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Lonely As A Cloud Life's trials left me lonely as a cloud On high until I found some daffodils, Not in an adventitious golden crowd Extending by a lakeside near some hills Like Wordsworth in his poem, but below York's city walls on sloping grassy banks, Arrayed in row upon enticing row. So I plucked half a dozen from the ranks And clasped them and, like Wordsworth, felt a rapt Companionship that filled me with renewed Light-heartedness ... until a copper tapped On my left shoulder and rebuked me—"Dude, Unlicensed flower picking's stealing"—then Detained my blooms ... to leave me lone, again. (First published in the Spring-Summer 2024 issue of Rat's Ass Review) |
Security Lights Sweet dreams are recommended: wellness guides Encourage you to spend eight hours a night Cocooned in bed with darkness on all sides, Untroubled by incursions, which a light Repels when motion sensors turn it on ... It's on. It isn't meant to make you rise, Though does. There's nothing there. The moth has gone. You curse the safety expert who supplies Lights calibrated by AI to keep Intruding moths from tripping wires—you're owed Good money, since the bugs that stop your sleep Hide not outside, but in the expert's code ... Then you turn off the lights and, back in bed, Sleep soundly till at dawn you rear your head! (First published on 16th February, 2024 in Autumn Sky Poetry Daily) |
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