Poem

Like that ruby-throated humming

Bird that moves by

Making us stand still.

Huuklyeand Cinquor on Abandoning One's Craft in the Middle of the Sea of Doldrums

When that wan

But overblown lubberly poet told me

He was ready to set forth boldly

Out of the calms of obscurity

And take the world by storm,

I told him to batten the hatches,

Remain at his station and please

Wait for the lull to blow over.

Moderator’s comments: Aye-aye, O Captain! My Captain!

Sweet 'n' Sour

I remember

Mom had a habit

Of enticing her

Granddaughter into the store-

Room where she’d ply

The kid with all kinds of sweet

Whatnots till she was caught

Red-handed by a red-

Faced son who thought

She was trying

To pull a fast one

On the sourpuss dad
Who had all but forgotten

He once had parents

As sweet as she was.

Lullaby of Birdland

Our darling

Sweet bird of youth

Has turned in

To a dark gray crow cawing on

A blackened limb.

ΤΡΙΑ ΠΟΙΗΜΑΤΑ/TRES POEMAS

My thanks to Mario Domínguez Parra for translating three of my Greek poems into Spanish and sending them to the prestigious online poetry magazine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico(UNAM); if neither Greek nor Spanish is “Greek” to you, you can read them here.

AAHH, The IMF!

A poem adapted from a classic moving picture starring Archilochos, Aristophanes, Hitchcock, and The Hellenes in flight from the clutches of despicable harpies desperate for a piece of the action!

Huuklyeand Cinquor on the Light at the End of the Tunnel

Hallelujah, brethren!

I tell you things

Just keep gettin’ better

And better—

Ain’t no stopping that gravy

Train headed our way, just

You wait and see.

Moderator’s comments: Okey-dokey, Huuklyeand, we poor, stranded, unenlightened masses get the picture. We have to wait in this here dark passageway till the second coming of The Super Chief.