untenable

she rose
and riled
and made her plans
she understands
and fights for all
and yet
there are those
who would call
her candidacy
untenable
despite her being
quite indefatigable
it's a shame
how they find
all these little
things to blame
and never name
the truth of why
they think
she cannot stick
(hint: it's because
she lacks a dick)

coax

that you
could coax
my heart
out of its hiding
again to
see the sun
to feel
the salt breeze
to watch
the tide
turn in
and roll
back out again
that you
could do this
bliss
 

trenchant

the cat
it seems
has a trenchant wit
the dog
prefers a salty limerick

injunction

if i thought
the rule of law
held sway
i would issue
an injunction
against his ass
any day

dissemble

present a smiling face 

a mask porcelain grin

as the dance begins

bend and bow 

dissemble dreamer

waltz wearily feather 

drooping flower wilted

but polity requires

another reel before

you go

acumen

the craftsman hunched
in concentration
attempting perfection
building artistry
with acumen attained
by hard graft
skill glittering
in gleaming gold

misbegotten

once best pleased
by misbegotten plans
easy wrongs prioritized
over difficult rights
excused by bromides
about picking fights
every little misdeed
left to let slide
until the avalanche

pontificate

the pundit pontificates
but doesn’t count the delegates
and relegates the candidates
to second rate surrogates
ignoring the debates
and the future states
as he panders to
the network affiliates

numismatic

horrifically glorified
this numismatic tendency
of hoarding gold like
aged dragons
their spindly fingers
scaled claws grasping
denying wealth and health
by burning breath
to those without
leathery wings

judgement

gaslighters
burn you away
in a soft and lovely light
you question your
judgement of not
just the world
but yourself

eradicate

if I could
bottle this
sweet elixir
of perfect joy
it would
eradicate all
the fears
and tears
forevermore

bootless

Anne's Song


for aught i ever
raised my voice
but bootless
heaven plead

left to despair
in quiet dread

the pedestal
they put me on
became the block
where ax will swing
or guillotine

they that cheered
now gawk

they sung my praise
now spit and curse
death i do fear
but waiting's worse

probity

we never
were perfect
but once
perfection
was a goal
a veneer of probity
laudable in those
held up
as worthy
of the power
we grant
instead today
venality
holds sway
so for the future
pray

stipulate

read the fine print
even if you need
a microscope
to do so
because the bit
you never read
is the bit
that stipulates
the baby
for gold thread

vinaceous

setting sun
sky fire
over vinaceous sea
a boat afloat
wave dancer
the moon
unwilling to
miss the show
arrives early
and hangs low

cupid

that he's blind
I can attest
he's shot me
in the ass
more than once
but at last
the bastard cupid
finally aimed true
he shot me
in the heart
when I met you

gustatory

give me
gustatory glory
of gastronomic joy
a glass of wine
good company
and hearth and home
and happy will I be
forevermore

resile

never understood
those who think
to resile love
it could not
have been love
though love called
love cannot be returned
like an ill fitting shirt
to an impersonal clerk
at a nondescript store
love is tailor made
else nothing more than
factory seconds
from the outlet mall

obloquy

I have not
the words
to rain down
in obloquy earned
full disdain for
the utter ruination
of humanity in an
oversized suit

debonair

the dashing days are done
gone the air so debonair
gone the glam and giddy
these 20s not so roaring
with champagne and frippery
the work to do won’t wait
for your blind eye to turn
or dancing to a fiddle
while the world doth burn

expunge

shred the papers
as you will
paper over the cracks
it matters not
you cannot expunge
the scars upon
all the hearts you’ve rent
the families torn asunder
rewrite your histories
we will not forget

lenticular

vision magnified
all defied
and aside
from all the wide
wide world we
float blue-skied
lenticular eyed and
when we'd plummet
toward the ground
and could have died
we flied

infantilize

from an early age
we’re taught
don’t make a fuss
don’t be tough
don’t be loud
be soft and meek
don’t be proud
we internalize
and infantilize ourselves
to please the invisible

canard

we trick ourselves
imagine that
a joy not present
is gone forever
that it’s too late
to do the things
we thought we would
to go the places
we dream of
what a useless canard
the time is always now
tomorrow is always waiting
and joy may sleep
but never dies
we may wake it
if we try

ancillary

after years as an
ancillary afterthought
I’m made a forethought

scumble

the best of my days
have a kind of a haze
the details scumbled
like an impressionist
authored them in
purpled hues and
gentle blues blended
by an expert hand
at once both mundane
and breathtakingly grand

hierophant

how the tables turn
in service to a purpose
condemnation twists
to sycophantic praise
hierophants of a despot
petty pretenders to
a tarnished crown
sing a different tune
than not that long ago
desperate clingers to
the scraps of power
disregarded but for utility
together in the unity
of courtesan whoring

prognosticate

all uncertain the world
and dismal futures
unspool ahead
but still
though I dare not
prognosticate a reversal
my hope in people remains
we may yet redeem
and rebuild after the storm
we have done so before

fissile

our politics volatile
fractious and fuming
fissile nation
held together by
a piece of paper writ long ago
the glue of common purpose
disintegrated by rhetoric
and divisive men
who capitalize on chaos
and we try the best we can
to persist against
a hurricane of easy hate