Gimme a Break

The vending machine was empty
except for sugary junk,
I chose a fruit-filled candy
and heard it go ker-plunk,

convinced I was so stealthy
as my sweet tooth sorely begged
I quickly grew unhealthy—
my snack was multi-legged!

Retrograde

The moon is perched on Saturn
like an egg upon a pearl
an ivory bellied slattern
in the throes of one more whirl

don’t envy the particulate
that seems to lewdly drape
around the inarticulate
yet so expressive shape

when gravid godlings argue
no mortal interferes
lamenting latent sinew
that slowly disappears.

Localized

We’re nearing the end of a cycle so grand
it dwarfs the time our race has spanned
though truly, in the greater scheme
it’s but a blink within God’s dream.

Patience

To her I’m just some guy that comes into her store that’s it, nothing more, so can you tell me why I wonder what she thinks and what she does all day, or if she’ll ever say, “Hey, let’s go have some drinks!” To me she looks so fine that it makes me hesitate and I’m resigned to wait until my turn in line.

Noxious

Your dogma of dismissal
is the poison in my veins,
that jaunty tune you whistle
the requiem for gains—

it’s a lethal combination
when you’re forced to swallow shit
while feigning your elation
as though you savor it.

Asswipe

Impertinent pampered babies write
improper little rants
but when you call them out to fight
they poop their big-boy pants.


***Dedicated to Flash :P***

Routed

Deception isn’t always deceit
nor self awareness conceit;
a moment of motion
can be less than moving,
hold fast to the notion
that shuns their disproving
for no high’s quite as sweet
as when the rich retreat.

Getting Old

I hear the din
I taste the sweat
that soaks my chin
because of debt
why breed a class to owe?

I see the grime
I smell the stink
at any time
it could end in a blink
but I would miss it so

I chase the truth
I feel the lie
forsaking youth
to find out why
we never seem to grow.

Sobriety

“Getting off?” she coyly purred
he smiled and said “Quite soon.”
they drank until their speech was slurred
then left the dark saloon,
to nestle where they wouldn’t be heard
and gaze upon the moon
while deep inside them something stirred
like a turbulent typhoon.

“If you insist I won’t say no.”
he nonchalantly quipped
she laughed and touched his arm just so
with fingers that were ruby-tipped
and sparkled in the moony glow
as they discreetly sipped
champagne and got to really know
that urge by which we’ve all been gripped.

Swallowable?

“Come and see the toad that glowed!”
an enterprising raven crowed
with such excitement when he spoke
that all the woodland creatures showed,

but disappointment quickly loomed
because they knew the act was doomed
when the gloomy toad was heard to croak
“The firefly has been consumed.”

Spangled

They flash like Zeus’s ire
these fashioners of fire
and deck the dusky field
with wonderment they wield.

Limitations

I had my bite of apple
and found it rather tart
for why should someone grapple
between their life and art?

The difference is the boundaries
as one has none at all
within our fragile foundries
we crawl or freely fall.

Con

'Are you there? Say a prayer for the pretender
who started out so young and strong only to surrender.'
- The Pretender, Jackson Browne


My brain is like mush
and the harder I push
there’s more of it spattering out
so I sit on my tush
and with a great whoosh
expel this malingering doubt—
it’s bound to come back
for life has a knack
of mocking us thoroughly when
we’re on the right track
but then double back
to the comforting call of our pen.

Mortimer's Morsel - X

His fame was like a concrete cell
diminishing in size
with every new distraction that arose,
if he had known the hectic hell
that infamy supplies
he would have left the crowing for the crows,
he wondered how much longer he could pose

and knew it wouldn’t be that long
before he finally flipped
and started screaming “Get away from here!”
imagine how the docile throng
would stand there lacquer-lipped
and maybe some would even shed a tear.
He wished that he could simply disappear

just like his buddy Augustine
(that no one seemed to miss)
without whom there would not have been a quest
when they returned he’d ring the queen
in hopes of finding bliss
by putting her good humor to the test
with a slightly unconventional request.

And now outside the throne room stands
a regal looking bust
of Augustine, The Founder of The Chip,
remembered fondly through the lands
as someone ants could trust
he taught them how to give the cook the slip
and now they bring back goodies every trip,

while Mortimer goes out each day
in search of something new
content to be a loner with a scheme,
he smiles as he makes his way
beyond the masses who
may think his life’s as bland as it must seem
but a dreamer’s bound to have another dream.

Mortimer's Morsel - IX

“NO!” cried Mortimer in shock
his tiny mind upset,
unable to accept what he had seen
he had to hunker down to block
the still impending threat
but only one thought bounced within his bean—
‘Where in the world was Augustine?’

When the danger seemed at last to pass
and Mortimer could walk
he quickly scrambled down to claim his prize
he gazed upon the chocolate mass
and felt his muscles balk
at thoughts of moving anything that size
but luckily he knew a bunch of guys.

He hurried home to tell his tale
which no one would accept
until he showed the sample he had saved
and then they formed a work detail
excluding the inept
for there were other horrors to be braved
obtaining this confection that they craved.

And all the while that they marched
the strangest thing occurred
it seemed he suddenly had countless friends
he looked at some with eyebrows arched
they never ere proffered
the caring pleasantries an ally sends
he found himself confused by these new trends,

and truth be told a bit annoyed
he had no time to think
for someone new was always standing there
pretending they were overjoyed
or swaying on the brink
of ecstasy if only he would share
a moment of his day to meet their stare.