Fixation (In the Manner of O'Hara)

I don’t have a cat 
But if I did, I know 

I’d want it to be 
Like Frank’s great 

Orange tawny one, Boris 
(Armed with Madness) Butts, 

The one he describes so lovingly, 
Aptly in “Cantata”— 

And if you want to know 
Why, you’ll just have to 

Part with that wild hair 
Up your ass, too.

Smoke Screen

We all drive by 

The homeland the scene 
It looks terrible 

All these people up in smoke— 
No body screams. 

Misunderstood Muse

Year after year she wasted away 

Consuming notebook after notebook with what 
Husband and son imagined contagious nonsense— 

Having kept their distance, it made sense after 
She departed to chuck the lot in the fireplace. 



NB: Sadly enough, a true story which transpired in a neighboring village many years ago; only the roles of the spouses have been exchanged to make it and the title more “poetic”.

Double Whammy

charmer, the man 
you vooded 

never knew what 
hit him where 

it hurt 
you too. 

Lynch Mobber

I remember the times they 

Spelt nothing but trouble 
And we had no time 

To stand around pretending 
We were just 

Innocent bystanders. 

Virtual Cowboy

Whoa, there! I know 

There must be better ways 
To while away a morning than watching 

A horse grazing in a vacant lot 
Next to your house, 

But right now I feel right 
At home right here, 

Pardner. 

Metamorphosis of a Blythe Spirit

No skylark, summer found him one morning 
In an olive grove, waiting for the cicadas 
To begin their song from limb to limb; 

One evening at the end of autumn, 
Nailed to a twisted trunk, 
They found the shell of him.