woke up to dark clouds

casting fear on our land

apocalyptic propaganda

has our destiny planned

the horsemen draw nigh

so we must take a stand

self-fulfilling prophecy

leaves no reins in hand

with freedom of thought

and apostasies banned

each day now we witness

the flames of hell fanned

woke up to dark clouds

we were heading

to our wedding

and were sweating

clammily

for to falter

at the altar

would insult her

family

she suggested

that we rested

and ingested

our champagne

while her noted

poise eroded

she was loaded

once again

in the aisle

all a-smile

she beguiled

all her clan

but they dissed her

when she missed her

mark and kissed the

preacher man

barely a seed

it starts deep

in your soul

it springs up

and blossoms

quite out

of control

it zigs

and it zags

shuffling into

some verse

and it bleeds

on your paper

for better

or worse

it may be

an epic or just

‘home, sweet home’

but whatever the case

you’ve been used

by a poem

the snow cobra lifts

his head from the drifts

with his hoodie to keep

him from freezing,

and pythons get heat

from the bunnies they meet,

with their hugging

and snuggling

and squeezing.

on clear, frozen lakes

are the friendly ice snakes,

sometimes used

by the locals

for skating,

and the right time of year

makes the wolf snakes appear

as they hiss

at the moon

before mating.

As the Beatles said,

“Thoughts meander

Like a restless wind

Inside a letter box”

Turning the abstract

Thoughts into words

And expressing them

In a coherent manner

Is the easier endeavor

Putting them down on

Paper is a whole other

Matter, an arduous task

Like someone once said,

“I hate writing, but I

Love having written”

Ghostly kites of light

Slide noiselessly around

My bedroom walls as

The night traffic files past.

From my bed, I can see

The long, dripping icicles

That hang from the eaves

Right outside my window.

They glint in the headlights

Like frosted glass carrots.

I smile, remembering that

Today was a special day, a

Once-in-a-lifetime kind of day.

You see, blue-green was no

Longer my favorite color–

I’m not talking about just any

Kind of blue-green, mind you,

But the kind that flashes in

Your eyes when you walk by

A window prism in the sun–

That kind of blue-green.

No, today, after a lifetime

Of celebrating my beloved

Super-charged blue-green

I changed my favorite color

To yellow for no real reason

Other than it’s grown on me

After all these years.

Yellow it is, then.

Yellow.

Starlight falls out of the skies

And settles in her upturned eyes

She peers into the jeweled vault

Until the sun begins to rise

An amateur astronomer

She knows the moons of Jupiter

Orion’s belt and Saturn’s rings

She loves the stars like I love her

I hope some day she’ll love me too

But I will not obstruct her view

Or take the stars out of her eyes

My love for her is tried and true

There’s ghosts and goblins in the streets

And zombies on the lawn,

And soon this little bowl of treats

Will certainly be gone.

I guess I better lock the door

And turn off all the lights

To satisfy my craving for

These chocolate delights.

Now you may wonder how someone

Could ever be this way–

I’m saving little children from

Substantial tooth decay.

They came down by the millions

An army of tiny invading aliens

Suddenly dropping out of the sky

With their tiny white parachutes

 

It looked like we were doomed

 

But then the wind began to blow

And the invaders went swirling

Madly out of control all night long

At the mercy of our fierce winds

 

We awoke to a foot of parachutes

we used to

put clouds

in a poem

now we put

our poems

in a cloud

and when

we’re gone

our poems

will live on

hopefully

give that

shrouded

crowded

word cloud

a shining

silver-lining