Blight

With unfocused pupils the teacher thinks,
ignoring all the ruckus made by smug,
designer label wearing nits, who drug
themselves on candy from their friendly shrinks,
remembering a day when knowledge seemed
to be a magic secret; little hands
would shoot into the air when distant lands
were shared, enlightened faces brightly beamed.
But uncut diamonds turned to dullish jade
as truth became self centered; edicts passed
which brought the standard to the under classed
and graduates can barely make the grade.

You can’t rebuff an apple that’s been spurned,
perhaps the hardest lesson ever learned.

Living Proof

Remember that dude back in school
we all thought he was more than cool,
well somehow he got hooked on smack
and had to crawl to make it back—
life can really make you a fool.

And that gorgeous girl so perfectly chaste
who thought she had us all outclassed
engaged in so many unguarded affairs
that now she’s dying and no one cares—
it all can change so very fast.

Then there was me, dreams through the roof
always so willing to act like a goof,
ignoring ambitions that needed some drive;
neglected endeavors will seldom survive—
right here’s the living proof.

Barnyard Bash

Unmoved by your big ego boost
I fluff the nest as we create,
a solid base supports the roost
with measured time we incubate—

quite soon the shell will start to crack
and then you pluckers best stand back!

Contusions

Feeling good, devoid of pain
then life beats you down again
but you can’t fault happenstance
when you create the circumstance
that ends up causing you regret
because you haven’t quite learned yet
to make sure that you follow through—
get ready for more black and blue!

Fanfare for Francis Duggan

For years now I've enjoyed a page
of verses never marred by rage,
a growing list of heartfelt rhymes
dispensed from lush Australian climes
by one determined friendly sage;

at each new post I gaze in wonder
awestruck by his rustic thunder,
he keeps on writing, going strong,
inscribing his contagious song—
what do they feed those guys down under?

Welcoming Committee

The monuments devoutly stand
upon that brooding gated hill,
an honor guard morosely grand,
their stony faces waiting still.

As raucous ravens congregate
to form an inauspicious flock,
they also sit and calmly wait
beside that stark forbidding rock.

I sympathize with their suspense,
made leery by the bleak unknown,
but now I rest outside the fence
no longer scared to be alone.

Reverse Pinnochio Complex

If you fake the funk, your nose will grow. — Bootsy Collins


To expedite idolatry
they flaunt their false humility
while beaming rather fetchingly,
then supplicate quite shamelessly—
“Make me the toy I long to be!”

Change

Once more I don these scratchy rags
and trudge off to the fun,
my worthless weary backbone sags,
the need to please long done—
those tarnished smirks they flip my way
just barely keep the wolves at bay.

What good is sweat, or true concern
for someone else’s glee?
Why grimly labor taciturn,
to finance their ennui?
These faded duds are worn right through,
a novel outfit’s overdue.

Busted!

On a bold foray through the demon’s dark demesne
I tarried with a sultry little succubus;
suddenly a horrid beast distinctly serpentine
appeared and interrupted our torrid little scene
spewing forth expletives incredibly obscene,
demanding I unhand his spawn voluptuous—
now I sit here next in line to face the guillotine,
how was I to know she was the daughter of Asmodeus?

We're Gonna Get It!

For ages She has smiled as we romped at her hem
a lenient matriarch who would never condemn,
but constant disdain for Her lessons raised ire
and suddenly punishment seems much more dire.

Drive By

I watch the speeding bullet fly
bedecked in vibrant hues,
deliverance is drawing nigh
a gift that’s mine to lose;
as incidental tangents try
to compromise my muse
ballistic data rather wry
concludes I must refuse.

..._.....____________________, ,
....../ `---___________----_____] = = = D
...../_==o;;;;;;;;_______.:/
.....), ---.(_(__) /
....// (..) ), ----"
...//___//
..//___//
.//___//

Another Chance

I’ve lived so long with nothing
that I now feel blessed with more,
for each new day brings something
which I blithely tossed before.

poetry

Red

You feel a gentle flitter
like the twitter of a thrush
that crazy little critter
duly flushed by rosy blush—
you stutter and you stammer
quite confused by all the clamor.

When floundered in the flora
take the time to mark your trail
as the offspring of Pandora
do their best to turn your tail;
with scarlet lips they have a knack
for getting one to double back.

Green

Emblazoned by undaunted youth,
too full of sap to see the truth,
I bristled with a lack of inhibition;
a brave explorer on a quest,
determined to bisect the crest
of every wave that circled my ambition.

I tried to reach beyond the sea
to hold you for eternity
and lavish you with blooms of pure devotion,
but every perfect petal browned,
then tempest tossed, I nearly drowned
and now I’m feeling sick from all the motion.

Fruitless

Encumbered by the steely chains of debt
as golden sprites sneak through corroded bars,
their soothing warmth a curative reprieve
which helps my mind to shed these daily bonds
with dreams of lush demesnes to call my own—
a fertile plot invites abundant rows
as anarchy of passion fiercely shoots
it’s way through soil, to seek the sun and spread
ungainly limbs, in hope of yielding sweet
exotic feasts, whose fragile flesh will share
the knowledge higher powers choose to keep.

The phone rings and I answer with a sigh;
evicted from the garden once again.