me, you sable host,
Of lessons from the years long flown—
For I, like you, am but a ghost
That haunts the yards where I was grown.
The squirrels' desire emphatic
To airbnb in the attic
Means a landlord may leave
Hors d'ouevres in the eave
That make their guests aromatic
Unwelcome Guests
(Arthritis, Bursitis, Tendonitis, Gout)
Miracle Man
10-11-2023
The “rItis” boys came to visit,
and their welcome overstayed.
My futile efforts to evict them,
they always downplayed.
Arth, Burs, and Tendon,
that very unpleasant three.
Were always reluctant to leave,
before the ravaging of me.
For pain I gave each points,
on occasion they brought a shout.
They all attacked my joints,
but none compared to Gout.
UNWELCOME NEWS
I am sympathetic, yet relieved
At my friend’s terminal diagnosis
As it could just have been me
The store was most inviting
With its various antiques,
The kind of place for browsing
That a retro-lover seeks.
I stopped in on a Sunday
But I didn’t stay for long,
For the music that was blasting
Was a real religious song.
Now the owner makes her choices
Based on what she likes to hear
And she joined in on the chorus
In a voice both loud and clear.
Yet I think consideration
To the shoppers should be paid.
If the radio played country
(Not my thing), I would have stayed.
Had this happened close to Christmas
Maybe I’d have been prepared,
But I wasn’t, so I left and
I could tell nobody cared.
Conjuring anxiety, obstructing path of hope,
A quivering hesitation, frightened to cope;
Fear is omnipresent causing anguished moan
Agitating aspirations in distress of unknown.
Fear is darkness, a trepidation upon norm,
Worrisome, trembling, turbulent as storm;
An obstacle threatening progress of life,
A messenger of panic, an architect of strife.
Treacherous to audacity, fear is a cheat,
A betrayal to victories, fretting of defeat;
Fear is melancholy, an expression of gloom,
Hampering courage, perturbing in doom.
Fear is a loathsome impediment to goals,
Dashing endeavors of endearing souls;
Averse to commitment as love goes awry,
A remorseful cry, where lost kinships sigh.
Unwelcome emotion imprisoning ambition
Unleashing inaction of paranoid inhibition,
Fear immobilizes, as if, bird trapped in cage;
Paranoid, valor-less, upon life’s center stage.
January 21, 2023
Placed 1st: Fear Is Liar Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Sotto Poet
I wouldn’t stand on the edge if I were you
You are not me, so you don’t have to.
Aren’t you afraid you will fall in and drown?
Never at all when you are not standing around.
Invader of flesh, bone, and blood
Rudely invites itself in
To wreak harrowing havoc.
No ringing of doorbell;
Not so much as a knock -
Cancer
Date written: 11/17/2022
Pain you don't have squatters rights. This is not where you belong. So hurry up and pack your things. Disappear yourself, be gone.
Why you came here to begin with, is something I don't know. You came here uninvited. Now I'm demanding that you go. The fact that you're not wanted here. Should be obvious to see. You need to quit trying to stall and get off my property.
If you don't go now I will have to take action of a different course. I'll invoke my anger and remove you from here by force.
Once you leave don't come back. Your squatting here has come to an end. Don't you ever trespass on my property again.
Snoring
A process
So natural and uncontrolled
Telling people
You're asleep and defendless
You're so innocent
And arrogance
A character so volatile
Telling people
Your peer groups
Your colleagues
Your boss
You're challenging
Dangerous and unwelcome
Inviting openly
Unforcasted enmity
A pert young lady from back in a hollow
Had trouble with her new fellow, Carballo
He was giving her head advice,
In fact, he wasn’t very nice
Insisting now that she learn how to swallow.
Written May 29, 2022
11/11/8/8/11
If I was well, I wouldn’t be here.
If there were no walls- I would wander away to be near-
My family who decided my behavior was unnatural.
So here I am unpacking, my hopes of leaving are supernatural.
The sounds are shifting again.
And the lights are morphing in this pen.
Please be seated, they all command.
Your disobedience, we will not stand.
I wasn't constrained to dwell in hell
But I brought it right here in the cell
Demons surely came along,
Wearing their fancy thongs
They crave a filthy bong, and
Wished to stay for a little long
While busy playing ping and pong,
They somehow knew the vibes were wrong
So, they began singing nasty songs
While hitting a really special gong
They said, your mind is where we belong
So it’s better if you learn to play along
Since they were way too strong
I just stayed up all night long
Looking for tricks to get along,
Pleading them to stop ding dong.
Hey, unwelcome monotony...
my moods are darker than the Squawk's melody;
all the swans have deserted the nearby pond...
will another thunder shake trees and ground,
making the rest of the huddled geese in grief
flee to a calmer and more peaceful reef?
Do I want to weep as trees do hearing flowers complain...
remembering the lulling breeze of the sunniest day?
Do I wish to bring back each joy lost to the boring rain?
Nothing is lovely behind this window so foggy and deary!
Hey, unwelcome monotony
don't be more unbearable than loneliness;
clouds bring rain and with them drabness,
can anyone find inspiration in insipid beauty?
Do I dream of valleys beneath mountains,
put up a tent and watch with starry eyes a twinkling sky;
lest I fall asleep and miss shouting stars...
those stars that never collide with hearts
that remain faithful to themselves and others?
Will they ever be betrayed by promises that have run dry?
A loud noise jars my senses
Rips me away from creative thoughts
And steals my inner serenity.
Is it a passing truck back-firing?
Or a teenagers glass-pack shouting
"Notice me, you fool,
I am
Macho man!"
written August 2, 2021
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