Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Pathetic Fallacy


Rainy day 
Bubbles bubbles bubbles 
Bubbling buoyantly 

In the gutter they call life 
Floating by—oh, 
Oh, the joy of it! 

To see how hollow 
They follow one another all 
The while going pop, pop, pop, 

Never asking why 
They leave their troubles 
For the sweet by-and-by. 


NB: Originally posted December 28, 2016 and video-updated January 9, 2017.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Huuklyeand Cinquor on Transcending a Rat Race Mentality


Forget about that “better” mouse trap— 
Even if you should 
Wake to find the trodden 
Masses beating a path to your door,

Better you turn turncoat and get out 
Of the rat race rather than looking 
Down and thinking twice 
Too many poor dead 

Vermin already infesting the floor. 



Moderator’s comments: First off, Huuk’s “baneful” attack against one of the scourges of contemporary society i.e. the “rat race,” is diluted by too much reliance on mousy soporific bromides; secondly, where “a shrill piping of plenty” is clearly called for, he gives us an overdose of black-humored trumpery; finally, one wonders if it isn’t time for him to seriously consider retiring from the poetry wars and expend what’s left of his Parnassian energy on something more constructive, say like swatting gadflies that are always bugging our flying white horse Pegasus whenever it touches down to quench its thirst at the sacred Pierian watering hole.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Introduction to Heuristics 101


In which we will examine how 
Amongst other sundry occurrences, 
The path of least resistance sweeps 
You off your feet and with the greatest 
Of ease throws you over the nearest cliff. 


Sunday, December 11, 2016

Wintry Vigil


storm door knocking
in face of wind

seaman’s wife, son, daughter 
round table with mutt

under empty chair waiting 
for grace to begin. 


Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Generation of Vipers, Raymond, Washington, circa 1952


Reaping wheat 
Back in the old country, 
Mom was once attacked by a viper 
Whose head she crushed 
Under a rock before 
It could bite her, now had me 
As point man leading us 
Down narrow, overgrown 
Path infested with hard- 
Of-hearing innocent garter snakes, 

To our vegetable patch 
Five hundred yards behind 
The tenement house where 
You could see her crossing 
Herself and me pounding holy
Hell out of a pan so hard 
All unknown and treacherous 
New world devils would sense 
The urgency of the message 
And stay worlds, worlds away. 






Saturday, December 3, 2016

Monday, November 28, 2016

Amelioration of the Sixth Extinction


Dear Dr. Paul E. Annaish, 
Blithe spirit par excellence 

In a world of encroaching 
Darkness, please note 

All of us are dying 
To read 

Your prescription 
On how to stave off 

The demise of what 
A lot of us like 

To call the light— 
But please 

Write your Rx legibly, 
We don’t want to go blindly 

Ignorant into the all- 
Knowing night. 






Saturday, November 26, 2016

Black Friday Sellout


All you white 
Slaves and pimps

Of merchandise 
And other motley

Bags of whatnots,
It's bad

Enough buying 
A lie but 

What if you think 
You’ve got the goods 

On the store when 
The store knows 

You’ve been sold 
Down the river? 


Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Monstrous Issue


Let us learn by heart the bloodline 
Of our descent into hell— 

We are all descended from flesh-
Eating apes armed with bludgeons. 

That should start us off well. 


Sunday, November 20, 2016

Justice of a Disturbing Peace


Before it all comes crashing 
Down on your stiff upper lips, 
Listen up, ladies and gentlemen— 

It’s a case of when the once outspoken, 
Wrongly defamed “rabble” are unable 
To rouse themselves from the rubble

Of the deaf-mute derelicts 
They’ve so wittingly become. 






Thursday, November 17, 2016

Autumnal Illusion


Butterfly a 
Lighting on 
Dazzling 

Colorful 
Printed 
Towel— 

Opening and closing 
Its wings, thinking 
It’s settled 

On a flower. 


Monday, November 14, 2016

American Horror Story


In the end 
We have no choice but 
To examine the horrific 

Possibility of what is 
Actually out there was 
Virtually everywhere 

Inside us. 


Friday, November 11, 2016

Anthem: America Out On A Limb


Do not be crestfallen, 
A mere leaf trembling 
In a mean wind; 

You were made 
For higher things 
Stirring underground, 

Compose yourself 
For what is about 
To begin. 


Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Symplegades: Bottom Line on the 2016 US Presidential Election


For want of a fanciful dove, 
The plumb bob snapped just 

As the ship of fools was caught 
Between two black clashing rocks

And in truth now lies
Broken at the bottom. 


 

Monday, November 7, 2016

Chainlink Fences

—for John Levy 


Who writes in a poem 
About a drawing 
About why he liked them 
As a child so swell 
And subdued 

We can well imagine 
Climbing up them even 
If our feet are too large 
And we too big 
For our britches.



Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Abandoned Barbecue


Long past its prime, 
This corroded 
Iron barrel cut length- 
Wise in half, whose 
Bottom was once 
Covered under a light 
Shovelful of topsoil, 
And over which 
A bed of hot char- 
Coals crackled, 
Searing dandy cuts 
Of tender, grass-fed beef 
Whenever the occasion 
To surfeit called for it, 
Now sprouts 
A generous helping 
Of organic dandelions— 

But do not fret, friends 
For old times’ sake, 
Let’s pretend we’re eating 
Our blooming hearts out. 


Saturday, October 29, 2016

Zen Biker Facing Wind On Narrow Country Road


I don’t know 
What sounds more 
Swishing— 

The sound of bamboo 
Swishing or the sound 
Of a boy on his bicycle 

Swishing through. 


Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Daily Gazette


               the good news of the day 

Most mornings 
We rise ready

To wonder 

How wondrous 
The twilight will be. 



               flip side of the coin 

Punch-drunk, we just roll 
Over, curl up and wonder 

What to make of the sinister
Squiggles crawling 

Up the wall. 







Saturday, October 22, 2016

Ruse: One For The Poem That Got Away


What’s that you say?— 
What’s on the tip of my tongue? 

How’s about a piece of my mind, 
You miserable excuse for a muse. 





Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Love Unscathed Beyond A Reasonable Doubt


Clean 
As a whistle 
It seems this 

Double-edged knife in 
Question clearly 
Went in so 

Deep its blade came 
Out the other side whole, 
Hearty and dying for more. 



Saturday, October 15, 2016

Flight in Dire Straits


Mon darkling 
Lecteur, bear with me if 
You will and draw out the first 
Word of this poem’s title, 
Making it two 
Syllables in 
Stead of one, 

Then sit back 
And imagine 
A lone pilot’s night run 
Full of light one 
Second away 
From heading 
Straight into the sun. 





Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Nepenthe, Et in Suburbia Ego


Your narcotic quiet settling 
Round the circle at the end 
Of the dead-end street— 

Even the white 
Lilies ringing it seem 
To have fallen fast

Asleep.



NB:  An Atmosphere You Can Trust







Sunday, October 9, 2016

Knowing Your Rightful Place


Day after day, 
Those they call 
They say the world is 
One fucked up place, 
Dude and you, well 
You being part of that 
They, they say 
You have no right 
To say it isn’t—so just 
Stay where you are 
And fuck it. 

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Summing Up


Mauve-blue 
Spires of cypresses

In twilight 
And the wanting 

Spirit aspiring more,
Evermore.






Monday, October 3, 2016

Eve of Imminent Extinction


Where over millenniums 
Myriads grew and grew
Only to shrink 
To two, now only one 
And before you 
Know it, no one 
To say goodbye to 
The setting sun, too. 


Friday, September 30, 2016

Romantic Poet Sick to Death of the Muse


Verily I have been lax with you 
Of late I know, but I swear 
Over the graves of my venerable 
Forebearers I will be lax no more— 

The next time I hear you 
Whistling in time to the lullaby 
Of bombs dropping softly 
Into laps of babes 

I shall drop everything, 
Drop straight to my knees 
And—dare I say it?— 
Pray you call no more. 




Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Skid Row Tenement House Rotgut


So rotten the rickety flight 
Of stairs you had to hold 
Your breath and nose all 

The way ending 
Up stinking drunk 
On the bum 

On the ground 
Floor landing up 
Side down. 


Saturday, September 24, 2016

Downtown Sidewalk after Deluge


Scum all 
Washed away— 

Cement scrubbed so 
Clean urchins soak 

Up hopscotch 
On it night and day. 




Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Concupiscent Sirens


Oh most baffled 
Of bedeviled public 
Men, should you chance 
To come upon a ship 

Stranded miraculously 
On top of a mountain, think 
Out of the box, do not be 
Dumbfounded, do not founder 

In the maelstrom 
Of male stupidity, it’s clear 
As that insistent throbbing 
In your dimwitted heads— 

A woman’s lone pubic 
Hair has dragged it there! 


Monday, September 19, 2016

Food for Thought


Grit your teeth on this 
Piece of homily, ‘Murica— 
Just so 

You can squeal 
Your piggy little hearts out, 
Once we have the elections 

In the bag, you’ll be free 
To skedaddle out 
Of the poke unfettered 

And amble in 
To the nearest Salvation 
Army melting pot. 




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