Morgue-age

They found a cure for cancer today
The only question now, was just who could pay?
News traveled fast, lives would be saved
Calculators hummed, for the monetary depraved

Lung cancer patients studied the scale
An arm and a leg for the cure was on sale
Colo-rectal cancer was billed as a bargain
Lawyer’s fees were immense to decipher the jargon

For the women who are listening we won’t forsake thee
We understand that the ovaries are a target of “C”
And to breast cancer patients we want you to relax
“Cause even if we cleave ‘em, we’ll install a new rack

Testicular cancer makes a guy feel like a dork
But you’ll be hanging like new with sacks filled with cork
And whilst Penis cancer is rare we realize it’s demanding
With our backdoor cashier we exhibit… understanding

Leukemia patients lined up for miles
Triage estimators managed to banish the smiles
Melanoma sufferers drug themselves to the din
“We accept MasterCard to make whole the skin”

Pancreatic cancer, a death sentence heretofore
Alleviated by eighty payments of five thousand dollars or more
Brain cancer, Liver cancer, cancer of the bone
Dial 1-800-Beat-The-C, on your cellular phone

Our operators are knowledgeable, and know how you feel
Their all former clients, who got in first on the deal
So no matter the loved one, say a wife or a child
You’ll have taken the first step, the moment you’ve dialed

Our services may sound costly that’s just meant to be
It takes a lot of greenback to beat back the "C"
Yet were not without compassion so we’d like to correct
For Misunderstandings press seven and ask… for Cancer Collect

Sonnet 6

A painful memory locked up I keep
Although sometimes I do misplace the key
Where long fingers can’t reach and eyes can’t peep
A place of which “nobody visits but me”
By light of the moon when I’m fast asleep
Betrayal!… nocturnal duplicity
The box unlocked…I unconsciously weep
Dreaming where “nobody visits but me”
People I loved residing six feet deep
Still others, well, I know not where they be
I locked this damn box yet, still I must sleep
Torment… tears, where “nobody visits but me”
Endless barricades, forging mental locks
Yet death… if I should lose grasp of that box

Sonnet 5

Carried aloft on smooth silvery wings
Where angels fly and rest on nimbus bed
I stand and watch my true love soar away
Replaying, my love, the last words you said
Life is not a thing to take for granted
Each day is labeled with uncertainty
Love is but a seed that once is planted
Will grow or fade like Neptune’s breath at sea
Each time, my darling, you sail off through clouds
I doth realize that we had no choice
And when you’re gone I walk through strident crowds
My heart hears nothing but your tender voice
Come back, oh dearest, lay down by my side
We’ll dry the tears in your absence…I cried

Sonnet 4

Promoted with honor, labeled with pride
Mother packs, a “going away” basket
Both sides so lay claim to “God’s on “our” side?”
Live boys soon dead men in Flag draped caskets
Thy very first weapons… rocks, spears and arrows
Achievement’s of glory? Blood on thy hands
Mankind “advanced” … blasting bone from marrow
Conflict’s the fingers…of evil’s cruel hand
Ten thousand years of “civilization”
Built upon bones of those who came before
Hath savage clash spared one generation?
Do the rich, die in numbers, like the poor?
I sing this thing that men call war…then sigh
How many more, I wonder, have to die

Sonnet 3

A rose, red, cut, bled… stem within a vase
Taken aback thorns shout…. Amputation!
The rose arm, debased, now lives without face
I recoil from my crass permutation
Why is Beauty fair… often worshiped first?
Modest stands alone like a simple weed
Beauty doth bear a unique, deadly curse
Ugly lurks in shadow…a browbeat creed
Some say “silly”… bemoaning one flower
Do roses shed tears at the end of the day?
‘Twas I cut the rose… shear cutting power
Bud and stem severed? To that I say nay!
Crimson red roses or dull, yellowed weed
‘Tis Nature’s decree, they both come from seed

Sonnet 2

‘Twas a place for rest, of lace for killing
Built of silken filaments strong like steel
As Fall nights approached the air felt chilling
My friend the spider, the cold would soon feel
A tireless worker her home oft razed
Yet she rebuilt over and over, then
One day she did fight with hornet unfazed
Repairing damage in stiff blowing winds
Why I ponder our base fear of spiders
Is it eight legs… the cocooning of prey?
But unlike Miss Muffett, sit beside her
‘Tis the spider, not you, shying away
Chill Autumn nights will soon cause her to die
I pay my respects ‘neath late summer sky

Sonnet 1

In a fair and just world, we’d have two lives
One for foolish deeds, one we could atone
Roving eyed rogue… husband with loving wife
A chance for true love… doomed to stay alone
To those crying foul, you’ve still much to learn
One look at the world, reminds it’s not fair
If justice ‘twas lady, with torch to burn
Suitors would be many, safe in her lair
Mirrors of the past are a baited trap
Filled with promises… stark futility
As to my blunders, I’ll take on the rap
But dwelling on hell exacts a huge fee
A self-reflective speech, sound to mine ear
No wonder the vampire dislikes…mirrors