Sound Off

I started my day with a SNAP CRACKLE POP
then had a bowl of mush
protesting joints refuse to stop
and I can’t make them hush,
so I’ll just ignore those gruesome sounds
that come with every pang
and try to focus on ending my rounds
with some kind of WHIZ BOOM BANG.

Hung

The more my back aches
the more I hate to waste
the energy it takes
to counteract haste—

the lower I stoop
the less I can bear
but once in the loop
you can’t slip the snare.

Event Horizon

Knowing there’s a fleeting sphere
we circle on the fly
doesn’t answer why we’re here
to somehow briefly try
burning brighter than that ball
for everyone to see
before succumbing to the pall
of dreadful gravity.

Smooth

Behold the new effete elite that sport sardonic grins
a mismatch of cosmetics and jutting scraggly chins
accountable to answer for their father’s macho sins
too bad they’ll never sprout a single curl upon the twins.

Fleabag

You thought you had secured a bitch
more fruitful than the rest
but she’s unraveled every stitch
to that I can attest,
and don’t complain because you itch
you know her kind infest
anyone who buys the pitch
to endlessly invest.

Sticks

Another revolution wound
no elegant solution found
a vibrant blush adorns the face
of mountains whose majestic grace
surround this valley tucked away
from sterile steel so stony gray
that dominates the leveled loam
beyond this heaven I call home
where incandescent autumn rays
remediate my grim malaise
and soaring vistas abrogate
myopic modes that inundate.

Prisoners of War

We pity them with placards and parades,
an ebon flag whose snowy silhouette
portrays the ones we never should forget;
the shades too drawn to relish cannonades.
But who could ever overlook those gaunt
defiant faces staring hungrily through bars,
or battered bodies riddled with the scars
whose lividness will likely always haunt
our dreams. Commandos plot offensive schemes
anew, determined to eradicate
the worthless scum their doctrines designate
deterrents to their prejudiced regimes.
It’s getting harder as each day goes by
to look our fellow inmates in the eye.

Crow

I know I’ve found my fated cause
a reason to exist
that feels so good, despite the flaws
I’m certain won’t desist;
regardless how I tend to gripe
I’ll never alter common type.

A rook amongst the nightingales
I flatly sing my song
but all my garbled squawking fails
to satisfy the throng
and still my caws routinely spill
across the web from blackest quill.

As seasons spin their primal dance
of bounty and rebirth
there will be those that look askance
at how much they are worth,
a question with but one reply—
how much did you truly try?

Speedbumps

There have been times in life when I achieved a decent clip
just to wind up stuck behind someone whose pleasure trip
inured them to the fact that their lethargic limits gyp
those intent on moving past the surface of the tip.

Hacked

Must a job that’s almost gainful
also be so goddamned painful
can’t we just come in and labor
sans the sharpness of your saber.

To Do

I’ve got my list of all the tasks that really must be done
but first let’s talk frivolities; you know it’s much more fun
and then someone important can discover how we shun
our necessary duties while our fulsome flappers run.

(Too bad I never earned my degree
in acting more decisively.)

Denuded

There is no compunction
to focus or function
beyond simply saying ‘Why not’
specific suppression
of thoughtful expression
induces malingering rot
which tends to just wither
the urge not to dither
like every collateral leaf
destroying your comfort
with almost no effort
and now we can all share the grief.

Keywords

Your jargon is impressive
so detailed and progressive
but every day just brings a new mistake
whose fire spreads pollution;
become part of the solution
and implement the plans you love to make.

Odds

If twenty five cubes comprise a square
must it be five by five
and does the arc that makes someone aware
designate them as alive
can brand new angles help prepare
chaos to somehow survive
the calculating game of dare
and thrive?