Poe-Pitch

“Twas a black cat, nothing less, nothing more
Its green eyed ebon head staring straight ahead
It mewed, “Lenore”…I’d heard that name before
I know, ‘twas Poe, long dead, now bled, rose red
Arising from bed…my head, my head, ohhhh!
“No more, Lenore!”…flailing body to floor
Green eyes burned through my soul, no, No, NO, NO!
It stood scrutinizing, sizing from door
Black cat? Black cat? ‘Twas a specter or Black hat
Stumbling on spent bottle…eyes on Lenore
Room began to spin…I ended with a splat
Swore ‘twas last time, I’d amble through pub door
Hath need naught to fear, cat is small in size
Claws tear at my face…mine eyes…minimized

Just a Spoonful of Sugar

Sinking…taking on ink
Reality…stranded on McGraw-Hill
Erase Twain…no n-word complaints
Hypothetical parenthetical restraints
Some say we should zip…bygone lips
Politically correct revisionist history
Still presents a mystery…misdeeds of the past
Airbrushed, neutered…A “faggot” is a bundle of sticks
White out washed…let’s play make believe
Here comes the pinko eraso
“Truth” ain’t always sugar coated
S.O.S. Be historically hip…abandon Censor Ship

We Waltz in Your Dreams

She envisions rainbows and butterflies
A fluttering array of color…life
On soft grass under crystalline skies
Free from all conflict, pardoned from gross strife
Freckles shall adorn, her forehead and nose
The “bounce” in her step...always enchanting
Blue eyes now tire ‘tis time for sweet repose
Beautiful she sleeps on hillside slanting
Sock monkeys smiling…porcelain bears dance
Rainbow drips love drops, upon her and me
She awakens like angel, now’s my chance
I kiss sun-kissed nose, now thee becomes we
My heart’s been captured…she’s opened the lock
We dance… tinkle, tinkle…in music box

Purported Distorted

Saw a bumblebee bumbling…He was all “stung out”
Heard a hummingbird humming…Couldn’t carry a tune
Watched an old catfish getting Friskie…Why shouldn’t he?
Witnessed two spiders playing seven card stud…Why not “crazy eights?”
Had a conversation with my shadow today
He didn’t say much except...he was afraid of the dark

Tripe, with a Side of Boloney

Stockton’s magnificent…Stockton’s stupendous
Shh!…The crime rate’s horrendous
Stockton’s magnificent…There’s the Delta if you’ve boat
Shh!…Our mortgages don’t float
Stockton’s magnificent…Forbes put us on the spot
Shh!…Get home before midnight or risk getting shot
Stockton’s magnificent…We exalt videos from Brookside Country Club
Shh!…“Magnificence” is perspective…get the rub?

Butch

I look at him and he looks at me
He knows that I know that he knows
Clouded eyes fail to mask his determination
His back legs nearly useless he now battles incontinence
Yet pride, dignity and shame coalesce upon him
We have braved wind, rain, fog, cold and stifling summer heat
I, sometimes speaking; him, listening when he feels it necessary
He loved water and chasing the uncatchable
Now, as always, he remains silent and I ponder what he’s thinking
Perhaps, in another life, I shall be at his feet
But his is the heart of a lion and mine that only of a man
Has man ever had as loyal a friend as a dog?
Has a dog ever brought such sorrow to a man?
I wonder if he knows that…I suspect he does
So we shall grieve together, on Yesterday’s trails

Dark Shadows

Somewhere, on the jagged coast of Maine
Wave upon wave crashes upon somber rock
A crescent moon, a celestial sliver, drips cosmic tears
And along a remote path a “man” walks in silence
Black onyx ring resides on inhuman index finger
As wolf’s head cane creates marked imprints in dampened soil
Two hundred years imprisoned, waiting, plotting
Now Free! His ancestral homeland beneath undying feet
Collinwood revisited, chilled air caressing dead skin
He, now a distant cousin returned…to claim a legacy
“The old house” shall breathe again, candelabras cast light and shadow
A casket, repository of the dead, serves a nefarious purpose
Home, by day, to a soul in torment, a soul in love
Josette! Josette! ‘Tis her he must find, a flame to rekindle
And she lives! As she once was, young ,beautiful, innocent
Now, she must die, only then can they be together, immortal, everlasting
Scant moments of agony exchanged for eternal togetherness
Obsidian shaded roses whose thorns leave but two…pricks
He emerges from dank fog, donned in caped overcoat, charming, cunning
Existing in the minds of the bewitched, the dreams of the lonely
Offering beguiling fantasies, cloaked in malevolence
He raps! A silver wolf resting in the iron grip of evil
For you my darling he has come, offering resplendent solitude
With “him” and “him” alone…now and forever
Beware my lovely…may flocks of angels protect you
A bat’s wings flutter in the wind…His name…is Barnabas

Rolex Vex

Always among us…They’re forever around
Turned up noses…In every town
Ostentatious, demanding…Affluent, commanding
Condescending, imitation…In every generation
Snooty, Snobbish…Frippery, Foppish
They dine at the club…Chase ball on the links
Leave penurious tips…Mix watered down drinks
The pompous “gentlemen”…The “wannabe” bitch
The bane of mankind…the vainglorious rich

Muslim Man

He traveled…great distance
From faraway…land
Determination… Fierce Persistence
Had guided…skittish hand
He memorized…Studied
With fervent…Resolution
Tears upon reciting…U.S. Constitution
Colors adorned house…Red, White and Blue
Always a smile…For me, for you
One morning…Land of Freedom…Found Shot Dead
Crime…Left the House…Turban, on his head

We'll Keep the Light On For Ya

Minute past midnight I lay on tombstone
Cold ancient marble feels good on mine face
Corner of thine eye says… I’m not alone
It moves …adorned in black…dead man’s pace
Wise owl on decayed branch takes in the sight
He nary bats an eye…seen all this before
Fox on the hunt casts shadow in moonlight
A cat arches back on crumbling crypt floor
I came to the graveyard to escape life
“Tis the living, not the dead…plaguing me
My agonies many… miseries rife
Wraith…approach with scythe…”it” will set me free
Last sound I hear with ears soon to be dead
“Rest,” now eternal…thy scourge will be bled

Low Tide

They beat his hooded body
Then strapped it to wooden plank
In blackness, currents of electricity
Lit up his agonized brain
Hallucinogenic drugs coursed through
A now carcinogenic wasteland
Cascading Adam’s ale, essence of life…now
Nefariously co-opted, Waves of
“Wanton Waterboarding”
Roiling ocean’s “white with foam”
Surfing the besmirched waters of
“Tortured Logic”

Alreade ... I Miss You

I’ve two eyes to gaze upon yours
Two ears to hear sweet, soft murmurs
Two hands to hold yours in mine
Two lips to kiss your lips sublime
Two arms to lock you in embrace
Two tears running down my face
One voice saying adieu to you
One heart that now is broken in two

Wreckless Feckless

They’ve been
Speared, Hacked
Hung, Shot
Bombed, Gassed
Sunk…’Tis Blot
Smeared, Distorted, Condemnation
Before there were borders
Or what we call nations
Grown on their own
Nurtured in the mind
Oft’ times been wicked
We thrive on the kind
Fact of the matter
‘Tis no certain panacea
Blood often fails
To drown an…Idea

Augary on Inky Wings

An ominous sky drew down on the lake
Dark, foreboding it crackled with fierce rage
Our tiny boat tossed, for shore we did make
To live or to die, our names on what page
Many chapters Life’s book, stand unwritten
Waves grew taller, ‘risen by nature’s breath
My sloop mate, soul mate, with her I’m smitten
I rowed impassioned, she would not meet death
Wind and water came crashing unto us
Her eyes stark with terror…mine hath fury
Land now loomed quite near, continue I must
Row me lad row!...thy only thought hurry!
By God’s grace, and my pace, we’ll see new dawn
Yet we failed to note…descending Black Swans

Praise of Poe

Many, many years had passed when a tale I first did see
‘Twas penned by Poe, the master of woe
And bore the simple title of “Annabel Lee”
“Twas a tale of love and a tale of death that ended by the sea
Over and over I read, ‘til the pages had bled
Red ink now staining me…I had to find Annabel Lee

I was aging man, my outlook wan, she died in Literary
How would I find, where was the sign
I longed to direct me, to the body of Annabel Lee
Twas in Baltimore where Poe spoke no more in 1849
I’d start my quest, my futile jest, my pursuit of history
Upon Eastern shore, its rocks I’d scour, I’d lie and die with Annabel Lee

With blistered, cracked, bleeding hands, clambered rocks and trudged through sands
Every crevice, soggy cave, to specter in sepulcher, I was a slave
I’d probe until I found her grave, somewhere near the sea
Near the sea, was where she’d be, to find her and be free
To locate a maiden who lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me…So obsessed was I…with Annabel Lee

How it transpired I scarcely know, I walked and talked in shadow of Poe
Morbid fantasies and stale wine, Nevermore, Nevermore yet still I walked shore
I’d lost all track of me…I’d lost me, I’d lost me, in the journey to Annabel Lee
If God is just, if God is right, then he must see me on this night
On this night, on this night as the crashing waves roll in from the sea
He’ll know my plight and aid my fight to lie and die with Annabel Lee

Futility in my breast did swell, did swell like hell, Oh! Sweet Annabel
Please entreat your heart to forgive me, wherever you are down by the sea
I’m not the old man you see, for I yet know ambrosial smells and distant church bells
As I continue the search for thee, Oh Angels of light do so set me right
Guide me past endless days and oft’ nightmarish nights, illume the path for me
‘Ere I pass, without finding lass, whose last breaths were passed as…Annabel Lee

Many, many years had fled, and I was dead, when bones found in cave
The knuckles were gnarled, the legs seaweed snarled, a dank and lonely grave
As the bones were removed, ‘twas one hand was so grooved upon nearly eroded name
They tried and pried and still were denied so broke off the hand feeling no shame
When the moon lies at its lowest ebb, golden, so golden down near the sea
In celestial light, a hand clings on tight, to the sea seldom name…of Annabel Lee

Til Death do Us Part

In barren house I walk, alone, shaking
Labyrinthine halls, stretch into blackness
Wager I did make…fool undertaking
To back out now would surely be tactless
The wind, the wind, the wind, forever blowing
‘Twas that a wolf howl?...ringing in mine ear
Air is icy cold, outside its snowing
Footsteps ‘neath my feet, do echo with fear
Flashlight is now dead, I feel…through cold tomb
A door somewhere opens, I hear…the lock
Where can it be, perchance in the next room?
My hand finds handle…and then…faint knock
I fling door open…Dagger plunges in
Last sight I see… crazed wife’s “victory” grin

The Color of Tomorrow

The first thing I noticed, were that her eyes were
Blue
We ran through wet, knee high grass, which left our feet
Green
We made love in creaky old shack with leaky roof that was colored
Brown
As we left, billowing clouds parted, and I picked her a Daffodil shaded
Yellow
After spending sixty years together, the flame burned bright…hair long ago
White
Then, I died, our multi-hued world, our private colored haven from erasure fell
Black
Yet, as one rainstorm so must pass, it gives rise to still another magnificent, arching
Rainbow
And I await, blue eyes and green feet in brown shack, yellow Daffodil and hair tinged
Red
Black
Imperceptible on the joyous and distant horizon of youth, with yearning, kissable lips, parted
Pink

Is This Seat Taken?

These people, those people, them people
English-Americans, German-Americans, Italian-Americans
Polish-Americans, Slavic-Americans, Sikh-Americans
Asian-Americans, African-Americans, Latino-Americans
Irish, French, Spanish, Dutch
To name all…would prove too much
“These people” are “you”
“These people” are “we”
“We the people”...Remember WE came from immigrants, too
... Native-Americans do

Hystericell

In corner of cell “floats” a black spider
Eyes wide are mine…red crescent shaped other
My love lies distant, I not beside her
Matter…bends, we regard one another
Through bars of cold steel, rigid, set in stone
An icy blue moon casts raw pallid breath
I peer up at fiends web…I am alone!
Eight legs walk silent, on mission of…death
Shiny coal body, unseen by mine eye
Maddened, I so touch, silken sticky web
Shall this be the night upon which I die?
‘Tis illusion I say, gross fears so ebb
I lay back on cot, convinced of false plight
My darling distant…succumbs to first bite

Star Light ... Star Bright

I am lost…gazing ever starward for bearing
The Big Dipper drips opaque drops of sorrow
And the “Man in the Moon” stares stoic and mute
A meteor streaks ‘cross dusky sky
I leap!...yet I’ve no “ticket”…cannot “hitch a ride”
My broken heart beats in rhythm with eternity
As “Cosmic Solutions” remain elusive

Thirteen Points of Light

Thirteen points of light to brighten up my day
In three short months they quickly fade away
Darkness once again descends upon my room
I then re-enter my world of pain, dread and gloom

Eyes that sparkled brightly, voices shrill and loud
I briefly joined their family, for that I stand most proud
Must all things of joy, be of the transitory
Is a moment in the sun, our one brief shot at glory?

We stood on the field, hand on hand on hand
Diverse backgrounds yes, but united we did stand
Our battles were fought, with glove and bat and ball
The odds were stacked against us, yet we still stood tall

Now one day this summer, I shall drive by that field
And the tears from my eyes will surely reject yield
Then on that night I’ll scan the skies for thirteen stars
Amidst the stifling summer heat and roar of passing cars

Their names and their numbers etched into my brain
And I’ll pray for winter’s day, to see them once again
Many nights I’ll suffer pain with scant relief
Reunion with the Lady Vikes must strengthen my belief

With the tools of our trade, will again stand hand in hand
And take the field, win or lose, a tightly knitted band
I will not fail to fight my way, never losing sight
Of sparkling eyes and voices loud…thirteen points of light

Ped-Agog

Teacher, teacher, oh from whence do you come?
You belongeth in place, far, far, from here
Swayed by the lute, a melodious strum
‘Twas name Mary or perchance Guinevere
Soft flaxen skirt billowing as you dance
Clouds atop London drift aimlessly by
Enraptured glory…renaissance romance
Through swirling hair, young man catches thine eye
“Sprightly young girl…I should have word with you”
You blush oh so slightly…coyly say “sir?”
On Globe’s rough hewn stage…you know what to do
Lips press gently amidst essence of myrrh
One morn’ hand in hand, one night ‘tween his sheets
And long ago words…that taste eversweet

It's a Zoo Out There

I’ve seen ‘em clap with slickered flippers
Heard ‘em bark when time for nippers
Glide through water effortlessly
Preen for onlookers shamelessly
Nap and snore on sun splashed dock
Wiggle their whiskers on wave washed rocks
Line up in row…waitin’ for the next meal
Now assassination is in the repertoire
Of a trained…Seal

Heart ...Breaking News

President Huckabee, after signing the repeal of
“Obamacare” celebrated by announcing his own
Health care plan tentatively titled “Huck-a-Buck.”
The President, former Minister and still occasional
Fox News Pundit stated he has the cure for all that
“Ailes” us. Effective immediately, all hospital televisions
Will show Fox News on a 24/7 basis. The new policy
has been euphemistically called “Yoo Tube.”
Copyright infractions may apply.