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Me And My Parrots My parrots bring me peace to nestle in. Enduring loss is easiest when I Am comforted by feathers on my skin: No human touch can so well pacify! Determination permeates the calm My birds induce: each day I must restart. Youth brought me chronic pain, for which the balm Proves daily to be nature, and my art ... A cigarette as tonic is too brief. Refraining for a moment is too long. Relighting brings no permanent relief Or respite from the battle to be strong— Though when my parrots stimulate my brain, Strength radiates to overcome my pain! (Prompted by Frida Kahlo's painting and first published in the Creativity Webzine on July 31, 2021) |
Waiting On A Muse Without the hum of voices sharing news, A café is an uninspiring place, If where its owner planned to meet his muse. This poet wears a disappointed face— It's past the time she said she would be here ... No smartphone rings—his poet's place is pro Good conversation, smartphones interfere ... Old phones, though here, are silent—she won't show. Nor will the old-time patrons who once came. A café host who nurtured tête-à-tête May reminisce, but times are not the same, Upturned by Covid and the internet ... So he'll close down, and write of days long gone— Ennui may be the muse he waited on! (First published in the Ekphrastic Review on August 13, 2021 as a response to The Poet by Lily Prigioniero) |
Social Media Shy Some tweeters tweet on Twitter by the hour Or oftener, if they have less to say. Condoning or condemning, sweet or sour, It exercises thumbs throughout the day, And often nose-thumbs start a tit-for-tat: "Look! That's not what I said! Let me reframe. My meaning was the opposite of that— Erroneous butt-tweeting was to blame!" ... "Delete at once, or you'll regret your post!" ... "I won't be bullied by some random jerk!" ... "Ass! I'm not random, I'm your Twitter host— So trash your tweets, or your account won't work!" ... Hours later, all the tweets amount to nil. You see why I don't tweet? And never will! (First published in the September 2021 issue of Lighten Up Online) |
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Hot Under Collar Have you not wondered why some men of cloth Object so rarely? Favouring the norm, They trust they won't incur their elders' wrath Unduly if they readily conform: Not only must they pass the curate test, Discerning parts of bad eggs that are good, Endorsements also must be reassessed Routinely, as Bray's Vicar understood ... Church garb's why they comply! Let me explain: One's black attire traps heat. One's collared neck Lets none escape. Heat rises to one's brain. Lest it get fried, one lets it sleep, on spec ... And finds oneself affirming what the Lord Requires of vicars for divine reward! (First published in the September 2021 issue of Lighten Up Online as a winning entry to Competition 54: Vicarious Fun) |
An Academic Gown An academic's wardrobe isn't grand. No prof can think when collared with a tie, And fancy shoes get whitened where you stand— Chalk lays down trails where later you walk by! At owning brand new suits a prof just scoffs: Dry-cleaning bills would stretch beyond your means, Endangering your drinking fund, so profs Most often don a T-shirt and wear jeans. It's only when you hood your PhDs, Collegiate dress-code rules exact their tolls: Grads lining up to walk for their degrees— Or deans—might spot your only suit's moth holes! ... Wise profs—dressed down, but fearing dressing-down— Need overalls: an academic gown! (First published in the Summer/Fall 2021 issue of Light on October 4, 2021) |
Lions And Tigers? Large cats are now so scattered in the wild, In searching for a conspecific date, One's quest may fail ... Then should the stripy-styled Not contemplate the stripeless for a mate? Since ligon cubs or tigons may result And backcrossed females may have offspring too, New terms may soon be needed for adult Descendants of these hybrids in the zoo: Tiligers and titigons, if the dad Is tiger, and liliger or liti- Gon, if he's lion—terms to which we add Extensions ... If descendants multiply Repeatedly, then in some future year, Some lititititigons may appear! (First published in the Summer/Fall 2021 issue of Light on October 4, 2021) |