mogul

I strive to thrive
in a world of won'ts
and can'ts and don'ts.
Where the line
between proud and pompous -
between positive promotion
and pushy presumptuousness -
is hair-splittingly thin.
No power-moves
are hiding in my repertoire.
No millionaire moguls in my corner
but mountainous moguls
around which to manouvre
and I am still on the bunny slope
making pizza wedges with my skis
and hoping when (not if) I fall
for soft powder.

commodious

My castle in the air
is commodious
and glorious
with gilded fountains
flowing with unshed tears,
windows glazed with schooldays' afternoon ennui
and stone walls of grudge and bitter.
Lights of laughter
hang from ornate chandaliers
and sparkle against
mirrored mysteriousness.
Clever cornices, vaulted hopes,
and sympathetic pillars
hold up the ceiling - frescoed
with stars and dreams and wonder
in a swirly lovechild of Chagall and Van Gogh.
Gardens grow in riotous disarray -
imagination at play.
Come wander the grounds,
take a tour,
lovelier than Chatsworth,
grander than Versaille,
my refuge and escape
where all are welcome to visit -
though none may stay but I.

portmanteau

we sit upon the floor
and drink
and play with words
slinging similes
making metaphors
ridiculous and grand
asses with assonance
crafting portmanteaus
both silly and sound
imbibing language
and liquid in equal measure
word nerd love

Savvy (verb)

From A to B
straight line should be
but I, so crooked and
so crazed
must visit C through Z
and circle back
I cannot savvy
the simpler way
but puzzle and fret
and exhaust myself
and though I may see more
I sometimes think
I take in less
and so I stress
frazzled and fumbling
forgetting the scenic route
may be longer
but has more scenery
and if my lot is
off the straight and narrow
I must look around,
but need not tarry in the wastelands.
I am free to linger where I choose
and move when I want
and then, one hopes, to get where I am going.

rococo

a delicate breeze
caresses my cheek
lush and tender
as the sun dapples
rococo patterns
on my closed eyelids
ears humming with the
susurrus of waves
and I sink into the sand
letting the world carry
the weight of me
instead of my usual
Atlasesque endeavor

lissome

At the ballet

shapes arc and fly
contorting time and space
weaving ligaments
and air in a tapestry
of rhythm and color
lissome forms
against a blank canvas
the eye drawn
from point to point
unable to see all
creates an impressionist
view of movement
a Degas sprung forth
freed of its shackles
to live in the now
vibrant and taut with animus

tyro

Heads down,
fingers furious -
tyros all,
we struggle
to show
what we've learned;
fervently hoping
for the tiniest scrap
of your admiration
and those receiving it
revel and gloat
as only youth can.
No genocidal dictator
ever inspires fear greater
than ours in disappointing you.
No messianic cult leader
ever inspires more reverence
than ours in your encyclopedic knowledge.
No shiny red apple for you.
We bring McDonalds coffee
and Subway sandwiches
and lay them at your proverbial feet.
Our gracious, foulmouthed father-figure
in a faded blue anorak,
filterless cigarette dangling
from an impudent grin.

null

The years change
and we change.
The world changes, too.
And yet,
time's predictable
and we're predictable
and the world's predictable, too.
The contract
never spoken
never written
still applies.
We are as we are.
To break this tacit covenant,
to make null and void
requires a surfeit of
creation
or destruction.
And, we,
lazy creatures,
do neither.

quidnunc

Congrats! Huzzah! Many happy returns! :(  :)  <3 :p  Oh no! Oh yeah!  WTF  LOL
 Did you see that vine/that meme/vacation pics/her facebook/their instagram?
 He moved? They broke up. They're preggers! They're watching tv. They made lasagna.

All given equal import.
Swipe left. Delete. Unfriend. Add user.
I must know. Now. With a banner. A vibration. A glance. Before anyone else.

Technology makes quidnuncs of us all.

Creating false intimacy.
Each byte increasing our knowledge lessens our knowing.
Tidbits and morsels replacing coffee and conversation.

omnipotent

The nature of knowing
is unknowable.

I think,
I suppose,
I posit and hypothesize
and ponder and wonder.

Omnipotence may be a blessing
but likely more by far
a curse.

For in this ignorance
lives a tiny gap
of hope.

A miniscule landscape upon which imagination may roam.

Fewer angels dance on the heads of all the world's pins
than all the scenarios I have imagined for you.

ailurophile

the puddle of warmth
collects on my chest
& purrs my broken heart
back into pulsation

cliche I may be
but who can contest
that feline affection
heals degradation

of love unrequited
and trust never given
caresses unreturned
and fingers sans rings

here no false meows are spoken
there truth dies unshriven
(a cat never cares
for such things)

not crazy cat lady
but ailurophile, I
get my cuddles
whenever I can

for cats may be fickle
as men may lie
but one always returns
(and it isn't the man)

dessicate

ancient and frail
the dessicated form
wrapped in a cotton smock
and a smile
rocks in her chair
and holds within her
the girl in a tutu
pirouetting until
dizziness overtook her
and she fell down

wimple (verb)

a lone figure on a lonely shore
walks the fog wimpled coastline
a shadow
a phantom
a ghost
forgotten and forgetting
disappearing into the sand and sea

rebarbative

it begins with a sniffle
innocuous
unremarkable

then a tickle
a humph-humph
throat clearing
before bed

upon the dawn
swallowing rawness
cured by a cup  -
honeyed tea

but before day's end
the virus rallies
and sallies forth
commando style

the sinus walls swell
with bravado
as they attack back
clothed in their viscous coat -
kevlar for the delicate dermis
 
the repetitive rebarbative
post-nasal
drip
drip
drip
should theoretically
lessen
the throbbing pressure
that makes teeth ache
and thoughts blur
yet

like a magician's scarf
the wheeze seems ceaseless
a span of sluggish slogging
from first to last lights
until, like a magician's coin,
suddenly it's gone.

hat trick

Work.
Health.
Relationships.
The holy hat trick.
A trinity of trials
over which to triumph.
Happy he who conquers.
Envious we who struggle and strive.
Forever losing one to the others.
With only two hands
to carry three loads
of varying sizes.
We teeter and totter
weeble and wobble
and sometimes
we fall down.

stentorian

How can a race "begin"
when the running never ends?
But apparently, we're off!
The platitudes pour forth
in Niagara Falls proportions.
Vomited diatribes
ascribe outrageous lies
to particular political tribes.
Aspirational evisceration
is the sensation across the nation. 
That a senator is stentorian
surprises exactly no one.
The congressmen
make no progress, man.
The gubernatorial goobers
gobble and garble.
And onto to these esteemed officials
the electorate paint their
apathy or ardor or antipathy or apoplexy.
This is the way the sausage is made:
with bloviating bangs and some whimpers.


 

bilk

the long con
meticulously planned
yet improvised
a delicate dance
orchestrated
by an unseen hand
and i, credulous
and green
am poised
to lose
my green & my heart
and in exchange
gain
dubious incredulity
expensive skepticism
tuition i can ill afford
bilked and heartbroken
and berating myself
for believing

febrile

we dance
revel in sybaritic abandon
swirling in a sweaty seething mass
a shoal of bacchanalian bodies
moving in discordant choreography

the sharks
dart in
to devour
the beautiful
the innocent
the drunken
easy targets
dragged off
to dark corners
for dark deeds

but we, we swim together
in this narrowing gyre
a sanctuary made of multitudes
in a vortex of spastic rhythm
all febrile
and feral
and fabulous
pulsating
matching our heartbeat
to the electronic thump
of stereophonic waves
rising and falling
and we 
shimmering in scales of
spangles and spandex
ride them

lotusland

tangle of sheets
entwined around limbs
arms and legs knotted
together we are tied
and in our lotusland
no phones ring
no doorbells chime
we drift alone
together on an
invisible iceberg
in a sea of bliss

verdant

O'er verdant land
the sun hangs high
and lushness covers all.
From winter's sleep
the trees grope towards
wakefulness
and fecund, find
new tenants.
They arrive and taste
the treasures arrayed
as hors d'ouvres
at a ball and in
their fanciest dress
they dance their dances
for each other
and the watchful eyes
of those who see
them as the hors d'ouvres.

juncture

Though many years have passed,
elections cycles
come and gone.
I cannot help
but recall -
indelible
now associated
with the word
forevermore.
Dana Carvey
as
George Bush (H.W. not dubs)
"Na ga do it
at this juncture."
Thanks, brain.
Thanks, SNL.
Thanks, Dana Carvey.

bicoastal

As birds migrate
from north to south
so they migrate
east to west.
Not winter's season,
but pilot season
stirs their chronobiology.
The bicoastal actors' journey 
covers the continent
and nomad-like
may include nesting
on couches or in hostels:
a brief respite
as they struggle and
compete
for the lead
in this particular flock.

travail

we start with nothing
a blank page
a darkened stage
an empty canvas
peer into the void
& the void stares back
we quiet ourselves
listening,
straining,
wishing
for the whisper
in our meditation
of inspiration
of creation
and with an inkling
a smidgen
a wiff
we begin our travails
life stirs within
and life stirs without
thus our art is born

anfractuous

from there to here
meandering
not where I thought here'd be
to say "I got off track"
implies a track
but if there were
my feet never found it
anfractuous my path
for good and ill
unbeaten though
somewhat bowed
I trudge or skip or saunter
variable
momentarily
in windings chaotic
not aged yet
but yet not young
unsure of who is me
this corporeal form
this ethereal beast
and this all looks
different than
imagining

purport

One never said the words.
He saved me that disgrace;
he simply faded out
leaving nary but a trace.

One purported love eternal
until my back was turned,
then every skirt he chased
which left me rather spurned.

One swindled for my money,
with honeyed words he swore
that surely he would pay me back
whilst walking out the door.

One left in a disaster
and him I do not blame.
I know it was no choice of his
but he left me, all the same.

Yet those I've left, I soon forgot -
sweet hypocrite am I.
I hope they did not sigh so for me
when to them I said good-bye.

enjoin

i gave you all
i had to give
and gladly gave it too
an in return
i asked for one
small thing for you to do
a tiny thing
did i enjoin
though much it seemed to you
i never thought
it out of line
for you always to be true
in thought and word and deed
forevermore
and never stray or skew
without hesitation or remorse
though all the years accrue
from near or far
your love for me should stretch from here
to Timbuktu
rich or poor,
whether you dine on
noodles or chicken cordon bleu,
well or sick
hale and whole
or shivering with flu,
yes, i know i met you yesterday
but instantly i knew -
wait- come back -
where are you going to?
Ok, my love, yes indeed,
i'll wait right here for you.
My darling, lovely fellow
who i never will eschew.
Now once again, what was your name...
what is Jack or was it Hugh....

incisive

words
slice and
sever
piercing
layers
through
blood
bone
and flesh
to heart
a stiletto
of prose
and snark
incisively
sniping
& snipping
so smoothly
you smugly smile
at our little death
and drink your chardonnay
assassination complete
as the party swirls
around us

sounding board

like a beginner's tennis match
we sloppily lob words
to and  fro
missing their marks
and bouncing
willy-nilly over and into nets
ensnaring them
and halting our progress
until, fed up
with our misplayed mismatched mishegas
we separate and practice alone
banging our words
against a wall
a sounding board backboard
where they land with a satisfying thud
and rebound to welcome ears:
our own

capricious

An iridescent, effervescent globe
hovers in ethereal splendor.
Tiny groping tentacles
sticky with sugar and hope
stretch towards shimmering wonder.
Gleeful giggles abound
in the capricious joy
of toddler destruction
then turn to melancholy moans
at the tearful, fearful disruption
of fantastical floating froth.
A wave of a wand by the conductor
and the silly symphony recommences.
Bubble,
giggle,
pop,
wail,
bubble,
giggle,
pop,
wail,
bubble,
giggle,
pop.
Rehearsal for the life to come.

diapause

she lay in her bed
infirm and distressed
the enforced post-op diapause
gave her time and cause
to contemplate
and ruminate
on could have beens
and would have beens
the never weres
and never wills
she lay there alone
except for the night nurse
a button away
and missed him
not at all