Tag: poetry

1973

slade

I think that I

Shall never see

Another year like ’73

I turned 18

Became a man

And strutted ’round

So lean and tan,

The drinking age

was dropped too far

And high school lunch

Was at the bar

The army turned

To volunteer

The only draft

We knew was beer

I graduated

Got employed

And bought the things

That I enjoyed

Yes, only God

Can make a tree

But we were

Gods in ’73

Earth Enigma

aliens

the alien recon

spacecraft

reporting to

the mother ship

set off the

usual alarms

 

the people

of Earth were

hostile and

dangerous

with a myriad

of nuclear arms

 

they sped away

at warp speed

but when

they analyzed

the recon

data after

 

They found the

human’s missiles

were pointed

at themselves

and shook with

alien laughter

A Windblown Leif

leif

The planks and oarsmen

Groaned as one,

The wind began to blow,

And at the bow

Leif Erikson’s

Unease began to grow.

He’d put his trust

In Jesus now

And sailed to serve the Lord–

Yet Odin’s raven

Mocked him as

The longboat left the fjord.

Soon blown off-course,

He pulled aside

A slave in his distress,

And said, “Bring me

Your mistress, thrall,

Bring me the prophetess!”

The witch came forth,

Her robe bedecked

With skulls and precious stones,

And calling on

The Alfather,

She cast her ancient bones.

“What is it?”

Leif called out to her,

“What do the old bones say?”

“They say a man

Should trust his god

To guide him on his way.”

And so he prayed

To his new god

And soon a land was found

Where food and game

Were plentiful

And “wheat and grapes abound.”

Out of Red

red

If we run out of red someday

A sorry place it’d be

We’d rue about Ol’ White and Blue

From sea to shining sea

Our stop signs, lights, and firetrucks

Would lose disparity

While Bibles, wines, and danger signs

Would forfeit clarity

Christmas would be only green

And Santa’s suit just white

And Rudolph’s nose would never do

To guide them through the night

A hydrant turns into a pipe

A barn into a shed

Yes, life would simply be no good

If we run out of red

Perhaps our loss of it someday

Will drive us to the stars

For if our world runs out of red

We’ll have to move to Mars

Out Damn Clock

clock

Alas, the brand new clock I’d bought

Soon prompted my dismay,

For twelve o’clock was blinking

On its digital display.

My boss would soon discredit

My occasion to be late:

An electrical malfunction

I could not substantiate.

 

I called him on the telephone

And told him what transpired–

I told him I was sorry

And he told me I was fired.

I smashed the clock and cut myself

And in the trash it flew;

They say that time can heal wounds,

But it can make them, too.

Rock On!

rock on

2:24 AM

The infant

In my arms

Demands

That she be

The center

Of the Cosmos

The minutes

Tick by slowly

As grandpa rocks

 

The creaking

Hardwood floor

Is trying

To get me

To remember

Some old

Ozzy tune

The minutes

Tick by slowly

As I rock on

 

Selfish now

But in 18

Years or so

She will

Sacrifice

Every part

Of herself

For another

The minutes

Tick by slowly

Prophets of Doom

the-end-is-near-we-are-all-gonna-die.w1456

Prophets of doom

Have always said

That any day

We’ll all be dead

 

The end is near

The veil falls

An Earthquake

Breaks the

Temple walls

Hell freezes over

Donkeys fly

In Chicken Little’s

Falling sky

The Mayan calendar

Runs out

The trumpets sound

The angels shout

The Son of God

Comes back again

A comet brings

A fiery end

Atomic war

Destroys the nations

Shiva’s wrath

Aborts creation

 

Prophets of doom

We still are here

We only wish

You’d disappear