Daddy’s job is dangerous, which must explain his fame.
Total strangers recognize him by the badge that bears his name.
We may watch him from a distance—never near while he’s at toil,
Since to his front is scorching steel; beside him, boiling oil.
Though mobs may separate us, love is not deterred by that.
He simply waves his spatula or tips his paper hat.
Why we're here.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Horrible Six-word Stories
Suicidal, a bullet changed her mind.
In the corpse’s fist: angel feathers.
The autopsy revealed a beating heart.
The earthworms spelled out, “I’m alive.”
Death came early. “Typical”, she said.
In the corpse’s fist: angel feathers.
The autopsy revealed a beating heart.
The earthworms spelled out, “I’m alive.”
Death came early. “Typical”, she said.
The children made bloody snow angels.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Pixie The Pixie
Pixie, the Pixie, deplored that her name
And descriptor were spoken and written the same.
She despised superfluity and superabundance; She
Disliked repetitiveness and likewise redundancy.
Each day she recited this rote, self-defeating:
"Once and for all is a phrase worth repeating,"
Which sums up our ditty and wraps up our rhyme.
For your homework now, read it through twice, one more time.
And descriptor were spoken and written the same.
She despised superfluity and superabundance; She
Disliked repetitiveness and likewise redundancy.
Each day she recited this rote, self-defeating:
"Once and for all is a phrase worth repeating,"
Which sums up our ditty and wraps up our rhyme.
For your homework now, read it through twice, one more time.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
HUNGRY THING now available for sale online!
Since where our yard ends, wilds abound,
We thought it fine to let our hound
Roam as he liked. No neighbors could complain.
Each night, he'd bark and bay and snort
At woodland critters, just for sport,
Then bring home bones of every sort.
You know how that is.
Then one night—silence. All in vain
We searched until the trail went cold.
Our worries lingered unconsoled.
What if he'd met the thing that gobbled Gladys?
Over and above the 126 poem and story acceptances I had in 2019, I am probably proudest of this self-published fantasy story, told in five poems and illustrated by the talented Romanian surrealist, Norbert Somosi. It was published as a book shortly before Christmas. Moments ago, as I write this, a much-admired writer-friend of mine and the first person to buy the book sent me this message:
"I finished reading Hungry Thing and loved every bit of it. I mean really loved it."
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Back Up
The source of doctor-patient friction
Was the former’s grim prediction
Of the latter’s health decline
Resulting from his crooked spine.
"I’m confident,” the doctor said,
“That by tomorrow, you’ll be dead.”
Quasimodo swallowed spit.
(His back was up an extra bit).
“When the bell tolls in the gloom,”
The hunchback growled, "...ask not for whom,
“But if I ring it, as expected,”
“And then, thank God you stand corrected!”
Was the former’s grim prediction
Of the latter’s health decline
Resulting from his crooked spine.
"I’m confident,” the doctor said,
“That by tomorrow, you’ll be dead.”
Quasimodo swallowed spit.
(His back was up an extra bit).
“When the bell tolls in the gloom,”
The hunchback growled, "...ask not for whom,
“But if I ring it, as expected,”
“And then, thank God you stand corrected!”
A poem incorporating 5 random words: bit, confident, decline, friction, stand
Thursday, October 3, 2019
The Unbreakable Laws
When Public Enemy Number One
Met Public Friend Five-O,
A startled gurgle turned guffaw
Just as he turned to go.
“Why should I yield to a sheriff’s shield?”
The bum began to brag,
Then opening his overcoat,
Revealed a foreign flag.
“I intend not to let you apprehend
"Me for deeds that you’ve outlawed,”
“Because your laws are not my laws,”
He said, “Your God is not my god.”
The Fed just scratched his head,
Because the thug seemed unaware
The wet cement he’d stopped in
Was quick-drying in the air.
“Some laws cannot be broken,”
Said Five-O. “The God that’s holy,”
“Created the laws of physics.”
...Then he read Miranda...slowly.
Met Public Friend Five-O,
A startled gurgle turned guffaw
Just as he turned to go.
“Why should I yield to a sheriff’s shield?”
The bum began to brag,
Then opening his overcoat,
Revealed a foreign flag.
“I intend not to let you apprehend
"Me for deeds that you’ve outlawed,”
“Because your laws are not my laws,”
He said, “Your God is not my god.”
The Fed just scratched his head,
Because the thug seemed unaware
The wet cement he’d stopped in
Was quick-drying in the air.
“Some laws cannot be broken,”
Said Five-O. “The God that’s holy,”
“Created the laws of physics.”
...Then he read Miranda...slowly.
A poem incorporating 5 random words: apprehend, brag, gurgle, overcoat, yield
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Payday for Rick
Rick squeezed the wrinkled, metal tube,
Extruding a white, worm of lube,
Onto his finest hogs-hair brush;
Then--being careful not to rush,
Yet keeping one eye on the clock,
Forced it into the cube-shaped lock.
Next, using his left fist to clench
The spring-steel, twist-flex torsion wrench
While his right hand began to flick
The pins with his half-diamond pick,
He listened for a whispered click
That meant it was “payday for Rick!”
Alas, despite his dexterous skill
The cube defied his greedy will.
No tools, nor skills nor well-aimed smudge
Could make the rusted lock pins budge
Before time ran out on the clock:
And so, Rick smashed it with a rock.
Challenge: story of fewer than 300 words, including the words “brush”, “cube” and “rock”.
Extruding a white, worm of lube,
Onto his finest hogs-hair brush;
Then--being careful not to rush,
Yet keeping one eye on the clock,
Forced it into the cube-shaped lock.
Next, using his left fist to clench
The spring-steel, twist-flex torsion wrench
While his right hand began to flick
The pins with his half-diamond pick,
He listened for a whispered click
That meant it was “payday for Rick!”
Alas, despite his dexterous skill
The cube defied his greedy will.
No tools, nor skills nor well-aimed smudge
Could make the rusted lock pins budge
Before time ran out on the clock:
And so, Rick smashed it with a rock.
Challenge: story of fewer than 300 words, including the words “brush”, “cube” and “rock”.
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